Although the major players in the smartphone game regularly seek to surprise us with exciting new features, one factor that tends to remain constant year-on-year is that of the release cycles. Just like last year, Samsung unveiled its Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge in the run-up to Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, and a while before that, the HTC One M9 was also unveiled after months of leaks and speculation. As Samsung demonstrated in quite abject fashion with its Galaxy Note 4 – much to the detriment of the phablet’s sales figures – the announcement of a device doesn’t necessarily mean that it will be hitting the market any time soon, but if you are looking to snag either the Galaxy S6, S6 Edge or One M9 in the UK, you’ll be pleased to learn that your wait is almost over.
Pre-orders of Samsung’s newest handsets begin today, March 20th, and most of the major network operators, including Vodafone, Three, EE and O2, are on board. Both devices will be rolled out on April 10th, which is still quite a wait at three weeks away, although heading directly to Samsung.com means that you’ll receive your unit a day earlier, on the 9th.
As for pricing, being in ownership of the latest and greatest that Samsung has to offer does not come cheap. For the standard, entry-level Galaxy S6 with 32GB of storage, you’re looking at a £599 ($885) outlay, and the 64GB S6 Edge has a whopping £760 ($1,122) price tag.
The HTC One M9, meanwhile, is not only cheaper with a starting price of £580 at the Carphone Warehouse, but it will also be in your hand by the 31st of March. Having delayed the release of the Galaxy Note 4 last year and looked on helplessly as consumers snapped up the iPhone 6 / 6 Plus in their droves, it’s quite staggering that Samsung would give another close rival so much leeway, and if you’re not the patient type, then the feature-rich HTC One M9 may just take your fancy.
Then again, even though it’s not yet out in the wild, many have criticized HTC’s lack of any substantial improvements over last year’s M8, and with Samsung offering two different choices this time around, you feel that the Korean company has the better chance of competing with the likes of Apple’s iPhone.
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