Samsung Galaxy S6 Review: The Gamble Pays Off

It's been a tumultuous year for Samsung. Buoyant and complacent with being the world's most successful Android smartphone vendor for ages, the Korean giant was perhaps not prepared for its Galaxy S5 flagship last year to be so roundly criticised for not breaking any new ground. The heart rate sensor was pretty much mostly a gimmick, and the glossy plastic body did it no favours when seen next to its competition. Chinese brands have started having an impact on its low-end and mid-range sales, and Lollipop updates for older devices have been coming too slowly, if at all. Samsung's image has lost a lot of its former sheen; even more so when it comes to the top-end Galaxy S range. Under more pressure than ever before, the company is betting on a major reinvention. Gone is the cheap plastic, in favour of slick aluminium. Gone is the heavy TouchWiz skin with dozens of settings and features that no one ever used - the software is more restrained than ever. We first saw the new Samsung Galaxy S6 (and its eclectic curved-glass twin, the Galaxy S6 Edge) shortly after its launch at the 2015 Mobile World Congress show, but now we've had enough time to conduct a full, thorough review. The device is launching in India just over a month after its global debut, making it the first of this year's flagship models to make it here. Should you rush out and buy one? Look and feel Samsung has been experimenting with metal bodies up and down its product lineup, so it's no surprise that the new flagship model comes in full aluminium trim. Samsung's phones have been difficult to tell apart in the past because of the company's very set template, and the Galaxy S6 feels like something of a missed opportunity in terms of a breakout design. With new materials and new priorities, Samsung could have gone in exciting directions but the Galaxy S6 not only carries forward most of its predecessors' style, it somehow simultaneously manages to look like it has borrowed cues from Sony and Apple. While the influence of the iPhone 6 (Review | Pictures) and its predecessors is apparent in details such as the machined speaker grille and chamfered rim edges, we find that the overall shape and style feel more derivative of the Sony Xperia Z3 (Review | Pictures). Other touches, such as the silver-rimmed physical Home button are pure Samsung. Specifications: The fact that Samsung has gone with its in-house Exynos processor for all global versions of the Galaxy S6 signals the company's growing confidence in its ability to compete with top-tier technology firms such as Qualcomm. The Exynos 7420 SoC has four 1.5GHz ARM Cortex A53 cores and four 2.1GHz Cortex A57 cores, allowing the phone to strike a balance between performance and power consumption for all kinds of tasks. There's 3GB of RAM, which is standard for top-end phones now. With no microSD card slot, Samsung has made the Galaxy S6 available in multiple storage configurations. The strategy and pricing follow Apple's precedents, but the base model comes with 32GB rather than 16GB, which seems like a direct shot across the bow.