Samsung Galaxy S6 rumour roundup: it’s here [final update]

Update: To read the full story regarding Samsung’s Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge launch on 1 March, visit our full event round up below.

Read more: 10 things you should know about the Samsung Galaxy S6 launch

Usually around mid-September, the world gears up for Apple’s annual iDevice announcement. We personally love this time of year as rumour upon rumour surfaces of what is purported to be Cupertino’s latest device.

Although it makes us spectacularly giddy, this year’s batch of rumours spoiled the launch for us.

Thanks to the hordes of leakers, we knew exactly what to expect, and they weren’t too far off when wrong either. Perhaps the only surprise was the Apple Watch.

Come December, and the rumour mill has been churned into life a little later than usual following news that Samsung is about to launch a successor to its successful Galaxy S5, known internally as “Project Zero.”

But what will it likely be? What kind of hardware will be shoved inside its shell? And will it be the iPhone muncher that the Android world has been hoping for?

Welcome to the Samsung Galaxy S6 rumour roundup.

As news surfaces, this page will be updated accordingly, so sit tight and enjoy the internet’s latest batch of secrets.

This is definitely the next Samsung Galaxy, if you believe teaser images

This is not so much a rumour mill anymore as it is a pre-release image roll, so let’s have a look at the latest image of the Samsung Galaxy S6.

I’m not just inspired by what I see, I am crafted from what I see. I am #TheNextGalaxy. pic.twitter.com/8GbyzElJq7

— SamsungMobile (@SamsungMobile) February 20, 2015

If you read between the lines of Samsung Mobile’s latest cryptic tweet, you’d put your money on a Galaxy S6 with a curve somewhere in the front or rear design. The phone, unlike the LG G Flex 2, isn’t curved itself, but perhaps there’s an edge or two we can’t quite see from this angle.

Read more: LG G Flex 2 bends competition with curved body, Snapdragon 810 chipset

Nevertheless, although the phone looks rather uninspiring, it would be a good idea to prepare for a little shock once the phone is launched 1 March.

With the launch just a week away, we’ll likely see even more hype doctoring from the Korean company as it fights with HTC for the early MWC 2015 launch spotlight.

Our first view of the S6 is, well, not much of a view

Not to be outdone by HTC’s “Next HTC One” announcement earlier today (incidentally launching on the same day as the Galaxy S6), Samsung has outed a teaser video for its latest flagship phone. The most interesting thing about it? It seems to boast a straight, not curved, edge.

Reports have suggested that there will in fact be two S6 models to choose from, but judging by this video there might also be a massive clue in the actual text displayed on screen:

I am crafted from the beautiful things I see around me, they shape who I am, I am the next Galaxy.

Interestingly, images created using curves were displayed, which makes this game of media cat and Samsung mouse even more interesting.

I am #TheNextGalaxy. See what inspired me at #Unpacked. https://t.co/r9hNJnrMP5

— TheNextGalaxy (@SamsungMobile) February 20, 2015

Will the Galaxy S6 boast support for multiple wireless charging standards?

It is expected that 2015 will be a landmark year for the growth of wireless charging deployment, as wireless charging stations will begin to appear in more and more public places. Samsung will accelerate to democratize this wireless charging technology with compelling smartphones. With our upcoming Galaxy smartphones, users will be able to enter a new wireless world like never before.

That was the final paragraph in the company’s latest blog post, documenting the history, present and future of wireless charging. Now, if you were a betting bloke, that’s a pretty big hint that the Galaxy S6 — a phone that’s due to be the prospective flagship for the next few months after launch — could support wireless charging, yes?

After news emerged that the company might be downsizing the S6’s battery, this might be the slight marketing cover up the company needed. It wouldn’t be particularly new for Samsung either, with previous models like the “Galaxy S4 and Galaxy Note 3 in 2013 and the Galaxy S5 and Galaxy Note 4 last year” all sporting some type of wireless charging technology, according to the same post. There hasn’t been a real public roar of appreciation though.

Perhaps the S6 adopting the technology is the marketing push Samsung and the wireless charging industry needs. Currently, like the internet of things, wireless charging is a technology sphere dominated by fragmentation and competing standards.

Samsung to downsize S6 battery to 2550mAh, from 2800mAh

Samsung could make a massive error of judgement by slotting a smaller battery into the Galaxy S6 than the Galaxy S5, according to Forbes. Sure, even if the Exynos 7420 SoC is rumoured to be quite efficient while all-powerful, downsizing a battery is seemingly unheard of in smartphone designs of today. To put this into context, the Galaxy S5 featured a 2800mAh battery, so it’s not a small reduction either.

