Samsung Galaxy S6 vs Apple iPhone 6: first look

Introduction

We're at MWC 2015, folks, and here in our hands, we have the best Samsung Galaxy S, and the best Apple iPhone ever! Now that the storm brewed by the S6's announcement has dwindled a bit, we're going to sit down with them and have a brief, but thorough first look at how the two are about to compete in the months ahead.

Design

While the Samsung Galaxy S4 and Galaxy S5 were the most forgettable Android flagships around, the Galaxy S6 is one to remember. This time, Galaxy S owners won't be holding creaky plastic in their hands. Instead, they will get to know something much more capable of standing up to the iPhone 6 - a blend of metal and glass that's premium indeed! Fully paneled with tough Gorilla Glass 4, and rocking a sculpted aluminum frame, the smartphone is durable enough to withstand the rigors on daily use, but makes no design compromises. And not only is the Galaxy S6 full-on premium, but it will come in a four lively colors too! But how will it sit in your palm? Well, dimensions-wise, the Galaxy S6 measures 5.64 x 2.79 x 0.27 inches (143.3 x 70.81 x 6.8 mm), which means it won't sit in there much worse than the iPhone 6 does - and that's despite the bigger display Samsung's challenger has.

Now, how is Apple's crown jewel looking next to the Samsung Galaxy S6. It's looking very good indeed! The polished anodized aluminum, the smooth laminated display, and the shiny Apple on its back - the iPhone 6 is the best the iPhone ever looked! Everything about its looks and build quality has been heavily thought out - even those plastic strips that diminish the design harmony, but still fit in the picture. But it has to be noted that the Galaxy S6 has an important safety advantage with that Gorilla Glass 4 covering its front and back - you will have a much harder time scratching or destroying it than you'd do with the iPhone 6's bare aluminum shell. However, that glass back is prone to fingerprints! Anyway, the iPhone 6 sizes up to 5.44 x 2.64 x 0.27 inches (138.1 x 67 x 6.9 mm), which undeniably contributes to its excellent look and portability. Alas, it is sold only in gray, silver, and gold - which is a superb, but very limited selection of colors.

Overall, the Galaxy S6 and iPhone 6's design is of very high quality. However, the Samsung Galaxy S6 still lacks that feel of uniqueness to it. The likes of Sony, Huawei, Meizu, Oppo, and Xiaomi had been making excellent variations of the metal/glass smartphone months (even years) before the Galaxy S6's announcement. Meanwhile, the iPhone has that Apple design quality that's being copied, emulated, studied, and otherwise taken advantage of by competitors - but never, ever matched. Even the HTC One M9 with its exorbitant looks doesn't feel quite as right as the iPhone 6 does.

Display

The display is the window to your smartphone's potential. The Samsung Galaxy S6 and iPhone 6 have completely different displays at the heart of their user experience. The S6, being stuffed with technology to the brim, rolls with a Quad-HD (1440x2560) resolution AMOLED display which packs a whopping 3,686,400 pixels on a panel that's 5.1 inches by diagonal! This results in a mind-boggling pixel density of 576 pixels per inch.
Meanwhile, the iPhone 6 only has a 4.7-inch IPS LCD screen with a resolution - 750x1334 - that seems laughably low in comparison. Its pixel density is "only" 326 PPI. Does that really matter? To us, it really doesn't. We like sharp screens, but we consider a display's color reproduction, image quality, and brightness levels as more important than the number of pixels per inch. And to get an accurate assessment of how the Galaxy S6 performs in these aspects, we'll have to put the former through our display test first. Still, at first sight, the S6 exhibits something close to the color accuracy that the Galaxy Note 4 wowed us with. So things are looking pretty good!