It's no secret that Samsung needed to do something big with its new phone, to unleash something to stop the rot that the Galaxy S4 began two years ago.
I just didn't expect the Galaxy S6 to be this good.
Yes, there are still some elements that prevent it from being the perfect phone (this is Samsung after all, a brand that likes to cram as much into the phone as it can get away with) but to leap to this point from the plastic-clad nonsense of the Galaxy S5 is a really, really impressive feat.
Design
Samsung's gone bold on the design of the Galaxy S6, taking away the usual plastic covering that festooned previous models and finally stepping into the world of metal for its flagships.
In-hand feel
The Galaxy S6 feels far more fluid and thin than it looks in photos, especially compared with the slightly chunkier Galaxy S5. Next to its designer cousin, it's the S6 Edge that feels much slimmer than the S6, despite its being a hair thicker at its chubbiest point.
display
Both the Samsung Galaxy S6 and the S6 Edge have a 5.1in Quad HD Super AMOLED display, with a resolution of 1,440 x 2,560 and a phenomenal pixel density of 576ppi, but while we're still not convinced this sort of resolution is necessary on a screen so small, there's absolutely no doubt that it delivers an incredibly sharp image.
A Sound Suggestion
Does HTC still have the speaker victory too? Well, we’re actually surprised at how much effort Samsung has put into its Galaxy S6’s internal speaker this year.
After putting fairly piddly little speakers on the bottom of its phones for ages, Samsung has moved the Galaxy S6’s speaker down to the bottom edge, and put it on steroids. It’s loud and it has a far meatier sound than previous Galaxy phones.
There’s much more mid-range warmth, and even a bit of bassy thwack too. Up against the HTC One M9, the Samsung Galaxy S6 is actually a fair bit louder, but HTC still has the edge for sound quality. It’s a bit more refined, where the S6’s driver sounds like it’s really being pushed to its limits. The BoomSound brothers (HTC’s speakers) still rule, but Samsung has made up a lot of ground here.