iPhone 6S+ vs Samsung Note 5, thoughts on design?

[mi7chy]

Last decent looking and build quality iPhone was the 4s. 6 and 6s look like something you find in a back alley market with those c-section lines, off centered camera, spray painted finish look, etc. Confident iPhone 7 will have a major redesign.

 

[Will22]

To me the iPhone 6s is like a nice Rolex, heavy and has that quality heft to it, beautiful metal them, the bezel and front blend in perfectly with the screen when darkened and no logo to ruin the effect. A breathtaking phone, well the only caveats being the bezel are too large, but heck that's only when it's on. The 6s is a bit dumb, as iOS is and the Rolex watch, but it does the job, does it well and never fails to do the job.

The Samsung lineup this year is a bit much more like one of those newer style huge watches I see the kids wearing nowadays (yeah I'm older), and I don't mean because of size, they are just a bit overdone, gaudy, discordant styles all mashed together with little though to a continuity of style. I'm not saying the Samsung are that bad, they're not, but they do have some similarity in how their style is put together. They are more functional though, like little computers that are capable of great things, but sometimes fail at their job.

If only Apple could have the build quality of say the S6 I would be happy. To me I find the iPhone that I have looks better than the S5 edge I had(both white) and I found the S6 edge uncomfortable to hold after a while. The S6 edge was faster but the ip6 is smoother. Android has more customisation but then I have my ip6 is jailbroken so that bit I have sorted. Battery is better on the S6 edge. Camera wise we will have to wait and see but Samsung was way better than the ip6 even last year with the Note 4(yes I have had both together)

Overall if I didn't have jailbreaking then I think I wouldn't be able to have just an iPhone but with it I think it gets close. I have loved the Note range and although I haven't had that much time with the Note 5 I will be getting one when I can get a gunmetal 64gb that works with EE here in the UK

Looking forward to getting my ip6s on Friday but really looking forward to having it with jailbreak.

 

[spinedoc77]

If only Apple could have the build quality of say the S6 I would be happy. To me I find the iPhone that I have looks better than the S5 edge I had(both white) and I found the S6 edge uncomfortable to hold after a while. The S6 edge was faster but the ip6 is smoother. Android has more customisation but then I have my ip6 is jailbroken so that bit I have sorted. Battery is better on the S6 edge. Camera wise we will have to wait and see but Samsung was way better than the ip6 even last year with the Note 4(yes I have had both together)

Overall if I didn't have jailbreaking then I think I wouldn't be able to have just an iPhone but with it I think it gets close. I have loved the Note range and although I haven't had that much time with the Note 5 I will be getting one when I can get a gunmetal 64gb that works with EE here in the UK

Looking forward to getting my ip6s on Friday but really looking forward to having it with jailbreak.

I always found the ip6 camera to be superior than the Note 4 in low light situations, shots of something moving fast, and macro/close UPS, much better. Now if it was bright daylight with a still subject and not too close, then yeah the Note 4 took better pictures. For me though real life with a 3 1/2 year old low light, and fast moving were the skill I needed out of a camera.

As for build quality, I'm sure Samsung is all there and I'm mainly talking about style, certainly beauty is in the eye of the beholder so I'm just putting forth my personal likes and dislikes. Although I must say I've grown to heavily doubt the build quality from Samsung after having so many issues with their hardware. The hardware is put together nicely, but I just suspect the quality control of some of the components isn't great. I can't say I haven't had issues with iPhones in the past, but I don't think I ever had 6 replacement on one model like I did with the Note 4.

 

[nickchallis92]

Well I can counter that by saying i've never had a hardware failure on a Samsung device. Even my Galaxy S2 served me for 8 months after falling in a river.

I think the iPhone 6+ is a proper dog of a phone whereas the standard 6 is pretty. Bezels are disproportionately big and looks considerably less sleek than the Note5 let alone the Edge+.

I can't get over how bad those antenna lines look too.

 

[epicrayban]

I can't get over how bad those antenna lines look too.

Yes. This is what throws the iPhone 6 generation design off. God awful lines.

 

[tbayrgs]

Yes. This is what throws the iPhone 6 generation design off. God awful lines.

Agree...conceal the antennas by some means other than those huge lines and the design is stunning--with them there, the back is just 'ugh.'

