iPhone 6s Plus vs Samsung Galaxy Note5: in-depth specs comparison

So, what is the best smartphone with an extra-large screen that money can buy today? The Samsung Galaxy Note5 is one of the first handsets that come to mind. With a gorgeous display, super-fast internals, and a potent camera, it would be an excellent pick. Plus, with its glass-and-metal construction, Samsung's phablet is quite the looker. 

Today, however, Apple announced a smartphone that's going to give the Galaxy Note5 some serious competition. We're talking about the iPhone 6s Plus, of course. Like the Note5, Apple's phablet is powerful and good-looking, not to mention that rich iOS app ecosystem it has behind its back. Okay, you can probably see where all of this is going. It is time for an in-depth comparison between the Samsung Galaxy Note5 and the iPhone 6s Plus, based on specs and data that we know.

Design

Few would disagree with us if we say that the Samsung Galaxy S6 is a great-looking smartphone. It is constructed of two pieces of glass, held together by a metal frame – an approach that has "premium" written all over it. And the way light bounces off the phone's shiny surface is quite mesmerizing, although those who aren't much into shiny things could be turned off by it. As for the iPhone 6s Plus, it catches one's eye with its metal-made body. We'd describe Apple's phablet as not as flashy as the Note5, but it definitely resides in the same ballpark when it comes to feel and appearance. 

In terms of size, the Samsung Galaxy Note5 has the upper hand. It is physically shorter and more narrow despite packing a screen bigger by 0.2 inches. Plus, the iPhone 6s Plus is 0.74 oz (21 grams) heavier, and that's a considerable difference.

                                         6.23 x 3.07 x 0.29 inches     6.03 x 3 x 0.3 inches

                                            158.2 x 77.9 x 7.3 mm      153.2 x 76.1 x 7.6 mm

                                               6.77  oz (192 g)                    6.03 oz (171 g)

                                             Apple Iphone 6s Plus         Samsung Glaxy Note 5

Speaking of fingerprints, both the Samsung Galaxy Note5 and the iPhone 6s Plus come with built-in fingerprint scanners in their home buttons. The scanner's main purpose is to enable secure and hassle-free phone unlocking by replacing the user's PIN, but they also allow payments to be authorized with a simple scan. Both Samsung Pay and Apple Pay are already active at participating locations in select countries.

A perk you'll only get with the Samsung Galaxy Note5 is the S Pen digital stylus, which rests in its dedicated silo. Its function is obvious – to allow users to take down notes and sketches in a natural, intuitive way. You won't get a stylus along with an Apple iPhone 6s Plus, but its lack isn't too big of a deal, in our opinion.

Display

The screens on these two smartphones are more different than it seems. In the left corner, the Samsung Galaxy Note5 has a 5.7-inch Super AMOLED display, while the iPhone 6s Plus in the left corner packs a 5.5-inch IPS LCD screen panel. The Note5's display isn't only bigger. It has the greater resolution and pixel density – 1440 by 2560 pixels (518 ppi) vs 1080 by 1920 for the iPhone (401 ppi). But the difference in pixel count is not that big of a deal, in our opinion. In actuality, both screens deliver plenty of details in their images, and a naked eye will have a hard time discerning the difference in resolution between the two screens. 

One of Apple's new trump cards is called 3D Touch. In plain words, it as a technology that allows pressure strength to be detected by the touchscreen, and this has paved the way for new gestures in the iPhone's UI to appear. For example, a light touch on an email in your inbox will let you have a peek at its contents. The same kind of touch will also let you preview images in your gallery, webpages from links, or places in Apple Maps, to give a few examples. The Note5's display isn't quite as advanced and can't sense pressure levels, although you can use the S Pen to preview content in a similar fashion. 

Software and functionality

Oh boy, where do we even start? Perhaps we should firstly point out that the iPhone 6s Plus runs iOS 9 – Apple's own mobile operating system. The Samsung Galaxy Note5 comes with Android 5.1 out of the box, which is a different OS and its own distinct ecosystem. 

Apple's iOS is known for its simplicity and ease of use. Instead of cramming its software with all kinds of bells and whistles, Apple focuses on implementing features that matter and improve the user experience. In iOS 9, for example, users will get to enjoy a much improved Siri experience with always-on functionality, transit directions in Apple Maps, the freshly added News app and the overhauled Notes app, a keyboard with a handy trackpad functionality, and a lot more. In addition, the iOS portfolio of software holds a rich selection of quality apps and games. And since Apple has tight control over the software running on its hardware, performance and reliability are top notch. 

TouchWiz – Samsung's custom interface that we find pre-installed on the Galaxy Note5 – also tries to stick to the "less is more" principle. Still, the software is infused with features that leverage the S Pen. For example, notes can be taken quickly by simply pulling the stylus and writing straight on the lock screen. You can write notes not only in your virtual textpad, but also on UI screensots, on images, even on PDF documents. In terms of apps, Android definitely has the quantity part of the equation covered, although the quality of some could be a bit lacking.

Processor and memory

As if the iPhone 6s Plus and Samsung Galaxy Note5 weren't different enough, they're powered by two very distinct processors. Inside the new iPhone model ticks an A9 chip, designed by Apple itself. Built right into it is an M9 co-processor, which is a low-powered piece of silicon that communicates with the phone's sensors. Further technical details have not been disclosed, but it is speculated that the A9 SoC is comrised of a quad-core CPU where two cores run at up to 1.7GHz and two 1.2GHz cores take care of less demanding tasks. 

