S6 Vs One M9 - A Great Year For Full Metal Android

Once upon a time, Android had the geek appeal and iPhone had the polish. If 2015 has any theme in mobile, it's the year when metal-bodied Android smartphones came of age. HTC has been plowing the aluminum fields for its past few generations of flagship, but it's only with the arrival of the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge – and Samsung's inevitably huge marketing budget for the pair – that we can honestly say that Android has grown up in feel-appeal.

HTC has been on a journey of refinement for the past three years, starting with the One M7. Its unibody aluminum casing and minimal use of plastic were arguably more interesting than the UltraPixel camera that also debuted on the phone, a departure from the Android norm which had all too often wrapped top-tier specifications in underwhelming plastic.

If there was a poster-child for loving plastic, it was Samsung. The South Korean company has long pushed the envelope in its use of components, undoubtedly aided by the fact that its own supply chain was responsible for the production of much of them, but for many would-be users the experience was undermined by how the Galaxy series felt in the hand.

Ironically, it's just as HTC has refined the One series once more that Samsung has revealed its own take on metal. The double-curve display on the Galaxy S6 edge may be the most instantly noticeable feature, but so far Samsung is yet to demonstrate a killer feature for it. Instead it's quite how good it feels in the hand that's the surprise take-away.

Whether you lean toward the crispness of the Galaxy or the luxe of the One M9 that's almost ostentatious – at least in the gold-on-silver of HTC's hero design – in comparison, is a matter of personal taste.

Either way, 2015 is a welcome milestone for Android in general: a shift away from treating phone design as an arms race of specifications, and instead treating the handset in a more holistic manner, with due consideration to the wrapping as much as what's wrapped up inside.

The Samsung Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge are currently on the SlashGear test bench, but you can find our first impressions here. As for the One M9, check out our full review for all the details.

Picking the Galaxy S6, S6 edge, or HTC One M9 this year – or something completely different? Let us know in the comments!