Galaxy S6
Galaxy S6, a phone clad in metal and glass for the ultimate kind of luxury. The design's so good, in fact, that Samsung barely changed a thing for its latest S phone, the Galaxy S7.
The S6 might not be brand-spanking new anymore, then, but when prices have now dropped to just £370 SIM-free or £24-per-month on contract, it's actually much better value than most of today's mid-range rivals. It's also a great budget alternative to the still rather expensive Galaxy S7. There's also its fancy brother to consider as well, the Galaxy S6 Edge, which is the same size as the Galaxy S6 but has a more attractive (and more expensive) curved display.
Both phones have the same hardware and exactly the same features (save the S6 Edge's special Edge screen tabs), so in my eyes, it's probably worth paying that little bit extra for the S6 Edge, particularly if you want a phone to show off to your friends. That's not to say the S6 isn't great in its own right, but whether it will continue to be a good buy in the coming months is less certain, as Samsung has yet to announce whether the S6 is inline for an update to Android Nougat.
It took quite a while for the S6 to receive an update to Android 6.0, and with the S7 and S7 Edge taking a higher priority this time round, Samsung may well decide not to bother with the S6 (and S6 Edge, for that matter) at all. This could change, of course, but if Samsung don't roll out a Nougat update for the S6, then you'll be missing out on several new features, such as quick toggle notifications, night mode, improved energy efficiency and new emoji options.
Design
Android 6.0 and TouchWiz
Still, until Samsung says one way or another, the Galaxy S6 is a big improvement on the S5, with the glass and metal design bringing the phone up to the quality we think its price demands. That's not to say that everything is perfect: as much as we love the phone's metal design, its smooth, rounded corners make it feel extremely slippery to hold, and it constantly felt like it was about to fall out of our hand.
It doesn't help that the S6 has a glass back either, as this provides very little purchase when you're using the phone single-handed. The S6 Edge, on the other hand, skirts around this issue by having a thinner, more angular frame to accommodate its curved screen, making it much easier and more comfortable to grip. We never thought we'd miss Samsung's faux-leather back panels, but we did like the amount grip they provided.
The phone's rounded edges also have the strange effect of making the S6 appear considerably fatter in your hand compared to the S6 Edge, despite the fact the S6 is actually 0.2mm slimmer, measuring 6.8mm compared to the 7mm on the Edge. It's a minor quibble, but it nevertheless serves as a reminder that the S6 Edge feels like the more premium product.
Samsung's TouchWiz interface on the S6 was more streamlined than ever before, with fewer pre-installed apps and widgets cluttering up your home screens. In fact, there were only two pages of pre-installed apps when we first turned it on, which will be welcome news to anyone who's suffered through the mountains of Samsung bloatware it used to install on its previous smartphones.