On paper, the Samsung Galaxy Note5 sounds much more impressive, touting an Exynos 7420 octa-core chip. Four Cortex A57 cores inside it run at up to 2.1GHz, and four more power-efficient A53 cores are clocked at up to 1.5GHz. Also, 4GB of RAM have been thrown in for good measure. To no surprise, the Samsung Galaxy Note5 performs well in performance benchmarks and gets our thumbs up in real-world use. The iPhone 6s Plus, however, is not going to disappoint in this respect either, or at least we're not expecting it to. And we don't have a reason to as Apple has always done a great job at ensuring the fluid performance and responsiveness of its handsets. 

Point goes to Samsung for offering a base Galaxy Note5 with 32GB of on-board storage, while a base iPhone 6s Plus has just 16 gigs to offer. However, the iPhone 6s Plus can be bought with up to 128GB of storage capacity, while the Note5 can be had with no more than 64GB of storage. Neither of the two supports storage expansion via memory cards of any kind. 

Camera 

No smartphone can be considered a true high-end device if it isn't outfitted with a great camera. Apple is ticking the right checkmarks with a 12MP iSight camera with a Dual Tone LED flash and, at least in the iPhone 6s Plus' case, optical image stabilization. Since traditionally, Apple's smartphones have been great performers in the camera department, the expectations for the newest model are set high. Only an in-depth specs comparison will show if the new iSight camera brings it on, but looking at the first photo samples, we're lead to believe that it is really, really good.

First Iphone 6s Camera Samples 

As for the Samsung Galaxy Note5, we've had the chance to test its camera already, and we can confirm that it is an excellent one. Specs-wise, it has 16MP of resolution to work with and OIS to keep the frame steady. In all likeliness, the quality of the produced images will be comparable to what the iPhone can capture. An advantage for the Note5, however, is the more sophisticated interface, allowing photography enthusiasts to take full manual control over the image. In contrast, the iPhone's camera app keeps things as simple and user-friendly as possible. Another strength is the Note5 camera's F1.9 aperture (vs F2.2 for the iPhone), which could translate to better low-light photography.

First Galaxy Note 5 Camera Samples

Expectations

We really don't want to be in the shoes of someone picking between one of these two smartphones. Judging by what we've seen so far, we can safely say that both the iPhone 6s Plus and the Samsung Galaxy Note5 are great high-end phones. And they have a lot to justify their price tags with - they are good-looking on the outside and pack tons of technology on the inside. At the end of the day, it is up to you to pick a favorite. If you're into shiny, flashy looks, if you're experienced with the Android operating system, and if you find the S Pen stylus kind of cool, give the Samsung Galaxy Note5 a try. And if you'd rather go with something that's less sophisticated, but user-friendly, reliable, with tons of great apps to choose from, or if you're simply drawn by that sexy pink color, mark September 25 in your calendars as that's when the iPhone 6s Plus is due to launch.

iPhone 6 vs iPhone 6 Plus: Which iPhone should you buy?

Do you iPhone 6 or 6 Plus? We help you decide which of the Apple smartphones is the best fit for you

The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus have been on sale for a while now and we've been living with them both to figure out which is best. They might look identical but both have their own strengths and weaknesses and vary wildly as user experiences.

Size is the clearest difference. The iPhone 6 might be the bigger than any iPhone before it but it is a minnow when compared to the giant iPhone 6 Plus. The bigger a phone is the more expensive it is too, and the 6 Plus comes with a price tag that matches it's hefty dimensions. Both will play nice with the Apple Watch of course.

Whether you like small phones or large there's more to consider than just size.

Battery life, screen, camera and design are key factors for a good phone. The iPhone 6 Plus wins out in a few of these areas compared to its little brother. Does this make it worth the extra cost? We think so.

iPhone 6 vs iPhone 6 Plus: Design

iPhone 6: Curved aluminium, gold or light/dark silver, 6.8mm thick, 129g

iPhone 6 Plus: Curved aluminium, gold or light/dark silver 7.1mm thick, 172g

The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus look identical. Their dimensions are different though. The iPhone 6 Plus is 2cm taller, 1cm wider and 2mm thicker though. Doesn't sound like much does it? When it comes to phones, though, it makes a huge difference

There's no point skirting around the issue – there are times when using the iPhone 6 Plus one handed is problematic. It's not as bad as you might expect, our average sized hands cope most of the time, unlike with the Nexus 6. The biggest problem with the iPhone 6 Plus is reaching the far edges of the keyboard with one hand. Trying to hit the shift key or the number toggle can turn into a quick game of hand twister.

It takes about a week to get used to the iPhone 6 Plus's size. The more you use it the easier it is to handle. Still as a phone for a stand-up commuter the iPhone 6 is a better fit. It’s slim and narrow enough to use with as much ease as the 4-inch iPhone 5S.

As you'd expect from Apple products both phones are beautifully designed and well-made. Toughened glass covers the display. This curves as it reaches the edges and then blends almost seamlessly into the aluminium chassis. The body feels cool and is grippy enough to keep a handle on. Even though it’s the exact same design, it works better on the smaller iPhone 6. You feel more in control when using it.

