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Report: Galaxy S6 to be designed from scratch with an “entirely new vision”

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Samsung’s stagnant growth in the mobile realm these past few months might have inspired the electronics manufacturer to kick it into gear and get that innovation train rolling again. We’ve already seen a bit of their latest wacky experiments with the Samsung Galaxy Note Edge, though a new report out of SamMobile suggest that more is on the way.

According to them, Samsung is designing the Samsung Galaxy S6 from scratch. The South Korean company has long stayed with similar looks from phone to phone, but the report suggests they want to move forward with an “entirely new vision.”

Samsung’s already shown a desire to revamp their design language with the launch of the Samsung Galaxy Alpha. It was their first phone to emphasize (not just use) metal as a key component of its design, and the company considered it the spiritual launchpad for many of their big devices going forward.

Is Samsung finally ready to bring that metal-clad goodness to their main flagship lineups? We’d imagine so, but without further information anyone’s guess is just as good. Whatever it is, we just hope it’s enough to get folks excited about Samsung phones again.

Quentyn Kennemer
The "Google Phone" sounded too awesome to pass up, so I bought a G1. The rest is history. And yes, I know my name isn't Wilson.

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88 Comments

  1. Please no bottom center physical button… please!

    1. This too

    2. yeah I agree. It’s about time to go back to a capacitive button!

    3. I actually like it

    4. What about a home button… ON THE SIDE.

      *mind blown*

    5. No. Buy a phone from any other manufacturer.

      1. I have been. I never will buy a Samsung with that center button.

  2. Its. About. Damn. Time.

    1. That. You. Come. Out. Of. The. Closet.

      1. We know it’s you Tim Cook.

  3. About F’n time

  4. Fingers crossed that microsd card slots and swappable batteries aren’t going out with the “new vision”

    1. The only reason I still buy Samsung (well, also the waterproof kept me over the G3 this year)

      1. You do realize the Galaxy S5 is NOT waterPROOF, it’s water resistant. There’s a big difference.

        1. sigh…..this guy.

        2. It can be under 3 feet of water for over an hour. It’s waterproof.

  5. They could always start by getting rid of TouchWiz. Then we can talk lol

    1. This, and get rid of the damned hard keys. On all of their products. Tab S would be perfect if Samsung didn’t wiz all over it and add hard keys that make it impossible to use in portrait mode and can’t be disabled without voiding your warranty.

  6. high time for that…

  7. Yawn….

  8. Will the new vision look more like the iphone 6 instead of copying the iphone 5/5s chamfered edged aluminum frame?

    1. I love the look of the Note 4.

    2. +1 for using the word “chamfer”

  9. Hey man, I’ll take it, Samy makes awesome phones.

  10. Two years too late, but better late than never…

    Near stock Android, fast updates, no physical buttons, don’t just copy last years iPhone design.

    1. and throw in 3Gb RAM, MicroSD, water/dust proof, wireless charging, drop TouchWiz, keep batteries removable, less bezel…

  11. Two things – And i’m glad they’re sticking with it. Touch-wiz [I wouldn’t have any other android os] And Home Button.

  12. They could pump the brakes on the short bus and get on the clue train and go with a near stock build of Android with the Samsung apps like Moto has done

  13. Tychus: Hell, it’s about time.

  14. Sounds like Windows 10.

  15. Not to be outdone, Samsung introduces the world’s first 9″ smartphone! /sigh

    1. They already made 7in, 10.1 inch and a 12.2 inch “smartphones”

  16. Phone God’s just give me the option between Stock Android or the manufacturer Skin

    Samsung Specs are always on point

    A Features Apps store would be a plus also

  17. I think they should tone down Touchwiz..

    1. I wish they’s ditch it altogether. What’s the point in Google putting in the effort just for Samsung to cover it up?

      1. Samsung gives me awesome features like multi window, Google doesn’t. A lot of features Google ends up adding to Android, was originally in TW.

    2. I’m staying out of Android if touchwiz is gone. But they should redesign them

  18. Glad to hear this. If they want the Galaxy S series to be treated as a flagship they need to make it look more premium. That’s one thing Apple has done a great job with. The feel and look of their phones has always been top notch (except for the bending issue).

    I don’t understand why Samsung doesn’t have some of their TV designers work on their phones. The Samsung HU9000 is a fantastic looking TV. It would be nice if their phones could match that quality.

    1. It is very apparent that iPhone users don’t care a thing about that premium look. They always cover them in cheap, ugly cases

    2. the reason why they dont put much effort into style and design is because they gained enough sheep with there countless advertisement to buy without really knowing what else is out there in the world that might actually be better. therefore they can still make tons of cash off of effortless behavior

  19. I bet it looks a lot like this.

  20. Hope it’s a much better effort than the note 4 and it’s lagfest.

    1. I’ve noticed zero lag on the wife’s Note 4

    2. I have absolutely no lag on the note 4. Just look at thousands of review video. show me one with lag… gtfoh.

    3. Liar. Not a bit of lag.

      1. he heard that from an apple fanboy and he is repeating it! mine don’t lag at all.

