Mobile Technology

Samsung Galaxy S6 (and GS6 edge) vs. iPhone 6

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Gizmag compares the features and specs of the Samsung Galaxy S6 (left), Galaxy S6 edge (middle) and iPhone 6
Camera aperture
Battery
Build (sides)
Build (back)
Camera megapixels (rear)
Color options
Processor
Curved display
Dimensions
Display (resolution)
Display (size)
Display (type)
Fingerprint sensor
Gear VR compatibility
Heart rate sensor
Gizmag compares the features and specs of the Samsung Galaxy S6 (left), Galaxy S6 edge (middle) and iPhone 6
MicroSD
Mobile payments
OIS
Starting price (full retail)
Starting price (on-contract)
RAM
Release
Removable battery
Storage
Water resistance
Weight
Camera megapixels (front)
Software
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As recently as a year ago, iPhone vs. Galaxy showdowns required you to choose between premium builds and big screens. But now that the iPhone has a spacious screen, and the Galaxy has a high-end build, you're going to have to base your decision on other factors. Let Gizmag lend a hand, as we compare the features and specs of the Samsung Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 edge and iPhone 6.

Size

Dimensions

The Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge are a little taller and wider than the iPhone 6, but all three are incredibly thin handsets – with the GS6 just barely taking the crown for thinnest of the bunch.

Weight

Weight

All three are very light for their respective sizes, but the Galaxy S6 edge gives you the best size-to-weight ratio (though the fact that its front face slopes off around the edges gives it an unfair advantage here).

Build (back)

Build (back)

With the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge, Samsung is kissing plastic goodbye. Their glass (Gorilla Glass 4) backs put the phones in a premium stratosphere that we haven't seen from the company in years past.

Like in previous years, there's no questioning the quality of the iPhone's aluminum unibody design.

Build (sides)

Build (sides)

The GS6 and edge have aluminum sides, to complement those glass backs.

Colors

Color options

You'll have more color options to choose from for the pair of Galaxy phones.

Display (size)

Display (size)

The iPhone 6's screen size is much bigger than any pre-2014 iPhone's display, but it's still only 85 percent as big as the pair of 2015 Galaxy phones.

... of course if you want an even bigger iPhone, the iPhone 6 Plus is Apple's first phablet.

Display (resolution)

Display (resolution)

The iPhone 6 has a great display ... but it isn't even close to being as sharp as the Quad HD displays on the pair of Galaxies. There's a degree of eye candy there that the iPhone's 326 PPI display (the same density as 2010's iPhone 4) can't match.

Display (type)

Display (type)

Like in previous years, the two Samsung phones use Super AMOLED displays, while the iPhone sticks with an IPS panel.

Curved display

Curved display

Picking up where Samsung left off with the Galaxy Note Edge, the GS6 edge has a screen that slopes down on either side. It's largely cosmetic, but it will flash notifications and let you use some shortcuts on the edge displays.

Fingerprint sensor

Fingerprint sensor

Could this be the year that Samsung's fingerprint sensors catch up to Apple's? Unlike Samsung's 2014 sensors, the ones in the Galaxy S6 and GS6 edge will register with a touch – no swipe required. Apple's Touch ID has always been touch-based as well.

Battery

Battery

Stay tuned for more on this front. We do know that, in our video streaming test (over Wi-Fi, with brightness at 75 percent) the iPhone 6 dropped about 14 percent per hour. That's a good result, but off the pace of the longest-lasting phones we've handled.

Removable battery

Removable battery

Samsung flagships have historically had removable batteries, but those found in the GS6 and GS6 edge are sealed shut.

Fast charging

Gear VR compatibility

The GS6 and edge include a fast-charging tech that can give you an estimated 4 hours worth of uptime in just 10 minutes of charging (though you should only see that big of a difference when you start off with a nearly dead battery).

Camera megapixels (rear)

Camera megapixels (rear)

We'd take this with a few grains of salt, as the iPhone 6 easily has one of the best cameras you can find in a smartphone. We'll have more to say on the GS6's camera after we get our hands on a review unit.

Camera megapixels (front)

Camera megapixels (front)

The Galaxy phones may be better for selfies, with their higher-resolution (and wide-angled) front shooters.

Camera aperture

Camera aperture

The Galaxy phones' cameras come out with the wider aperture.

OIS

OIS

The iPhone 6 Plus has Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) on board, but the iPhone 6 doesn't – giving Samsung's phones a leg up for shaky-handed photographers.

Processor

Processor

We'd take this with a few grains of salt. It's quite possible the Galaxy S6 pair will have faster performance, but know that Apple's custom chips always outperform what you'd expect from their cores and clock speeds.

