iPhone 6 vs Samsung Galaxy S6: Which of the best phones of 2015 should you buy? Here's our verdict on the battle of the Apple and Samsung flagships
When the Samsung Galaxy S6 launched, its closest Apple rival was the iPhone 6. That was a while ago and the Cupertino firm has since updated its range with the iPhone 6S, while Samsung has updated its range with the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge
Neither the iPhone 6 or Samsung Galaxy S6 have disappeared though. In fact, both phones are now cheaper as the iPhone 6S and Galaxy S7 both sport the original lofty price tag.
Be sure to read our iPhone 6S vs Galaxy S7 comparison for the latest phones - but let's first take a quick look at the cheaper phones and see which one is worth your while.
The Samsung Galaxy S6 along with the Galaxy S6 Edge are two of the best smartphones the Korean company has come up with in a very long time.
For the first time in a long time, we finally have a flagship worthy of comparison with the iPhone 6.. Although Apple has now officially revealed its 2015 flagship duo in the shape of the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus.
So if you don't go for the new iPhone and had to spend the money to upgrade, which is the one handset you should go for?
We've been using these two fine smartphones since they launched and still use them now. So we have a pretty good idea of what they're good and bad at doing. Unlike last year's shootout of the S5 vs iPhone 6, it's not as clear cut.
Samsung Galaxy S6 vs iPhone 6: Design
Samsung Galaxy S6: 6.9mm thick, 138g, aluminium unibody and glass panel, White Pearl/Black Sapphire/Gold Platinum/Blue Topaz
iPhone 6: 6.9mm thick, 129g, anodised aluminium back, Space Grey/Silver/Gold
Both the iPhone 6 and Galaxy S6 mark a radical rethink of the design philosophies for their flagship phones. The iPhone 6, and iPhone 6 Plus, show a delayed decision to follow the trend of phones with larger screens. Samsung's changes are even more of a departure from previous phones. Following years of dubious design and material decisions aimed at its preference for using plastic made to look like something else on top-end phones, it's finally decided to deliver something that feels worth its cost. The S6 is the luxuriously-made phone many have been clamouring for.
As a result, it's made choosing between the two more difficult than ever.
With the Galaxy S6 Samsung has delivered a phone that can finally rival the iPhone in terms of design, build-quality and materials used. From the front, the S6 could be mistaken for the S5 or even the S4. Closer inspection shows some big changes, though. The physical home button has grown to accommodate the improved fingerprint sensor, the screen bezel has narrowed significantly down the sides, while the top and bottom edges of the phone elegantly curve to create the more attractive look.
Samsung's design overhaul has been even more radical. The Samsung Galaxy S6, launched in April 2015, marked a fundamental change in philosophy for the South Korean manufacturer.
Gone is the function-over-form mantra, the gaudy-but-robust plastic construction, the emphasis on box-ticking gimmick overload ahead of a crafted user experience. In its place is an elegant handset that concerns itself with how pleasant it is to live with rather than how many things it can do.
Samsung even went as far as to make a variant of the S6 in the form of the Galaxy S6 Edge, with curved dual displays for an even more premium look and feel.
Then there's also the elephant in the room - the Samsung Galaxy S7. Samsung has announced the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge, and in our reviews we called them the best phones in the world right now.
A lot has changed since the Galaxy S6, but it also makes sure that the Galaxy S6 is an even cheaper choice now. We love the Galaxy S7, but the Galaxy S6 is still a great phone so it's worth taking a look at how it compares before you just jump on Samsung's latest.
- Full reviews: Samsung Galaxy S6 | iPhone 6
- Related Topics: Samsung s7 New Features
Key features
The parallels between these two major phones can be be seen by breaking them down into their key selling points. In this respect, at least, it can be said that the iPhone 6 and Samsung Galaxy S6 precisely mirror one another.
After all, both phones sell themselves on sleek new designs, improved screen technology, and stellar cameras.
And yet, in each key respect, the two phones take a very different approach, as we'll discuss in greater detail in the appropriate sections.
