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Fully metal Samsung Galaxy S6 looks sharp (pictures)

An aluminum alloy body and plenty of color help the Galaxy S6 forge a new Samsung path.

Jessica Dolcourt
Jessica Dolcourt is a passionate content strategist and veteran leader of CNET coverage. As Senior Director of Commerce & Content Operations, she leads a number of teams, including Commerce, How-To and Performance Optimization. Her CNET career began in 2006, testing desktop and mobile software for Download.com and CNET, including the first iPhone and Android apps and operating systems. She continued to review, report on and write a wide range of commentary and analysis on all things phones, with an emphasis on iPhone and Samsung. Jessica was one of the first people in the world to test, review and report on foldable phones and 5G wireless speeds. Jessica began leading CNET's How-To section for tips and FAQs in 2019, guiding coverage of topics ranging from personal finance to phones and home. She holds an MA with Distinction from the University of Warwick (UK).
Jessica Dolcourt
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Say hello to the new Galaxy

The Galaxy S6 is Samsung's new "flagship" phone for 2015.

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Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge

It's actually available in two versions: the S6 Edge (top), which features a wraparound screen, and the standard Galaxy S6 (bottom).

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Side by side

Except for the screen difference (and the Edge's higher price), the phones are otherwise pretty identical.

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Screen size

Like last year's model, the S6 features a 5.1-inch display. This time, it has an ultrahigh resolution of 2,560x1,440 pixels.

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Color story

Samsung is making the Galaxy S6 in gold and blue to jazz up the usual black and white.

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Emerald edge

The S6 Edge's wild color is emerald rather than blue.

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Flashy backing

Samsung uses a reflective finish to show off the phones' metal back plate.

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Side view

Here's the straight-sided Galaxy S6 in profile.

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Both together

The combination of an embedded (nonremovable) battery and no microSD card slot keep the S6 and S6 Edge slim.

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Bottom-heavy

The headset jack moves to the bottom, joining the  S6's Micro-USB charging port.

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SIM difference

The S6's SIM card lives on the right spine, below the power/lock button. On the S6 Edge, the SIM card resides up top.

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Home button

Double-click the home button to pull up the camera.

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Brushed look

It's interesting that Samsung went with brushed aluminum rather than a more obvious metal look and feel.

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Speaker closeup

Samsung says its Galaxy S6 speaker is 1.5 times louder than the previous generation of mono speaker and can fill a room with sound.

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16-megapixel camera

Both S6 variants get optical image stabilization and a flash for their 16-megapixel sensors.

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Front-facing

The 5-megapixel front-facing shooter takes wide-angle selfies.

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Camera module closeup

Samsung claims that its larger-aperture lens takes better low light photos.

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Integrated wireless charging

Support for Qi wireless charging built right into the phone means that you can top up your power without plugging in the phone.

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Pocket test

Thankfully, the phone hasn't gotten any bigger. In fact, it's thinner.

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Samsung Pay

In a few months, Samsung will launch a mobile payment system that uses your fingerprint to buy goods and services.

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Lighter TouchWiz interface

Although the Galaxy S6 runs Samsung's custom TouchWiz interface over Android 5.0 Lollipop, the company has scaled back the number of controls and preloaded apps you see.

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App tray

The app tray includes some folders to group common apps, like Google and Microsoft services.

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Samsung apps

Samsung apps may not clutter your app tray, but you can download freebies through Galaxy Gifts and Galaxy Essentials mini stores.

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Multitasking

The split screen mode is on by default here. You can launch it easily by picking compatible apps from your Recents menu.

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S6 and S5 together

The Galaxy S6 is more elegant stylings than its predecessor, however, unlike the S5, its battery is non-removable and doesn't have expandable memory.

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Using the camera

The ___ megapixel camera can shoot up to 4K video and has your usual photo editing staples like HDR, panoramic, and more.

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Galaxy S6 vs. iPhone 6

Compared to Apple's flagship phone, the Galaxy S6 is bigger. But a new design initiative from Samsung does make the phones look similar.

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Battle of the mobile giants

Another look at the Galaxy S6 and the iPhone 6.

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