RAM

RAM

The Galaxy phones should, however, be the better choices for multitasking, as 3 GB of RAM is going to be better for that than 1 GB, no matter how you slice it.

Storage

Storage

No drastic differences here, though the entry-level Galaxy S6 and GS6 edge do give you double the storage of the base-level iPhone 6.

MicroSD

MicroSD

In exchange for that premium build, Samsung cut a few corners that were staples on its older flagships: microSD card slot being one of them.

Water resistance

Water resistance

This was the killer feature of the Galaxy S5, but Samsung dropped water/dust resistance from this year's flagships.

Heart rate sensor

Heart rate sensor

The Galaxy S6 and edge do, however, keep the heart rate sensor around for a second straight year.

Gear VR

Gear VR compatibility

There aren't any high quality virtual reality options for the iPhone at the moment, but the GS6 and edge play nicely with the new version of the Oculus-powered Gear VR.

Mobile payments

Mobile payments

Apple clearly set the tone here, as several months after the launch of Apple Pay, we now have – ahem – Samsung Pay.

Samsung's mobile payments solution is actually built on a brilliant premise, though: instead of requiring an NFC terminal (though it uses those too), it can also work with standard swipe-based credit card terminals. This makes it nearly universally accepted from day one.

Software

Software

We're looking at Android Lollipop with a layer of Samsung's TouchWiz UI (though that layer has much less bloat this year) vs. iOS 8 for the iPhone.

Release

Release

The GS6 pair launches on April 10, at which point the iPhone will have been around for almost seven months.

Starting price (full retail)

Starting price (full retail)

The iPhone starts at US$650 without a contract. That's what previous years' Galaxy phones have started at as well, but Samsung hasn't announced pricing for these yet.

You will, however, have to pay extra for the edge's curved screen. Let's just hope the markup isn't as high as it was on the Note Edge.

Starting price (on-contract)

Starting price (on-contract)

It's possible the GS6 will go toe-to-toe with the iPhone here, but nothing official yet on this end either.

To dig deeper, you can read Gizmag's full reviews of the Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 edge iPhone 6. Or if you want to cast your net a bit wider, you can hit up our 2015 Smartphone Comparison Guide.

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14 comments
phissith
Love these comparison, doom for humanity since we are so illogical people will still flock to iPhone. Fast charging will be on iPhone and people will think its the best ever but they'll dismissed that it was on Android first!
techfan1234567890
Galaxy edge wins the category "Curved display"
There should have been another category called "Is an iPhone" then, haha.
Good comparison article though!
Raptool
Nice article. I saw the presentation of the new Galaxy in Barcelona. Nothing new that would make you switch from an iPhone. It seems like Samsung has removed the two things that could make someone move from Apple to Android: removable battery and SD-card.
Prasad Velkuri
Love how people always say Android had it first and then their favorite companies compete to copy when they are implemented properly on iPhone later.
like TouchID, iCloud, Retina Display, Siri etc..
Michael Wilson
i'm a little disappointed at the removal of water/dust resistance on the new phones. While rarely used, its nice to remove that pucker moment you get when you mistakenly drop the phone in a toilet or pool
Don White
Why even make the comparisons when all you can do is list Iphone's actual specs, and Samsung's marketing list of specs. You purported to do a side by side comparison, and all you have of two of the phones is a data sheet from the manufacturer. Not the best comparison I've seen come out of here. Do one again when you have some hands on.
Jeff Goldstein
S6 is a big step backwards from my S5. Water and shock resistance, SD cards and replaceable battery are gone. Who cares that S6 has glass back? Plastic case never bothered me. Samsung needs a smaller high end phone option.
Lbrewer42
Unfortunately, as with everything else electronic, people care more about loyalty to a company than to actually getting the most for their money. Its been the curse of the computer business since the start.
This is a good comparison. And even Apple haters have got to admit Apple keeps the other companies trying to outdo any i-gadget produced.
For a change we see companies actually trying to get the latest tech out in front, rather than milking the public for every drop they can squeeze out of them by keeping tech advancements to themselves. The milking strategy is what made Microsoft the giant it is.
Being a fanboy of any company will always make for useless arguments and truly good tech being ignored.
Rick Steeb
Awaiting delivery of my new S5 at the moment. Happy with that choice!
t0pcat
I think that if you're going to do a comparison like this, and include Samsung's highest end devices, you should have chosen the iPhone 6+ as your basis of comparison. After all, it is better than the iPhone 6 in a number of key areas that you compare against the new Galaxy range, such as battery life, camera, OIS, etc. Also, it has a bigger battery than both of the Galaxy's and will undoubtedly win the endurance test. In my mind, Apple is still years ahead.