Without a case the iPhone 6 Plus feels like a liability. A case increases the dimensions even more but also makes the phones a lot more manageable thanks to the added grip.

Both phones are well crafted, but the smaller size of the iPhone 6 means it’s more ergonomic. It wins the design round.

Winner: iPhone 6

iPhone 6 vs iPhone 6 Plus: Screen

iPhone 6: 4.7-inch 1334 x 750, “Retina HD” LCD

iPhone 6 Plus: 5.5-inch 1920 x 1080 LCD, optimisation in landscape

The bigger phone, surprise surprise, comes with a bigger screen. This brings a host of benefits in use with surfing the web, playing games and watching movies the pick of the bunch. You'll happily whittle away the hours on a long haul flight watching your favourite shows or films.

It's not just size, there's a difference when it comes to the resolution. The iPhone 6 Plus is full-HD and offers a 401PPI while the iPhone 6 is 1334 x 750 pixels, which amounts to 326PPI. The PPI refers to the pixels per inch, so the higher the number the sharper a display will be. The 6 Plus does have a sharper display but you won’t notice it too much unless you bring the phone up to your nose.

Both these displays are fine even though they don't have the infinite contrast ratios AMOLED screens do. The main difference to consider is that extra screen real estate. The 6 Plus has a few optimisations to take advantage of its screen. it switches to landscape mode – just like the iPad Mini 2.

Winner: iPhone 6 Plus

iPhone 6 vs iPhone 6 Plus: Camera

iPhone 6: 8MP camera, 1/3.06-inch sensor, true-tone flash,f/2.2 aperture dual-LED flash, phase detection

iPhone 6 Plus: 8MP camera, 1/3.06-inch sensor, true-tone flash,f/2.2 aperture dual-LED flash, phase detection, OIS

Both phones come with identical front facing cameras that do a good enough job taking selfies and video calling, particularly in lower light. They're not perfect though. Phones like the HTC Desire EYE pander to the selfie generation, these iPhones barely acknowledge it.

The rear cameras are similar too. Both use 8 megapixel sensors with 1.5 micron sensor pixels, dual tone flash and include phase detection, which help the iPhones focus with speed.

The major difference here is that the iPhone 6 Plus comes with optical image stabilisation (OIS). This helps you take better photos by eliminating the blur caused by the small hand movements you make when taking a picture.

                 Here's an example of how the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus cameras compare

In well-lit conditions you won’t notice much difference because the camera can shoot fast enough to minimise the effects of small shudders. When the lights go down the OIS on the 6 Plus shows its worth. Photos are sharper and colours more vivid when it’s dingy, and this applies to video as well.Read 

                              In low-light the OIS on the iPhone 6 Plus helps

Both phones have great point and shoot cameras, but the OIS makes the iPhone 6 Plus the better camera phone.

Winner: iPhone 6 Plus

iPhone 6 vs iPhone 6 Plus: Software

iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus: iOS 8

The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus run iOS 8 and the experiences are almost identical barring the landscape mode we spoke of earlier. Even though the screen is bigger you get the same amount of apps viewable on your home screen – 20 in total.

iOS 7’s radical design makeover remains the same on iOS 8 but Apple has delivered some new features that make it a better operating system. A mixture of Android-esque features and some new additions help lay the foundations for a greater push into health and home automation over the coming months

You can now add third party keyboards, use widgets, access apps from the new notification centre and have the ability to work across Mac and iOS devices in more intuitive way. Apple’s own keyboard has also had a bit of a makeover with predictive words now making an appearance.

The iPhone 6 Plus’s larger display also means that you get a few more keyboard shortcuts in landscape mode. These won’t rock your world.

Winner: iPhone 6 Plus (just)

iPhone 6 vs iPhone 6 Plus: Performance

iPhone 6: Apple A8 64-bit and M8 co-processor

iPhone 6 Plus: Apple A8 64-bit and M8 co-processor

Apple’s new A8 is in both phones and it’s a great processor. It uses a 64-bit dual-core 1.4GHz CPU with a PowerVR GX6450 quad-core graphics chip supported by 1GB RAM.

In our benchmark tests both phones perform extremely well and beat much of the competition in graphics intensive tasks. That’s good news if you like gaming on your phone.

An M8 co-processor also makes an appearance. This looks after all the sensors on the phone and manages the data in a much more energy efficient manner, which means better battery life.

Winner: Draw

iPhone 6 vs iPhone 6 Plus: Storage

iPhone 6: 16GB (£539/$649), 64GB (£619/$749), 128GB (£699/$849), no micro SD card support

iPhone 6 Plus: 16GB (£619/$749), 64GB (£699/$849), 128GB (£789/$949), no micro SD card support

Neither of the new Apple phones offers expandable memory. However, the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus do raise the storage ceiling, from 64GB to 128GB.

This year, you get to pick between 16GB models (for the scrimpers), 64GB ones and – for the flush – 128GB phones. There's no 32GB this year and Apple won't tell us why. We did ask.

An iPhone 6 Plus with 128GB of internal storage is dream for watching movies on, offering enough memory for a hundred or uncompressed SD-quality films or 25-plus HD ones. It's going to cost a whole lot of money to own it if you buy the iPhone outright though.