Although it would be wholly possible for the S6 to boast better battery life from a smaller battery, it doesn’t make marketing sense. An upgrade should have better features, and battery life is an area that Samsung could very well make its own going into the smartphone future.

Whether the company will sacrifice battery life for design will be a big question going into March, but for now, all we (as journalists and consumers) can do is shake our heads.

POLL: Only 17% of respondents will be purchasing the Galaxy S6

For fun, we ran a three day poll on Google+ to see just how many of our Google+ fans would indeed purchase the Samsung Galaxy S6 upon launch. As it turns out, not many at all.

With 23 putting digital pen to paper, 43% and 39% have noted that they definitely will not be purchasing the phone and considering buying the phone, respectively.

We’ll leave the poll up for the following week, so if you’d like to cast your vote, hit up this link and let us know your thoughts in the comments. It does seem however that the mood surrounding Samsung isn’t as positive as it once was.

Exynos 7420 SoC benchmarks monumental 60 978 points in AnTuTu leak

Image: OiZoiOi

If this is true, the Samsung Galaxy S6 (at least the versions carrying Samsung silicon) will be one of the most powerful phones of the year.

A new leak from the benchmarking app and site AnTuTu has unveiled the Exynos silicon’s massive performance potential. What’s more, this is a hell of a lot faster than Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 810, which is a scary thought.

There has been talk that Samsung will ditch Qualcomm in favour of its own chip, and it’s no wonder why. Of course, benchmarks and real world performance are two vastly different things. We’ll have to wait and see if the S6 really is as fast as this suggests.

Apple Pay-competitor coming to Galaxy S6 courtesy of LoopPay

Following in the stead of its bitter rival, Samsung will likely debut a payment system alongside the Galaxy S6, in the same vein as Apple’s iPhone 6 Apple Pay system. It will be based on LoopPay’s existing infrastructure and the company is also working with global commerce champion VISA.

Read more: Tim Cook calls Apple Pay a success with 1 million sign-ups in first 3 days

Hilariously, Samsung’s play looks a lot like a response to Apple, but it makes sense for the Korean giant to offer this on its more premium models.

The deal might come with its share of payment-enabled touch-sensitive phone cases too from LoopPay, so this mobile payment market could get very interesting very quickly if these rumours are indeed true.

Although Korean media has largely confirmed this, we can only be completely sure once Samsung announces it, and for that, we’ll have to wait another few weeks.

Samsung schedules 1 March for Galaxy S6 launch, world gets excited

Image: GSMDome

Finally, after months of absent squeaks and sealed lips Samsung has finally begun sending invitations to a 1 March Galaxy event, and damn, are we excited.

The date, as previously predicted, falls just prior to Barcelona’s MWC, an event that usually sees the birth of Galaxy models. What’s more, the press invite hints at the S6’s design, which could very well be curved if the silver line is anything to go by. That radical a shape for a smartphone though? We’re not sure.

Nevertheless, we finally have a date to look forward to.

Samsung to downsize S6 screen to 5.0-inches

There have been some very strange design decisions to come out of the smartphone world in the past few months, but the mantra for practically all manufacturers has been “bigger is better”. This is especially true for screen size. Now, documents have leaked suggesting that Samsung’s ditching this philosophy altogether., at least for its flagship phone.

As a result, the Samsung Galaxy S6 could feature a 5.0-inch screen, not larger than the Galaxy S5’s 5.1-inch. This would mark the first downsizing of a flagship Galaxy, with Samsung trying desperately to stay relevant in the smartphone market. This would also finally draw a marked line between the Note series and the Galaxy S series, two categories that weren’t well defined at all.

Additional details leaked by Zauba — an Indian import tracking site — notes that the phone will also feature an in-house Exynos 7420 chipset (not the Qualcomm Snapdragon 810), 3GB of RAM and a 20MP camera — all of which were previously hinted at.

Samsung’s stripping the TouchWiz interface, making non-essentials downloadable extras

Bloatware is a big problem for Android handsets, especially when manufacturers are determined to pioneer their own skins and UX features on top of Android. One of the culprits, in this instance, was Samsung’s TouchWiz.

But now news has surfaced suggesting that the the clunky, bloated, unintuitive interface will be stripped down by its creator, turning those parts that have been stripped into downloadable add-ons. Previously a rumour, it’s all but confirmed now.

