Gadgetory

last year's Samsung Galaxy s5 didn't look feel or act like much of a match for Apple's top-selling iPhone well you know what they say what a difference a year makes I'm Michael Fisher with PocketNow and this is Samsung Galaxy s6 vs Apple iPhone 6 brought to you by Squarespace everybody's thinking it so let's just say it the galaxy s6 is visually very similar to the iPhone 6 from the position of the power and volume keys to the home buttons with integrated fingerprint scanners to the arrangement of ports and speakers on the bottom edges the similarity is undeniable helped even the SIM card slots are in the same place does this mean that Samsung stole Apple's design well no more than Apple's stole HTC's antenna implementation or oneplus stole the idea of wooden smartphones from Motorola the point is idea appropriation is rampant in the smartphone world and in this case the results are positive for both phones whoever copied whom all these ports and trays feature excellent precision machining and the buttons offer terrific travel and feedback when we flip around to the back side the similarities quickly fade away the galaxy's rear cover is dominated by its protruding 16 megapixel optically stabilized camera module and accompanying biosensors while Apple puts its non stabilised 8 megapixel camera up in the corner also the iPhones ventral surface is wraparound aluminium while the galaxies is Gorilla Glass 4 so while both are very smooth and comfortable to hold the Samsung device is much more susceptible to fingerprints speaking of fingerprints unlock these phones with the press of a thumb and you'll get a pleasant surprise gone is the cumbersome swiping of last year sensors the galaxy's new reader is just as quick accurate and comfortable as the iPhones ever since the first Galaxy S Samsung has made it a point to keep a head of Apple in screen size and nothing's changed in that regard the s6 is displays almost a half inch larger on the day I can and packs over two and a half million more pixels for a much sharper picture whether you'll notice this added sharpness depends on how much 4k video you're watching on your phone and whether or not you're using the galaxy s6 as part of a gear VR headset you will almost certainly notice the galaxies deeper blacks and more saturated colors though the result of Samsung using its own Super AMOLED technology versus the IPS LCD of the iPhone and that same tech gulf makes for a more versatile display on the Samsung it can get brighter in direct sunlight and dimmer in the dark as we discussed last week comparing the iPhone 6 and new HTC One iOS and Android are pretty evenly matched from an ecosystem standpoint if you can find an app in the App Store odds are you'll be able to find it in Google Play and vice versa responsiveness and app launch times are comparable here as well while Android still has some annoying pauses and often accessed corners like the multitasking view the differences are minor enough that most people probably won't notice the important disparity is in the interface design commenters chafe when I say it but it's true out-of-the-box iOS is the simpler interface its grid of icons and folders is simplicity itself to get back to that grid you press the phone's only front-mounted button to mute the ringer you flip the phone's only switch now you can set Android to emulate apples simple look and feel if you want to but that's not how the Galaxy S six comes out of the box instead its homescreen is dominated by a big clock widget flanked on the left by a newsreader and on the right by well a ton of carrier bloat on the t-mobile version apps are stored in a separate drawer and in addition to the HOME key you've got a dedicated back button and an app switching key oh and good luck figuring out the ringer settings now that Android lollipop has screwed them up completely but Android is also smarter in some ways it's dedicated back key makes it easier to use with one hand because iOS still insists on putting its back buttons on the upper left corner of most apps also Android is the more customizable OS by especially with samsung's latest improvements to its custom interface if you don't like the look of your iphone you can change the wallpaper and that's about it you can't even decide where you want individual icons to be because iOS will always stack them from upper left to lower right meanwhile the galaxy lets you change nearly every corner of the software layout icons widgets shortcuts all of it is fair game if you want to load custom ringtones or images you've got direct access to the file system if that sounds too complicated you can change the look and feel on maus with a click of a button thanks to the new theme store it's about philosophy Android lets you make your phone your own iOS seems to expect that you'll just be grateful to own an iPhone of course a lot of people are grateful to own the iPhone and iOS is a big part of that it's not adaptable at all but in my experience it is more reliable in just a week of using the galaxy s6 I've had apps crash several times popular ones like Instagram or Inbox I've had background apps shut down even when I was actively using them to track exercise meanwhile I can't remember the last time an app hard crashed on my iPhone 6 considering how completely the galaxy s6 outclasses the iPhone 6 in terms of specs that's ludicrous simplicity isn't all bad optical performance is something the iPhone has been known for for years but Samsung has rapidly been closing the gap the results are maddening if you're trying to crown a winner but encouraging if you want a solid camera because each of these