Being a Samsung (KRX: 005930) Galaxy user across a number of years (From the S3 to Note3 and then the S5, the last two in parallel right now – that’s quite a vote with someone’s wallet, I guess), I did eagerly await the launch of the Galaxy S6 to see if it is worth the upgrading consideration. Especially since the Galaxy Note Edge, the interim variant with the single curved side 2560×1600 16:10 display, did show some promise on how the extra curve can be used without affecting the main work area size.

However, what came out did seriously disappoint me: what happened was that both the straight and curved versions share the same 2560×1440 16:9 display – meaning that the curved side in a sense lost some 1/6 of its straight viewable work or play area on an already narrow display.

But that was just the beginning: the new phones had no microSD card slots for user storage expansion flexibility and, no, the battery can’t be replaced by the user either, just like on the iPhones. But yes, they have very very fast processors and 3+ megapixel displays with gazillion dots per inch density in a, yes, 5-inch format.

Hold on for a second: the existing 1920×1080 FullHD displays on 5-inch plus smartphones already reach some 400 dots per inch resolution, beyond what a normal human eye can discern from say one foot distance. What is the point of adding extra resolution that can’t be seen? Wouldn’t it be better if Samsung add extra pixels to its laptops instead, so that 4K 15-inch models are a reality? Or UHD 16:10 3840×2400 tablets, for instance, in the same format?

Don’t forget that the extra pixels add to the processing burden, video frame buffer memory footprint and of course the power consumption, yet there is almost no 1440p video content to benefit from them. And, yes, world standard 1080p FullHD content will look better on a “pixel for pixel” matching 1920×1080 screen then interpolated across a 2560×1440 screen. So, what the hell was the point in doing this? And, mind you, it’s not just Samsung doing this.

Is the Galaxy S6 a step in the right direction?

This brings us to a point: is the current smartphone evolution seriously misdirected? Not just from a ‘consumerised dumbing down’ of the overall approach and the waste of CPU cycles with slow Java apps compared to what optimised C++ stuff can do.  Remember a Cray 3 supercomputer three decades ago is slower than a current top end smartphone by quite a bit, but was hell a lot more optimally used resource-wise. It is desperately trying to create added specs that make no real usage sense, just to justify the new sales cycle – and any PC market technology trickery of that sort looks like angelic honesty compared to what is devised in the smartphone market.

The features being added don’t seem to make much sense in terms of real use: the 1440p displays are one good example of absolute uselessness unless you have a true eagle eye, I guess. The good stuff that was added – in the Samsung case, the USB3 connection for faster recharge and PC connections in the S5 and the Note3 – ended up removed and downgraded to the USB2 in the Note4 and the S6!

Then, if we really want a visually rich phone with such a strong GPU power, why not a direct microHDMI connection to a FullHD TV set to, say, play those lovely 3D Moto etc beginner’s games on it without having to use roundabout means such as wireless Screen Mirroring?

And, yes, looking at the on-screen keyboards there… when they occupy half of the screen, and you can barely see the message typed, it seems the time is to bring back the 16:10 screen to the smartphones too. It would help manage the problem, especially in the horizontal mode.

Back to the point above: Samsung is the leader of the smartphone market today, like it or not. Apple (NASDAQ: APPL) is still a formidable force, and Xiaomi could be the another top league member. However, the last we expected from a market leader was to create a closed ‘black box’ product with useless new stuff added, and good current stuff removed, all in the name of, what, an industrial design exercise? My vote on this is a big no, in the name of keeping what’s left of the basic sanity of this market, and it looks like the next phone I get will be a Chinese one (hope malware-free), and so be it – hope they get a little more pragmatic in the approach to the product evolution.

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The 2015 Mobile World Congress has kicked off this week in Barcelona, and the phone announcements and releases are coming in fast. Samsung (KRX: 005930) gave the press a first peek at its flagship Samsung Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge Sunday night in Barcelona.

Also read: Samsung’s Galaxy S6 Will Have a Problem at MWC 2015

Samsung’s flagship for the year comes with a big boost in speed and specs compared to its predecessor. The phone comes with two processors from Samsung’s Exynos line, an octa-core 2.1 Ghz SoC and a 1.5 Ghz quad-core SoC, 3 GB of RAM, a 16-megapixel screen, 32/64/128 GB of storage, a 2500 mAh battery, a 5.1-inch screen, a screen resolution of 2500 x 1440 with 577 PPI, and Android 5.0. Some of the drawbacks include not having the ability to expand onboard memory via microSD and due to the new design implemented, the battery is no longer removable on either model.

