Galaxy S6 Details: Turning Samsung's Mobile Fortunes
If today's report on the sales of the Galaxy S5 are true, Samsung's next release will need to be a doozy. We previously had a chat on what Samsung was potentially getting into with the Galaxy S6 – how they may be working on a "Project Zero", a reboot of the entire series, a re-imagining of the smartphone monster they've created. Now with the Galaxy S5 said to have been selling 40% less than its predecessor, there's no better time for Samsung to bring the heat.
A whole new phone category may be what Samsung needs to bring the Galaxy line back to its leadership position. Not that they're lacking in Android-based power – they're still in the top spot for sales around the world – but for the next generation, up against up-and-comers like Xiaomi in China, there's something to worry about.
Look around you today and you'll find a LOT of Samsung phones in the wild, but not a whole lot of the Galaxy S5. It may also be that Samsung needs a change of fortunes in the long-lasting nature of their previous releases – the 2-year cycle may be up for those masses of users working with the Galaxy SIII, so Samsung's next generation may just need to appeal to those heading for a re-up.
One of the key places Samsung may be bringing about big changes is in its camera software. Below you'll see our first look at the Samsung Galaxy S5's camera software – looking pretty awesome before the launch, appearing in Barcelona for Mobile World Congress 2014 earlier this year.
Below you'll see a set of rumored specifications for the Galaxy S6 as gathered over the past several weeks from various sources. Note that these are in no way verified, only gleaned.
Display: ?-inch 2560 x 1440 (QuadHD, aka 2K)Camera (back): 16-megapixel, OIS, 4K recordingCamera (front): 5-megapixelProcessor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 inside USA, Exynos 7420 outside – both 64-bitOS: Android 5.0 LollipopStorage: 32, 64, 128GB internalMicro-SD: 128GB microSD/SDHC slot
Earlier this month we first heard of Project Zero, follow up to the past several generations of Samsung device.
Project J (Galaxy S4)Project H (Galaxy Note 3)Project K (Galaxy S5)Project T (Galaxy Note 4)Project 0 (Galaxy S6)
The closest we've gotten to a confirmation of a specification on this device is the Galaxy S6 details begin to flow: here be (Snap)dragons article from the 14th. There it becomes plain that the next Samsung smartphone will likely have UFS 2.0 technology instead of eMMC. This points toward a Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 inside the USA.
What would you like to see in a Galaxy S6?
There's also word that the Galaxy S6 will be release earlier than expected – or released earlier than last year. That'd be an extra-pointed example of how Samsung is changing their game up, as last year was also a shorter year between releases for Samsung than the year before that.
What do you think? What will 2015 bring for Samsung beyond another generation of nature-inspired hardware aesthetics? Will this be the year Samsung changes their whole baseline? We shall see!