The iPhone 6 was revealed by the
Cupertino-based giant in September 2014 and was released on the market later
the same month. It’s the company’s first smartphone to arrive with a 4+ inch
screen. Synchronized with the iPhone 6 announcement, Apple also debuted the
iPhone 6 Plus which sports a 5.5-inch display.
Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge is the first
smartphone in the world to arrive with a screen bent over both edges of phone.
It’s also the first flagship smartphone of the South Korean company to ditch
the plastic back over a glass panel.
Dimensions
As I was mentioning above, the iPhone 6 is the first Apple smartphone to sport a screen larger than 4 inches, therefore, it’s no longer as compact as its predecessors. On the other hand, the Galaxy S6 Edge has the same screen size as its predecessor.
iPhone 6 measures 138.1 x 67 x 6.9 mm
and has a weight of 129 grams. The Galaxy S6 Edge is 142.1 mm tall, 70.1 mm
wide, and only 7 mm thin, while weighing in at 132 grams.
As you can see, the iPhone 6 is both
lighter and more compact than its rival. The Dimensions round goes to the
iOS-powered smartphone.
Display
As I was mentioning above, the iPhone 6 is the first Apple smartphone to sport a screen larger than 4 inches, therefore, it’s no longer as compact as its predecessors. On the other hand, the Galaxy S6 Edge has the same screen size as its predecessor.
iPhone 6 measures 138.1 x 67 x 6.9 mm
and has a weight of 129 grams. The Galaxy S6 Edge is 142.1 mm tall, 70.1 mm
wide, and only 7 mm thin, while weighing in at 132 grams.
As you can see, the iPhone 6 is both
lighter and more compact than its rival. The Dimensions round goes to the
iOS-powered smartphone.
Camera
Because I take a lot of photos with my
phone, I’ve always appreciated a good primary camera. Let’s see how the cameras
of the two devices perform.
The iPhone 6 features an 8 MP
rear-facing shooter with dual-LED, F2.2 aperture, 1/3″ sensor size,
back-illuminated sensor (BSI), Autofocus, Phase detection autofocus, Touch to
focus, Digital image stabilization, Face detection, Exposure compensation,
Burst mode, Digital zoom, Geo tagging, High Dynamic Range mode (HDR), Panorama,
Self-timer, and Full HD video recording support. It also arrives with a 1.2 MP
secondary camera.
The Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge is equipped
with a 16 MP primary cam with LED flash, optical image stabilization, F.19
aperture, 1/2.6″ sensor size, back-illuminated sensor (BSI), Autofocus, AF
Assist Beam, Touch to focus, Optical image stabilization, Face detection, Smile
detection, Exposure compensation, ISO control, White balance presets, Burst
mode, Digital zoom, Geo tagging, High Dynamic Range mode (HDR), Panorama,
Scenes, Effects, Self-timer, Voice activation, and 4K video recording support.
For your selfie needs, Samsung has fitted a 5 MP camera on the front panel of
the S6 Edge.
Early tests have shown that the main
camera of the S6 Edge is superior when compared to iPhone 6’s. Therefore the
Camera round goes to the Galaxy S6 Edge.
Connectivity
The modern are quite similar when it comes to connectivity options. Anyway, let’s take a look at what’s inside the iPhone 6 and Galaxy S6 Edge.
The iPhone 6 arrives with LTE, HSPA+,
Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, hotspot, Bluetooth 4.0 Low Energy, NFC
(only works with Apple Pay), and a USB 2.0 lightning port. On the other hand,
Galaxy S6 Edge is equipped with LTE, HSPA+, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band,
Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot, Bluetooth 4.1 Low Energy, NFC, infrared blaster, and
microUSB 2.0.
As you can see, the main differences
between S6 Edge and iPhone 6 are the NFC port (works with other devices on the
Galaxy S6 Edge) and the infrared port (you can use the S6 Edge as remote
control). The Connectivity round is won by the Samsung flagship.
