Samsung Galaxy 6S and Galaxy 6S Edge first look
Samsung unveiled the newest additions to its flagship Galaxy smartphone line Sunday in Barcelona at the Mobile World Congress. The Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge elevate the phones to a more luxury feel, putting them more in line with the Apple iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. The changes bring some awesome new features, and a couple notable losses. First and foremost what you notice about the S6 is the new body design, which replaces the old plastic frame with Gorilla Glass front and back and metal around the sides. It looks slick and feels "thin and fluid in the hand," CNET's Jessica Dolcourt reports from Barcelona. It's the more premium feel that consumers love in the iPhone. The downside: It means no more removable back, which means no more removable battery. It also cuts out the microSD slot for additional memory.Samsung makes up for these tradeoffs by offering 32-, 64- and 128-gigabyte models and by including baked-in wireless charging -- something the iPhone doesn't.The shiny, almost iridescent handset is available in four colors. Both the S6 and the S6 Edge come in sapphire black, white pearl and platinum gold. The S6 also comes in topaz blue, and the Edge will be available in emerald green. The screen size on the S6 is the same as the previous model and right between the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus -- 5.1 inches -- as is the S6 Edge. But the latter adds a little extra on either side: The screen wraps over the right and left edges of the phone, creating two extra strips of screen for notifications, messages, etc. The design doubles down on the one-sided Galaxy Note Edge, which the company released in November. The phones also keep the same AMOLED display, but ramp up the resolution from the S5. The 16 megapixel rear-facing camera is better, too, taking better pictures in low-light conditions. Finally, one of the biggest features of note is the redesigned fingerprint reader, which now works more like Apple's Touch ID and will connect to Samsung Pay, Samsung's (obvious) answer to Apple Pay. It will launch in the second half of this year on the back of the acquisition of mobile payment tech company LoopPay last month.Samsung says the payment system will "be compatible with more locations than any competing offering in a single application." That's because it uses both NFC (Near Field Communication) like Apple Pay and Magnetic Secure Transmission (MST), which means it will work with a store's standard credit card swipe reader. The Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge will be available starting April 10. For a full hands-on review of the new Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge, head over to CNET.com.