Samsung Galaxy S6 (Project Zero) rumor round-up: specs, features, price, release date and all we know so far

This is the internal codename of the Galaxy S6, the supposed next Samsung flagship. So far, Samsung has been quietly codenaming its flagships with letters from the alphabet - the S4 was Project J, the S5 -- Project K, but rather than the S6 being ‘Project L’ (which also coincides with Android 5.0 ‘L’ollipop), it decided it is time for a reset.

It’s all back to the basics. After a few prosperous and worry-free years of growth, Samsung has to go to the drawing board to re-think its ‘next big thing’, which no longer looks so big after sales tumbled and the Galaxy S5 sold slower than the S4.

And frankly, a lot of the fairy tale growth for Samsung thus far ONE THING IS CERTAIN: THE GALAXY S6 WILL BE A VASTLY DIFFERENT SMARTPHONEis not least due to the fact that Apple was inexcusably late with its product cycle, taking years to make an adequate, large-sized iPhone. Now that there are two of them, and a mature market with a plethora of strong offerings from China, Samsung is starting to feel the heat and this time it’s serious. Samsung mobile head JK Shin is said to be leaving, replaced by Samsung electronics head BK Yoon.

One thing is certain: the Galaxy S6 will be a vastly different smartphone, aiming to show the best of Samsung in one device.

Design: entirely new vision

Display: wave goodbye to 1080p, welcome Quad HD
Interface: an unknown direction for TouchWiz
First 64-bit Samsung flagship: Snapdragon 810 and Exynos 7420 models
Camera: Galaxy Note 4-like excellence
Storage: 32GB in the basic model
Connectivity: first with all sensors on one chip, in-house LTE modem
Samsung Galaxy S6: release date, price, and carriers

                      Design: entirely new vision

We’ve been criticizing Samsung a long time for its uninspiring, all-plastic, cheap-looking devices, and that chant reached a crescendo in the Galaxy S5, where the company ignored all hopes and pleas for a more refined style, and stubbornly released the S5 with the same plastic design.

With ailing financials, though, and a series of well-made, metal devices, Samsung might finally make a change.

Going back to the ‘Project Zero’ codename, it’s very likely that the reset it implies refers to the visual style of the device at most. After all, previous Galaxy S series devices were never criticized for their processors and performance power. All of this leads to one logical conclusion - Samsung is probably developing an entirely new style for the Galaxy S6.

Take a look at how its predecessors looked like right below.

S5 ( 2014 )

S4 ( 2013)

S3 (2012)

S2 (2011)

S (2010)

Display: wave goodbye to 1080p, welcome Quad HD.

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The Samsung Galaxy S5’s other big disappointment was the screen. The 5.1-inch Super AMOLED panel - despite being praised by Samsung loyalists - has one big shortcoming - its green tint that throws it off in terms of color accuracy, making it look unnatural.

The recent advancements in the land of Samsung AMOLED displays that the company showed with Galaxy Note 4 make one thing clear: it can do a good-looking display, if it wants, so we have high hopes that the S6 will finally have a well-calibrated display. As to the size? We do expect it to be slightly larger, going from 5.1” to not more than 5.5”.

The road towards higher-resolution screens has been a one-way street, and despite the little perceived difference of going from 1080p to Quad HD (1440 x 2560-pixel) displays, the Galaxy S6 is said to make that jump.

Samsung galaxy s6 review,specs,photos and price

Samsung Galaxy S6 Specs

The Samsung Galaxy S6 specs sheet will feature a number of cross over features from the S5, with a wealth of new offerings thrown into the mix.

Given the focus Samsung heaped on the S5’s water resistant coating, fingerprint scanner incorporating home button and rear-mounted heart rate sensor, you can all but guarantee that all three will make another appearance next year and hopefully in improved forms as well.

In terms of power, however, things are all change, and the chipset likely to feature within the Samsung Galaxy S5 has already been unveiled. In early April, processing giant Qualcomm unveiled the Snapdragon 808 and Snapdragon 810 CPUs. These chips are set to appear in their first handsets during "early 2015," a window that fits the expected Samsung Galaxy S6 release date.

With the Samsung Galaxy S5 running a 2.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon 801 chipset following the S4’s own Snapdragon 600 internals, the Samsung Galaxy S6 looks set to run either the 808 or 810 units.

Knowing what processor the handset will run has seen a number of further Samsung Galaxy S6 specs teased.

According to Qualcomm, the processing units will allow for everything from UHD 4K displays to be supported to the introduction of Cat 6 LTE connections and the option to run up to 55-megapixel camera sensors.

At present the 64-bit, six-core Snapdragon 808 processor is looking the more likely to feature, with support for display resolutions up to 2560 x 1600 pixels fitting with claims of a WQHD S6 screen. The 808 will also introduce LPDDR3 memory, a range of battery management improvements and an Adreno 418 GPU that will boost graphical performances by a reported 20 per cent.

Samsung though likes to bring a second flagship phone option to certain territories. In the case of the S6, this could be the company's new Exynos 7 octa-core processor.

The Exynos 7 comes with an octa-core CPU with four Cortex-A57 and four Cortex-A53 cores inside.

The 20nm manufacturing process also means the Exynos 7 is much less of a battery drain than its forebears too.

There is currently no word on the phone's camera, although we would be surprised if the S6 didn't improve on the S5's existing 16-megapixel snapper.

Samsung Galaxy S6 Price

The Samsung Galaxy S6 price is one area where there are currently few details available. Given the flagship nature of the ‘Galaxy S’ range, however, there is no point holding out for a wallet-friendly fee.

At launch the Samsung Galaxy S5 cost £579 on a SIM-free basis. As such, we can’t see the Samsung Galaxy S6 price starting off much lower than the £600 marker.

For all the latest Samsung Galaxy S6 rumours, including details on the phone’s specs and release date, bookmark this page now as it will continue to evolve as new information emerges.