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

I think it would be s bit boring if the rear of the iPhone was just one piece of aluminium. I've always seen the antenna lines as showing the same form as its predecessor. One improvement I would make is to have a different shade in the top and bottom sections. I always liked the space grey 5S with the way it had a nice shade in the middle and followed the other form of having the top and bottom sections matching the bezel colour. I don't mind this design though.

 

[jamezr]

Agree...conceal the antennas by some means other than those huge lines and the design is stunning--with them there, the back is just 'ugh.'

That is why I only order the dark color iPhones. Hate those lines on the back on the gold or silver colors.

 

[Will22]

I always found the ip6 camera to be superior than the Note 4 in low light situations, shots of something moving fast, and macro/close UPS, much better. Now if it was bright daylight with a still subject and not too close, then yeah the Note 4 took better pictures. For me though real life with a 3 1/2 year old low light, and fast moving were the skill I needed out of a camera.

As for build quality, I'm sure Samsung is all there and I'm mainly talking about style, certainly beauty is in the eye of the beholder so I'm just putting forth my personal likes and dislikes. Although I must say I've grown to heavily doubt the build quality from Samsung after having so many issues with their hardware. The hardware is put together nicely, but I just suspect the quality control of some of the components isn't great. I can't say I haven't had issues with iPhones in the past, but I don't think I ever had 6 replacement on one model like I did with the Note 4.

I agree with you on the looks of the iPhone 6, by far the best looking phone on the market I think. All 3 of my iP6's have had the clicking screen and two of them have had inconsistent home button clicking and one had a loose(ish) sleep button.

I have had 2 S6 edges and an S6 and they were all perfect. The bending bit never bothered me because I never seen it as a problem.

The one huge difference between them is the fact that if I have a problem with an apple product I can go to my local Apple Store which is less than a mile away from my house and leave with a new/refurbished phone/iPad. With Samsung I have had good experiences before when I have had a problem but you never can be sure of the next time like with Apple.

As for the software inside the Samsung, yeah I know. It makes me nervous as well hence I sold my S6 edge last week mainly because I got a great price for it but also for the doubts about it.

If I get another Samsung then it will be the Note 5 but I'm not done with android because I like the look of the Moto X(new) and I loved the Moto X(2014) I had except for the screen and camera.

All in all I think we are agreed where the iPhone sits overall and I'm sure the iPhone 6s will only affirm that.

 

[spinedoc77]

I agree with you on the looks of the iPhone 6, by far the best looking phone on the market I think. All 3 of my iP6's have had the clicking screen and two of them have had inconsistent home button clicking and one had a loose(ish) sleep button.

I have had 2 S6 edges and an S6 and they were all perfect. The bending bit never bothered me because I never seen it as a problem.

The one huge difference between them is the fact that if I have a problem with an apple product I can go to my local Apple Store which is less than a mile away from my house and leave with a new/refurbished phone/iPad. With Samsung I have had good experiences before when I have had a problem but you never can be sure of the next time like with Apple.

As for the software inside the Samsung, yeah I know. It makes me nervous as well hence I sold my S6 edge last week mainly because I got a great price for it but also for the doubts about it.

If I get another Samsung then it will be the Note 5 but I'm not done with android because I like the look of the Moto X(new) and I loved the Moto X(2014) I had except for the screen and camera.

All in all I think we are agreed where the iPhone sits overall and I'm sure the iPhone 6s will only affirm that.

Yeah, I think that's one of the factors that pushed me back to the iPhone. That I could just waltz down to my local Apple store and they would completely take care of me. Samsung has such crappy service, I wanted nothing more to do with it.

I'm also liking the Moto X, although it's a bit too thick for me. I would have more faith in Motorola's quality than Samsung, and the icing on the cake is the MotoX is priced realistically.

 

[Neverbepeace]

Samsung came out swinging this year with the Note 5 and the S6 edge plus. Those are some very sleek and attractive devices. I think the design is indeed better then what the 6/6S brings. However, both designs are fantastic. I think the better question would be is Samsung finally catching up to iOS in terms of fluidness and speedy lag free interactions on touchwiz? I think they are very close.

 

[MRU]

Samsung came out swinging this year with the Note 5 and the S6 edge plus. Those are some very sleek and attractive devices. I think the design is indeed better then what the 6/6S brings. However, both designs are fantastic. I think the better question would be is Samsung finally catching up to iOS in terms of fluidness and speedy lag free interactions on touchwiz? I think they are very close.