Winner: Draw

iPhone 6 vs iPhone 6 Plus: Battery Life

iPhone 6: 1,810 mAh battery, 11 hours video, 11 hours browsing

iPhone 6 Plus: 2,915 mAh battery, 14 hours video, 12 hours browsing

If you think the larger iPhone comes with a larger battery then give yourself a pat on the back because you are absolutely right. The iPhone 6 Plus has a 2915mAh battery compared to the 1810mAh one on the iPhone 6. It means that the iPhone 6 Plus blows its little brother out of the water when it comes to stamina.

If you are a normal user you will be able to make the 6 Plus last two full days, which puts it up there with flagship Android phones like the Xperia Z3, One M8 and the Samsung Galaxy S5. It just keeps going and going. The iPhone 6 isn’t bad by any means, it just doesn’t come close to matching the Plus. You’ll easily get a day of use out of it but it’s a phone that you will likely want to charge daily.

In our like for like tests running standard definition video until both phones run out entirely the iPhone 6 Plus lasts for 12 hours while the iPhone 6 for 10 hours.

However, the smaller size of the iPhone 6 means that you can plonk it into a charge case without it becoming too cumbersome. It’s not the most elegant solution, though.

Winner: iPhone 6 Plus by a mile

iPhone 6 Plus vs iPhone 6: Price

iPhone 6: 16GB (£539), 64GB (£619), 128GB (£699), no micro SD card support

iPhone 6 Plus: 16GB (£619), 64GB (£699), 128GB (£789), no micro SD card support

These are Apple phones so they were never going to be cheap but the iPhone 6 Plus is more expensive weighing in at a whopping £789/$949 for the top specification 128GB version. By comparison the same spec iPhone 6 costs £699/$849.

If you do decide to buy one of these phones we’d recommend going for the 64GB one unless you like to store lots of media or tinker with video editing on your phone.

The 16GB versions only have 11GB of usable memory. That's not much at all and the lack of a microSD card means you can't add storage later. If that's important it's well worth considering the Samsung Galaxy Note 4, Sony Xperia Z3 or HTC One M8.

Winner: iPhone 6

Next, read our guide to the best iPhone 6 deals

iPhone 6 vs iPhone 6 Plus: Verdict

Big or small? Apple has taken real pains to make sure the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus offer a consistent experience. Similar screen tech, the same processor and similar-grade cameras make sure there’s no weak link here.

However, we do like that the extra display space of the iPhone 6 Plus and its greater battery life makes it more of a power user device.

We'd opt for the iPhone 6 Plus over the smaller iPhone. If you've got the deep pockets for it, both figuratively and literally, then it is the iPhone to get.

Samsung Galaxy S6 & Galaxy S6 Edge

It's a brave new world where reviewers and high-end hardware lovers will no longer lament or mock the latest Samsung Galaxy's plasticky looks. Both the Samsung Galaxy S6 and the curved-sided Galaxy S6 Edge are class acts with Gorilla Glass 4 front and back and a matte aluminum (real metal not the faux stuff) frame. Samsung has finally found a design to match their compelling plethora of top specs and high tech features. Granted, the more traditionally designed GS 6 looks an awful lot like the iPhone 6 from the bottom, sides and even front, but it's changed things up enough to have its own personality. The Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge on the other hand is certainly unique and futuristic looking with glass that curves around the left and right sides. It's a beauty, and that set of curves will cost an additional $100 over the standard GS6. You're paying for the looks here since the side display doesn't add much functional value, unlike the Samsung Galaxy Note Edge's useful edge display.

The chic unibody design comes at a cost that Apple, Sony and HTC have already faced: there's no way to incorporate a removable back so the battery is sealed inside. Those of you who love swapping in a spare battery will have to switch to external micro USB charging packs when on the go. Samsung also axed the microSD card slot (HTC and Sony managed to preserve it, so what gives Samsung?). As a consolation, you can order the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge with 32, 64 or 128 gigs of storage. Of course a 128 gig GS6 Edge is a frightening $960, a price that could get you a top-notch Intel Core i5 Ultrabook. Since all 4 major US carriers now offer payment plans, they're hoping that the high retail price won't scare you away.

The Galaxy S6 siblings run on the Samsung Exynos 7420 octa-core CPU with 3 gigs of RAM and your choice of internal storage. We don't usually see the Exynos variant of Samsung phones here in the US where the Qualcomm Snapdragon line owned the LTE chipset market but recent anti-trust grumblings against Qualcomm may have opened up LTE technology to other chip makers like Samsung. For those of you who aren't wildly geeky: smartphones use a SoC (system on chip) architecture where the CPU, graphics and LTE wireless radio are combined in one package. Clearly Samsung can optimize the handset better if it makes the hardware and can customize the OS, and it's paid off here.

The phone has dual band WiFi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC and fast CAT 6 LTE 4G (multi-spectrum, 300 Mbps). It will be available on all major and several smaller carriers, and different model variants will support different cellular voice and data bands. It has an AV remote control, heart rate monitor, 5MP front camera, rear 16MP camera with OIS, and a much improved fingerprint scanner. Unlike older Galaxy models and PC laptops where you swiped your finger over the scanner and prayed, this one works like the iPhone 6: rest your finger on the home button and press down. It works 99% of the time, just like the iPhone!

