Gadgetory

it's definitely a battle now as the latest iterations of their respective lines pit Samsung and Apple against each other once again it's the Samsung Galaxy s6 versus the iPhone 6 metal rules the day for both of these phones as Samsung has finally brought their design language into new territory the metallic frame now keeps two glass panels together in this new version of the galaxy which still retains much of what makes it a samsung built device the classic button layout with tactile fingerprint reading home button flanked by recent apps and back capacitive keys are coupled with the power button on the right and the volume rockers that are opposite it what has been most hotly debated about this version is the lack of a removable backing which means no access to the battery or expandable storage though on the back there was still a heart rate monitor and the camera sticks out quite a bit there is little to really clutter the form factor of this phone handling is as good as ever with a 5.1 inch screen and the device has a good lightness and thinness that keep it really nimble for one-handed usage despite all other elements being moved to the bottom and that makes the s6 look pretty similar to the iPhone this is still a Samsung device through and through but that brings us to the iPhone 6 which marked a change in Apple's design language as well a larger model finally came with the main model but the 6 plus gets a 5.5 inch screen for those who really need more screen real estate focusing mainly on the smaller model that now Apple asked metal construction keeps the phone looking and feeling really nice with its own button layout of home button up fronts that can scan fingerprints as well and the volume rockers and silenced toggles on the left side with the power button brought to the right side this time to accommodate the larger size of the 4.7 inch screen despite being point 1 millimeters thicker than the galaxy s6 both of these phones are actually very similar in handling with the iPhone getting the slight bump in ergonomics because of its smaller screen size for any Apple veteran it's not hard to applaud what the company did by refining the design and making the iPhone 6 and 6-plus much larger than before but on the other hand Samsung has really changed their tune when it comes to design and many people are going to like the metal design with the dual glass panels and that is the case for us here at Android authority but for those power users who need or want out replaceable batteries and expandable storage neither of these devices are going to please them nonetheless metal is the way to go for both of these devices and it's a personal choice as to which company rocks it better but we applaud Samsung for finally making the substantial change in design that we've been waiting for as already mentioned the iPhone got a bump up to 4.7 inches in the main model and 5.5 inches in the plus basically flanking the middle size of 5.1 for the galaxy s6 adhering to their original company philosophy of pixel density Apple keeps the resolutions of both fairly low compared to many new Android counterparts keeping the iPhone 6 at 1334 by 750 resolution at 326 pixels per inch though the plus does get a full 1080p display as Android manufacturers continue to push the boundaries of specifications quad HD is the new flavor as 2560 by 1440 resolution at 577 pixels per inch brings high performance to the Samsung Galaxy s6 if you're looking for a great display experience you'd be hard-pressed to find many flaws in any of these devices unless you are actually very spec hungry the galaxy s6 manages to have a high powered display without sacrificing how well it performs and with such a high pixel density everything from media to text looks gorgeous under the great contrast levels of a Super AMOLED display the Apple phones don't suffer from any sharpness issues due to the resolutions though their IPS LCD constructions may not be as pleasing to the eyes of Super AMOLED fans users who want to have a very good media experience with the iPhones would likely opt for the larger 6 plus for its real estate as the galaxy s6 tows the lines of comfort and size with this 5.1 inch panel Super AMOLED continues to really prove itself as a great display experience and it's a feather in the cap of Samsung but Apple's Retina displays definitely hold their ground still as a display tech with a rich pedigree it almost sounds like a cop-out nowadays but these two different ecosystems bring different performance experiences no matter how you slice it though this might have been the general line for comparing Android and iOS this new crop of flagship devices out of Android camp seemed to be getting the speed upgrade that they've been needing the Android lollipop can take quite a bit of the credit here but in the galaxy s6 Samsung opted for a different processing package in their Exynos 7420 as a replacement to the snapdragons backed by three gigabytes of RAM TouchWiz then has been optimized by Samsung for Samsung and the results is one of the most experiences that the company has ever put out stutters are nearly non-existent and movements through the interface and even among different apps and either the recent apps screen or through things like the multi window or as smooth as ever in the past shade thrown ad TouchWiz for less than a completely fluid experience put iOS that little bit over with it's nice animation seamlessly moving in and out of applications and in this latest iteration of their smartphone the Apple a8 with one gigabyte of RAM are able to sufficiently power their operating system with very few problems this disparity in processing packages is the main reason why it's clear Android and iOS are completely different beasts but as an operating system cater to just one platform of devices it makes sense that Apple would be able to optimize iOS fully and the result is an experience that has thus far stood the test of time for Apple veterans Android seems to be in a little bit of a renaissance definitely led by all of the companies who we think are stepping their game up in terms of performance on their smartphones with that all in mind we do have to give Samsung some credit for closing the gap between it and iOS hardware takes on a similar story for both of these phones especially considering Samsung's new compromises both phones come without expandable storage so paying for 32 64 and 128 gigabyte options are up to the user either phone sports fingerprint readers embedded in the home button and this time around Samsung made it a press type instead of a swipe type which is a better implementation that Apple has used for a couple of generations now as such turning on either phone is a simple matter of hitting the face button and leaving the finger there to be read speakers on both of these devices are on the bottom now which is the headline in terms of design similarity between these two but the truth remains that Samsung finally brought the speaker away from the back and put it in a better space and in our testing the s6 speaker sounded a bit louder though in either case we'd prefer to have headphones at much noisier environments and finally in battery Samsung might have lost its edge a bit by encasing the battery but it's longevity is about where Android veterans can expect it to be a day and a half could be had if power saving modes are taken advantage of but fast charging is probably the tool most users will benefit from on these 25 50 