The release of the premium Galaxy S6 Edge will naturally see the new smartphone competing with the iPhone 6 Plus. Apple released its first ever phablet-sized version of the iPhone when it unveiled the iPhone 6 Plus, aggressively positioning itself against the range of tablets which Samsung is often associated with. But with the Galaxy S6 range being the flagship smartphone from Samsung, and the curved S6 Edge being sold at a more expensive price point, the two devices now find themselves on a collision course.
Apple has dominated the mobile marketplace over the last twelve months. The successes of the company have ensured that Apple has posted some simply outstanding financial figures. By contrast, Samsung was forced to face up to a 60 percent plummeting in profits last year, and the corporation even went so far as to publicly admit that its recent strategies have been misplaced.
Samsung is trying to address this during 2015, and the release of the Galaxy S6 range is the first step towards this. The Galaxy S6 Edge builds on the popular range of curved televisions which Samsung has produced previously, and also on the Galaxy Note Edge device which was well received towards the end of 2014.
It was a natural move for Samsung to include curved screen technology in its most prominent smartphone range, and the Galaxy S6 Edge represents its first attempt to do so. It is, in that sense, a natural rival to the iPhone 6 Plus, as both smartphones were attempting to do something for Apple and Samsung respectively which previous devices have not done.
So with the Galaxy S6 Edge and iPhone 6 Plus being natural rivals, how do they stack up against one another? And which one offers consumers the better value for money?
It is worth nothing firstly that the iPhone 6 Plus can no longer really legitimately claim to be a next generation device. Released in October 2014, the iPhone 6 Plus is very much a market-leading phablet, but the Galaxy S6 Edge is certainly superior in tech and spec terms. Looking at the raw figures attributable to both devices makes this clear pretty quickly.
Display
Firstly, the Galaxy S6 Edge has a superior display to the Apple iPhone 6 Plus. Considering that there are numerous smartphones available on the market now which offer quad HD, there will certainly be pressure on Apple to improve the resolution of the iPhone next time out. This is particularly the case considering that the corporation has recently released the first ever 5K desktop computer, thus underlining that it recognizes the importance of screen quality.
The full HD 1,080 x 1,920 pixels resolution offered by the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus display is adequate, but not as strong as the Galaxy S6 Edge offering. The Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen of the Galaxy S6 Edge delivers 1,440 x 2,560 pixels, for a pixel density which is over 40 percent higher than that of the iPhone 6 Plus. The Apple phablet does have the larger screen, and this can be an attractive prospect to consumers, but Samsung has clearly attempted to negate this with the curved display of the Galaxy S6 Edge.
Processor
The Samsung release also has a significantly more powerful processor than the Apple iPhone 6 Plus. It had been rumored for sometime that Samsung would ditch Qualcomm when the Galaxy S6 series was released, and this rumor has finally come to fruition. Thus, the Galaxy S6 Edge is driven by Samsung’s own Exynos 7420 chipset, and the device delivers some pretty impressive numbers in terms of its CPU capacity.
Two bundles of quad-core 1.5 GHz Cortex-A53, and quad-core 2.1 GHz Cortex-A57 are at the heart of the Galaxy S6 Edge, and this is clearly superior to the dual-core 1.4 GHz Cyclone setup which Apple has adopted in the iPhone 6 Plus. Apple has always closed the gap in processing terms due to its proprietary software and hardware bundle which few other corporations can match. But there is no question that the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge is the superior device in this department.
Camera
Again, Samsung has always packed its cameras with impressive specifications, although it would be wrong to write off the Apple snapper considering how well it has performed in testing conditions. Nonetheless, the 16-megapixel device included in the Galaxy S6, which also offers optical image stabilization, autofocus and LED flash, has notably superior specifications to the 8-megapixel offering included with the iPhone 6 Plus.
Both cameras have a great deal of merit, and the iPhone 6 Plus lens has been particularly praised for its video capturing capabilities. There is also some debate over the relative merits of the two cameras in low light shooting conditions. The camera debate will doubtless rumble on, but advocates of the Samsung device will unquestionably point to the superior megapixel rating and color-related functionality offered by the S6 Edge.
Pricing
So the Galaxy S6 Edge obviously has the edge (no pun intended) over the iPhone 6 Plus in spec terms. But in order to acquire this powerful smartphone, it is important to note that consumers will have to shell out more money.
The 32 GB version of the Galaxy S6 Edge has already been confirmed as retailing at €849 in the European marketplace. Meanwhile, the top of the range 128 GB version of the smartphone will enter the marketplace on the European mainland at a €1,049 price point. When one converts these figures to likely dollar values, it is notable that each version of the Galaxy S6 Edge will likely sell for around $60-$70 more than the iPhone 6 Plus.
If this is the case when the United States pricing is confirmed, then it is a very bold move from Samsung. Pricing its device more expensively than the market-leading and much sought after iPhone 6 Plus could detract from sales. Samsung evidently believes strongly in the quality of products it has produced, and early hands-on receptions of the Galaxy S6 have been extremely positive. With companies such as Huawei and Lenovo providing affordable options which are cutting into Samsung’s market share in East Asia, its approach to the Galaxy S6 Edge may turn out to be extremely sensible.
