Five months after its release, the Samsung Galaxy S6 remains the best Android smartphone we've seen this year. The S6 has a revamped design that incorporates a premium glass-and-metal build, a gorgeous display, an improved camera, and a blazing-fast processor—making it one of the best-looking and best-performing phones Samsung has ever built. That's more than enough for the S6 ($149.99 with a two-year contract) to earn our Editors' Choice award for smartphones on Sprint.

We've already reviewed the Galaxy S6 on T-Mobile, with a breakdown of its design, features, hardware, and performance. This review will focus on call quality, network performance, and software on the Sprint model. We've written similar reviews for the phone on Verizon Wireless and AT&T.

Call Quality and Network Performance

The Galaxy S6 on Sprint supports CDMA (800/850/1900MHz), LTE (700/850/1700/1900/2500MHz), GSM (850/900/1800/1900MHz), and Spark, the carrier's tri-band LTE network, allowing the device to search between the 800MHz, 1.9GHz, and 2.5GHz cellular bands. Reception was generally excellent while testing the phone in New York City. The only weak-reception area I encountered was in the basement of PCMag's office building, where the phone dropped to roaming (to be fair, reception is pretty poor down there no matter the network or device). Speed tests in different areas of midtown Manhattan showed LTE download/upload speeds ranging from a low of 2Mbps/4Mbps to a high of 6Mbps/3Mbps, which is consistent with other phones we've tested on Sprint.

Editors' Note: The slideshow below is of the T-Mobile Galaxy S6, which is physically identical to the Sprint model.

Earpiece and speaker volume are loud, making the speakerphone usable on the street, provided you're not afraid of being that guy. The S6 also supports HD voice, giving calls a crisp, natural tone through the earpiece. Noise cancellation dampened background sounds, including the heavy construction work that was going on in the building next door. Audio was free from harsh or tinny sound, even at the loudest level. The one problem I encountered was that the speakerphone didn't capture my response very well in a noisy environment. Trying to schedule an Amtrak trip to New Brunswick, NJ, had the automated system on the other end mistaking it for Raleigh, NC or Utica, NY. Turning off the speakerphone and holding the phone to my face fixed this problem, but you might want to keep this in mind if you frequently use your phone hands free.

In our battery rundown test, we continuously stream a YouTube video over LTE at max screen brightness. The Sprint S6 lasted 6 hours, 42 minutes. By comparison, the T-Mobile model lasted 7 hours, 48 minutes, the Verizon phone lasted 7 hours, 13 minutes, and the AT&T model lasted 6 hours, 33 minutes, putting the Sprint model in the middle of the pack.

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Software and Conclusions

The 32GB Galaxy S6 on Sprint runs Android 5.1.1 Lollipop, and comes with 22.78GB of available storage. The bloatware is trimmed down here compared with previous generations of the flagship, but there is still a good amount. On the Sprint end, you have apps like Sprint Fun & Games, Sprint Zone, Sprint TV & Movies, Sprint Family, and Sprint Music Plus. The majority of these can be uninstalled or disabled, aside from Sprint Zone and Sprint Fun & Games.

Samsung adds Flipboard, Milk Music, Lookout, S Voice, Spotify, One Drive, OneNote, and some other apps, most of which you might find useful. I was able to uninstall the majority of Samsung's bloatware—including App Pass, NASCAR, NBA, 1Weather, and NextRadio—and disable the rest. By the time my purge was over, I only had 4 un-removable apps left that most users would consider useless. Even when left alone, though, the bloatware has no noticeable impact on performance.

One feature that has been removed from the Sprint S6 is Download Booster, which allows the phone to use a combination of Wi-Fi and mobile data to download files. Wi-Fi calling is still present, but it's disabled by default and requires you to enable it in the settings menu. In terms of overall performance, the Sprint S6 is just as snappy as the Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile versions.

The Galaxy S6 has an attractive design, a beautiful display, a super-fast processor, and a great new camera. It easily outshines competitors like the LG G4 ($456.00 at Verizon Wireless) and the HTC One M9. It's a stellar choice no matter the carrier, and a worthy recipient of our Editors' Choice award for smartphones on Sprint.

Artboard Created with Sketch. Samsung Galaxy S6 (Sprint) 4.5 Editors' Choice See It $84.55 at Amazon MSRP $149.99 Pros Attractive glass-and-metal design.

Gorgeous display.

Fast processor. Cons Lacks expandable memory and removable battery. The Bottom Line The Samsung Galaxy S6 is the best Android flagship on Sprint with an attractive design, a brilliant display, a powerful processor, and a crisp new camera.

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