    4. I took 2 minutes and went into developer options,sped up animations to .5x, turned off double tap home on s voice, put nova launcher with the precache/load to ram setting. This phone is very very fast.

  21. I care much more about them redesigning touchwiz. When are they going closer to stock or were those rumoured talks half a year ago just made up by websites like this?

  22. hopefully they include a finger print reader that works. swiping 2,3,4 times to unlock the phone is a total joke. Loving my iPhone6+ for now though.

    1. The fingerprint scanner on the Note 4 is MUCH IMPROVED over the S5.

      1. still not that great!

        1. It was very reliable to me. But I don’t care for fingerprint readers, not even Touch ID on the iPhone. I prefer pattern.

    2. It works very well on the Note 4…. its just not very convenient since you have to use it two handed for reliable use

  23. Metal is not the direction I’d like to see them take, unless they can manage to keep the removable battery, replaceable SD, and the waterproofing.

    I’d like them to make their software more modular. Get a more pure version of Android, then add the things that you want to use, like Music, Videos, Camera, S-Share, etc. That should allow them to
    a) speed up updates and
    b) even if your phone doesn’t get updated, you might still be able to take advantage of updated software, similar to what Google has done with the majority of their apps.

    So, I don’t have to be on the latest and greatest version to experience to get feature updates, again, just like what Google has done with their Calendar, Camera, GMail, etc.

  24. Hopefully “starting from scratch” doesn’t mean “switching to Tizen”.

    1. They can’t switch to Tizen with no app support.

      1. Tizen would use apps from the Play Store.

        1. Not a chance. The Play Store is closed source. There’s a reason Amazon had to build their own store.

        1. I said app support. They don’t have it.

          1. I misread. You’re right — they may not have app support from Google. Though they’d need to provide alternatives that challenge Google’s software and services, and that alone is an uphill battle.

  25. No bezels, all screen. Screen on the front, screen on the sides, screen on the back.

    1. Screen that projects onto your forehead…

    2. hahahaha

  26. I’m desperately hoping this involves the death of touchwiz, and if you’ll excuse my French, the bollox ‘features’ they keep trying to introduce.

  27. I love the design of the Note 4.

  28. My phones go in cases so I can extract more near-mint resale value from it, but I still don’t want a metal phone underneath, as all that does is add cost and other negative engineering trade-offs vs plastic.

    I thought we were past this “premium-feel” metal snobbery already.

    (Meh. My next phone’s probably not going to be a Samsung regardless — for the first time in 5 years.)

    1. “‘premium-feel’ metal snobbery”? Sorry dude, but if I pay $600+ for a phone, I want it to feel like it’s a $600+ device, not a toy.

      Also, plastic can be done very well. I love the feel of the eggshell-like plastic on the back of my white Nexus 5, but on my old SGS4, the back cover was flimsy at best, not to mention the faux-chrome coated plastic around the borders of it. Plastic is fine, but the way Samsung implemented it on their phones was laughable.

      1. The Note 4 is perfect…metal sides, with a nice plastic back.

        1. Exactly! I messed around with one at Best Buy and it almost made me switch to Samsung. I just wish TouchWiz were a bit more optimized.

          1. I fell in love with the white Note 4 at Best Buy. I never use cases. I paid full retail for this beauty.

    2. I think the Note 4 is perfect. The metal sides are great. I also love the plastic back. I never use cases.

  29. they need to stop trying to copy iphones. Get rid of the home button. They need to redesign touchwiz. Its been way too long.

    1. how exactly Samsung is copying the iPhone home button? have you seen the apple iPhone button? the last time i saw Samsung home button its square compare to the round iPhone one and Samsung have capacitive button to either side of the home button, explain how they are being copied? you stop with that old meth that everything look like an iPhone!.

      1. all their phones look like iphones. what u talking about? I hate iphones too but its true. Their new phones the “Alpha” and stuff look like the iphone 5. First apple puts a finger print reader into the home button and what do u know. Samsung does the same thing. When all the other OEMs for android has gone to soft keys which samsung should have done since ICS. Touchwiz is looks like an Ios imposter.

        1. bruh im no samsung fan, neva been…..but to you, WTH are u talking about, a dam button dont make a phone look like the other, yea they may have a home button and finger print scanner but design wise, not even close to comparison… the only time i ever thought samsung was jocking apple was back in the day with the way their touchwiz ui had looked…btw you wanna talk about style rip off, the new iphones back look like they took notes from HTC but just couldnt quite match htc sexiness

    2. LOL!!! Where have you been living recently? In a cave? Now it’s Crapple that’s copying Samsung’s and other Android phones’ larger screen and many features of Android OS in their iCraps. Wake up, and smell coffee, OK? lol.

