For the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge, Samsung is ditching all of its tacky plastic in favor of an all-new design made entirely from premium materials — and already its efforts are paying off.

According to carrier partners that have been given a sneak peek at the next-generation devices ahead of their official debuts on March 1, the Galaxy S6 beats the iPhone 6 in terms of design.

Executives from Vodafone, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Korea’s SK Telecom have all been invited to closed meetings where they were able to get hands-on with Samsung’s new devices for the first time, The Korea Herald reports. They are said to be “greatly satisfied” with what they saw.

Not only do many believe the new devices are better than any of the Samsung phones that came before them, but some say they’re better than their rivals, too. The S6 Edge, which has a curved glass display, is the handset executives were said to be most impressed with.

“They said the Edge was better than Apple’s iPhone 6 in terms of design,” one source told The Korea Herald, without wanting to be named.

Rumors have claimed that Samsung is really pushing the boat out to make the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge something special. Amid declining smartphone sales, the company is set to finally address the criticism its handsets have been receiving for their designs.

In addition to super-sharp Quad HD displays, both smartphones are expected to have metallic frames with chamfered edges, and either metallic or glass backs. Samsung has also been promising us new and improved cameras that will take “amazing pictures.”

Samsung is even said to be overhauling its software to deliver an entirely new TouchWiz experience free from clutter and bloatware, that it hopes will be as smooth as pure Android on the Google Nexus 6.

We’ve already seen some leaked pictures of both devices, but Samsung will make the Galaxy S6 and the S6 Edge official at an Unpacked event in Barcelona on Sunday, March 1.

• SourceThe Korea Herald