When we compared Samsung Galaxy S6 with iPhone 6 in March, it blew away the almost year old iPhone when it came to specifications. Some said it was unfair to compare it with the iPhone 6, so now that the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus have launched we thought we should compare it with the new iPhone to see how it stacks up against Samsung’s flagship device.
Design
Samsung has certainly raised its game with the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge with an all-new design. The front still has a familiar look and feel to it, but the metal frame with the shiny bezel, and glass back panel instead of cheap plastic that it has always been criticized for, makes them the most visually stunning devices Samsung has ever made.
iPhone 6s looks exactly the same as the iPhone 6 with unibody aluminum chassis and glass front panel that is curved around the edges of the display. Apple has used 7000 series aluminium for iPhone 6s’ chassis, which makes it stronger and less slippery than its predecessor. The highlight of the iPhone 6s, however, has to be its new Rose Gold color, which has been very popular.
It is difficult to pick between the iPhone 6s and Galaxy S6 when it comes to design, they’re probably the most good looking smartphones that are available in the market.
Display
iPhone 6s comes with a 4.7-inch Retina HD display with a 1334×740 resolution serving up to 326 PPI. It also comes with 3D Touch, one of the major new features of the device. 3D Touch introduces a completely new way with how you interact with your iPhone. Instead of just tap and gestures, the iPhone 6s is also capable of detecting how much pressure has been applied on the screen. You can check out our article on how 3D Touch in iPhone 6s works to know more about it. The glass screen of the new iPhone is manufactured from a new dual ion-exchange process, which involves replacing sodium ions in glass with potassium ions, which Apple says makes it the strongest glass ever used on a smartphone.
Galaxy S6 comes with a larger 5.1-inch Quad HD display with a 2560×1440 resolution serving up to 577 PPI. We’re yet to get a detailed comparison of how the displays stake up from the experts so I won’t jump to conclusions here.
Processor and RAM
iPhone 6s is powered by Apple’s new 1.85 GHz A9 chip, which comes with an embedded coprocessor and 2GB RAM.
Galaxy S6 is powered by Samsung’s Exynos 7 Octa 7420 chip comprising a quad-core 1.5GHz Cortex-A53 and a quad-core 2.1GHz Cortex-A57.
Despite having just a dual-core 1.85GHz processor, iPhone 6s outperforms the Galaxy S6 in single-core performance in benchmark tests with a score of 2488 compared to Galaxy S6’s score of 1213. iPhone 6 offers similar multi-core performance as the Samsung flagship.
Single-core performance is arguably the most important performance metric for smartphones. Every app benefits from improved single-core performance while only specialized applications will benefit from improved multi-core performance.
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Camera
iPhone 6s and Galaxy S6 both ship with terrific smartphone cameras. Galaxy S6 comes with a 16-megapixel camera with 4K video recording capabilities, whereas iPhone 6s comes with a 12-megapixel camera.
S6’s camera sensor comes with a bigger aperture so it has an edge over the iPhone 6s when it comes to taking photos in low-light. It also has Optical Image Stabalization (OIS), which is available only on the iPhone 6s Plus.
Apple has been renowned for the quality of its smartphone camera for years. The camera alone was a reason to recommend the iPhone over Android smartphones. However, things have changed in the last couple of years as Android OEMs have managed to catch up, and in some scenarios even outshine the iPhone.
One of the new features in the iPhone 6s is Live Photos, a way to bring photos to life, which is quite cool. It may seem gimmicky to some people, but people with children will immediately realize the value of the feature. I won’t be surprised if Samsung launches a similar feature sometime soon.
Battery
One of the things that probably matters most when it comes to the smartphone is battery life. Galaxy S6 comes with a 2,550 mAh battery, which is much bigger than iPhone 6s’ 1715 mAH battery. But despite Samsung claiming that Galaxy S6 offers better battery than the iPhone 6, the general feedback has been largely negative, with some users struggling to get more than 3 hours of screen-on time on their Galaxy S6.
Pricing
When Samsung launched the Galaxy S6, they had priced it at $672, but since then prices have dropped, and you should be able to get it for as low as $576 for the entry-level 32GB model.
iPhone 6s is a little bit more expensive and starts at $649 for the 16GB model, however unlike Samsung, don’t expect Apple to drop prices anytime soon.
So now you can not only get the Galaxy S6 for a lower price, you also get twice the storage space for that amount.
Tech Specs
Here’s a more detailed comparison of the two flagship smartphones.
Conclusion
Interestingly, Samsung has followed Apple’s footsteps, by finally letting go of features such as removable battery, microSD card slot and waterproofing. It hasn’t gone down too well with their ardent followers, as those were the primary reasons to buy their smartphones over the iPhone.
iPhone 6s Pros
- Performance
- 3D Touch
- Tight software and hardware integration
- Support
Samsung Galaxy S6 Pros
- Low-light photos and OIS
- Wireless Charging
- Fast Charging
Some of the key advantages of the iPhone 6s over the Samsung Galaxy S6 is performance, 3D Touch that I believe is a game changer, ease of use due to the tight integration of hardware, software and services, and support, which is probably one of the most underrated aspects that people consider while buying a device. On the flip side, Android is a lot more tweakable, which makes it a compelling option for power users.
In case of the Galaxy S6, it comes with a slightly better camera when it comes to taking photos in low-light, and comes with innovative features that are not available on the iPhone like Wireless Charging and Fast Charging, which allows you to charge your device without needing a chord, and allows the Galaxy S6 to be charged from 0-50% in just over 30 minutes, and to 100% in just over 100 minutes (iPhone 6s takes 3 hours or 180 minutes to charge).
I hope I have been fair in my comparison and haven’t sounded biased towards the iPhone 6s, which is my preferred choice. Feel free to rip it apart in the comments below, and I will be happy to update the post with your inputs if you have a valid argument.
