Samsung Galaxy S6 Release Date, Features, Specs, Edge, & Project Zero Rumors Confirmed by Reddit 'Verified' Samsung Insider?

By Staff Writer First Posted: Jan 02, 2015 03:09 PM EST

A "verified" Samsung insider on Reddit seemingly spilled the beans on the Samsung Galaxy S6's release date, specs, Project Zero codename, single and dual-Edge variants and more.

A slew of recent, seemingly contradictory, rumors about the upcoming 2015 Samsung Galaxy S6 may all be true, if recent posts from a "verified" Reddit user claiming to be a Samsung employee, along with new leaked photos, turn out to be genuine. A release date, or at least the month in 2015 that you can look forward to getting the new GS6, may have also been confirmed in passing.

The majority of these rumor confirmations stems from a Reddit user's conversation over the past week, answering questions about the new flagship smartphone from Samsung. A Reddit user named "SamsungRep2015" -- who's post gained "verified" status from the Reddit moderator due to a picture showing he works with Samsung -- gave details on several GS6 rumors and ostensibly confirmed some specs for the new devices.

As we previously reported, several seemingly contradictory rumors have been flying around about the Galaxy S6, including two different rumored camera specs, two different "Edge" models, and a few other conflicting, unconfirmed, speculative details. And starting off the rumor mill was the report that the new Galaxy S model was codenamed "Project Zero" in reference to a from-the-ground-up redesign.

Well, according to SamsungRep2015 (via BGR), the Project Zero rumor is spot on, and it's actually that undertaking -- Samsung is being highly experimental, testing and rapidly changing designs and prototyping multiple variants of the S6 throughout Project Zero's development -- that is chiefly behind this year's marked diversity of specs rumors.

It's also a reason not to lock in your hopes into any one specific rumored GS6 variant at the moment.

"Project Zero is indeed a real thing. I've also seen two different GS6 Edge variants, one with the normal Youm display on the Edge, and one with dual curved edges," wrote SamsungRep2015. "However, when I went to my orientation, a few weeks before the S5 came out I got to physically see the 5.2 inch version. Samsung prototypes a lot and things change extremely rapidly."

So the single and dual Edge variant rumors may both technically be true, but since they're both part of the experimental prototype phase, it doesn't mean you can depend on either of them showing up in the finished product. And from the details and tone of SamsungRep2015's cautionary caveat, the previously-rumored 5.5-inch screen bump might be a thing as well.

SamsungRep2015 continued, adding some details about improved performance, hinting that the famously bloated TouchWiz interface might be finally slimmed down, and possibly confirming the month you can expect the Samsung Galaxy S6's release date to land this spring 2015:

As far as performance, benchmarks are noticeably higher but not by earth-shattering amounts. Overall device responsiveness is vastly improved, and memory consumption is way down. Some builds have freed over a gig of memory consumption from cold boot... not just specs Samsung is focusing on this time around. I've heard lots of rumblings about crazy new designs (and I'm not just talking Galaxy Alpha 'redesigns' either.) Spec-wise though, that all lines up with what I've seen/heard, but again there's quite a good chunk of time between now and April.

Those possible specs include a 64-bit Snapdragon 810 (or the new Samsung Exynos 7 Octa for Korea/International variants), a 5.5-inch Super AMOLED QHD display (we'll have to wait and see about the screen's "Edges"), IP 67 water and dust resistance, and either a 16- or 20-megapixel camera.

A note of caution: Samsung hasn't officially confirmed any of these rumors, and while BGR and SamMobile both initially published the story with few caveats, neither confirmed SamsungRep2015's comments with their anonymous independent inside sources.

And since then, the "SamsungRep2015" account has been deleted from Reddit, along with most of his comments.

However, a related post by SamsungRep2015, seemingly confirming the January 2015 release date of the Android 5.0 Lollipop update for several Samsung devices, is still up on Reddit and similarly marked as "moderator verified" (see this article for more details).

So either SamsungRep2015's other comments disappeared because only the Android L update seemed to be credible after a day's worth of verification, or the account was a disposable burner used either to hoax everyone -- or, hopefully, to spill the secrets he knew and then cover his tracks.

So take however many grains of salt with these rumors you feel necessary, but, at least at this point, it seems that we're in for an interesting spring 2015 from Samsung.