Specifications
The fact that Samsung has gone with its in-house Exynos processor for all global versions of the Galaxy S6 signals the company's growing confidence in its ability to compete with top-tier technology firms such as Qualcomm. The Exynos 7420 SoC has four 1.5GHz ARM Cortex A53 cores and four 2.1GHz Cortex A57 cores, allowing the phone to strike a balance between performance and power consumption for all kinds of tasks. There's 3GB of RAM, which is standard for top-end phones now.
With no microSD card slot, Samsung has made the Galaxy S6 available in multiple storage configurations. The strategy and pricing follow Apple's precedents, but the base model comes with 32GB rather than 16GB, which seems like a direct shot across the bow.
Predictably, the screen moves up to QHD resolution, which is 1440x2560 pixels. At 5.1 inches diagonally, it's a lot easier to handle than last year's QHD flagships. The screen is beautifully crisp and bright, and it's protected by Gorilla Glass 4.
Like last year's Galaxy S5, the physical Home button has an integrated fingerprint sensor, but now you don't have to swipe your finger across it - a simple touch will do. The heart rate sensor on the rear is also still around. We found the one on the Galaxy S5 gimmicky and ultimately forgettable. This one is positioned to one side of the camera hump, making less likely that regular usage will become a habit.
Software
Samsung has famously reduced a lot of the software clutter that defined its Galaxy S4 and Galaxy S5 devices. TouchWiz has tried to mimic some of Google's Lollipop-era Material Design aesthetic and it is a marked improvement over previous Samsung attempts at UI design. Responsiveness isn't a problem, and we never got the feeling that any of the customisations were a step backwards from stock Android.
