The Samsung Galaxy S6 is not just a bump up in specs over last year's flagship model; it is a change in direction in quite a few areas - not least the design. The glass front and back panels make it look more like the Sony Xperia line of phones than a Galaxy S, but this isn't a bad thing: the glass panels combined with the aluminium bezels and accents makes it finally look more like a premium device and is a real improvement over previous year's plasticky models. There is a small price to pay for this however: it is no longer water and dust resistant like the Galaxy S5.
Other significant changes include a non-removable back cover and non-expandable storage which are a real disappointment to many consumers. Part of what differentiated the Galaxy S phones from much of the competition was the ability to take off the back cover and replace the battery or add more storage for all those videos and images - this is not now possible, which is a shame. On the positive side, it comes with fast wireless charging via a charging pad.
The internal specs of the Galaxy S6 are high-end and feature a 64-bit octa-core processor clocked at 2100 MHz, 3GB of RAM and a Mali-T760 MP8 GPU. Internal storage options are 32, 64 and 128GB and we recommend at least the 64GB model if you take lots of stills and videos or run lots of high-end games on your phone. Fortunately, the 64 and 128GB models will be the models offered by most carriers and retailers.
The biggest thing to shout about on this year's Samsung flagship is the camera: the results show it to be quite possibly the best camera on any Android smartphone currently available, probably even better than the camera on the iPhone 6 Plus. A 16MP sensor, optical image stabilisation, 4K video recording and LED flash all conspire to take excellent photos and videos. The UI is an improvement over previous models and there are plenty of customisation options for more advanced users who want to delve into creating particular effects. And it's faster too, which has sometimes been an issue with previous Samsung phones.
Another greatly impressive feature of this phone is the screen. The 5.1" 4K Super AMOLED display offers a remarkable 577 pixels per inch resolution and the results are stunning: ultra-sharp detail for images and videos with vivid colours and deep blacks. It's definitely one of the best displays on the market, if not the best.
Another noteworthy improvement for the Galaxy S6 is the UI, commonly known as TouchWiz. TouchWiz has in our opinion, been too much on the cartoony side and has been a bit like the kitchen sink, focusing too much on throwing everything in there, rather than on creating an easy-to-use, slick experience. This iteration of the UI is a move towards the latter, resulting in a quicker, more fluid and user-friendly experience but still offering lots of customisation options.
Finally, battery life is about the same as last year's model, which is a little disappointing. We find it odd that the Korean manufacturer opted for a smaller battery (2550 mAh down from 2800 mAh) especially as it's non-removable in the Galaxy S6. This must be something to do with fitting it into the ultra-slim 6.8mm chassis.
Overall, Samsung have more than done enough with the Galaxy S6 to make it a worthy upgrade from the S5, not least being the camera and display, which are both class leading. The lack of expandable storage isn't a problem if you get the 128GB model and the only negatives for this phone are the battery (and even that's not that bad) and perhaps the price, though what price can you put on being the best?