  30. Idk about others, but I like the fingerprint scanner for the home key.

  31. Everyone talks about “stock android” like it’s the Jesus feature for android phones, but I’d like to first see a profitable device that uses stock android.

    I agree that Samsung puts a lot of gimmicky features but you can actually disable/turn them off for the most part. They also put a lot of nice features too like the s-pen, multi window, keyboard shortcuts, etc.

    They also been very consistent in having devices with expandable memory and removable batteries (being able to change the battery is very useful if you plan to use the device for more than 2 years as batteries tend to lose their ability to hold a charge).

    I think the main problem with Samsung’s profitability is that unlike Apple customers that tend to upgrade for the sake of upgrading and are very loyal to the brand, many people I know don’t feel the need to upgrade their Android devices every year and don’t mind holding on to them for a few years and aren’t particularly brand loyal.

  32. On the software side 2 things i need from samsung

    1) support old devices. Don’t just give them the latest version of android. Give them the latest version of touchwiz. I’ve been checking out the galaxy note 4 at a couple stores and everytime i see a note 3 instead it looks terribly outdated due to running older touchwiz. My nexus 5 on the other hand will look pretty similar to the new nexus 6 and the nexus 4 when they are all updated to lollipop.

    2) ANYTHING you add on top of stock android allow the user to disable. I should be able to get all of my notification shade back if I want to. I think touchwiz actually brings some good options to android but people get annoyed when you have to take everything (including a lot of crap) or nothing.

    Other than that if they just keep on the same path they are on now with the note 4 (and pretend the s5 never happened) I would be happy to give samsung my money.

  33. Does that mean they’re going to take the money they’re spending on marketing and invest it into research and development?

  34. Yeah, that’s what they said before the S5 and S4 were released.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntwdH3Q54ZY

  35. “Get rid of the hardware and software features that differentiate you as a brand then I’ll buy a phone from you!”… Really, people? If you want virtual buttons and stock Android then there are plenty of options available for you already.

  36. I used to like the Galaxy S series alot, now I got a G3 and haven’t looked back. Love to see them make a phone that appeals to me again.

    Things I like about it:
    -removable battery
    -expandable storage
    -great screen
    -sensible form factor thanks to having a separate flagship for the oversized crowd
    -strong hardware specs

    Areas I feel need improvement:
    -Buttons/keys. Personally, I MUCH prefer on-screen keys, as they are adaptable, dynamic, and follow Google’s design vision. I understand some prefer the opposite, but at least follow the proper layout. This a major pet peeve of mine, and the single biggest thing I detest about Samsung devices. Every Samsung I’ve owned I’ve had to dig into the system files to interact with the software the way Google intended, and every time I use someone else’s I can’t get used to the backwards layout. I know it seems like a minor deal to some, but it’s quite annoying and a huge turn off, different just for the sake of being obtuse.

    But ideally, yes, on-screen buttons.
    -TouchWiz. I know everyone loves to hate on it, but there’s a reason. It’s bloated, confusing, and hides what Android has become. I know too many people who got a Samsung and quickly missed their iPhone because they thought Android was too overwhelming/confusing, inconsistent, and gimmicky compared to iOS. That’s a poor banner to wave when you’re the market leader.

    I understand the need to differentiate, but this can be done with a few truly innovative and unique software features, and elegant hardware design. Ditch the gimmicky bloatware, or at least allow it to be removed. No need to change how Android looks or feels, but if they want to theme it, let us go back to Google’s vision if we so desire. Focus on clean design, smooth performance, and a consistent and intuitive experience that doesn’t drive both new and experienced users up the wall.
    -Size. I mentioned I like the reasonable form factor, and I do, but I still see cause for concern given how large the S5 is. They have a larger flagship for folks who want that, so there is no reason for the S series to be too large to use with one hand. They’re not there yet, but the S5 was an increase in every dimension over the S4, which is not the direction they should be going. I really liked the size of my S4, it had a bigger screen than the S3 yet was a bit more compact. That’s the idea they need to keep pursuing if they want to have a flagship for everyone.
    -Developer support. I know this doesn’t affect the average user, but there is a small yet vocal minority who enjoy modifying their devices software to have an experience they desire. These people, of which I am one, used to sing Samsung’s praises to the masses, yet now that they have turned their back on us this is no longer the case. I understand the need to have a focus on security to sell to the enterprise crowd, but allowing bootloaders to be unlocked and providing proper source would go a long way to restoring the love the most vocal users used to have for the brand.

    Looking forward to the S6, let’s hope they knock it outta the park. Can’t say I’m holding my breath.

  37. I’m looking forward to the Galaxy S6, just hope it isn’t too radically different. I want it to have the Snapdragon 810 also.

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