The closer we get to spring and the imminent launch of Samsung’s next flagship smartphone, the more reports and rumors we see regarding the Galaxy S6. While we don’t have anything definitive right now, BGR claims to have received photos and detailed specifications of the device from a trusted source and, while the website wasn’t allowed to publish the photos, it was able to list the alleged hardware that the Galaxy S6 will be packing.
As BGR’s Jonathan S. Geller describes in the report:
“From a CPU that’s 50% faster, to an incredible quad-HD display, Samsung hit every angle with this year’s flagship phone. It will also have a payment feature which works with magnetic and NFC terminals, incredible cameras, and a gorgeous glass and metal body. This is shaping up to be the Android phone to beat this coming year. We were sent photos from our trusted source, though we were not allowed to publish them, so you’ll have to make do with the detailed specifications below. I want one immediately!”
BGR claims that the Galaxy S6 will be powered by a 64-bit eight-core 14nm processor but its source didn’t specify which chip Samsung will be using. Qualcomm’s Snapdragon line of systems on a chip (SoC) have traditionally been the most popular choice for Android flagships, but Bloomberg reported this morning that Samsung won’t be using the Snapdragon 810 in the Galaxy S6 and will instead be powering the device with its own Exynos chips.
Bloomberg’s Ian King and Jungah Lee explain the South Korean company’s reasoning for this move:
“Samsung, the world’s largest smartphone maker, tested a new version of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon chip, known as the 810, and decided not to use it, the people said, asking not to be identified because the issue hasn’t been discussed publicly. Qualcomm shares fell as much as 3.5 percent for the biggest intraday decline in more than two months. The decision is a blow to Qualcomm, the world’s largest maker of semiconductors used in phones, which has been supplying Samsung with chips that run the company’s best-selling handsets. The South Korean company, the world’s second-largest chipmaker, is trying to become more self-reliant and boost its own processor-making division as it spends $15 billion on a new factory outside Seoul.”
Rumors about the smartphone’s chip aside, the rest of the Galaxy S6’s specifications look like the kind of incremental updates we’re used to. The device’s screen looks especially impressive, boasting a 5.1-inch Quad HD Super AMOLED display with a pixel density of 577ppi. The rear-facing camera looks equally impressive with a massive 20 megapixel OIS camera sensor, while the front-facing camera is a far more modest 5 megapixel f/1.8 front-facing camera with real-time HDR.
The 2550mAh battery is admittedly lackluster for a smartphone of this size, and I’ll be very disappointed if the report from the Korean Press which claims that the battery won’t be removable turns out to be true, but the built-in wireless charging and quick connect charging help make up for this loss. It’s also nice to see Samsung following Apple’s lead and giving users the option of 128GB of internal storage, with 32GB and 64Gb being the other two options. This is actually quite unexpected, as Samsung has traditionally chosen to forgo lots of internal storage thanks to its love of microSD slots.
As usual, it looks like Samsung will be setting the bar for Android flagships this year with the next iteration of its Galaxy smartphone. It should be noted, however, that this is still an unconfirmed rumor, but it does fall in line with what many people have expected. Either way, we won’t know for sure until Samsung takes the wraps off of the device at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona this March.
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