Samsung Galaxy S6 rumor round-up: specs, features, price, release date

Samsung Galaxy S6 rumor round-up: specs, features, price, release date

Project Zero, the supposed next Samsung flagship. So far, Samsung has been quietly codenaming its flagships with letters from the alphabet - the S4 was Project J, the S5 -- Project K, but rather than the S6 being ‘Project L’ (which also coincides with Android 5.0 ‘L’ollipop), it decided it is time for a reset.


It’s all back to the basics. After a few prosperous and worry-free years of growth, Samsung has to go to the drawing board to re-think its ‘next big thing’, which no longer looks so big after sales tumbled and the Galaxy S5 sold slower than the S4.

And frankly, a lot of the fairy tale growth for Samsung thus far ONE THING IS CERTAIN: THE GALAXY S6 WILL BE A VASTLY DIFFERENT SMARTPHONEis not least due to the fact that Apple was inexcusably late with its product cycle, taking years to make an adequate, large-sized iPhone. Now that there are two of them, and a mature market with a plethora of strong offerings from China, Samsung is starting to feel the heat and this time it’s serious.

One thing is certain: the Galaxy S6 will be a vastly different smartphone, aiming to show the best of Samsung in one device.

Design: metal frame
Display: 5.1" screen that waves goodbye to 1080p and welcome Quad HD
Interface: a better TouchWiz
First 64-bit Samsung flagship: Exynos 7420 on board
Camera: 20-megapixel Samsung-made cam
Storage: 32GB in the basic model
Connectivity: first with all sensors on one chip, in-house LTE modem
Samsung Galaxy S6: release date, price, and carriers

Design: farewell plastic, hello metal frame

We've been criticizing Samsung a long time for its uninspiring, all-plastic, cheap-looking devices, and that chant reached a crescendo in the Galaxy S5, where the company ignored all hopes and pleas for a more refined style, and stubbornly released the S5 with the same plastic design.

With ailing financials, though, and a series of well-made, metal devices, Samsung might finally make a change and bring an entirely new style for the Galaxy S6. We've heard from all kinds of sources about aluminum being used in the Galaxy S6, but it's not yet clear whether it would be for an all-aluminum unibody, or just for the main frame with the back cover being made out of glass.

What's also interesting is that now we have seen multiple leaked schematics and all agree on the actual dimensions of the phone, so we know what the physical footprint of the Galaxy S6 will be like. Take a look right below to see how the Galaxy S6 size compares to that of last year's Galaxy S5, as well as its biggest rival, the Apple iPhone 6.

Storage: 32GB in the basic model?

While processors and cameras have improved at a staggering pace in the last few years, an area that they both depend on has largely stagnated.

We’re talking about internal storage, of course. 16GB of internal storage has been the standard for flagships in the past 5 or so years, and luckily, Samsung is finally planning to pick up the pace and introduce the S6 with a 32GB base model. The handset should also be offered in a 64GB and 128GB storage tiers, all with support for expandable storage via microSD cards of up to 128 gigs.

Connectivity: first with all sensors on one chip, in-house LTE modem

4G LTE connectivity might still be a rarity in the majority of the world, but lucky customers in the U.S. and the Western world in general (let’s count Korea and Japan there as well) are enjoying astonishing download speeds.

4G LTE, however, has so far come with a taxing battery budget. With the Galaxy S6 this might be less so, as the phone is expected to arrive with a Samsung in-house LTE modem, the SS333, or Exynos Modem 333.

Moreover, with Broadcom’s new BCM4773 chip on board that combines GPS and all other sensors on a single die (a first in the industry), we should see some great improvements in battery longevity on the S6.

Finally, knowing all this about the Samsung Galaxy S6, you might be wondering: when can I get it? Samsung's first Unpacked 2015 event for the Galaxy S6 is set for March 1st at MWC 2015. The release date of the Galaxy S6 will likely be around a month after the official announcement, so it should arrive in retail stores around the end of March-early April 2015.

So far, we have seen the following codenames leak out, and they do reveal a lot about the S6’s carrier availability (yes, it will naturally be on all four major U.S. carriers, and many more).

Samsung Galaxy S6 codenames:

Zero-F US - VERIZON SM-G920V_NA_VZW
Zero US - AT&T SM-G925A_NA_ATT
Zero EUR - OPEN SM-G925F_EUR_XX
Zero-F CA (Canada) - BELL MOBILITY SM-G920W8_NA_BMC
Zero-F US - SPRINT PCS SM-G920P_NA_SPR
Zero CA - BELL MOBILITY SM-G925W8_NA_BMC
Zero US - VERIZON SM-G925V_NA_VZW
Zero-F - EUR OPEN SM-G920F_EUR_XX
Zero US - T-MOBILE (US) SM-G925T_NA_TMB
Zero US - SPRINT PCS SM-G925P_NA_SPR
Zero US - US CELLULAR SM-G925R4_NA_USC
Zero-F US - AT&T SM-G920A_NA_ATT
Zero-F US - US CELLULAR SM-G920R4_NA_USC
Zero-F US - T-MOBILE (US) SM-G920T_NA_TMB‏

Finally, big news is that just like it launched the Note Edge alongside its Note 4, Samsung might also reveal an 'edgy' version of the Galaxy S6 along the main star of the show. Samsung itself practically confirmed the existence of a new 'edge' device, and expectations are that it will be a phone with edges on both sides.

What Samsung has never surprised us with, though, is price, so we do expect the Galaxy S6 to sell for $199 on a two-year contract, and $649 when you buy at a full retail price. With all this in mind, how do you like the way the Samsung Galaxy S6 shapes up to be?