The exclusive gained and confirmed by SamMobile, is probably the best news we’ve had about the phone, but this tweak could span more Samsung handsets than just the Galaxy S6.

A trio of Galaxy S6 prototypes leak, and they look rather dashing

Image: PhoneArena

We haven’t seen many images of the Samsung Galaxy S6, or images of devices pretending to be the Galaxy S6, which is quite remarkable, but now an image of leaked prototypes have surfaced and finally we can ogle at what could be Samsung’s next flagship.

Spotted by PhoneArena, we’re wondering if Samsung’s planning to release a “jumbo” variant too considering this thing’s size. The screens on these devices must be touching-5.7-inches or beyond — effectively Samsung Galaxy Note 4 territory.

It seems that Samsung has also ditched the fake-leather dimpled rear plate made infamous by the Galaxy S5, which gives the new phone a more polished and precise look. Of course, these are merely prototypes so suggesting that the S6 will retain these design traits is a flawed exercise, but for now, we like what we see.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 SoC presence in the Galaxy S6 looks unlikely

Although this rumour has been buzzing around for a while, Qualcomm has made these doubts a little more concrete after the company outed its earnings report.

Samsung might very well discard the overheating Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 chipset, a piece of silicon that is the brains behind the LG G Flex 2 and set to be the brains of its high profile rivals, including the Sony Xperia Z4 and LG G4. But Qualcomm has suggested that the chip won’t be a widespread part in smartphones this year, leading many to believe that the overheating issues are not completely resolved.

A move that sees Samsung utilise its own chips in its own smartphone is a logical step, especially since Samsung does have experience when it comes to crafting high-performance silicon. Just ask Apple.

Whether the company’s octa-core Exynos 7420 chipset has the thrust to keep up with the Snapdragon 810 however makes for an interesting chapter in the mobile silicon wars canon.

Dual ‘Edge’ screen version in development, report suggests

We’ve believed this for quite some time, but it seems more likely now that the Samsung Galaxy S6 will feature 4GB RAM. KBench, a Korean benchmarking site, has revealed that it could be first time 4GB is smacked into a Samsung flagship phone.

This would certainly be much more than the iPhone 6 Plus and nearly double that of the iPhone 6s range if rumours are to be believed.

Read more: iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus to feature faster RAM, iOS 9

SamMobile has also outed in an exclusive that Samsung is working on a radical S6 model with a two-sided Edge screen. This would back up previous rumours regarding Samsung’s new adventurous design language.

It will be a separate model, much like the Note Edge was separate from its more conventional brother, but there’s no word on what Samsung will call this device.

Samsung 2560×1440-screened device uncovered by its user agent string

Image: TechTastic

We’re barely two weeks into 2015, and the leaks are coming thick and fast regarding Samsung’s most important release of the first half of the year.

In the latest tidbit, a user agent string taken from Samsung’s own website has revealed (via TechTastic) that the Samsung “SM-G920A” (believed to be a variant of the S6) will feature a 2560×1440 screen. The screen resolution remains consistent with previous leaks, so there is a chance this could be the phone we believe it to be.

User agent strings tell servers how best to serve a particular website to the device performing the request, so in essence, it tells the viewer exactly what device is being used.

So is this the Galaxy S6? Either that or Samsung plans to distribute other phones with 2560×1440 screens. If that is the case, watch out Sony and Apple.

Samsung will tweak, speed up TouchWiz for the S6

TouchWiz, as we currently know it, will play a lesser role in the Galaxy S6 UI, notes Business Korea.

The publication has noted that Samsung will be optimising the UI overlay to minimise system resources used and to remove non-essential features, streamlining the entire experience.

A claimed industry sourced mentioned the Nexus 6 as a UI target for the new flagship:

We are aiming to get rid of unnecessary functions and simplify our UI at the level of Google’s Nexus 6.

At the moment, TouchWiz is a massive annoyance, so simplifying and speeding up its application will be an important move for Samsung.

Expect Samsung to launch Galaxy S6 and smartwatch at Barcelona’s MWC

Now that CES is over, everyone seems hungover on curved screens, quantum dots and that particularly awkward term “the Internet of Things”, but something we didn’t see was the Samsung Galaxy S6.

Business Insider today however has revealed that the phone will make an appearance at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in a few weeks time, and well be in for more than we bargained for too.

For one, we will (at least according to the report) get two variants of the flagship phone, one with a curved screen similar to the Galaxy Note 4 Edge.

