Samsung Co. Ltd. launched its new flagship smart phone the Galaxy S6 Sunday and as rumored the phone comes in two versions: a standard S6 and the S6 Edge, with the Edge supporting edges on both sides of its screen.

Where the rumor mill failed though was on form factor: while both phones sport a metal edge, the rear of the phones is Gorilla Glass 4 and not as rumored metal, still a big step up from the plastic backs Samsung usually ships.

Like any new Samsung phone, the S6 and S6 Edge sees a big increase in operating power and delivery. The phones offer a 5.1-inch 2560×1440 Super AMOLED display with 577ppi, and are powered by the Samsung built Exynos Octacore processor, which offers 3GB LPDDR4 RAM.

Those who use their phones primarily for photography (including selfies) will not be disappointed, with both phones being shipped with a F/1.9 16MP rear camera with optical image stabilization and live HDR, and a F/1.9 5MP front camera with live HDR. If F/1.9 doesn’t mean a lot to you, what it means is that the camera on the phone in theory should take a much better low light picture. Samsung has also recognized the popularity of using the phone to take pictures with a new feature that allows owners to tap the home button twice to open the camera app, and they claim it opens in a lightning fast 0.7 seconds.

Users on advanced 4G LTE networks will notice faster data speeds with the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge shipping with Category 6 LTE, which is capable of 300 Mbps down/50 Mbps up where the network supports it.

Also included are Wi-Fi 802.11 AC with HT80 MIMO, Bluetooth LE, NFC and an IR blaster.

On the software side both the S6 and S6 Edge both ship with a customized version of Android 5.0 Lollipop that Samsung says is far closer to the vanilla build of Android than any other phone they’ve shipped; there’s no mention of TouchWiz and the company says its stripped back its crapware by 40%.

The downside

Samsung is clearly going for a reboot with the S6 and S6 Edge, but in focusing on design primarily it has abandoned a range of features fans love about Samsung phones.

The phone ships in three storage options: 32/64/128GB UFS 2.0, but there’s no longer any support for an microSD Card.

Along with jettisoning support for a microSD Card, Samsung has also abandoned one other feature it has always pushed with its phones: you can no longer swap out the battery as the new, shiny Gorilla Glass rear of the phone doesn’t detach.

The built-in batteries come in 2,550mAh (S6) and 2,600mAh (S6 Edge); the S5 by comparison shipped with a 2,800Ah battery. Samsung promises improved battery usage with the phone but it’s natural to be slightly skepitcal when the battery capacity is smaller than the model before, and the phone offers a more powerful processor, and at least in the case of the S6 Edge more screen real estate to power.

One last feature abandoned, and one of the more appealing aspects of the S5: the phone is no longer waterproof, although with Gorilla Glass 4 it should be harder to break when you drop it.

Overall

It’s a big change for Samsung, and while some fans will be disappointed with the loss of a removable battery and microSD support, what this phone does is take the good fight back to Apple’s iPhone.

Since Apple launched the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus last year the momentum has switched away from Samsung and back to Apple, at least across the Anglosphere, since the company founded by the late Steve Jobs finally gave in and offered larger screen sizes.

Pricing hasn’t been released by Samsung and that’s the one thing preventing most people from calling this phone a winner or not; the phone looks great and offers great specs, but if the Edge goes on sale at over $1,000 a unit as some rumors have suggested, it’s brilliance won’t make a difference in the world.

The Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge go on sale April 10 and will be available in the following colors: White Pearl, Black Sapphire, and Gold Platinum, with the extra color of Blue Topaz available for the S6, and Green Emerald for the S6 Edge.

Image credits: Samsung/ OCDrift.com