They are but are doing so with sheer brute force rather than genuine under the hood optimisation. They're new memory management system on these flagship devices show this clearly.

If Samsung actually truly optimised their software then TW would be a challenge to stock android and ios in fluidity over all parts of the OS.

Sadly however they just seemingly rely more on the sheer grunt power of their great internal hardware to iron over the pretty deep wrinkles in their OS which means it (the hardware) never truly shines to its fullest potential (is always restrained by the OS)

That being said they have made really tangible improvements in areas like design this year, so who knows about next.

 

[spinedoc77]

They are but are doing so with sheer brute force rather than genuine under the hood optimisation. They're new memory management system on these flagship devices show this clearly.

If Samsung actually truly optimised their software then TW would be a challenge to stock android and ios in fluidity over all parts of the OS.

Sadly however they just seemingly rely more on the sheer grunt power of their great internal hardware to iron over the pretty deep wrinkles in their OS which means it (the hardware) never truly shines to its fullest potential (is always restrained by the OS)

That being said they have made really tangible improvements in areas like design this year, so who knows about next.

I'm glad you didn't list which model or what year you were talking about. You could label your post "2014 Note 4", "2015 Note 5" or even "2016 Note 6" and it would still be applicable. Seems like we hear the same stuff every year about touchwiz being optimized and having 1gb more of ram will finally fix the issues.

 

[MRU]

I'm glad you didn't list which model or what year you were talking about. You could label your post "2014 Note 4", "2015 Note 5" or even "2016 Note 6" and it would still be applicable. Seems like we hear the same stuff every year about touchwiz being optimized and having 1gb more of ram will finally fix the issues.

Yep very true.

 

[Tig Bitties]

Curious the design of the iPhone 7 due out next Summer.

Android has finally started putting out very high end built phones the past year. The new Galaxy phones this year, and other manufacturers have really stepped up their game.

Apple needs to really knock out a killer design again, something to wow us like the iPhone 4 did back in 2010.

 

[nj-morris]

Curious the design of the iPhone 7 due out next Summer.

Android has finally started putting out very high end built phones the past year. The new Galaxy phones this year, and other manufacturers have really stepped up their game.

Apple needs to really knock out a killer design again, something to wow us like the iPhone 4 did back in 2010.

Hoping for another glass-backed iPhone, but one that doesn't sacrifice the seamless feel of the 6.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

Hoping for another glass-backed iPhone, but one that doesn't sacrifice the seamless feel of the 6.

I wouldn't want it to return to those days personally. I look at it like the iPhone has evolved positively in a better direction since then. So many broken rear panels.

 

[nj-morris]

I wouldn't want it to return to those days personally. I look at it like the iPhone has evolved positively in a better direction since then. So many broken rear panels.

I don't like the design of the iPhone 4, but not because of the glass back. It was just oddly built, with the glass panels sticking out. That along with the weaker glass was what caused them to break. The iPhone 5 improved significantly on that design, but if they had made the back all glass, I would be very happy.
For the next iPhone I would probably want something somewhat similar to this concept. As I said in my previous comment, I would like it if it had the seamless feel of the 6.

 

[Rayy42]

If only Samsung had better software optimization and better customer service then I would give the Edge+ a go.

 

[TheRealAlex]

No true comparisons will be out until this weekend, I know.

Samsung finally got it right however, and switched from the cheap plastic phone casings to glass and aluminum. Actually I quite miss the all glass designs of the iPhone 4. It's also strange Samsung didn't get the same criticism Apple did when they made all glass phones (shattering due to user error and the subsequent complaints to Apple).

Anyway, the Samsung studio here allows you to try a Samsung phone for five days and I grabbed the Note 5 and took it home. The screen is amazing in comparison to the iPhone 6+. Simply beautiful. The new design is great. I also played around with the edge version and while great to look at, it just didn't seem that functional. Plus I'd be afraid to drop it. Overall the OS was clunky and unfamiliar, it took me quite a while to grasp simple things like find the "@" symbol on they keyboard.

