Which phablet is the better purchase? We pit Apple's iPhone 6 Plus against the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 to which device is the ideal choice for consumers.
For the design and display, the Samsung Galaxy Note 4's screen has the same size as its predecessor, but the plastic silver surround on the outer edge is now made of metal. The back is still made of faux leather (polycarbonate), but Samsung removed the stitches from the edges. The front panel has the same physical button in the middle, which is paired with two capacitive buttons. The S Pen stylus is still located at the bottom left, and at the bottom edge sit the microUSB and MHL TV-Out port. It comes in four variants of colors: Frosted white, Charcoal black, Blossom Pink and Bronze Gold. Its dimensions are 153.5×78.6×8.5 mm, and weighs 176 grams.
The iPhone 6 Plus is the larger size of the iPhone 6, so it has identical characteristics: a round home button with Touch ID, while the power key sits on the side, for an easier access. The casing is made of anodized aluminum and has curvier edges and corners.Users will notice the Lightning port and speaker jack in the base, where was also placed a punched dot speaker grille. However, it lacks the Sapphire Glass display and it’s not waterproof. The it is 4 grams lighter than the Samsung phablet and its dimensions are 158.1×77.8×7.1 mm.
The Note 4 features a Super AMOLED display measuring 5.7 inches, and its resolution is much higher at 1440x2560pixels at 515pixels. The Apple device is relatively smaller and its screen measures 5.5 inches as it uses LED-backlit IPS LCD technology and obtained a resolution of 1080×1920 pixels with 401ppi. The screen from the Samsung phablet has an updated QHD resolution, the colors are punchy, the contrast is vibrant, the viewing angles are wide, but as usual, the Super AMOLED displays tend to have problems when using the phone in the sunlight. Users will be satisfied with the IPS LCD screen from the iPhone 6 Plus, which offers excellent brightness and colors.
For the hardware, the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 comes in two variants of processors: Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 quad core 2.7GHz Krait 450 with Adreno 420 graphics, while the other one is Exynos 5433 octa core with two quad core processors clocked at 1.3Ghz and 1.9GHz, coupled with Mali-T760 graphics and 3GB of RAM. The iPhone 6 Plus has the new A8 dual-core 1.4 GHz Cyclone (ARM v8-based) processor, paired with PowerVR GX6450 quad-core graphics, but some believed that the Note 4 a more powerful device. The A8 chip is 64-bit based and it’s 20% more efficient than the A7 chip from the iPhone 5S, even if still uses 1GB of RAM.
The Samsung phablet offers 32GB of storage, expandable up to 128GB, while the Apple phablet has three buil-in memories of 16, 64 and 128GB.
In terms of battery and camera specs, the battery on the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 is bigger at 3,220mAh and it’s removable, while the iPhone 6 Plus has a non-removable 2,915mAh cell. The Note 4 offers 20 hours of talktime, with 4 hours less than the iPhone 6 Plus.
The Samsung phablet has a 16MP Sony sensor with optical image stabilization, LED flash, autofocus and supports 4K video recording. The other camera is excellent at 3.7MP and you will get great selfies with it. The images will be vibrant and very accurate, even if taking shots from inside of a moving car. The Apple phablet has an iSight rear camera with the same resolution of 8MP, with f/2.2 aperture, but with improved features, such as “focus pixels”, for a faster autofocus. The iPhone 6 Plus has another Facetime HD front camera of 1.2MP.
The Samsung Galaxy Note 4 costs $764, while the iPhone 6 Plus 16GB variant costs $749.
Which phablet is the better buy? Sound off in the comments section below.
