When will the Galaxy S6 come out?

The flagship Samsung Galaxy S5 has been on sale for a couple of months now so it's time to look forward to the Galaxy S6. Here's everything we can tell you about the Galaxy S6 release date and specs.

Most flagship smartphones for 2014 have launched so we're mainly waiting for the iPhone 6, Nexus 6 and Galaxy Note 4. Many of you will be interested in when Samsung will launch a follow-up smartphone to the Galaxy S5 and you've come to the right place.

Samsung Galaxy S6: Release date

Although there is nothing official from Samsung yet (don't expect anything for a while), there is plenty to say about the release date of the Galaxy S6. For starters it's extremely unlikely to arrive this year.

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Samsung, like other hardware manufacturers has got into a rhythm of launching a new flagship smartphone once per year. Just as the Galaxy Note 4 is expected to launch in September to tie in with IFA, we (along with many others) expect the Galaxy S6 to launch close to MWC.

The Korean tech giant has launched previous Galaxy S phones near to the Barcelona show; in fact, the Galaxy S5 was announced in the Spanish city earlier this year. MWC 2015 is scheduled for 2 March so we fully expect the Galaxy S6 to be unveiled close to this date at an Unpacked event.

If we hear anything to say otherwise, we'll let you know.

Samsung Galaxy S6: Specs

As per usual, there are plenty of whispers from the rumour mill on what specs and features the Galaxy S6 will offer. Some are farfetched and many sound likely.

It seems perfectly plausible that the Galaxy S6 will use a SuperAMOLED screen, Samsung's favoured display technology. As for size, the trend is for new models to have bigger displays so with the Galaxy S5 at 5.1in, the Galaxy S6 could be as large as 5.5in, matching the LG G3 or somewhere in-between.

Speaking of the LG G3, there are two main contenders for the Galaxy S6 screen resolution: Quad HD (1440 x 2560) matching LG's flagship smartphone or 4K (2160 x 3840). The former seems more likely to us, even if the Galaxy Note 4 is tipped to be the first 4K smartphone. We'll have a better indication when that launches later this year.

There are rumours of a flexible or curved display which Samsung has been developing and we've seen on the Galaxy Round. Whether the firm utilises this on the flagship Galaxy S6 is unclear. It's possible but from our point of view, unlikely.

The Samsung Galaxy S5 got slammed in reviews (including ours) for its plastic build quality and this is something which should be improved when it comes to the Galaxy S6. Rumours suggest the firm could be using graphene as a material.

Samsung is making Tizen products but it's almost certain that the Galaxy S6 will stick with Android. Google will launch Android L (full name and version number still to be confirmed) so we expect the handset to come with this version and Samsung's TouchWiz interface - probably a new version.

Under the bonnet we think the Galaxy S6 will be powered by one of Qualcomm's 64-bit processors (Android L will support 64-bit) which have already been announced and scheduled to arrive inside devices in the first half of 2015 - how convenient. Android L vs Android 4.4 KitKat comparison review: What's the difference?

The Snapdragon 808 and Snapdragon 810 are the two options here and Samsung could launch each in different markets. The former supports up to 1600 x 2560 displays and the latter allows for full 4K.

There's no word on the Galaxy S6 camera yet but we expect it to either be the same 16Mp resolution with some improvements or an even higher resolution, perhaps 20Mp.