The company's profits are falling, and up-and-coming Chinese startups like Xiaomi and OnePlus are pumping out excellent phones that cost much less than Samsung's devices.
But, if early leaks and rumors prove to be true, it sounds like the Galaxy S6 could be Samsung's best phone yet. The most recent leak was picked up by blog Sam Mobile after first appearing on Asian website MyDrivers, which reveals almost every single detail about the Galaxy S6 Edge.
Although these results pertain to the Galaxy S6 Edge rather than the standard Galaxy S6, they probably provide a decent idea of what to expect from Samsung's next flagship. The Galaxy S6 Edge is expected to be a different version of the Galaxy S6 with a screen that curves on one side.
MyDrivers posted screenshots that supposedly show benchmark results along with hardware specifications for the Galaxy S6 Edge.
A benchmark is a specific test that measures the general performance of a phone. This particular benchmark, called AnTuTu, tests a phone's processor, graphics performance, memory, and internal storage and issues a score for each category. These scores also contribute to an overall user experience rating that's supposed to give you some idea of how well the phone performs in real-world scenarios.
The Galaxy S6 Edge scored 60,978 overall on this test according to MyDrivers, which blows away scores received by the Galaxy S5 (44,107), HTC One (26,556), and LG G3 (39,132).
The leaked AnTuTu screenshots also reinforce rumors we've heard about the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge in the past. The phone will supposedly come with a 5.1-inch screen that has a 2560 x 1440 resolution, a 20-megapixel camera, 3GB of memory, and processor with eight cores. Each core inside a processor is capable of executing a separate task, meaning Samsung's new phone should be better at multitasking than some other phones with four-core processors.
The Galaxy S6 Edge will likely be similar to the Galaxy Note Edge, which is nearly identical to the Galaxy Note 4, but with a rounded edge. If Samsung follows this pattern with the Galaxy S6, we can expect the hardware to be exactly the same as that of the Galaxy S6 Edge other than its curve.
But it's not just the sheer power behind the device that seems impressive. Rumors have suggested Samsung will design its new phone from scratch, and leaked photos (shown above) have hinted that it may have a metal design similar to that of the iPhone 6. Samsung is also rumored to make the phone's software a bit simpler and more similar to stock Android, almost resembling the experience you'd get on the Nexus 6.
A new and improved design, excellent hardware, and software that's sleeker and easier to use could make the Galaxy S6 one of the best Android phones of the year. We expect to learn more on March 1 at Samsung's upcoming press event.