A Super AMOLED Display that's Super

The 2015 Galaxy S6 models have striking 2560 x 1440, 577 PPI Super AMOLED displays (that's the same resolution as the Note 4 display). Arguably, when pixel density moves from the 400's to the 500's as with the S6 from the Samsung Galaxy S5, only those of you with microscope eyes will readily perceive the difference, but Android is always about specs wars. That said, the S6 and S6 Edge have the best looking AMOLED displays on the market: they're very bright (particularly on auto-brightness), have good color fidelity, superb saturation and deep blacks. They're supremely sharp and you won't see any of that AMOLED color fringing on text. The curved model has an infinity pool look that's stunning. Yes, light can refract at the apex of each curve, but that's the nature of glass and light. There's no distortion or problem of any sort here and the phone ignores your palms when you're holding the phone, so you won't accidentally tap on something.

Feeling Edgy

Unlike the Samsung Galaxy Note Edge, the side display (or displays in the case of the GS 6 Edge) aren't addressed as separate display panels. That allows you to select either side as your edge display, but it also means that there's nothing truly autonomous of the main display going on here. The side display can display a list of your favorite contacts (grab the tiny tab on the side of the display and pull toward the center to reveal the contacts strip so you can quickly contact someone via voice or messaging). The side will glow with the color of the contact who's calling (you assign a color to each favorite contact) and the phone can vibrate when you pick it up if you've missed a call. The remaining edge panels come into play when the phone is sleeping and the display is off. You'll have to swipe back and forth along the length of the edge to bring up the edge panels: stock ticker, missed calls and message notifications, sports scores and RSS feeds. It can act as a bedside clock for up to 12 hours per day based on a schedule that you set. There's no app launcher as with the Galaxy Note Edge (one of our favorite uses of the edge display), nor does the side edge offer a spot for app menus or controls like the Note Edge. Honestly, you're paying for the curved glass look with the GS 6 Edge rather than improved functionality.

Brightness on both the GS6 and GS6 Edge can reach 600 nits, but only with auto-brightness enabled. If you're using manual brightness as I tend to do since auto-brightness sets the display dimmer than I like for indoor use, then you'll get just under 300 nits of brightness. Clearly, Samsung wants to prevent undue battery drain by mandating auto-brightness for max brightness, and that 600 nit mode does look a bit distorted, since contrast and brightness are overwrought. It works fine to combat bright direct sunlight, but you wouldn't want to use it indoors or in heavy shade, so we can understand by Samsung prevents you from manually driving the display in that mode all the time.

Performance and Horsepower

Samsung's Exynos CPUs have been strong performers, but charging speeds and runtimes have sometimes fallen short of competing Snapdragon CPUs. The 14nm Exynos 7420, like the new 20nm Snapdragon 810, is an 8 core, 64 bit CPU. Also like the Snapdragon and recent NVIDIA Tegra CPUs, it uses a big.LITTLE architecture with 4 low power cores to handle less demanding tasks and 4 high power cores to handle more CPU intensive tasks like gaming and rendering rich web pages. Thus a maximum of 4 cores can be active at one time, and it uses the same ARM Cortex A53 + Cortex A57 core architecture as the 810. Samsung runs the chips at a wee bit faster clock speed and the A57 cores are clocked at 2.1 GHz while the A53s are clocked at 1.5 GHz. The S6 models have Mali T-760 MP8 graphics, which benchmarks well and plays games wonderfully. Is the Exynos 7420 fast? Yes! It surpasses the Snapdragon 810 in some benchmarks, and honestly both are much faster than necessary for most tasks. If the Galaxy S6 feels slower or faster than the HTC One M9 or even the Nexus 6, it's more likely due to OS and software optimization rather than the CPU.

The speed improvements don't stop with the CPU and GPU though. The Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge use fast UFS 2.0 storage and LPDDR4 RAM. UFS 2.0 is nearly 3 times faster than the eMMC storage used in most smartphones to date. That translates into faster game load times (since games tend to load lots of graphics and sound bytes) and faster video capture times, which is important when you have 4K video recording on board.

Benchmarks

	Quadrant	3DMark Ice Storm Unlimited	AnTuTu	Sunspider JavaScript Test (lower is better)
Samsung Galaxy S6	33,355	21,160	61,873	420 (webkit)/1025 (Chrome)
Samsung Galaxy S5	23,643	18,329	35,357	398
Samsung Galaxy Note 4	24,327	19,667	46,912	425
HTC One M9	33,733	22,168	53,582	852
LG G4	23,730	18,655	46,043	760
LG G Flex 2	26,390	22,644	49,344	730
LG G3	24,385	18,708	36,525	425
Nexus 6	13,595	23,520	49,961	795
Motorola Droid Turbo	22,709	20,735	48,332	795
Moto X (2nd gen)	22,170	19,924	44,340	776
HTC One M8	24,527	20,896	36,087	776
Sony Xperia Z3	21589	16,135	35,008	837
Nexus 5	8808	17,828	27,017	718
LG G2	19,762	9803 (extreme)	32,990	823
Samsung Galaxy S4	12,276	11,601	24,776	826

Geekbench 3: 1454/4619

Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge Video Review

Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge vs. iPhone 6 Comparison

Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge vs. Samsung Galaxy Note Edge Comparison

TouchWiz

We've established that the hardware, from chipset to RAM and storage are very fast. But that can all slow like molasses running down a frosty mug if the OS and software aren't clean and optimized. TouchWiz used to be a pig, and a gaudy looking one at that. With the Samsung Galaxy S5's release last year, Samsung started seriously tuning TouchWiz for speed, so it didn't sap the life out of the GS5. The build on the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge is very well tuned for speed and we never once saw our release firmware T-Mobile unit falter or bog down. Now this is Android, and that means you'll see occasional minor lag here and there on any phone, even a Nexus, but switching from my Nexus 6 (latest, greatest hardware and of course a clean OS with no added UI overlays) I didn't once feel that the Galaxy S6 Edge was any slower.

