Samsung Galaxy S6: 5 Features Samsung Partners Expect

A Long-Awaited Release At Mobile World Congress

Device lovers across the world will have their eyes on Mobile World Congress, a four-day event where top smartphone vendors unveil their newest products in Barcelona, Spain, next week.

But one handset in particular is expected to top the news -- Samsung's newest smartphone in its Galaxy S series, Galaxy S6.

While Samsung has carved out top market share in the smartphone space with its rapidly released, low-end phones in developing international markets, the South Korean-based company recently encountered dual-ended competition from both high-end vendors, like Apple, and midrange vendors, like Xiaomi.

Samsung partners are anticipating the newest smartphone release will buoy the company to re-establish its leading spot in the market. Following are some expectations, and hopes, for the Galaxy S6.

5. Metal Design

One point of speculation for the new Samsung S6 is that its manufactured material will be metal, as opposed to the cheaper, plastic product Samsung has utilized in the past.

The reason why this design transition would be important, said partners and analysts, is because these design-based features could distinguish the Galaxy S6 by driving it to the higher end of the smartphone market spectrum.

"What won't work is bringing out a plastic-type phone with valueless features, like a heart rate meter," said Patrick Moorhead, president and principal analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy. "Samsung needs to make phones with better material. Metal would be a very smart play for them."

4. Internally Produced Chips

According to Bloomberg, Samsung reportedly will be dropping Qualcomm's Snapdragon chips to embrace its own Exynos chipset for its new flagship phone.

Samsung recently announced its 14-nanometer FinFET process product, which will be adopted in its Exynos 7 Octa. For phones, this feature means up to 20 percent faster speed and 25 percent less power consumption, according to Samsung.

From an overall standpoint, Samsung's dropping Qualcomm shows the company's renewed focus on its chip manufacturing unit as a primary source of revenue as opposed to its flailing mobility division.

3. Curved Display

Samsung released previews of its Mobile World Congress conference featuring a curved line, spurring speculation about a new dual-curved design for the smartphone's display.

The curved feature would distinguish the Galaxy S6 from its predecessors, particularly the Galaxy S5, released at last year's Mobile World Congress.

According to smartphone sales data released by eBay, users are already getting rid of their past devices in anticipation of the newest version. According to the study, In the 10 days after the Samsung S6 announcement event invitations went out to press on Feb. 2, the number of Galaxy S5s sold jumped nearly 65 percent on eBay.

2. Enterprise Equipment

In addition to design and material features, partners are hoping to see new applications equipped with the Galaxy S6 to enhance its role for enterprise clients.

Partners stressed that they would like to see accompanying accessories, like ruggedized cases or extended batteries, to make the new smartphone attractive for the enterprise.

Samsung recently made several security-related moves targeting enterprise clients, including partnering with BlackBerry to launch BES12 and Knox dual support in November, and linking with mobile security company Good Technology to bolster its Knox security platform in February.

1. LoopPay

In a move to put it on par with Apple's Apple Pay and Google's Google Wallet, Samsung acquired LoopPay, a Burlington, Mass.-based mobile payment platform, in February. Partners are hoping to see how the integration of this new mobile payment platform will transpire on the South Korean company's newest smartphones.

The release of the Galaxy S6 could display how the new payment system will operate on handsets, and what further mobile payment features end users will be able to utilize through Samsung's LoopPay.