In isolation, the iPhone 6's design is notable for marking a big departure from the iPhone 5S before it. It's bigger, slimmer, and more rounded, and it reverts to the gentle curves of the iPhone 3GS after a prolonged spell of palm-grating angles
Samsung's phone, meanwhile, marks a radical rejection of the plastic and faux-leather effects typified by the Samsung Galaxy S5. In its place we have a metal rim and two shiny glass surfaces.
Yes, Samsung has evidently learned a thing or two from Apple in this regard, but as we'll discuss in the next section it's not quite as blatant as you might think.
Both phones represent notable leaps forward in screen technology, too, but in very different ways. The iPhone 6 marks Apple's belated realisation that a lot of people quite like larger phones. As such, its display has grown 0.7 of an inch over its predecessor's.
That doesn't sound like a lot - and indeed, in Android terms it would still be seen as a 'mini' phone - but it instantly makes the iPhone a much better multimedia device than before.
It's not the sharpest display we've ever seen, though. With an unusual 1334 x 750 resolution, it produces the exact same pixel density of 326ppi as previous iPhones.
In everyday use this is actually perfectly fine. Thanks to Apple's tight hold on its software, everything feels optimised and native on this display, unlike on many 720p Android phones that we could mention.
SAMSUNG GALAXY S6 VS IPHONE 6: SCREEN
Samsung Galaxy S6: 5.1-inch, QHD '2K' Super AMOLED, 577ppi, 536 nits brightness
iPhone 6: 4.7-inch, 1334 x 750 IPS LCD, 326 ppi, 504 nits brightness
Size is the first big difference when comparing screens. The S6 packing a significantly larger screen, which means more room for enjoying your videos and browsing the web.
The next is resolution. The S6 also benefits from the same resolution upgrade as the Note 4 and as a result is sharper than the iPhone 6's display. There's still a debate about how useful 2K displays are on a small screen and most will probably not appreciate the differences. If your desperate for cutting-edge tech then the S6 is the winner here. Unless you look very closely, though, you won't notice the difference in sharpness.
There's differences in the display technologies as well, and these have a bigger impact. While Apple uses LCD, Samsung opts for OLED and as a result the S6 delivers perfect black levels and impressive contrast ratio that make it more suitable for watching films. The slightly over saturated colours you get with the S5 is not as problematic this time round on the S6, particularly when you choose a more tasteful colour setting. The iPhone 6 on the other hand delivers strong viewing angles and good colour accuracy.
So yes, the iPhone 6 has a great screen, but the S6 is offering something new and innovative with its 2K display and wins this round.
SAMSUNG GALAXY S6 VS IPHONE 6: PERFORMANCE
Samsung Galaxy S6: Exynos 7420 64-bit octa-core, Mali T760 GPU, 3GB RAM
iPhone 6: Apple A8 64-bit dual-core 1.4GHz, PowerVR GX6450 GPU, 1GB RAM
The iPhone 6 features Apple’s punchy A8 CPU, a dual-core 64-bit chip with a seriously swift GPU attached and backed by 1GB of RAM. This is a different approach to that taken by Android chip makers, who typically go for a quad-core GPU and at least 2GB of RAM.
For the S6 Samsung opted against using the Snapdragon 810 processor found inside the LG Flex 2 and HTC One M9 in favour for its custom chip. The 64-bit Exynos 7420 chip offers a very similar octa-core set-up to the aforementioned Snapdragon 810 and delivers a slick, overall performance.
Elsewhere, the Samsung Galaxy S6 features 3GB of RAM - that’s three times the amount found in the iPhone 6. More important here, however, is the speed of that RAM. The Galaxy S6 is the first phone to feature DDR4 memory, which is 80 percent faster than the iPhone 6's DDR3.
When you compare the Geekbench 3 multi-core benchmark tests, the S6 comes out on top but numbers only tells half the story. In day-to-day performance both are extremely quick and slick and our usual complaints of TouchWiz slowing things down isn't apparent on the more streamlined version Samsung has adopted for the S6.
Geekbench 3 multi-core scores
Samsung Galaxy S6 - 4116
iPhone 6 - 2933
We'd call it a draw. You should have no real complaints with either phone for both basic and intensive tasks.
Related Topics: Samsung s7 New Features
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