Is TouchWiz prettier? Yes, it's less cartoonish and cleaner looking and it certainly matches Android 5 Lollipop's Material Design UI better than the sometimes similar looking LG UI on the new LG G Flex 2. It's still a heavy skin over Android and it will certainly look familiar to Samsung users upgrading from an older Galaxy handset. I'm still not a fan of Samsung's icons, though they're less squared off and a little closer to stock Android, but that begs the question--why change something Android and app developers do so well? The settings menu, which was simply frightful on other recent Android handsets is more manageable now too.

Camera

The front 5MP camera is unusually high resolution, and as you might suspect, it takes much clearer and more colorful selfies. You'll look better in Skype video calls too, and video is clear enough that you'll want to make sure you've flossed before jumping on that vid call.

Rear camera resolution remains the same as the Galaxy S5 at 16 megapixels, but photo quality and focus times in low light (the GS5's weakness) are very good now. This is one of the best camera phones on the market and it doesn't fall behind the iPhone 6 Plus. Images are a bit warmer on the Galaxy S6 compared to the iPhone, and that's fine with me because human flesh tones are more pleasing. Samsung has added OIS (optical image stabilization) to reduce blur and jitter from hand shake, though this isn't active if you're shooting 4K or 1080p @ 60 fps video. It does a good job with 1080p @ 30fps and our video looked noticeably less shaky. OIS also allows you to take sharper photos in low light since the camera can use slower shutter speeds.

Camera software features are similar to previous Galaxy S models, though the many modes have been simplified--the important ones are here like background defocus and panorama. You can use your voice to start capture, and you can double-press the home button to launch the camera. When taking selfies, you can use the heart rate monitor on the back (under the flash) as a shutter button--very convenient and clever.

Battery Life

The Samsung Galaxy S6 has a 2,550 mAh battery and the Galaxy S6 Edge has a 2,600 mAh battery and both are sealed inside. The phones support both Qi and PMA wireless charging (it's unusual to see both standards supported by one phone). Samsung's developed their own quick charge technology and they include a quick charger in the box that can top up a battery up to 40% in 30 minutes. The Galaxy gets warm when using the quick charger, and the back gets hot if it's charging while you're using data (streaming video or downloading updates and apps) or gaming. It's not unusual for a fast phone to get uncomfortably warm or hot on the back when gaming and charging simultaneously, but it's certainly worth noting. Also note that wireless charging doesn't use quick charging, which is true of all Qi and PMA phones.

Given past performance, our hopes weren't high for the Exynos and battery life, but the Galaxy S6 and Edge actually managed to match our Galaxy S5 runtimes (and the GS5 was no slouch). As usual, gaming and heavy use of the GPS will drain the battery more quickly than web browsing or streaming music, but in a mix of real world use where we limited gaming to 30 minutes, streamed a 45 minute Netflix episode (Amazon's Prime video player isn't compatible with the GS6, we hope an update will fix this soon), browsed the web frequently, handled emails and checked in to social networks, the battery lasted until bedtime. 

Conclusion

Samsung has done a stupendous job here: the Samsung Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge are premium devices that look and feel the part. I know some of you will lament the loss of the removable battery and microSD card, not to mention water resistance, but given the popularity of attractive unibody phones (cough, cough, iPhone), this is the right move for Samsung to grab a big share of the 2015-2016 smartphone market. TouchWiz is lighter and better looking, the phone is wickedly fast and the Super AMOLED displays are stunning. If you opt for the more expensive Galaxy S6 Edge, you'll get a unique and extremely attractive phone; just don't expect the edge display to do anything terribly important. Yes the thin metal strips on the Edge model dig into your palm a bit more but it's not that uncomfortable, and there's always the standard GS 6 for those who value ergonomics over aesthetics an want to save $100 too. Either way, you're getting one of the best Android phones currently available on the market.

Samsung Galaxy S6 vs Galaxy S5 - What's new?

Galaxy S6 specs include a Gorilla Glass 4 display, Samsung Pay and unibody design

Launching on the 10 April, the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge aim to continue Samsung’s dominance in the mobile market. 

Samsung has made a number of changes and we take a look at 15 features, which differentiate the S6 handsets from its predecessor:

1 - The Galaxy S6 handsets use a 5.1in Super AMOLED screen (2,560 x 1,440 and 577ppi). This means it's got 77 per cent more pixels than the S5 (1,920 x 1,080 and 432ppi).

The S6 also marks the debut of Gorilla Glass 4, which Corning claims is 2x tougher than competiting glass on the market.

2 - On the S6 Edge, the curved screen allows you to see notifications and messages from contacts. When the device is face down on a table and the phone rings, you’ll also be able to tell who’s called thanks to the colour code system.

