The New Year is just around the corner, and since you’re reading PhoneDog you’ve probably already thought about what phones you’re most interested in seeing next year. There are a lot of great prospects when it comes to next year’s flagship lineup. Maybe you’re interested in what HTC will bring with the next One device, or how LG’s G5 will hold up to this year’s awesome G4. Perhaps you have high hopes for Apple’s iPhone 7, and what design and software changes will be packaged along with it.

But me? I realized recently that I’ve been very interested in what Samsung has been up to.

It has been awhile since I was seriously interested in using a Samsung device as my daily driver. I picked up the Galaxy S4 back in 2013, but the device I had ran hot to the touch during typical usage and the 5-inch display was too big for me at the time. I ended up going with the HTC One (M7) instead, and never had any regrets about the trade. Ever since then, I can’t say that I’ve really pinned any Samsung devices as being one of my personal top contenders for a new smartphone.

I’ll be honest, there’s not one specific thing that has driven my interest towards Samsung lately; there are multiple reasons that I’ve started to take interest.

First and foremost, I think I’m ready to wave my white flag of surrender when it comes to feeling that a sub 5-inch display is a “must have” in smartphones for me. It’s severely limiting my options. Flagships are big and they’re only getting bigger, so I’ve given up the dream that small smartphones will make a comeback anytime soon. That was one of the biggest reasons I switched the Galaxy S4 out for the HTC One; the One had a smaller display and was easier for me to hold in one hand.

Second, I’m starting to take a serious interest in mobile pay services. While Apple Pay is arguably one of the most recognized mobile payment systems, Samsung Pay is more widely accepted using two different types of payment methods (NFC and MST). So, in theory, Samsung Pay is less hassle because MST (magnetic secure transmission) is already available in most retail locations, whereas NFC alone isn’t. Since Apple Pay only uses NFC, Samsung’s MST accessibility is what gives it the advantage here.

It’s also worth mentioning that Samsung is on a roll when it comes to promotions to get people to use Samsung Pay, such as Best Buy gift cards or their $200 Samsung.com promotion. So, aside from the (hopeful) convenience of using your phone to pay for things, it’s nice that they want to throw some money at you for it as well.

I don’t know what to expect out the Samsung Galaxy S7, but the upgrades I saw in the S6 and the S6 Edge were very nice in terms of design. I was a little disappointed that edges in the S6 Edge weren’t as “useful” as they are in the 2014 Note Edge’s design, but perhaps we’ll see that change in the S7. Either way, the S6 models looked sleek; I would be surprised if that were to change in just one year, as it seemed like this design was fairly well-liked outside of the loss of removable battery and microSD card slot, both of which Samsung was well-known for having until this year.

And despite me “waving my white flag” in regards to smaller smartphones, I don’t think I’m ready to jump into something as big as the Note yet. Baby steps.

I’m still wary of TouchWiz as I’ve never been a big fan, and I still wish that we could remove bloatware on Android (and iOS for that matter) as well as we can with a Windows Phone device (one of the most underrated features of the platform, I think) but I’m interested in seeing the changes that have been made to TouchWiz since my last tried and true experience with it.

I still love my iPhone 6, but I’ve had an itch to switch for a while at this point. Samsung has caught my attention and I’m very interested to see what Samsung brings to the table next year.

Readers, what phone are you most interested in seeing surface next year? Let us know in the comments below!