Samsung Galaxy S 6 and S 6 Edge: Preview
Joshua Ho / AnandTech :
Context & Ripple Effects
This AnandTech preview by Joshua Ho lands two days before the S6's release window, and the related coverage shows how the story resolved: within weeks, AnandTech's review crowned the Exynos chip inside it the SoC to beat in Android for roughly six months, with battery life holding at S5 levels and the camera judged comparable to the iPhone.
Samsung had also paired the phone with an ecosystem play — an updated Gear VR headset built specifically for the S6 and S6 Edge announced at MWC — making this the launch where Samsung tied its flagship hardware to a VR accessory line.
First-order effects
- Buyers choosing between the flat S6 and the S6 Edge are effectively picking between a conventional slab and Samsung's first mass-market curved-display flagship, with the Edge carrying the design risk.
- The Exynos silicon shipping in these phones sets up the benchmark contest the April reviews settled, positioning it against Qualcomm-based Android rivals for the next half-year.
Second-order effects
- A strong Exynos showing pressures Samsung's own Snapdragon variants and forces other Android vendors to respond on silicon efficiency rather than just screen size.
- The Gear VR pairing gives Samsung a bundled-content angle no other Android OEM has at this point, raising the bar for LG, HTC, and Motorola's launch accessories.
Third-order effects
- If the curved Edge sells, it becomes the template for Samsung's premium tier — a path the coverage confirms months later when the Note 5 and larger S6 edge+ extend the same curved-glass design language, and reviewers note the refined software that followed TouchWiz criticism.
- Camera parity with the iPhone, if sustained across the lineup, shifts the Android-vs-iPhone comparison from imaging gap to platform choice.
The trend: Samsung's 2015 flagship cycle marks the point where curved displays and tightly coupled accessories (Gear VR) became its premium differentiation strategy, carried through the Note 5 generation.