Apple has finally jumped into the phablet segment by launching two big screen phones, 4.7-inch iPhone 6 and 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus, at its September 9 event. Apple’s announcement comes just days after Samsung Electronics unveiled its flagship Galaxy Note 4 phablet on September 3. Both smartphone giants are struggling to grow at the same pace they enjoyed until a few years ago.
Apple and its investors are pinning high hopes on the iPhone 6 Plus. On the other hand, Samsung expects its latest Galaxy Note 4 to keep enjoying the status and attention. How goes the iPhone 6 Plus stands up against Samsung’s new phablet? Here is the quick comparison of the two phablets.
iPhone 6 Plus vs Galaxy Note 4: display
The iPhone 6 has a 5.5-inch IPS LCD screen with 1,920 x 1080 resolution. That’s a big jump from 4-inch display of the iPhone 5S. Apple’s newest phablet as a pixel density of 401ppi. Though Cupertino may not have packed a lot of pixels in its device, the iPhone 6 Plus has a great contrast ratio of 1300:1. In contrast, the Galaxy Note 4 has a giant 5.7-inch Super AMOLED display with 2,560 x 1,440 pixel resolution. Based on numbers, Samsung’s device would be the winner.
But it’s not a war about resolutions. The big thing is picture quality and color accuracy. All the previous iPhones have offered brilliant color accuracy despite fewer pixels. Moreover, the pixel structure of the Galaxy Note 4 makes it look slightly less sharp than it should be. Apple has also introduced “Reachability” feature that allows users to operate even a big screen iPhone 6 Plus with one hand.
iPhone 6 Plus vs Galaxy Note 4: design
Samsung’s Note 4 comes with a metal chassis. It has an important feature that the iPhone 6 Plus doesn’t have: S Pen stylus. Apple hates it. The Note 4 weighs 176g and measures 53.5 x 78.6 x 8.5mm. In contrast, the iPhone 6 Plus has a curved unibody aluminum design. Apple has moved the power button to the right side for easy access. The iPhone 6 phablet weighs 172g and measures 158.1 x 77.8 x 7.1mm. That means Apple’s device is thinner than the Note 4.
iPhone 6 Plus vs Galaxy Note 4: camera
The Galaxy Note 4 boasts of a 16-megapixel main camera and 3.7-megapixel front facing snapper. It has Optical Image Stabilization. It has four selfie modes as well. While Samsung has increased the megapixel count with each new Galaxy Note model, Apple isn’t interested in the megapixel race. That’s why the iPhone 6 Plus has the same 8MP main camera that has appeared in its smartphones since the iPhone 4.
That means Samsung’s device will be able to capture a lot more details than the iPhone 6 Plus. Apple’s new phone also has Optical Image Stabilization. The 5.5-inch iPhone 6 has 1.2MP FaceTime front camera. However, Apple’s device has a few advantages over the Note 4. It comes with a “Focus Pixels” feature that halves the autofocus time and enables quicker face and smile detection. It also sports an upgraded True Tone flash that makes your face look more natural.
iPhone 6 Plus vs Galaxy Note 4: Processor and RAM
The iPhone 6 Plus comes with a 20nm 64-bit A8 processor with 1.4GHz clock speed. It is 25% faster than the A7 processor in the iPhone 5S in terms of processing power and 50% faster for graphics. Apple didn’t mention RAM, but we expect a powerful device. In comparison, the Note 4 has a powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 804 chipset with 2.7GHz clock speed and 3GB RAM.
Despite lower clock speed, the iPhone 6’s processor is more advanced and a bit more powerful. The number of cores and clock speed don’t always mean top speed. According to a leaked Geekbench benchmark review, the dual core A8 chip scored a 2,920 points. So, it should be faster than the quad-core Snapdragon 805, which scored about 2,800 points.
iPhone 6 Plus vs Galaxy Note 4: battery life
Increased real estate in the iPhone 6 Plus allowed Apple to almost double the battery life of its new phablet from the iPhone 5S. Without revealing the milli-Amp hours, Apple said its phablet will have 3G, 4G and WiFi browsing of up to 12 hours. What’s more, it has video playback of close to 14 hours, audio playback of about 80 hours, and talk time of 24 hours on 3G. The Galaxy Note 4 is packed with a 3,220mAh battery, which should be sufficient to last a full day.
iPhone 6 vs Galaxy Note 4: storage
Apple’s new iPhone 6 Plus comes in storage options of 16GB, 64GB and 128GB. There is no microSD slot. The Cupertino company has done away with 32GB storage, which many experts believe should have been the base storage option rather than 16GB. Samsung seems to have established a fine balance. Its Galaxy Note 4 offers 32GB of internal storage, expandable up to 128GB using microSD.
Which one are you looking forward to? The iPhone 6 Plus will start shipping on September 19 while the Note 4 will arrive in October.