X

Samsung's 5.5-inch Galaxy S6 Plus rumored to be coming soon

Outfitted with a larger screen, the Plus version of Samsung's Galaxy S6 may debut in the coming weeks, an Italian blog site claims.

Lance Whitney Contributing Writer
Lance Whitney is a freelance technology writer and trainer and a former IT professional. He's written for Time, CNET, PCMag, and several other publications. He's the author of two tech books--one on Windows and another on LinkedIn.
Lance Whitney
2 min read

Samsung may unveil a Plus version of its Galaxy S6 sooner than expected. CNET

Samsung Galaxy S6 phone buyers waiting for a version with a 5.5-inch screen might get their wish fairly soon.

The Korean mobile phone maker is reportedly planning to unveil the Galaxy S6 Plus, a variant of the Galaxy S6 with a bigger screen and other enhancements, according to Italian blog site HDBlog.it. Known internally at Samsung as Project Zero 2, formerly Project Zen, the new phone would make its debut in the coming weeks rather than at the Internationale Funkausstellung Berlin (IFA) 2015 conference in September, as was previously rumored.

In April 2014, Samsung released the Galaxy S5 , then followed it up later that year in October with the Galaxy S5 Plus, which featured a more potent processor. Rumors have suggested that Samsung would adopt a similar strategy this year in an effort to capitalize on the success of the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge . But the new phone would be bigger than its siblings in an attempt to lure in users looking for a larger-screened device. The S6 Plus would also serve as an early alternative to the Galaxy Note 5 phablet, which is still expected to be unveiled at the IFA conference in September.

Though HDBlog.it says the information comes from "reliable sources," the site still considers this a rumor, so it's best to take the report with a grain of salt for now.

But assuming the rumors are true, the Galaxy S6 Plus would feature a 5.5-inch Super AMOLED display -- Samsung's term for its integration of the touch layer with the actual screen, resulting in a thinner design than regular AMOLED displays. It's larger than the 5.1-inch screen found on the S6 and S6 Edge. The S6 Plus would also feature a curved display on both edges of the screen, just like the S6 Edge. Other specs reportedly to be found on the S6 Plus include a hexa-core Snapdragon 808 processor, 32 gigabytes of internal storage, a 16-megapixel rear camera and a 5-megapixel front camera.

The latest Galaxy lineup has enjoyed healthy consumer demand. Sales of the Galaxy S5 smartphones hit 6 million units at the end of April, less than one month after its launch, research firm Counterpoint said on Tuesday. But Apple's 4.7-inch iPhone 6 and 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus have given Samsung real competition with their larger screen sizes. Unlike Apple, which releases new iPhones only once a year, Samsung is in a better position as it can launch multiple Galaxy phones and phablets throughout the year to strike back at its major rival.

Samsung did not immediately respond to CNET's request for comment.

(Via Sammobile)