Week 8 in review: Galaxy S6, One (M9), new mobile SoCs

With MWC 2015 only a few days away all eyes are on the big mobile players and their next flagship devices. It seems that all month Samsung has been in the spotlight with its highly-anticipated Galaxy S6 and this week is no different. Except instead of vague renders and case leaks we are seeing more and more actual bits and pieces from the phone. It is now clear that the device will spout a 2,600 mAh battery pack, inside its 6.9 mm thin body.

Performance-wise the Galaxy S6 is a true beast judging as much from Samsung's opinion of the upcoming device as from benchmark scores of the Exynos processor, which break all previous benchmark records. And things are only looking up for the Korean giant in terms of processing power, thanks to the recent expansion of the in-house Exynos line and the new 14nm FinFET manufacturing process, which we should see debuting as the Exynos 7 in the aforementioned Galaxy flagship.

HTC has naturally been getting a lot of attention as well. Fans are looking forward to the new HTC One(M9) and One (M9) Plus handsets, whose specs were leaked in a benchmark score as well. Sadly according to another leak the two phones will not feature a dual-camera setup, like their predecessor.

During the past days we also saw a number of other new device leaks by Lenovo and Sony. Presumably these handsets will be present at the Barcelona venue and we will be able to take a closer look.

In other news Qualcomm expanded its mid-range chipset lineup with new affordable solutions, offering advanced features at a budget price. If you think you might have missed anything important during the past week, below is a table of what you found most interesting, so take a quick glance for a concise overview.

Samsung Galaxy S6 battery seen in the flesh

Live images from a manufacturing facility confirm the 2600mAh battery capacity.

Samsung Galaxy S6 case leak confirms 6.9mm thickness

With the launch of its OBLIQ Slim Meta cases, the company has confirmed the thickness of the Galaxy S6.

HTC One (M9) and One (M9) Plus specs leak in new benchmark

This new leak promises a highly impressive selfie camera - 12MP with 2160p video capture.

New Samsung Galaxy S6 teaser promises performance

It also hints at a long battery life, plus the lightning bolt icon could well be a nod to wireless charging.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 found to run cooler than the 801

The newer chipset was found to run cooler in both, gaming as well as 4K video recording tests.

Alleged wallpaper image from HTC One M9 leaks out

HTC will unveil its next smartphone flagship in less than two weeks, on March 1 in Barcelona.

XDA-Devs find way to install Windows 10 on any Lumia

The process is slightly hair-raising and shouldn't be done on your primary phone in case it goes wrong.

Asus Zenfone 2 goes on pre-order, pricier than expected

That's only from AliExpress for now, but the base 2GB model costs $300, not $200 as announced.

Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge tops Geekbench results

Far ahead of early Snapdragon 810 results, it also beats Nvidia's Denver cores.

HTC One (M9) leaked cases confirm lack of Duo camera

No more dual camera as already suspected, but no final images of the smartphone either.

Nokia Lumia 520 now available for just $29 on eBay

The online retailer is claiming that close to 8,500 units of the device have been sold already.

Samsung announces Exynos 7 Octa based on 14nm process

The new Exynos 7 Octa is an industry first to be based on 14nm 3D FinFET process technology.

Sony could exit smartphone business in a bid to turn to profit

The Japanese tech giant aims to achieve an annual operating profit of $4.2 billion by 2018.

Lenovo Vibe X3, S1, P1 and P1 Pro specs and photos leak

The phones in question are the Lenovo Vibe S1, Vibe X3, Vibe P1, Vibe P1 Pro and the Vibe Max.

New Xperia (E2303) handset surfaces in benchmarks

Update: We have also spotted another mid-range Sony device in the benchmark database.

Qualcomm announces Snapdragon 620, 618, 425 and 415

Qualcomm has released 4 new mid-range chipsets - Snapdragon 415, 425, 618, 620.