Microsoft Lumia 950 vs Apple iPhone 6 vs Samsung Galaxy S6: specs comparison

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Microsoft has finally announced a new flagship — well, two flagships — after a long, long absence from the top-class smartphone market. And, let's be fair, the Windows platform may not be as popular as Microsoft would want it to be, but if you're going to put out a high-rank device, it had better be up to par. Thus far this year, we've seen some hard-hitters, in the face of Samsung's Galaxy S6 series, the new Xperia Z5 devices, and Google's Nexuses, not to mention the update of Apple's iPhone 6 – the iPhone 6s.

So, with that being said, let's check out how the Microsoft Lumia 950 stacks up against two of the market leaders – the Apple iPhone 6s and Samsung Galaxy S6. Of course, that's just a preliminery look – we can't wait to get some in-depth time with the new devices!

Microsoft Lumia 950 Samsung Galaxy S6 Apple iPhone 6s

Design

Dimensions
5.71 x 2.88 x 0.32 inches
145 x 73.2 x 8.2 mm
5.65 x 2.78 x 0.27 inches
143.4 x 70.5 x 6.8 mm
5.44 x 2.64 x 0.28 inches
138.3 x 67.1 x 7.1 mm
Weight
5.29 oz (150.0 g) 4.87 oz (138.0 g) 5.04 oz (143.0 g)
Materials
Back: Plastic Back: Glass
Frame: Aluminum
Back: Aluminum
Biometrics
Iris scanner Fingerprint (touch) Fingerprint (touch)
Features
Touch sensitive control keys Notification light, Touch sensitive control keys
Keys
Right: Volume control, Camera shutter, Lock/Unlock key Left: Volume control; Right: Lock/Unlock key Left: Volume control; Right: Lock/Unlock key
Colors
Black, White Black, Gold, Blue, White Gold, Silver, Rose gold, Space gray

Display

Size
5.2-inch 5.1-inch 4.7-inch
Resolution
2560x1440px, 565 PPI 2560x1440px, 577 PPI 1334x750px, 326 PPI
Technology
AMOLED Super AMOLED IPS LCD
Screen-to-body
69.77 % 70.48 % 65.71 %
Peak brightness
500 cd/m2 (nit)
Features
Scratch-resistant glass (Corning Gorilla Glass 3), Ambient light sensor, Proximity sensor Scratch-resistant glass (Corning Gorilla Glass 4), Ambient light sensor, Proximity sensor Pressure-sensitive, Oleophobic coating, Scratch-resistant glass, Ambient light sensor, Proximity sensor

Hardware

System chip
Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 MSM8992 Samsung Exynos 7 Octa 7420 (14 nm) Apple A9 APL0898
Processor
Hexa-core
1800 MHz
ARM Cortex-A57 and ARM Cortex-A53
Octa-core
2100 MHz
ARM Cortex-A57 and ARM Cortex-A53
Dual-core
1840 MHz
Twiste
GPU
Adreno 418 Mali-T760 MP8 PowerVR GT7600
RAM
3GB (LPDDR3) 3GB (LPDDR4) 2GB (LPDDR4)
Internal storage
32GB 128GB 128GB
Storage expansion
microSDXC up to 200 GB not expandable not expandable
OS
Windows (10 Mobile) Android (7.0 Nougat, 6.0 Marshmallow, 5.1 Lollipop, 5.0 Lollipop), Samsung TouchWiz UI iOS (15.x, 14.x, 13.x, 12.x, 11.x, 10.x, 9.x)

Battery

Capacity
3000 mAh 2550 mAh 1715 mAh
Type
Li - Ion Li - Ion
Charging
Fast charging, Qi wireless charging Fast charging, Qi and Powermat wireless charging

Camera

Rear
Single camera Single camera Single camera
Main camera
20 MP (OIS, Autofocus, BSI sensor)
Aperture size: F1.9
Focal length: 26 mm
Sensor size: 1/2.4"
Pixel size: 1.12 μm
16 MP (OIS, Autofocus, BSI sensor)
Aperture size: F1.9
Focal length: 28 mm
Sensor size: 1/2.6"
Pixel size: 1.12 μm
12 MP (Sapphire crystal lens cover, PDAF, BSI sensor)
Aperture size: F2.2
Focal length: 29 mm
Sensor size: 1/3"
Pixel size: 1.22 μm
Flash
Tricolor LED LED Dual LED
Video recording
3840x2160 (4K UHD) (30 fps), 1920x1080 (Full HD) (60 fps)
OIS, Continuous autofocus, Video light, Video calling, Video sharing
3840x2160 (4K UHD) (30 fps), 1920x1080 (Full HD) (60 fps), 1280x720 (HD) (120 fps)
OIS, HDR, Continuous autofocus, Picture-taking during video recording, Video light, Video calling
3840x2160 (4K UHD) (30 fps), 1920x1080 (Full HD) (120 fps), 1280x720 (HD) (240 fps)
Time-lapse video, Continuous autofocus, EIS, Video calling, Video sharing
Front
5 MP, Video capture: 1920x1080 (Full HD) 5 MP (HDR), Video capture: 2560x1440 (QHD) (30 fps) 5 MP (HDR)

