The next Samsung flagship, the Galaxy S6, is due to be announced on March 1st. The announcement will come at a Samsung press event in Barcelona, the site of the Mobile World Congress. Since the S3, Samsung’s flagships have been a little too predictable for my liking… but this time around, I’m expecting them to go a little crazy. Here are my predictions.
Design
Last year Samsung proved that they could produce modern phones with updated designs. The Galaxy Alpha, Galaxy A series and Galaxy Note 4 were all a dramatic step above the plasticky phones that came before them, with premium metal materials used and a higher build quality overall. Samsung are set to continue that with the Galaxy S6, overhauling their flagship with a full metal back. The Galaxy S6 is also expected to be offered in a curved screen version, where both the left and right sides of the display curve back to provide more screen real estate. Samsung might even make that the default variant of the phone. Either way, it’s a bold statement from Samsung and should set them apart from the more traditionally flat flagship phones in 2015… even if Galaxy S6 case makers find the new design a bit difficult to produce for!
Specifications
Samsung has reportedly fallen out with fellow chip manufacturer Qualcomm, who produce the Snapdragon chips used in the majority of high-end Android smartphones. That means they’ll be using their own chip designs this time around, specifically the new Exynos 7 Octa. This octa-core processor seems to offer dramatically higher performance than even Qualcomm’s best Snapdragon 810 chipset, and could make the Galaxy S6 an absolute behemoth. Other specifications include 3GB of RAM, 32GB of internal storage plus micro SD expansion, a 20-megapixel rear-facing camera and a smaller 2600mAh battery.
Software
Samsung have moved to lighter and lighter skins over the past couple of years, as stock Android has improved and Google has increased pressure on manufacturers to keep their modifications functional. That should be set to continue for the Galaxy S6, as Samsung move to Android 5.0 out of the box, with a light version of TouchWiz aboard. Early reports indicate that Samsung’s customised version of Android 5.0 is incredibly lean, offering snappy performance and improved memory management. Hopefully Samsung will maintain that lean approach in the final version of the Galaxy S6’s software.
Conclusion
The Samsung Galaxy S6 is a big phone for Samsung. They have seen their market share be chipped away by the American Apple, Chinese rivals and Korean competitors alike, so it’s more important than ever that they produce a good phone to remain relevant. The fact that Samsung are taking risks with the design of the phone is exciting to me, and I hope that their fear of decline allows them to produce an exemplary flagship for 2015.