I'm curious as to how the new S version will stack up to the Note 5. Productivity wise I really enjoyed the Note over my 6+. I just don't think I'd ever be able to leave the Apple ecosystem and I bet that's why a good number of people stay tied to upgrading with Apple. I think one of the reasons I considered the Note so heavily is because I loved the design and Apple has felt stagnant in that department lately. I feel like Apple hasn't radically changed the phone design since the iPhone 4. It seems more like iterational updates. iPhone 5 removed the glass back, iPhone 6 removed the square edges and returned to the curves of the 3 series. Maybe the design of the 7 will change my mind.

Anyone else played with the Note? Thoughts on both phones design?

The Note 5 is

#1. Lighter and Smaller than the iPhone 6s Plus (think about that let it marinate)
#2. It has the best 5.7" OLED QHD display ever period verified and tested by Displaymate.
#3. Also the Display is Bigger than the iPhone 6's Plus but with thinner bezels and better design optimizes efficieny and is easier to hold
#4. Gorilla Glass 4
#5. new Improved Oculus VR for the Note 5. for $99 if you have not tried it yet. I'll say it this way. Pretend you never had tried a Bacon Cheeseburger before. And I am swearing to you its super tasty you need to try one. The how good VR is.

 

[bpeeps]

The Note 5 is

#1. Lighter and Smaller than the iPhone 6s Plus (think about that let it marinate)
#2. It has the best 5.7" OLED QHD display ever period verified and tested by Displaymate.
#3. Also the Display is Bigger than the iPhone 6's Plus but with thinner bezels and better design optimizes efficieny and is easier to hold
#4. Gorilla Glass 4
#5. new Improved Oculus VR for the Note 5. for $99 if you have not tried it yet. I'll say it this way. Pretend you never had tried a Bacon Cheeseburger before. And I am swearing to you its super tasty you need to try one. The how good VR is.

I like that you're appealing to my love for burgers and bacon.

 

[audiofx]

The Note 5 is

#1. Lighter and Smaller than the iPhone 6s Plus (think about that let it marinate)
#2. It has the best 5.7" OLED QHD display ever period verified and tested by Displaymate.
#3. Also the Display is Bigger than the iPhone 6's Plus but with thinner bezels and better design optimizes efficieny and is easier to hold
#4. Gorilla Glass 4
#5. new Improved Oculus VR for the Note 5. for $99 if you have not tried it yet. I'll say it this way. Pretend you never had tried a Bacon Cheeseburger before. And I am swearing to you its super tasty you need to try one. The how good VR is.

I'm really hoping for a design like this for iPhone 7 . I love my note 5 but do miss ios at times and the tight integration

 

[TheRealAlex]

Samsung came out swinging this year with the Note 5 and the S6 edge plus. Those are some very sleek and attractive devices. I think the design is indeed better then what the 6/6S brings. However, both designs are fantastic. I think the better question would be is Samsung finally catching up to iOS in terms of fluidness and speedy lag free interactions on touchwiz? I think they are very close.

Great Picture Kudos for posting this. I wanted an Edge 6 Plus but its Impossible to Hold

Plus the Note 5's Stylus is the Best Stylus I have EVER used, and I got back to the Apple Newton

 

[Suckfest 9001]

The Note 5 is

#1. Lighter and Smaller than the iPhone 6s Plus (think about that let it marinate)
#2. It has the best 5.7" OLED QHD display ever period verified and tested by Displaymate.
#3. Also the Display is Bigger than the iPhone 6's Plus but with thinner bezels and better design optimizes efficieny and is easier to hold
#4. Gorilla Glass 4
#5. new Improved Oculus VR for the Note 5. for $99 if you have not tried it yet. I'll say it this way. Pretend you never had tried a Bacon Cheeseburger before. And I am swearing to you its super tasty you need to try one. The how good VR is.

Honestly, using the Note 5, it's really irritating how thin the bezels are. There's a difference between "looks great on a table" and "feels great in the hand" and I'm glad Apple went with the latter to be honest. Accidental touch galore on my Note 5.

 

[pdqgp]

IMO the Note 5 design leveled the playing field between the two on build quality. The Speed is also insane. Remove the bloat turn off animations if you wish, I do, and it's insane. 24+hrs battery life is easy to get too. I'm at 79% and have been using it quite a bit today and it's been on since 6am with only about 15 minutes of car charger time on my way home, just for the heck of it.