This is something people cannot resist. The rivalry between the two brands is big and both have their loyal followers too. Both companies work together on many levels, but when it comes to their flagship devices they are cut-throat rivals.
So which one is better, Samsung’s Galaxy Note 5 or Apple’s big bad boy iPhone 6s Plus?
Read on.
Design
Lets admit it, both phones are beautiful, elegant and made with exotic materials. There is not much difference in their weight either. The iPhone 6s Plus weighs 192 grams and the Galaxy Note 5 weighs 171 grams. Both phones use a nano-SIM and are 4G LTE compatible for the Indian market.
Both are the big daddys of the smartphone world and both are expensive. Design-wise, it’s mostly a personal choice of what you like, the garishness of the iPhone 6s Plus Rose Gold or the subtle stealth design of the Galaxy Note 5.
Key Highlights: Samsung Galaxy Note 5
- Display: 5.7-inch Super AMOLED Quad HD with Corning Gorilla Glass 4
- Processor: 2.1GHz + 1.5GHz Octa-core Exynos 7420 Chipset with Mali-T760 MP8 graphics
- RAM: 4GB
- Operating System: Android v5.1.1 (Lollipop) OS
- Primary Camera: 16-MP
- Front Camera: 5-MP
- Battery: 3000mAh Li-ion
- Price: Rs. 53,900 (32GB)/ Rs. 59,900 (64GB)
Key Highlights: Apple iPhone 6s Plus
- Display: 5.5-inch Retina HD Display with 3D touch
- Processor: A9 Chip with 64-Bit Architecture
- RAM: 2GB
- Rear Camera: 12-MP iSight Camera
- Front Camera: 5-MP Camera
- Operating System: iOS 9
Storage: 16GB, 64GB and 128 GB - Battery: 2750 mAh
- iPhone 6s Plus Price: Rs 72,000 (16GB), Rs 82,000 (64GB), Rs 92,000 (128GB)
Display And Functionality
The Apple iPhone 6s Plus sports a 5.5 inch LED-backlit IPS LCD display, also known by Apple fanboys as the Retina HD Display. The Samsung Galaxy Note 5 on the other hand sports a 5.7-inch Super AMOLED Quad HD with Corning Gorilla Glass 4.
The major difference is the Apple 3D touch, which is in a way the next step forward for smartphones. But a similar functionality can also be accessed on the Note 5 with the S-Pen functionality.
Though the Apple 3D touch does not work like a long press and has more to do with the pressure touch on apps that make the shortcuts come to life, it will save you multiple taps and swipes to navigate inside the app.
But here’s a strange thing, even if you have the fastest fingers in town, it will take you the same time to open up an app, navigate and take a selfie, as it will take you to use a 3D touch. It’s a cool feature no doubt, but with companies like Xiaomi filing patents for force touch, soon you will see cheaper Android phones featuring this technology.
The Samsung Galaxy Note 5 has a tried and trusted S-Pen on it with Air Command. If you talk about productivity on the go, the Galaxy Note 5 give you value for money. Sure you will require two hands to operate this but then both the phones are so big anyway that you need hands of the Great Khali to use it with a single hand.
The Apple iPhone 6s Plus sports a pixel density of 401 ppi and the Galaxy Note 5’s display sports a higher 518 ppi pixel density. The resolution on the display of the Samsung Galaxy Note 5 is also great at 1440 X 2560 as compared to the iPhone 6s Plus that sports a 1080 X 1920 resolution. The screen-to-body ratio on the Note 5 is also greater than what you get on the iPhone 6s Plus.
All in all, both have beautiful, big, and responsive displays but the Note 5 has higher brightness.
Camera and Performance
Apple iPhone 6s Plus got a major overhaul in the camera department with a 12 megapixel iSight camera as its primary camera with Optical image stabilisation only for the video.
The Galaxy Note 5 sports a similar sensor to that of the S series, which has a 16 megapixel rear camera.
Both phones are capable of 4K video recording, slow motion video, time lapses and photo editing.
The camera performance of the Apple iPhone 6s Plus, in good lighting conditions, had good contrast but lacked brightness. The camera performance of the Galaxy Note 5 was not as detailed but made the colours pop.
The low light image quality is where the Note 5 scores brownie points over the iPhone 6s Plus. It’s much more detailed and has less noise as compared to its rival phone’s camera.
Both the phones now support a 5 megapixel camera for selfies and they come out pretty awesome from both the Note 5 and the 6s Plus.
Performance wise both phones are stunning whether you like to multi-task, play heavy graphic games or shoot videos. It’s mostly a personal choice; some like the Android interface and some swear by Apple’s iOS.
One thing is for sure – both the phones do not lag at all.
Battery and Pricing
The Apple iPhone 6s Plus is a big phone and it comes with a 2750 mAh non-removable Li-Po battery that lasted us just about a day with medium-to-heavy usage even after using the low power mode Apple has introduced with the iOS 9.
The Galaxy Note 5, on the other hand, lasted us for one and a half day with ease, thanks to its bigger 3000 mAh battery and amazing power management that makes this phone a marathon runner.
And then there is the big factor – pricing. Apple has exorbitantly priced the iPhone 6s Plus at Rs 72,000 (16GB), Rs 82,000 (64GB), Rs 92,000 (128GB), while the Samsung Galaxy Note 5 comes at Rs 53,900 (32GB) and Rs 59,900 (64GB).
There’s a price difference of Rs 20,000 between the 64GB versions of both these phones, and it’s a lot considering you can buy a Motorola Moto X Play in that difference.
It’s not emotional, but just logical that the Samsung Galaxy Note 5 has an upper hand over the Apple iPhone 6s Plus.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)