On the back of this, Samsung will be launching a round-faced smartwatch at the Congress too — remember MWC is the traditional birthplace of flagship Galaxy phones, so this does seem likely.

There’s still a lot the world doesn’t quite know about this handset, but what we do know is that its probably Samsung’s most important mobile phone launch for quite some time.

Is this the Samsung Galaxy S6’s metal skeleton?

Image: nowhereelse.fr

There’s a massive chance that Samsung might spring a surprise and unveil the Galaxy S6 early (at this week’s CES perhaps), and we’re crossing fingers hoping that this is the case. But before the official launch, there’s a rather interesting snap of a naked Samsung device floating around the internet right now.

Nowhereelse.fr has uncovered what looks to be the skeleton of a phone that’s larger than a Galaxy S5, but not as large as the Galaxy Note 4. Could this be the magical 5.5″ device we were given word of?

What is definitely interesting is the all-metal shell, akin to previous leaks and aligning with Samsung’s new-found love of metal, especially in the company’s “A” range. It’s difficult to tell if this is indeed the shell of the Galaxy S6 though, as it could be a number of devices from Samsung, but we dare to dream.

Aluminium body frames leaked, but is it the Galaxy S6?

Image: nowhereelse.fr

It seems a few chaps on the production line heard the rumours and saw their names up in internet lights, because images of the purported Samsung Galaxy S6’s all-metal frame has just been outed.

French leaker legend Steve Hemmerstoffer was the first site to gain the images, which started a bit of a media feeding frenzy. Nevertheless, these images are reportedly from inside the Samsung production plants.

But the big question is, are they for Samsung’s next Galaxy flagship, or another device entirely?

All-aluminium construction on the cards?

The latest rumour sounds more like a prequel to an iPhone launch, but Italian blog HDblog.it and its insiders are claiming that the Samsung Galaxy S6 will be made entirely of aluminium. From head to toe. Think the Galaxy Alpha.

Read more: Samsung’s all-metal Galaxy Alpha is 2014’s most pointless phone

This would be a pleasant departure from the tacky plastic finish that Galaxy models have featured in the past, but we wonder if this would put the Galaxy A-line under jeopardy.

The blog also backs the curved screen idea, but instead suggests that both sides of the phone will feature the Edge-like screen addition. This was an initial rumour back in early November, so it’s interesting that it’s not dying out.

Additionally, instead of the touted launch at CES in just a few weeks time, the blog suggests that we’ll likely see the Galaxy S6 peek its head around the corner closer to Q2 2015.

We could see the Galaxy S6 as early as 6 January

We’re not quite sure how true this rumour is, but some suggest that we could see Samsung’s Galaxy S6 debut at International CES in Las Vegas in the first week of January.

The reliable GSMArena has received word from a Korean site and its gaggle of insiders that the phone’s unveiling could fall between 6 and 9 January — the dates corresponding perfectly with CES.

Of course, that seems strangely unlikely as Galaxy models are normally unveiled between February and June (predominantly at Barcelona’s Mobile World Congress) but with talk of a radical redesign could a radical release date be the fitting introduction this phone requires?

Could this prototype Samsung phone be the Galaxy S6?

Image: Toptienmobiel

This weekend Dutch website Toptienmobiel has released an image that looks very much like a future Samsung phone, but is it the Galaxy S6?

It looks Apple-gorgeous, with microscopically thin bezels and lightweight construction. It seems that the body itself is also quite thin based on the pressure it’s putting on the holder’s hand.

While this could very well be a future Samsung phone, we cannot confirm that it is indeed the Samsung Galaxy S6. Of course, images of the device will be scattered all over the web and this will likely continue until the device’s official unveiling.

Galaxy S6 gets double-Edge treatment in awesome mockup

Image: Deepak Ahuja via Concept Phones

There might not be an Edge variant coming, but that’s not stopping concept designers from fooling around with the idea.

The latest Samsung Galaxy S6 concept features a double-Edge screen, conceived by Deepak Ahuja. What’s more, it also has some iPhone-killing hardware inside too.

A 4K 5.2″ screen is the star of the show with power coming from either a Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 or an octa-core CPU of Samsung design, probably. Of course, RAM is a central topic in smartphone construction wars at the moment, and Ahuja packs his concept with 4GB RAM and 128GB storage, which should satisfy the heaviest of multitaskers.

But will the S6 come anywhere near to these specifications? Probably not, but it’s technologically possible.

