Gadgetory

if you watched pocket now's motox vs. galaxy s5 comparison you'll remember that for a huge swath of the US Samsung's Galaxy S line is the de facto iPhone alternative in most ways that matter these smartphones are as different as can be I'm Michael Fisher with PocketNow in this comparison is brought to you by Squarespace join me for Apple iPhone 6 vs samsung galaxy s5 the differences here start the first time you wake these phones from standby both give you the ability to unlock with a fingerprint but Apple has had two generations to refine touch ID which is much smoother less awkward and more reliable than Samsung's swipe method this will become something of a theme by the way both phones are highly evolved versions of an older design but something they have in common is that neither is my favorite incarnation of its respective family the galaxy s5 feels at best typical and at worst chintzy with its plastic housing and fake metal paint job while the iPhone tries and I think fails to blend form and function with these awkward antenna inlays the iPhone feels much more luxuriant though with its blended glass and curved metal and if you're looking for a phone that feels like it costs hundreds of dollars the Apple product is as usual the winner that's at least partially because the Galaxy s5 has to accommodate so many more features than the iPhone their relative worth will depend on your own priorities but even a partial list demonstrates the differences in strategy here samsung adds features first and asks questions later Samsung's obsession with tweak ability gives its display at least one really useful improvement being able to ratchet down the brightness to just a few nits is immensely helpful if you read in bed or sneak the occasional text at the movies elsewhere the difference is hue to the more traditional divides between AMOLED and LCD AMOLED features deeper blacks and more vibrant color but the s5 screen takes on a greenish cast next to the iPhones bluish display and the Samsung is not as readable in direct sunlight the galaxy screen is also slightly larger it's higher in resolution and everything on it is driven by a set of guts that's markedly different let's talk software here again you can do more on the galaxy thanks to androids extensibility and customizability my favorite example is multi window which lets you run more than one app side by side on the Samsung but there's also lesser-known stuff like the toolbox a floating orb full of custom app shortcuts and some options for controlling the phone via motion or without even touching it but not all of the Galaxy s5s features are fully cooked or frankly useful and in exchange you're forced to put up with a lot of cruft and other underwhelming bits of software the iPhone is no stranger to bundled software of questionable usefulness but that's the exception most of what Apple throws in here is very powerful from iMovie and GarageBand for creatives to Pages Numbers and Keynote for work time the company has also addressed many of my old complaints about iOS the back button being in the upper left of most apps still makes no sense but with the reach ability feature it doesn't matter as much now the Notification Center and task switcher are more useful in streamlined than they've ever been and control centers system shortcuts being anchored at the bottom of the screen makes so much more sense than reaching up to the notification shade on Android every time you want to do something but as they say you can dress a robot like a woman but you can't make him dance I don't know what that means nobody says that but what I'm trying to say is that no matter how much inspiration iOS 8 has drawn from Android they're still fundamentally different androids where you go if you want extreme customization at the expense of a consistent user experience the iPhone is where you go if you care more about moment-to-moment performance which on the iPhone 6 is to quote my own notes just stupid awesome to employ an overused metaphor it's beyond buttery also the fact that you can get almost the entirety of Google's ecosystem on the iPhone these days is a huge Plus with double the resolution and roughly eleventy billion times as many options you'd think the galaxy s5s camera would spank the iPhones and sometimes you'd be right if you like vibrant color the galaxy s5 is the camera for you again we saw some of this on our moto x versus galaxy s5 comparison so it's no surprise but the supersaturated Samsung colors are still breathtaking there are some things that Samsung just does better the higher resolution of the galaxy sensor means far away objects are more zoomable and while apples HDR effect is admirable for its subtlety samsung's more aggressive treatment is once again more gobsmacking you can also get closer to a subject with the galaxy and the wide format of samsung's image sensor means you can pack more into a scene in full resolution which I prefer to apples more squared off framing Apple comes out on top in other areas low-light photos in particular are substantially better on the iPhone mainly because it's much easier to get focus on the iPhone in the dark than it is in the galaxy an in video mode focus doesn't drift nearly as much on the iPhone and it's quicker to correct to find light the iPhone handles exposure extremes more elegantly and delivers a more stable picture it's more susceptible to lens flare too but being a JJ Abrams fan I don't care gaming alacrity tends to be very similar across flagship phones these days and frankly it's been a long time since I gave one single frak about benchmark scores so performance for my purposes means day to day usability and here the iPhone owns not that the s5 is a laggy mess or anything it's not but there are enough regular stumbles to make for a frustrating experience over time not so on the iPhone at least not until you get closer to the two-year mark this is a brand new iPhone 6 and a freshly restored galaxy s5 and from swiping to app launch times and Beyond the iPhone is consistently the more sprightly the more confident ring up a friend on the old blower and the iPhone keeps on winning at least in speakerphone mode the bottom mounted speaker on the iPhone is both louder and clearer than the aft firing unit on the s5 and of course having the might of the entire iTunes library at your beck and call is very nice if you're not a cloud type person you switch over to the earpiece and while the iPhone continues to sound great to me callers tell me the s5 actually delivers the brighter sound here with better noise cancellation to boot Samsung has never been a leader in this arena so the result is frankly surprising but there it is as for which one will hang longer on a road trip where you've forgotten your charger well it ain't the iPhone don't get me wrong apples battery life seems quite good but Samsung offers both an ultra power saving mode and a replaceable battery we'll have more endurance data in our full iPhone 6 review coming later in the week generally though Samsung's adaptability gives it the win here and the Galaxy will always get the win if you're confining your criteria to customization think of the s5 as a hot rod that requires some work to keep running but which gives you many more options in return that extends even to letting you reskin the entire software experience with an app like themer or two adding more hardware storage via microSD and don't forget you can drop this hot rod in a river with no ill effects but with its plastic build and generic looks the galaxy s5 doesn't really feel to me like a high-end smartphone the iPhone 6 with the exception of its questionable piping around back does picking up the iPhone feels like holding a museum piece you shouldn't be allowed to touch it's almost unbelievably well made in the software despite being more confining than I like expertly echoes that which one you choose will depend on your needs and your own priorities as always for those of you who'd like to know what I would choose as someone who really appreciates craftsmanship and attention to detail I'd personally choose the iPhone here which is something I haven't said about any iPhone in a long time despite the feature Gulf I genuinely find Apple's product to be the better smartphone is Samsung capable of delivering a similarly compelling total package absolutely if you ask me we just haven't seen it yet once again i'm michael fisher for pocket now and this comparison was brought to you by Squarespace the all-in-one platform that makes it fast and easy to create your own professional website portfolio and online store for a free trial and 10% off visit squarespace.com and enter offer code pocket now check out a better web starts with your website stay tuned to our full review of the iPhone 6 here on YouTube and check out our full review of the galaxy s5 from earlier this year at pocketnow.com till next time this has been michael fisher with pocket now captain to phones on twitter reminding you to keep your piping to a minimum we'll see you next time