Samsung Galaxy S6 versus Nokia Lumia 930: first look

In Windows Phone land, it’s arguable that the Nokia Lumia 930 sits at the top of the food chain for the platform – being one of the newer, more flagship-like devices. On the other side of the fence, we have the just announced Samsung Galaxy S6, which is shaping out to be one doozy of a smartphone. Needless to say, each phone is highly regarded as the flagship device for their respective companies, but consumers are pickier than ever before when it comes to making a decision on what smartphone to go with, especially when they’re going to be committed to them for at least 2 years.

Design

It’s really tough saying which of these two smartphones offer the superior design, since each are distinct and offer their own specific qualities. For the Samsung Galaxy S6, folks might be drawn to its drastically updated design – one that’s a stark departure from what we’ve seen previously. From its change in materials, like its metal trim border and glass covers, to the reflective qualities of its casing, the Galaxy S6 shines brilliantly and evokes a design that’s undeniably premium.

Conversely, rather than exhibiting a premium look and feel, the Nokia Lumia 930 has a stylish edge thanks to its distinctively Lumia design language. Better yet, its availability in bright and fun colors has enough appeal, as well as that standout factor, to catch the eyes of bystanders. However, when it comes to the in-the-hand feel, we find the Galaxy S6 to be more comfortable because it’s thinner, lighter, and rounded on its sides to better ergonomically fit our hand.

Display

This one is going to be a tough battle earned for the Nokia Lumia 930, partly because the Samsung Galaxy S6 pushes the threshold by dishing up one compelling display – a 5.1-inch quad-HD 1440 x 2560 Super AMOLED display. By default, it earns the mark in the pixel density department with its staggering 577 ppi tally, which beats out the 441 ppi figure put out by the Lumia 930’s 5.0-inch 1080 x 1920 AMOLED display. In all fairness, though, we’d be surprised if you can notice its superiority when looking at the two from a normal distance, seeing that it’s nearly indistinguishable to the eye for us to visualize.

Both employ AMOLED technology, so they exhibit the common characteristics of it – like their wide viewing angles, deep black color, and rich color reproduction. Intently staring at the two with their brightness set to the maximum, we can make out that the Galaxy S6 sports the brighter screen, so that will more than likely benefit it when it’s viewed outdoors. As much as the Lumia 930’s screen is an effective one for any flagship smartphone, the incremental improvements made to the Galaxy S6’s display makes it tough to beat.

Interface

Oh yeah, this is once again that common comparison between Android and Windows Phone. Frankly, the two have their own unique attributes – like how Windows Phone, despite sporting the same superficial design language since its inception, is consistently stylish looking. Sure, we’ll agree that Windows Phone looks better than TouchWiz as a whole, but considering that the Galaxy S6 has its TouchWiz UI running on top of Android 5.0 Lollipop, it has a greater degree of functionality than anything that Windows has to offer.

We’ll certainly agree that the Nokia Lumia 930 is a productivity workhorse, thanks in part to its rich suite of Office apps and the various Nokia branded apps it lays claim to, but Android as a whole is deeper, more functional, and is home to an expansive ecosystem of apps. In addition, the multi-tasking element is more profound with the Galaxy S6’s experience.

Processor and Memory

Clearly, there’s an advantage for the newcomer in this comparison, seeing that the Samsung Galaxy S6 is exposed to a brand new 64-bit based Samsung Exynos octa-core processor – whereas with the Lumia 930, it’s powered by a significantly older Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor. Most definitely, Sammy has improved the performance of its TouchWiz interface, which allows it to move swiftly and without lag with most operations. However, the Lumia 930 is just as fast and just as swift with similar operations. It goes to show that specs don’t matter sometimes.

Call it coincidence, the two smartphones in this comparisons feature closed designs. In being that, they don’t get treated to expandable storage via microSD card slot. Rather, they have to rely on their internal storage. The breakdown favors the Galaxy S6 because it’s available in 32GB, 64GB, and 128GB models – whereas the Lumia 930 is only offered in 32GB capacity.

Camera

This one is a heated competition, most likely because both dish up some enticing cameras. Over on the Lumia 930, it’s armed with a formidable 20-megapixel PureView camera, which features an f/2.4 aperture lens, BSI, optical image stabilization, and 4K video recording. As we’ve seen, it captures some incredible looking shots that are filled with life. In contrast, the quality from the Galaxy S6’s 16-megapixel camera is unknown, especially when we’re dealing with a pre-production unit here, but if it’s going to be anything like Sammy’s recent, high-end devices, we can expect top-notch results.

Expectations

You can say that the Nokia Lumia 930 is a rare darling in the Windows space, mainly because there are so few other phones running the platform that can match its performance, stylish looks, and excellent camera. However, the Samsung Galaxy S6 isn’t one to mess with. In fact, it’s pretty safe to say that the Galaxy S6 will be the one to be steam rolling over a lot of the competition when it launches officially in the near future, but until it comes out, all we can do is speculate for now and cross our fingers that it can deliver the goods