Samsung may not have an “Edge” on its competition, according to latest report

In a rather underwhelming post, SamMobile has released information from one of its “insiders” suggesting that Samsung Galaxy S6 variant may not feature a curved Edge-like screen after all.

After the first batch of information leaked with news of a radical design approach, many thought that the company would integrate the Edge-type screen into the flagship. This seems more unlikely now:

Apparently, there’s still a separate variant of the Galaxy S6 in the works, but at the moment, the prototype device doesn’t have an Edge screen.

While we could very well see a Samsung Galaxy S6 Mini (as past S-variants go) this is not quite the variant we were hoping for.

But could Samsung be gunning for the iPhone 6 range with a more traditional screen around 4.7″ and a much larger 5.5″ variant — the size that had previously appeared on AnTuTu? Possibly.

Another day, another AnTuTu leak

Image: Mobifo.dl

Oh boy, if AnTuTu rumours are to be believed, it seems that there are already a fair number of Samsung Galaxy S6s floating around benchmarking themselves.

The latest AnTuTu leak courtesy of Dutch site Mobifo would suggest consistent specifications, apart from the camera sensor. The Mobifo quote notes that the S6 will feature a 15.9MP snapper and not the 20MP previously spotted on cnmo.com.

Of course, Samsung could very well be testing both devices with different cameras, so the retail version might have either. We’ll just have to wait and see.

It seems even more likely however is the presence of Samsung’s in-house octa-core Exynos 7420 CPU running at 1.8GHz. 3GB RAM is also present as well as the Quad HD display.

We’ve yet to see the Qualcomm variant make an AnTuTu appearance, but it’s probably just a matter of time.

Samsung working on “Cat 10 LTE” chip capable of 450Mbps

Korean media has outed a tasty detail about Samsung’s proposed LTE chip in the upcoming Galaxy S6. As posted on South Korea’s Naver, the company is developing its own tri-band Cat 10 LTE chip that could be capable of driving traffic at up to 450Mbps on supported networks.

Cat 10 LTE is about six months away in certain countries, so this would be a smart move on Samsung’s part. Currently Cat 6 LTE is the standard, and pushes speeds around about 25% slower than Cat 10 LTE.

This begs the question though: which chipset will receive the LTE chip? The Qualcomm Snapdragon variant, or the in-house Exynos variant? This could ironically mean that the uber-fast Snapdragon 810 SoC would feature slower LTE speeds than the Exynos SoC.

Not quite sure how LTE works, and how it’s relevant? Hit up the video above for a brief.

Two variants expected: Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 “Edge”

It seems like Samsung has cottoned on to this “one phone, two versions” recipe crafted by Apple. When the Korean manufacturer launches its Samsung Galaxy S6 later this year, the world will likely see two versions, one traditional and another with the “Edge” style screen.

Thanks to prodigious and usually reliable leaker SamMobile, it’s reported that the handsets will be built from “scratch” as well, leading some to believe that Sammy will be a little more adventurous with its styling this time around.

Also hinted at is the phone’s internals and specifications.

At the forefront we’ll see a Note 4-like 2560×1440 Quad HD screen (no size has been mentioned as yet, but it should probably be no more than 5.7″), an in-house octa-core Exynos 7420 SoC (running at 1.8GHz) or a Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 SoC, a “16/20-megapixel rear camera” with 5MP snapper up front, and a range of storage options including 32GB, 64GB and a 128GB monster.

These specifications of the non-Qualcomm variant has also recently surfaced on Antutu — the mobile benchmarking app that has turned into the leaker’s best friend. The display size in question here is 5.5″, which seems rather large for a Samsung smartphone, just 0.2″ smaller than the Note 4 as well.

Image: cnmo.com

The Snapdragon 810 meanwhile is a 64-bit chip with enough horsepower to power the moon, and coupled with the Adreno 430 GPU, both phones should pack some serious performance.

Business Korea has also joined the rumour mill, suggesting that Qualcomm’s inability to push the Snapdragon 810 out in a timely manner may delay the launch of the S6. The chip allegedly suffers from overheating and throttling issues, which turns the chipset into a tortoise.

SamMobile also mentions the inclusion of Broadcom’s BCM4773 which will control the WiFi, GPS and Bluetooth 4.0 LE. Broadcom also claims that the chip uses 80% less power. Couple that with Android Lollipop’s power saving wizardry, and it sounds like the S6 will be a very interesting package indeed.