Processor
Processor
While the iPhone 6 is powered by
Apple’s custom-made A8 processor, the Galaxy S6 Edge is underpinned by
Samsung’s proprietary Exynos 7420 chip. Let’s take a deeper look at the two
processing units.
The Apple A8 SoC is 64-bit-enabled and
it’s based on a dual-core 1.4 GHZ Cyclone CPU and a PowerVR GX6450 GPU. The
64-bit octa-core Exynos 7420 chipset has four Cortex A53 cores clocked at 1.5
GHz, four Cortex A7 cores clocked at 2.1 GHz, and a Mali T760 GPU.
The benchmarks have revealed that the
Exynos 7420 unit is the most powerful mobile chip currently on the market.
Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge snatches another point.
Design
The design is the first thing you’ll
notice about a smartphone. While Apple is known for creating really beautiful
phones, in the past, Samsung has been bashed for the design of their flagships.
The iPhone 6 departs from the design
philosophy Apple has used for their previous phones. It now has rounder corners
and, because it has to accommodate a significantly larger display, it’s less
compact than previous iPhones. Of course, the premium materials are still there.
We are dealing with a metallic frame and an aluminum back. It’s available in
three body colors: Space Gray, Silver, and Gold.
Samsung’s flagship were never
“premium” enough, so their design wasn’t appreciated. Now, the designers of the
South Korean company are showing as that they can too create premium phones.
The Samsung Galaxy S6 edge boasts about a metallic frame that goes around the
edges of the phone and Gorilla Glass 4 on both the front and back panels.
Anyway, the unique element of the S6 Edge’s design is the screen which bends
and wraps around both edges of the phone. Edge can be purchased in four body
colors: White Pearl, Black Sapphire, Gold Platinum, and Green Emerald.
For the first time I can say that a
Galaxy phone looks better than an iPhone. The Design round goes to the Galaxy
S6 Edge.
Battery Life
Let’s face it! With a couple of
exceptions, the modern smartphones are still facing battery life issues. I
mean, you can barely find a high-end phone capable of providing two days of
autonomy.
The iPhone 6 arrives with a
non-removable Li-Po 1,810 mAh battery. In our tests, the iPhone 6 was capable
of staying awake for around a day on a single charge.
Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge is powered by a
non-removable 2,600 mAh Li-Ion battery, a cell which, in our tests, was capable
of getting the phone through about a day of normal usage. It’s also worth
mentioning that the S6 Edge has quick charge support. According to Samsung, 10
minutes of battery charging are enough for 4 hours of usage.
The iPhone 6 and the Samsung Galaxy S6
Edge are similar in terms of battery life. The Battery Life round ends as tie.
Operating System
While the Galaxy S6 Edge is powered by
Google’s Android OS, the iPhone 6 runs Apple’s proprietary iOS. These are the
most popular mobile platforms of the moment, but let’s see what each has to
offer.
The iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus
were the first phones to come pre-loaded with iOS 8. iOS 8 resemblances iOS 7
in terms of design philosophy, but, of course, there are some updates for
several design elements. iOS 8 also arrives with updated native apps and
introduces a handful of new features. The Gallery app promises to keep your
photos and videos organized, iMessage has received support for location
sharing, voice recordings, and sending videos, the iOS keyboard got smarter
(iOS 8 also introduced support for third-party keyboards). The new iOS update
also debuted Family Sharing, a new Health app, Spotlight, and more.
Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge is running
Android 5.0.2 Lollipop out of the box. Of course, the interface was customized
with Samsung’s proprietary TouchWiz UI which has been updated to match the
Material Design guidelines. While all the Lollipop-specific features such as
multi-user support for phones, lock screen notifications, ART, better battery
statistics, Smart Lock, screen pinning, or Priority mode are there, the S6 Edge
also comes with TouchWiz-specific features. Just to name a few: Ultra Power
Saving Mode, Download Booster, S Health 4.0, Samsung Pay, Smart Manager,
Themes, and Quick Connect.
Without a doubt, Lollipop is the
better operating system, bringing more functionality, with TouchWiz adds some
useful features. The point allocated for the Operating System round goes to the
Galaxy S6 Edge.