Connectivity & Features

Bluetooth
4.1 4.1 4.2
WLAN
802.11 a,b,g,n,ac,dual-band
MIMO, Hotspot
802.11 a,b,g,n,ac,dual-band
Multiple antennas, MIMO, Wi-Fi Direct, Hotspot
802.11 a,b,g,n,ac,dual-band
MIMO, Hotspot
USB
Type-C, USB 3.1 microUSB, USB 2.0 Lightning
Hearing aid compatible
M3/T3 M3/T4
Location
GPS, A-GPS, Glonass, BeiDou, Cell ID, Wi-Fi positioning GPS, A-GPS, Glonass GPS, A-GPS, Glonass, Galileo, Cell ID, Wi-Fi positioning
Sensors
Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Compass, Barometer Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Compass, Hall (for flip covers), Barometer Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Compass, Barometer
Other
NFC, UMA (Wi-Fi Calling), Tethering, Computer sync, OTA sync NFC, ANT+, UMA (Wi-Fi Calling), Infrared, Tethering, Computer sync, OTA sync NFC, UMA (Wi-Fi Calling), Tethering, Computer sync, OTA sync, AirDrop

Multimedia

Headphones
3.5mm jack 3.5mm jack 3.5mm jack
Speakers
Earpiece, Loudspeaker Earpiece, Loudspeaker Earpiece, Loudspeaker
Features
Album art cover, Background playback Album art cover, Background playback, Custom equalizer, Preset equalizer, Sound effects Album art cover, Background playback
Screen mirroring
Wireless screen share,MHL DLNA,Wireless screen share
Additional microphone(s)
Noise cancellation, Video recording Noise cancellation, Video recording Noise cancellation, Video recording

Cellular

4G (FDD)
Bands 1(2100), 2(1900), 3(1800), 4(AWS-1), 5(850), 7(2600), 8(900), 12(700 a), 17(700 b), 20(800 DD), 28(700 APT) Bands 1(2100), 2(1900), 3(1800), 4(AWS-1), 5(850), 7(2600), 8(900), 17(700 b), 20(800 DD) Bands 1(2100), 2(1900), 3(1800), 4(AWS-1), 5(850), 7(2600), 8(900), 12(700 a), 13(700 c), 17(700 b), 18(800 Lower), 19(800 Upper), 20(800 DD), 25(1900+), 26(850+), 28(700 APT), 29(700 d)
4G (TDD)
Bands 38(2600), 40(2300) Bands 38(2600), 39(1900+), 40(2300), 41(2600+)
3G
Bands 5(850), 8(900), 4(1700/2100), 2(1900), 1(2100) Bands 5(850), 2(1900), 1(2100) Bands 1(2100), 2(1900), 4(1700/2100), 5(850), 8(900)
Data Speed
LTE-A Cat 6 (300/50 Mbit/s), HSDPA+ (4G) 42.2 Mbit/s, HSUPA 5.76 Mbit/s LTE-A Cat 6 (300/50 Mbit/s), HSPA, HSUPA, UMTS LTE-A Cat 6 (300/50 Mbit/s), HSPA, HSUPA
SIM type
Nano SIM Nano SIM Nano SIM
HD Voice
Yes Yes
VoLTE
Yes

Regulatory Approval

FCC approval
Date approved: Nov 11, 2015
FCC ID value: PYASTT
Date approved: Mar 02, 2015
FCC ID value: A3LSMG920A
Date approved: Sep 09, 2015
FCC ID value: BCG-E2946A
Measured SAR
Head: 0.87 W/kg
Body: 0.93 W/kg
Simultaneous Transmission: 1.60 W/kg
Wireless Router: 1.24 W/kg
Head: 0.49 W/kg
Body: 0.96 W/kg
Simultaneous Transmission: 1.25 W/kg
Wireless Router: 1.04 W/kg
Head: 0.45 W/kg
Body: 0.38 W/kg
Simultaneous Transmission: 1.58 W/kg

Buyers information

MSRP
$ 849

Availability

Officially announced
Oct 06, 2015 Mar 01, 2015 Sep 09, 2015


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