Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 edge preview: Closer encounter

TouchWiz on top of Android 5.0

The Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge boot Android 5.0 Lollipop straight out of the box, with the latest iteration of Samsung's TouchWiz overlay.

We grabbed a few improvized screenshots of the new and improved user interface, which Samsung claims to have largely freed from the bloatware of previous generations. At first glance it offers the same look, familiar from Lollipop updates of the current lineup.

Samsung Galaxy S6 lockscreen, homescreen, app drawer, notification panel

You get a nicely grouped Settings menu with a search function, and a tabbed dialer in a combined interface with the phonebook. The task switcher is the latest TouchWiz iteration with a helpful "close all" button.

Settings menu, keyboard, dialer, task switcher

The new bits come with the added functionality of the dual edge screen. Swiping in from the edge allows access to favorite contacts, as well as offering a quick view at incoming notifications.

Favorites, missed call notification

Performance

The Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge are the first two smartphones to utilize Samsung's first chipset to be manufactured using a 14nm fabrication process - the Samsung Exynos 7420.

Built on the big.LITTLE concept, the CPU features four Cortex-A57 cores at 2.1GHz for power-hungry scenarios and four Cortex-A53 cores at 1.5GHz for energy-efficency. That's almost the same setup as the Snapdragon 810 found in the LG G Flex2 and HTC One M9 (except the A57 cores are clocked at 2GHz), but Samsung's advanced manufacturing process (14nm vs. 20nm) promises less heat and thus less reason for throttling.

Key hardware features:

• 64-bit Exynos 7420 chipset, the first one manufactured on a 14nm production line
• big.LITTLE processor architecture with quad-core Cortex-A57, clocked at 2.1GHz for performance tasks and Cortex-A53 ticking at 1.5GHz for power efficiency
• Mali-T760 GPU
• 3GB of high speed LPDDR4 RAM, clocked at 1600MHz
• Android 5.0.2 Lollipop on board bringing the latest in Google's optimizations

We managed to put both phones through a the full array of benchmark tests that we usually use for our reviews.

The Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 edge start off strong with colossal numbers in the CPU-centric Geekbench and the compound AnTuTu banchmark.

GeekBench 3

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy S6/S6 edge
  4916
• HTC One M9
  3873
• LG G Flex2
  3604
• Motorola Nexus 6
  3285
• Samsung Galaxy Alpha
  3214
• Samsung Galaxy S5
  3120
• Motorola Moto X (2014) Lollipop
  2970
• Apple iPhone 6 Plus
  2884
• LG G3
  2370

AnTuTu 5

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy S6/S6 edge
  68896
• HTC One M9
  57422
• Samsung Galaxy Alpha
  51905
• Motorola Nexus 6
  49803
• LG G Flex2
  47680
• Motorola Moto X (2014) Lollipop
  45660
• Samsung Galaxy S5
  45348
• LG G3
  42038

The Galaxy S6 doesn't fare equally well in the next overall benchmark Basemark OS II. The Snapdragon 810 leads the crowd here inside the LG G Flex2, but the Exynos 7420 still inches ahead of the iPhone 6.

Basemark OS II

Higher is better

• LG G Flex2
  1601
• Motorola Nexus 6
  1509
• LG G3
  1327
• Samsung Galaxy S6/S6 edge
  1269
• Apple iPhone 6 Plus
  1222
• Motorola Moto X (2014) Lollipop
  1173
• Samsung Galaxy S5
  1147
• Samsung Galaxy Alpha
  915

Kraken 1.1, which tests JavaScript performance, is a closer call, but the Galaxy S6 pulled ahead with the G Flex2, One M9 and iPhone 6 posting similar numbers.

Kraken 1.1

Lower is better

• Samsung Galaxy S6/S6 edge
  4323
• HTC One M9
  4578
• LG G Flex2
  4621
• Apple iPhone 6 Plus
  4650
• Samsung Galaxy Alpha
  4911
• Samsung Galaxy S5
  5968
• Motorola Nexus 6
  6088
• Motorola Moto X (2014) Lollipop
  6260
• LG G3
  7632

Graphics performance is up next. Samsung has opted for an ARM GPU, while Snapdragon 810 relies on Qualcomm's own Adreno 430 chips. The iPhone 6 Plus is equipped with a PowerVR GX6450 GPU.

Basemark X

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy S6/S6 edge
  22752
• Motorola Nexus 6
  20901
• HTC One M9
  19836
• LG G Flex2
  19360
• Apple iPhone 6 Plus
  18297
• Motorola Moto X (2014) Lollipop
  12190
• Samsung Galaxy S5
  11798
• Samsung Galaxy Alpha
  11065
• LG G3
  10580

The Galaxy S6 pair also uses a QHD screen - 1,440 x 2,560px - while most of the rest are at 1080p (except the Nexus 6 and LG G3). 1080p is close to half the number of pixels compared to QHD, so look at off-screen benchmarks to compare raw power and on-screen scores to compare gaming performance.

Mali-T760 seems evenly matched with the Adreno 430 and is enough to offer a playable framerate for games with GFX 2.7 level graphics.

GFX 2.7 T-Rex (1080p offscreen)

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy S6/S6 edge
  49
• LG G Flex2
  49
• Apple iPhone 6 Plus
  44.6
• Motorola Nexus 6
  38.9
• Samsung Galaxy Alpha
  31.3
• Samsung Galaxy S5
  27
• Motorola Moto X (2014) Lollipop
  27
• LG G3
  26

GFX 3.0 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy S6/S6 edge
  23
• HTC One M9
  23
• LG G Flex2
  22
• Apple iPhone 6 Plus
  18.6
• Motorola Nexus 6
  18.6
• Samsung Galaxy Alpha
  13.4
• Samsung Galaxy S5
  12
• Motorola Moto X (2014) Lollipop
  12
• LG G3
  11

GFX 2.7 T-Rex (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy Alpha
  48.4
• LG G Flex2
  48
• Samsung Galaxy S6/S6 edge
  35
• Motorola Moto X (2014) Lollipop
  29
• Samsung Galaxy S5
  28
• Motorola Nexus 6
  27.4
• LG G3
  20

GFX 3.0 Manhattan (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy Alpha
  25.3
• HTC One M9
  24
• LG G Flex2
  22
• Samsung Galaxy S6/S6 edge
  16
• Motorola Moto X (2014) Lollipop
  13
• Samsung Galaxy S5
  12
• Motorola Nexus 6
  11.9
• LG G3
  7.7

The Samsung Galaxy S6 duo will launch on April 10 so the time for tuning the software is running short. The overall difference isn't that huge, but we still see why Samsung was keen to go with its in-house chip. Given the right workload, the Exynos can come ahead of Qualcomm's top dog. It's also well-suited for modern games even with the huge jump in screen resolution.