3 - Samsung has used a metallic unibody design instead of plastic. The firm also claims the material has been treated to make it "80 per cent stronger" than competing unibody handsets. 

4 - Unlike the Galaxy S5, the S6 devices are not certified to be waterproof or dustproof.

5 - Micro-SD support has been dropped too. Users will have a choice between 32/64/128GB of on-board storage.

6 - Samsung has teamed with Microsoft to offer 115GB OneDrive storage for 2 years.

7 - Battery packs are no longer removable. However, charging the S6 for 10 minutes will provide 4 hours of general usage or 2 hours of HD video playback. Wireless charging is built-in, with charging pads sold separately.

8 - The 16-megapixel camera has a f/1.9 aperture lens, real-time HDR and Optical Image Stabilisation (OIS) for better low-light performance.

9 - Double tap the home-button and it will now launch the camera app - Samsung is touting an average startup time of 0.7 seconds.

10 - A 5-megapixel front camera is capable of 1080p video recording.

11 - Samsung Pay will be accepted at 90 per cent of retail stores across the US without vendors needing to install any special equipment. This is thanks to the use of MST (magnetic secure transmission) technology. S6 users will be able to authorise purchases using the fingerprint reader on the home button.

12 - When a phone-call comes in - pressing the heart-rate monitor will automatically send a message telling the caller with a pre-configured text message.

13 - Samsung will ship all its devices with a custom-made 64-bit Exynos processor. It’s the first 14nm chip and has eight-core (4-cores at 1.5GHz & 4-cores at 2.1GHz). The firm claims this is 35 per cent more efficient than the processor used in the Note 4.

14 - TouchWiz has been updated to give it a cleaner look. Where possible icons have been replaced with text commands. Samsung also claims there’s 40 per cent less bloatware installed.

15 - Samsung Knox will be preloaded and it will integrate with two new BlackBerry enterprise services: WorkLife and SecuSuite.

WorkLife allows enterprises to separate billing for work and personal voice, message and data usage.

Meanwhile, SecuSuite is designed for to provide “virtually tap-proof” voice and SMS communications.

iOS 8 vs. Android 4.4: Does Apple finally have the edge?

Just as expected, Apple took the wraps off the newest version of iOS today at WWDC, and it looks a lot like iOS 7, at least on the surface. The improvements in iOS 8 are a bit more low-level than the fundamental UI redesign we saw last year, but it’s a big release nonetheless. Once again, Cupertino is chasing Android, and it definitely catches up in some areas. As Apple likes to say, this is the best version of iOS yet. Still, can it do anything to slow Android’s explosive growth?

Actionable Notifications

Apple has been trying to fix iOS notifications for a very long time and only recently got to a place where it was comparable to Android. For all its early issues, Android has always had great notifications. Beginning with Android 4.1, Google added the ability for developers to add actionable buttons to notifications. Now Apple is doing the same thing, but it goes a bit further.

Android uses expandable lines in the notification shade to keep notifications with buttons and text from taking up too much space. Apple’s buttons in iOS 8 seem to be expanded all the time, but they include quick-reply capability. For example, if you get a message while in another app, the banner that drops down includes a reply button that lets you type a response from the drop-down without leaving your current app. This is, of course, something that can be accomplished with various third-party tools on Android, but Apple’s native functionality is a step beyond Android here.

One remaining pain point with iOS 8 notifications is the continued apparent lack of a single button to clear all active items. As before, you need to empty out one section of notifications at a time. With Android, there’s a simple clear all icon on all devices.

Spotlight Search

With iOS 8 (and the updated OSX) Apple is finally putting that universal search patent to use after suing everyone over it a few years back. Pulling down the search bar in iOS 8 will now offer instant search across a number of different services. It will find apps installed on the device, messages you’ve received, and songs in your library. However, it also reaches out and lists content on iTunes, movie showtimes, maps, and more.

Android’s search UI varies a bit depending on the device, even as of Android 4.4. This is partially because of who was and wasn’t targeted by Apple’s patent suits a few years back, but Google’s default search app has unified things a bit. Basically, you get results from the web and your personal content (local and cloud) when you start typing. To get more, you can flip between various categories like apps, images, books, and other online content.

Android can do all the same things iOS Spotlight Search does — it’s just organized differently. However, any convenience lead Apple might claim in typed searches I feel is more than compensated for on the Android side by Google Now. Google’s predictive search stuff is getting scary good at times. It pulls content from your data like plane tickets, shipping confirmations, and appointments to show you what you need before you’ve even typed anything. Spotlight still can’t touch this.

Continuity Mode

Apple’s new Continuity framework seeks to make your iOS and OS X devices feel interconnected — like a single continuous client. With iOS 8, you can work on a document or look at a web page on one device, then pick up another one and easily pick up where you left off. Android does some of this, but it’s not presented as cleanly or consistently. It is, however, more universal.

Google’s services are much more focused on the web, so you can easily pick up browser tabs, documents, and other content across devices. You have to know where to go, but it does work. The upshot is that Google’s synchronization features work on all devices, even those running iOS. Apple’s Continuity platform is restricted to its devices running the newest version of the desktop and mobile software.

