It took until HTC's 9th generation flagship until Samsung outshined them in design, but better late than never. Perhaps because Samsung set the bar so low that even a metal trim or glass rear is an upgrade for them coming from plastic material. Although in fairness, they do offer premium materials in their very expensive smart TV's that cost more than many cars. I think HTC had better designs, arguably displays, and sound quality improved over the years. Their Sense looks better too. But Samsung have been better at everything else esp two key areas for the longer-term.
I think S5 took alot of flak last year mainly for its band-aid designed rear and overall build quality. It was really the only water-resistant flagship that offered both removable battery and microsd, two basic features that can help out in the longer run if the original batt depletes or you run out of memory space for all those HD vids and games. Outside Samsung, only the Sony Xperia ZR offered them and that was a midranger from 2013. Samsung is in a "damn if you do, damn if you don't" scenario. Offer features that can make you use your phone for 10 years if you like, and they get criticism for build quality. Omit them for better design, and still criticism.
If the S6/S6e doesn't check people's boxes and the Edge novelty wears off after a few days, then the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 is still the best around. A "safe" pick. The series has matured and offers those two key features I mentioned earlier if you want to use it for a decade like some laptops. Note 4 likely wins best smartphone from GSMA by Tues but we will see....
Exynos vs Snapdragon.... Check a video of two Note 3's being compared on YouTube.
For battery efficiency - Exynos
For faster updates - Snapdragon
Exynos overheated more in the comparison vid but other than Gameloft games, Exynos is much better for gaming and surprisingly more battery efficient. Curious how efficient this 14nm build vs the 810 still on 20nm. It doesn't really matter anyway. Samsung releases so many variants, a S6/S6e Snapdragon 810 variant are bound to pop up.