New Galaxy flagships generate almost as much interest as new iPhones, so it's fair to say that there was a lot of hype around both the Samsung Galaxy S5 and the Samsung Galaxy S6 before their announcements.
With its conservative design and bloated feature set the Galaxy S5 perhaps didn't live up to the hype, but it was still a top tier flagship and even now, a year on, it's not a terrible phone with a price tag that's creeping ever lower.
Samsung couldn't afford a similarly muted response for its next flagship though, so it's packed the Galaxy S6 full of premium materials and cutting edge tech - and could have delivered the defining phone of 2015.
Power
Samsung never skimps on power with its flagships, so we're not surprised that the Galaxy S6 is a beast. What is surprising though, or would have been if it wasn't so heavily rumoured, is that it uses an in-house Exynos 7420 processor rather than a Snapdragon one.
That might not be a bad thing though, as it's 64-bit, octa-core and promises a whole lot of power. It's also paired with a meaty 3GB of RAM, so the Galaxy S6 is set to be one of the best performing phones around.
The Samsung Galaxy S5 inevitably uses older tech, but it was every bit as impressive at launch, with a 2.5GHz quad-core 32-bit Snapdragon 801 processor.
While that's a little dated and not equipped to make the most of the 64-bit support that Google's put in to Android Lollipop (which the Galaxy S6 ships with and the S5 is upgradeable to), it's still more than enough to deliver slick performance.
Design
With a metal frame and glass back the Samsung Galaxy S6 has a more premium build than perhaps any Samsung phone before it.
It's the first time a Galaxy S flagship has ditched plastic in favour of something more fitting and it looks all the better for it, though in making the move it's sacrificed a removable battery and microSD card slot.
Those have always been two big selling points of Samsung phones and they're two things offered by the Samsung Galaxy S5, which has a relatively unimpressive plastic body.
It may not look great but it's IP67 certified dust and water resistant and its pock-marked battery cover is easy to get a firm grip on, so at least you shouldn't drop it.
Screen
The Samsung Galaxy S6 has a ludicrously sharp 5.1-inch QHD 1440 x 2560 display, which is an improvement on the 5.1-inch 1080p display of the Samsung Galaxy S5.
Whether it will make much practical difference is hard to say and all those extra pixels are bound to hurt battery life, but if you want one of the sharpest screens around the Galaxy S6 has you covered.
Both handsets have Super AMOLED screens, so with either of them you can expect bright, rich, vibrant images that put many other smartphone displays to shame.
The colours aren't always quite as natural as they could be, but Samsung has tuned its displays to the point where they're not far off now. In our early look, the S6 certainly had a decent colour palette, although worries remain about whether the screen can stay bright enough with so many pixels blocking the way.
Camera
Samsung tends to equip its flagships with pretty good cameras and the Galaxy S6 looks set to continue that trend as it has a 16MP snapper with optical image stabilisation (OIS).
OIS is still a relative rarity on smartphones, but it's a feature that's worth highlighting when it does show up, as it compensates for camera shake to help ensure images come out sharp, even in low light.
Beyond that its camera is also designed to function in ultra low light conditions, so you can live your dreams of being a night-time photographer.
The Samsung Galaxy S5 on the other hand has a 16MP camera but no OIS, so while it's no lower on megapixels, but it's not as well equipped to cater for shaky hands and dark environments. It's far from bad though; in fact in our review we found it both competent and powerful.
What it doesn't have is the new 'double tap the home button' to activate the camera from anywhere in the phone on the Galaxy S6 - and that opens up in 0.7 seconds. Super speedy.
Battery
Surprisingly the Samsung Galaxy S6 only has a 2600 mAh battery, which is actually smaller than the 2800 mAh juice pack in the Samsung Galaxy S5.
Combined with the fact that the S6 doesn't have a removable battery that sounds like a recipe for disaster, with the S5's unit is still up there with the best.
Perhaps Samsung has optimised things well and the Galaxy S6 power use won't be too far behind, especially when coupled with Ultra Power Saving Mode, a feature found on both handsets, which does its utmost to keep your phone alive.
Plus when it does run low the Samsung Galaxy S6 supports fast charging, so you won't be waiting around all day for it to get juiced up again.
One key battery feature the S6 has over the S5 is the ability to wirelessly charge - and it can do it on either standard, meaning if there's a pad that lets you charge your phone without wires, your Galaxy S6 can suck juice from it.
Key features
The Samsung Galaxy S6 sports a completely new design, with a metal and glass build that's more high-end than any previous Galaxy S flagship.
The relatively cheap build of previous Samsung flagships has long been a mark against them and Samsung has finally remedied that here.
It's also made improvements to the fingerprint scanner that it introduced on the Galaxy S5, replacing the swipe-based system with one which simply requires you to place your fingertip on the sensor, much like Apple's Touch ID. This should make it more accurate and more useful.
Samsung threw a whole bunch of new features at the Galaxy S5, including a fingerprint scanner, heart rate monitor, download booster and a selective focus option for the camera, allowing you to refocus images after taking them.
Some of these functions are better than others but there's no denying it's a feature-packed phone.
Many of its features have been carried over to the Galaxy S6, but it also has a microSD card slot, a removable battery and a water and dust resistant build, all three of which are lacking from the Samsung Galaxy S6.
Verdict
Samsung seems to have taken a considered approach to the Galaxy S6, finally doing something about the build to deliver one of its sleekest, most premium handsets yet, while upgrading the camera and processor and surprisingly even cutting out some features, such as a microSD card slot.
It's undeniably an impressive handset, but the removal of features means the Samsung Galaxy S5 could still be a tempting choice for many buyers, especially as it will be cheaper.
The design and build hardly impress but despite being a year old it's still a powerful handset with a competent camera and strong battery life.
- Sony's got a new flagship on the way soon.
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