Why Galaxy S6 is better than an iPhone
Since it introduced the first Galaxy S in 2010, Samsung ruled the high-end Android phone market. Two years ago, a shift began to take place. Other smartphone companies like LG and HTC caught up with Samsung. Last year, however, Samsung hit the wall as Apple came out with an iPhone that had a large screen. Today, there's some redemption for the company.
The Galaxy S6 (and the Galaxy S6 Edge) is Samsung’s answer to the mighty iPhone. And it is a damn good one. Just like Apple moved out of its comfort zone and decided to put a bigger screen in the iPhone to make the phone remarkably good, with Galaxy S6, Samsung has moved away from using plastic bodies for its phones.
While it looks good, the design of the S6 is not all that original. The rounded corners of the metal frame and the speaker grill seem to be inspired from the design of the iPhone 6. But the overall effect is pleasing to the eye. The glass back cover and the metal alloy frame make for a nice combination, although the phone is a little slippery to hold. The Galaxy S6 is very slim with thickness of just 6.9mm, astoundingly light at 138gm despite packing in a five point one-inch screen. This makes carrying it in the hand or putting it in one’s pocket very easy, which is a welcome change compared to the much bigger phones available in the market, like the Moto X.
What makes the S6 really good is its core hardware. The screen has a resolution of 1440x2560 pixels, making it extremely sharp. This means text and images look super sharp and clear on the screen of the S6. The screen is also extremely bright and shows vivid colours.
The other components are equally good. The octa-core processor in Galaxy S is fast and unlike other devices that use Qualcomm processors, it uses Samsung’s own Exynos chip. Whether a user is playing a demanding game or editing a photo on Instagram, the phone doesn’t feel slow. It also helps that the phone has 3GB RAM and according to Samsung, a rather fast 32GB internal speed.
The 16-megapixel camera is one of the best ever used in a phone. It is so good that, for the first time, an Android phone rivals the camera performance of the iPhone 6. It clicks extremely detailed photos with excellent colours in good light. Even in low light, the performance is very good due to the wide aperture (F1.9) of the camera. The five-megapixel front camera too is one of the best in its class and comes with an ultra-wide lens so that a user can fit in more people in group selfies.
The Galaxy S6 has a number of unique features. It comes with a fingerprint sensor, which can be used to lock or unlock the phone. Unlike the scanner in Galaxy S5, this one works in a much better way. Then there is the heart rate sensor at the back. It is a hit and miss so it’s more of a gimmick.
The phone is powered by Android Lollipop. But Samsung has customised it with its own user interface called TouchWiz. This is Galaxy S6's only weak point. While TouchWiz and Android are versatile and full of unique features, the iOS that powers the iPhone or even Sense, used by HTC phones, are more streamlined. Battery life could also have been better. The phone lasts around 12 to 13 hours – good enough for a single day of use – but falls short of what some other Android phones can manage. But overall, the S6 is one hell of a phone.
With it, Samsung has finally created a phone that can not only match, but in some cases, also surpass the iPhone 6. The fact that it does so at a price of Rs 49,900, lower than the price of the iPhone 6, is even more impressive.