milliamp hour units die phone 6 and 6-plus haven't gotten to many high notes on battery and lack these particular features and that's something Apple users have become used to in their respective camp as well respective numbers are around hours of moderate usage and these have been observed in both of these phones on the daily the lack of certain features for both of these phones have displeased many users in either camp but perhaps in this hardware section it's clear now how neck-and-neck these phones are slowly becoming in their latest versions and in the camera features that are found in the Samsung Galaxy s6 are a bit split in the two versions of the iPhone mainly because of oh is which is only available in two plus as such these pictures are all coming from the plus two even up the playing field a little bit after all if you want oh is between the s6 and the iPhone 6 well the s6 is the obvious choice while that will help with stabilization in both photos and videos the general quality of the iPhone 6 phones continues their well-regarded performance the app is pretty simple though with swipes controlling the modes and there are a few extra settings aside from filters and automatic HDR slow motion and time-lapse are fun additions to the camera experience and I have seen some really nice examples from both effects the Samsung Galaxy s6 on the other hand has plenty of options to enhance photos though the main story is the inclusion of f 1.9 apertures and auto HDR for both cameras indeed selfies from both phones are pretty good and this is evidenced by the Apple camp by just how many iPhone self-portraits are all over social media but the s6 brings a lot of customization to photos including the option to change picture and video sizes and a pro mode even brings the ability to manually focus the shot along with all of the other options typical of a manual mode pictures in either camp have great color reproduction and details and all that the dimmest situations will remain well captured sharpness is at its best in these newest versions of the respective lines and it seems Samsung has opted to keep the noise reduction to a minimum so pictures are more accurately depicted rather than smudged out by bad post-processing in low-light situations is actually a toss-up between these two but the Galaxy s6 tends to go for warmer temperatures in its colorations in lower light situations like this one indoors as Samsung further closes the gap in camera quality since the note 4 is a great performer it seems the only real problem the iPhone has here is a smaller sensor at a megapixels as the galaxy s6 demonstrates that it's larger 16 megapixel sensor captures a bit more detail for its better post-processing to work on you won't have a bad time with either of these cameras when it comes to quality for shooting options both provide some compelling versions of their own creative mode but if what you want is more freedom in controlling your shot the galaxy s6 turns out to be the somewhat better choice in software we get some key enhancements in both versions of these respective interfaces with one updating its look a little bit and the other finally getting the boost that we've been waiting for let's start with iOS which got a pretty significant upgrade in iOS 7 continuing to bring its control center for easy access for settings a notification drop down for stock scheduling and general happenings and a more hollow like look all around that has helped keep the long-standing operating system from looking too long in the tooth yes there have been updates to iOS 8 recently but these updates focus mainly on the Apple watch and a new suite of Health applications that we have yet to fully put through its paces all in all i OS veterans remain satisfied with their flavor of operating system even with the lack of its app drawer which is a mainstay for Android and it's on the back of the newest version of Android that TouchWiz has gotten the update we've been waiting for coupled with the in-house processing package of the exceed no 7420 this version of Samsung's interface has gotten smoother and slimmer many of the different features that clutter the operating system in the past are no longer here like the air gestures but some remain like the multi window and the S window without annoying tutorials all over the place to push these capabilities in your face it does get some aesthetic changes including a few new transitions and effects that are somewhat akin to the ones found originally in iOS but they suit this version of TouchWiz very well as health itself has been updated though how it stacks up against the medical suite in iOS remains to be seen ultimately the galaxy s6 is a phone that takes lollipop and puts its own flavor on it and that's something we didn't think we would say in the last couple years as much of what Samsung has always wanted to bake in turned out gimmicky and somewhat outside what should have been the daily usage prowess of proper Android and now you have that proper reliable experience on the daily which can be bolstered by extra features if you dig a little deeper ultimately you're going to know what operating system works better for you thankfully over the last few years Android has really closed the gap with iOS in terms of the number of apps that it has and all of the capabilities that it can offer but the main story in the software segment is not just that these operating systems have become updated but Samsung has really made a step forward in the galaxy s6 and so there you have it the Samsung Galaxy s6 and the Apple iPhone 6 both of these phones bring their huge bang for a huge buck because both of these phones will cost you a pretty penny replaceable battery and expandable storage are what got cut to trim down the overall experience of the s6 into one that we're actually happy to recommend to users new and old but these compromises have been well known to Apple users by now who have had to contend with embedded batteries and fixed storage for years now what has seemed to work for iPhone users will now have to work for galaxy users and that's what will continue Samsung's polarizing nature perhaps the best way of looking at these two phones is how the race between them has gotten much closer perhaps neck-and-neck so if you want either a smaller screen or bigger screen with the proven power of iOS then the iPhone is for you for a more powerful screen and more robust camera experience powered by a renaissance and design and software Samsung has done some great things to start off this flagship citizen of 2015 and we're excited to see where these two phones go next as always thank you guys very much for watching and I hope you enjoyed this versus between the Samsung Galaxy s6 and the iPhone 6 depending on which ecosystem better suits you on the daily you really can't go wrong with either of these devices and we really do applaud Samsung for closing the gap even more with this latest version of their flagship smartphone Apple it's your move now so keep it tuned to Android authority for all of the best coverage and remember to stay tuned here for even more coverage of the other flagships including the Samsung Galaxy s6 as we continue taking a look at it against the other flagships in the game but until then make sure you subscribe to our channel if you haven't already dropped some likes on our videos and head on over to android authority comm when you're done with all of that because we are your source for all things Android