The Galaxy S6 will be available in two versions: the Galaxy S6 and the Galaxy S6 Edge. The internals of both smartphones remain the same, the only difference is the Galaxy S6 Edge comes with a curved display.

The curved screen offers the ability to see notifications and launch other applications. As you can see the Galaxy S6 Edge is an interesting exercise in industrial design, but it’s not clear how much of a benefit the curved screen will add — and if it will be worth it for the price premium it will command.

Overall Samsung has an interesting and compelling update to its Galaxy line. But the problem Samsung has, which it also had last year with the Galaxy S5, is that the incrementally updated feature set does not justify the buying a new handset. The specs simply aren’t revolutionary enough, and the pent-up demand is not there. The curved screen found in the Galaxy S6 Edge is a positive update, but time — and sales — will tell on where consumer preferences lie.

The Galaxy S6 and the Galaxy S6 Edge go on sale worldwide April 10.

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Samsung (KRX: 005930) has had a rough go of it during the last year. The Korean electronics giant has posted consecutive quarter-over-quarter declines in profit, with its fabled electronics business at the center of the storm.

While there are a few reasons Samsung has failed to impress investors, the issue at the center of the mess was underwhelming sales of last year’s Galaxy S5 and Note 4. These phones were simply not that interesting: boring design and underwhelming specs kept them on shelves and out of the pockets of consumers.

Samsung Galaxy S6 specs

Like any high-profile mobile launch, the specs of the Samsung Galaxy S6 have been aggressively leaked during the past few months. While these specs are not confirmed here’s a rundown of the most promising leaks:

The flagship will have a QHD display which comes in at 1440×2560. This is a big upgrade from the full-HD screen of the Galaxy S5. The screen on the Galaxy Note 4, which is also a QHD variant, was highlighted as one of the best thus far on a mobile device, and it is looking likely that the same screen will be featured in the Galaxy S6 as well.

The actual chip used in the phone is not known at this time. It could be a Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM) Snapdragon, but this is not likely as Qualcomm confirmed it had lost a “big customer”. The hardware that we’ll see powering the device will possibly be the 14nm Exynos 7 SoC Samsung announced earlier this year. That means that we’ll be seeing an octa-core CPU clocked at 2.1 GHz for the Cortex A57 cores and 1.5GHz for the Cortex A53 cores.

Also interesting to see will be whether the new flash memory modules — UFS 2.0 — will make their way onto the device. Current rumors suggest that that may indeed be the case, which would mean that the entry-level variant of the Galaxy S6 will feature 32GB memory, ditching the 16GB storage variant.

Considering Samsung makes the UFS 2.0 based storage modules in variants of 32, 64 and 128GB, it is likely we’ll see a 128GB version of the Galaxy S6.  It has been rumored that Samsung will stick with a 16MP variant on the device, with the sensor itself tweaked to take better images in low-light conditions.

The design of the device should be a continuation of what Samsung has undertaken thus far with the Galaxy A series, which suggests that we’ll see a metal finish on the sides of the device. Also, there are rumors suggesting that the Galaxy S6 would feature a glass back. Design-wise, the leaks thus far have failed to highlight any radical changes, although the addition of metal and glass would serve to better distinguish the Galaxy S6 as a high-end device (a facet that was severely lacking in the Galaxy S models of old).

Samsung Galaxy S6 pricing

In North America and Europe many carriers will be offering the Samsung Galaxy S6 at subsidized price points. For those that want to buy the phone off contract, here’s the expected pricing:

• Samsung Galaxy S6 32 GB: $849
• Samsung Galaxy S6 64GB:  $963
• Samsung Galaxy S6 128 GB:$1,706

Will Galaxy S6 save Samsung?

Samsung is in a tough place right now. The company is feeling pressure from investors to improve its bottom line. There once was a time where Samsung was a scrappy underdog against a market dominated by Apple (NASDAQ: APPL). But this is no longer the case: Samsung has to compete with the likes of Xiaomi. Competition has never so intense.

Samsung’s Galaxy S5 failed because it was underwhelming. There was no demand for a smartphone that was only an incidental upgrade from its predecessor.

It’s too early to tell just how well the Galaxy S6 will do. The phone’s rumored specs are not spectacular. While there’s a high degree of certainty that these will be the phone’s final specs, Samsung could throw in a wildcard and include something unforeseen it’s very likely what we see right now is what we get. With HTC (TPE: 2498) rumored to make heavy inroads into bettering the camera on the One M9, the Taiwanese vendor’s offering will seem like a more logical choice to more and more users given its aluminum design flair and the software-based features offered by the Sense UI. So far, there’s nothing too compelling from a price or performance standpoint about the Galaxy S6 that would suggest a change of fortunes for Samsung.

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