Apple also added the ability for messaging and calls to operate in a more interconnected way on its devices. If you get a call on your iPhone, your Mac or iPad can be used to see who’s calling and even act as a speakerphone to take the call. Regular SMS messages are also relayed through the new Continuity system so you can see them on other iDevices.

QuickType and big input changes

Apple’s keyboard used to be the best touchscreen typing experience, but in recent years the likes of SwiftKey, Swype, and others have given Android users something to cheer about. Apple is upgrading its own keyboard with iOS 8, which is nice, but the big change comes with the opening up of iOS input to third parties — finally.

The default iOS 8 keyboard will have a feature called QuickType, which is simply Apple’s way of saying it has added word prediction to the typing experience. Yes, Android’s default keyboard has had this for years. Unlike some other keyboards, the iOS solution will allegedly be smart enough to choose words based on who you’re talking to. So, it might suggest a more mature set of words when you’re sending an email to your boss than when you’re making plans with friends for happy hour. No sighting of swipe input on the stock iOS keyboard, but maybe you won’t need it.

If that’s just not good enough for you, Apple will be letting third-party developers become the default keyboard on iOS 8 as part of the extension framework (more on that later). You can imagine the folks behind SwiftKey, Swype, and other Android-centric keyboards cheered their heads off at that one. When the user sets a third-party keyboard as the default, it is cut off from accessing the network, which is a smart security measure. The user can grant network access as needed, though.

The customizability of Android’s default app scheme has long been a big selling point, and it’s very encouraging to see Apple adopt that model, even just a little bit.

Metal for gaming

OpenGL has been the standard for 3D gaming on mobile devices — both Android and iOS — for years now. The way Apple tells it, though, OpenGL is getting too heavy for its own good and the overhead is hurting the games. That’s why Cupertino is releasing Metal to developers.

Metal is a new graphics API that will allow games to render with much higher efficiency than they ever could with OpenGL. The demos did look very impressive with realistic physics and more triangles than you can shake a polygon at, though the scenes still looked a little sterile. It’s possible lighting effects with Metal weren’t ready to go in time for the keynote.

There’s nothing like Metal on Android — developers there will continue using OpenGL unless Google comes up with some alternative. iOS has been ahead in the gaming sphere for its entire history, so this isn’t so much about catching up to Android as it is widening the gap. Metal might also make it that much more annoying for developers to port games to Android in the first place. Maybe that’s part of Apple’s dastardly plan?

It’s also interesting to note that, with Mantle, DirectX 12, and GameWorks, nearly every major vendor is now working on a “low-overhead” 3D graphics implementation. It would be nice if they could all agree on one standard…

App Extensions

While it was explained in the “developer” section of the iOS 8 reveal, Apple’s new Extension framework might result in the biggest user-facing improvements to the iDevice ecosystem once developers are turned loose. The third-party keyboard support mentioned above is just one way Apple is going to use app extensions to make iOS 8 more Androidy.

At its most basic level, iOS 8 Extensions are about allowing apps to mingle without leaving their private sandboxes. Android apps have always been able to interact freely, but Google has been reigning some of that in over the years. Apple is trying to find a way to get data and features from one app into the other without introducing security holes, and the result is Extensions.

Developers will be able to pipe bits of their UI and features into other apps using this system, which could allow for a huge number of truly interesting implementations. Some of the features Apple demos include inserting more sharing options into AirDrop, custom photo editing, and building widgets for Notification Center. All awesome features that we saw in Android some time ago (i.e. the open sharing menu and rich third-party notifications). Android 4.4 also strengthened the cross-app file picker, which is something iOS 8 is doing now with custom document handler.

Depending on how much functionality developers get with extensions, this could go a long way toward making iOS more customizable and dynamic.

All the small things

The iOS 8 announcement also came with the usual array of smaller feature additions, some with direct Android analogs and some without. Case in point, photo editing has been enhanced with easier controls. It’s not quite as simple as Google’s Auto-Awesome pictures, but you get more control. iOS 8 essentially lets you choose from a slider how you want the image to look, and it twiddles the individual knobs for you.

All those photos can also be dropped into the newly improved iCloud Drive. You get 5GB for free, then it’s $1 per month for 20GB and $4 for 200GB, with additional tiers from there up to 1TB. Android users have the tightly integrated Google Drive service, which is an even better deal starting at $2 per month for 100GB.

All that stuff you’re saving in iCloud can also be plugged into the new Family Sharing system. Up to six people/devices can access each other’s purchased content and see a shared photo stream. Parents can also use this to grant authorization to buy and download content remotely. This is decidedly unlike anything on Android, unless you include the Kinde Fire HDX tablets, which pretty much no one does.

iOS 8 messaging is getting smarter too with improved group chat features like muting and easier ways to send voice and picture messages. This is more of a swipe at WhatsApp than Android, though.

Is Android threatened?

The new iOS looks much the same on the surface, but the under-the-hood improvements are impressive. Better search, enhanced notifications, and Continuity will help to bring iOS 8 closer to Android while extras like faster gaming with Metal widen Apple’s lead.

Android has a huge market share, and that’s not changing anytime soon. Apple has succeeded in making its platform more appealing, but it’s still iOS. To really steal committed Android users away, we’ll have to wait and see if Extensions can unleash developers to build advanced features for those who want them. That might be Apple’s greatest weapon going forward. Android is due for a big shakeup, though, and Google I/O is just weeks away

Source:extremetech