Can metal phones save Samsung?

Editor’s Note:

I think Samsung is forced to launch a metal phone. A few years ago, Samsung relied on large screens to compete with Apple, but with the emergence of iPhone 5 and iPhone 6, its advantage has disappeared. I think Apple will dominate the high-end mobile phone market. Samsung is still a mobile phone, while Apple has become a phenomenon.

Samsung will release its latest flagship phone Galaxy S6 at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in March this year. According to foreign media, the new phone will have two variants, the normal S6 and the S6 version similar to the curved screen Note Edge that Samsung tried to launch last year.

Samsung phones used to be known for their strong "plastic" feel. With their increasingly larger bodies and styling that didn't change much, they looked more like sanitary napkins than phones. However, with the launch of several new phones with metal frames, such as the Galaxy Note 4 and A33, people can already see Samsung's repentance - after all, most of the people who buy Samsung flagship phones are business people who have high requirements for the quality of their phones, and they can't just use plastic all the time.

[[126184]]

Samsung's recently launched metal-framed A7

According to foreign media reports, the first model of S6 will be made of metal, saying goodbye to the plastic style of the past and the metal-wrapped design of the plastic body in the past year. At the end of December last year, there were some pictures of the original parts used in the production of the metal body of Samsung Galaxy S6 (below), showing that this phone is very likely to be a metal unibody. In the past, among high-end flagship phones, the only impressive metal unibody was probably Apple. Now it's quite interesting to think about it carefully: Apple is following Samsung's path and launching a large-screen phone; Samsung is also following Apple's path and preparing to adopt a metal unibody...

[[126185]]

The second model of S6 is more exciting because according to reports, it will use a side curved screen similar to Note Edge. On Note Edge, this side screen runs from the front of the phone to the right side of the phone, and the degree of curvature is about 45 degrees to the front screen. This side screen can be used to display some content independent of the main screen, such as a quick entry to applications, displaying news notifications or football scores, etc.

Samsung's previous Galaxy S series flagship phones were generally priced at around 5,000 yuan when they were launched. Of the two models this time, it is clear that the second model with a curved side screen (if it really exists) will be much more expensive than the regular version with a metal body (the Note Edge's price is still close to 7,000 yuan).

[[126186]]

The same report also revealed that Samsung may produce a smart watch product with a round screen, which will be equipped with Samsung's self-developed Tizen operating system.

There are three major consumer electronics industry events in the world, namely the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) held in Las Vegas, USA around January every year, the Mobile World Congress (MWC) held in Barcelona, ​​Spain in March every year, and the Internationale Funkausstellung Berlin (IFA) held in Berlin, Germany in autumn every year. According to Samsung's past schedule for releasing new phones, they usually release the Galaxy S flagship series at MWC and the Galaxy Note large-screen flagship series at IFA. Generally speaking, Samsung will officially start selling one month after the release, which means that this year's metal body or Galaxy S6 with a side screen can be purchased as early as April.

If Samsung's smartphones continue like this, becoming more design-oriented and technologically advanced, high-end consumers may fall in love with Samsung again.