Really not sure why a handful of people on this thread seem so determined to have others admit that a phone other than the iPhone is the best phone--some sort of moral victory that important to justify one's own personal choice in device? So let's say the Samsung Galaxy S6 wins some imaginary 'best smartphone' award because is checks the most 'best' boxes in a virtual report card. Why does it matter? And I'm not saying this to pick on Samsung--I'd say exactly the same if we were talking about any other phone, including the iPhone.
Using an 'objective' checklist, sure, the S6 is the 'best overall smartphone'. Reality is though that real world everyday use and personal preference so often don't coincide with these virtual grades. I can admit that the display on the S6 is exceptional, likely the best to be found, and that it now has the best overall camera on a flagship smartphone. But from my perspective, what good are these if I find the software and user experience so unpalatable? Point is that this one element ruins the stellar aspects, so much so that they're not enough to overcome the shortcomings. So, in my eyes, all that great hardware is wasted. That's why this 'Best Overall Smartphone' claim is next to useless. It's using some arbitrary measurements that some tech site or blog has decided are the important aspects but in reality, smartphone value is going to change with every single individual.
And so yet again, we've taken yet another thread and turned it into a Samsung/Apple comparison.
So here's my feeble attempt to right the ship:
Yes, Samsung is working hard to innovate on the smartphone front. IMO, it's almost all entirely on the hardware front--displays, CPU, memory and storage--Samsung is pushing the performance boundaries (though not sure this is actually truly innovation but rather, pushing progression). The point I was trying make way back when the thread first started was that I wish they would put this same effort into their software and user experience, because THAT would truly be a scary prospect for other smartphone makers, especially Apple.