Samsung has finally released the hugely anticipated Galaxy Note 7 phablet into the marketplace, and fans of Android devices will undoubtedly be chomping at the bit to get their hands on one imminently. With Samsung having ensured that its premium smartphone was available well ahead of the iPhone 7, consumers are essentially provided with a choice between the new Note 7, the other existing mobile from Samsung of similar size, the Galaxy S7 Edge, and the existing iPhone 6S Plus.
Galaxy Note 7 vs iPhone 6S Plus vs Galaxy S7 Edge – New iris scanner
The Korean manufacturer has attempted to mark the Galaxy Note 7 out from its competitors by including an iris scanner, as was largely predicted by the Samsung-following community. This makes the Galaxy Note 7 one of the first smartphones available on the market to feature this functionality, with the unit having the ability to read the eyes of users and enable phone access consequently in a matter of seconds.
Samsung has chosen to skip to the Galaxy Note 6 branding with the intention of shoring up its product range. From now on the Galaxy S and Galaxy Note series will both be on a numerical par with one another, and equally the Galaxy Note 7 will now compete directly with the iPhone 7.
An infrared transmitter is also notable within the portfolio of the Galaxy Note 7 alongside a receiver to enable the iris scanning to take place. These are allotted a location alongside the front-facing camera at the top of the Galaxy Note 7 unit. A fingerprint scanner remains in place underneath the Home button, with Samsung perhaps taking those who wear glasses into consideration, owing to the fact that iris scanning will not work without removing one’s glasses or contact lenses.
Another notable introduction to the Galaxy Note range is the IP68 rating of the phablet, ensuring that it is waterproof to depths of 1.5 meters for 30 minutes, and also providing welcome dust resistance.
But aside from the new features in the Galaxy Note 7, how does it compare to existing competitors on the market?
Display
The super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen in the Galaxy Note 7 remains at quad HD resolution, as was largely anticipated. Many consumers are keenly anticipating the release of a mainstream 4K mobile, but we will need to wait a little longer, as Samsung has sensibly kept the resolution of the Galaxy Note 7 down to 1,440 x 2,560 pixels. This delivers a pixel density of 518 ppi.
This is effectively identical to the Galaxy S7 Edge, except the smaller screen of the earlier Samsung release ensures that the 534 ppi pixel density is marginally superior. The iPhone 7 Plus has a little work to do to catch up with the Samsung offerings, as the iPhone 6S Plus, released last year, features a full HD display which delivers 401 ppi pixel density.
Weight
The iPhone 6S Plus is somewhat heavier than the two Samsung releases, around 15 percent heftier in this department. This is somewhat surprising considering that the iPhone 6S Plus is also the slimmest of the three handsets.
Memory
Although some pretty eye-opening specs were linked with the Galaxy Note 7, one area in which the Korean company has been somewhat more conservative than predicted is with regard to the amount of memory included. The Note 7 features 4GB of RAM memory, identical to that of the Galaxy S7 Edge. However, this is double the quantity of that included in the iPhone 6S Plus, although Apple has always relied on its combination of uniquely self-developed hardware and software.
Processor
As expected the Galaxy Note 7 will ship with proprietary Exynos technology in some territories, while the Western marketplace will benefit from a Snapdragon variant. Both Galaxy Note 7 models feature four 2.3GHz cores and four 1.6GHz cores, similar to the setup of the Galaxy S7 Edge. Apple is yet to deliver a quad-core processor in its mainstream mobile releases, and thus the iPhone 6S Plus benefits from a dual-core 1.84 GHz Twister unit.
Storage
The Galaxy Note 7 is armed with 64GB of internal storage, but can be boosted up to 256GB via micro SD. This feature was introduced in the Galaxy S7 range last year, meaning that the S7 Edge has similar specifications, but while the iPhone 6S Plus has more native storage available, there is no micro SD card slot in the current Apple iPhone generation.
Camera
The Galaxy Note 7 features similar camera specifications to the Galaxy S7 Edge, with a 12-megapixel rating being accompanied by an optical image stabilization system. However, Samsung has also announced two attachments which will enable a dedicated telephoto lens to change the angle of view for Galaxy Note 7 camera users. This will allow tightly framed images and digital zoom to be operated more flexibly.
Samsung has clearly made a significant commitment to photography with the Galaxy Note 7, and it outranks either of its main competitors in this department. The iPhone 6S Plus offered similar camera specifications last year, but Apple has yet to introduce such technology into the iPhone range as the dual-pixel functionality which is now part of all Samsung mobiles.
Battery
The Galaxy Note 7 will ship with a non-removable Li-Po 3500 mAh battery, which is surprisingly slightly smaller in capacity than the 3600 mAh unit included in the Galaxy S7 Edge. This means that the Galaxy Note 7 will quite possibly last less time on a single charge than its predecessor, considering that it has a larger screen to deal with as well. There has been no explicit news about specific power-saving functionality in the Galaxy Note 7, so it seems that users will have to cope with a slightly reduced life cycle.
The iPhone 6s has a non-removable Li-Po 2750 mAh battery fitted, and has been somewhat criticized in this department for offering a slightly paltry battery life.