qualifies you'll find that Apple sometimes delivers richer colors and better contrast in lower light change up the scenery a little bit and you start to see Samsung's warmer leanings in this example the iPhone delivers richer Blues while the galaxy really amps up the Reds turn on HDR and the Samsung like nearly every other phone beats the iPhone in terms of the amount of light it can extract from a scene also Samsung's real-time HDR shows you what it's going to look like before you snap it which is great it's strange to see Apple which pioneered the HDR effect on smartphones now falling a bit behind in this regard you don't even need the HDR mode to get a lot of detail from darker areas with the galaxy as this photo shows Apple once again is content to allow more darkness if it means a more dramatic result zooming in we also get to see Samsung's higher resolution sensor at work the 16 megapixel Galaxy image is naturally sharper than the iPhones 8 megapixel output with less digital noise in the sky as well heading indoors each phone gets its chance to shine but I tend to slightly favor Samsung's pictures in some the iPhone almost seems a bit washed out while the Galaxy brings dramatic contrasts and more saturation Samsung's warmer bias sometimes works in its favour in real life this Red Room is closer to this orange red than the pinkish hue Apple renders yet the galaxy's tendency to highlight greens and yellows doesn't always make for a better shot as can be seen in these close-ups here the iPhone is probably closer to reality and that only gets more true in extreme low-light where the galaxy's color reproduction gets even further from the mark you sacrifice a lot to shoot in 60fps on the galaxy but as you can see the sacrifice is worth it the Samsung video is smooth as can be despite the rapid action but you can say the same for the iPhones 60fps footage as well despite its lack of optical stabilization it's just as fluid and as for selfies well Samsung's got the wider angle but Apple's better at brightening faces so let's just call it a draw they're both excellent smartphone cameras and the iPhone carries the added benefit of coming with iMovie right out of the box so you can easily clip together a quick highlight reel to share with friends but for my money the galaxy s6 camera is the better one overall double the resolution optically stabilized and with a lightning-fast dead-simple trigger action plus bonuses like tracking autofocus 4k video and that live HDR preview it's beyond merely capable it's excellent time for the home stretch what are these like in the day to day strikingly similar in a lot of ways with speakers this close and exterior design it's no surprise that volume is comparable the s6 might have a slightly flatter sound but they're both plenty loud same goes for the earpieces and the construction around them is so similar that what do you know each one still pulls out the occasional hair if you wear it a little long so get a haircut I guess we're not ready to comment too much on endurance in this comparison our first s6 didn't do well against the one m9 but it's since been swapped for a different unit and a software update has landed as well so we're reserving judgment until our full review I can tell you that charging is a very different experience on the s6 rather than Apple's tiny lightning cable you've got the far more common but decidedly non-reversible microUSB you've also got wireless charging on the s6 which ups the cool factor at least tenfold and there's ultra power saving mode if things get really hairy and lastly there's the little stuff the IR port on the Samsung lets you control your TV or home entertainment system s-health is a lot like Apple health but on the galaxy it's backed up by the dedicated heart rate monitor and if for some reason you don't want to use any of these intense new features easy mode is here to turn the Galaxy S six into a $700 dumb phone as usual there's no one-size-fits-all recommendation here they're both great phones for their respective platforms and most people will decide which of these is the better fit based on ecosystem iOS or Android I called the iPhone 6 excellence exemplified in our full review and I stand behind it it's a great phone but if you're on the cusp of buying your first smartphone or you've been waiting for a good reason to make a jump from Apple to Android there's almost no better device to do it with than the galaxy s6 some other phones are just as beautiful others have pure builds of Android still others come in more flavors and many others are less expensive but none of those have the particular blend of wins that the galaxy s6 does it is once again the iPhones biggest threat and this year it's for good reasons this comparison was brought to you by Squarespace and it's new and simple version 7 drag and drop UI Squarespace is the all-in-one solution that makes it fast and easy to create a beautiful website blog or online store for you and your ideas visit squarespace.com slash pocket now for your free trial and up to 10% off you'll be getting a good deal and you'll be showing your support for pocket now while you're at it Squarespace start here go anywhere for more on the iPhone 6 check out our full review at pocketnow.com which is also where you'll find our full galaxy s6 review just as soon as we're finished writing it in the meantime check out our Galaxy s6 vs. HTC one m9 video subscribe to our channel so you don't miss it and give this video a thumbs up if you did enjoy it til next time this has been michael fisher with pocket now captain two phones on twitter thanks for watching we'll see you next time