Head-to-head: Samsung Galaxy S7 vs. iPhone 6s

We’re ringside at the main event – the one everyone has been waiting for – where we’re about to witness history as Samsung Galaxy S7 takes oniPhone 6s in a fight for the World Heavyweight title.

The anticipation is almost palpable as the two contenders are staring each other down on the canvas, toe-to-toe, awaiting the get-go from the bell to initiate what promises to be an electrifying bout, between two of the most feared and respected names in the business.

You have just enough time to stake your bet. Will it be the well-established, well-rounded iPhone 6s who retains the top spot? Or will the hot, new sensation, Samsung Galaxy S7, emerge triumphant?

There’s only one way to find out…

Let’s get ready to ruuuuummmmmbbbbbble..!

“Ding-ding!”

Weight and Measurements

At 4.7-inches, and with a weight of 143g, iPhone 6s is the smaller and lighter of our two prize fighters. Its form is also more natural; the glass display flows seamlessly into the metal chassis, at the top, base and both sides. It feels sublime.

The power button and SIM tray run down the right-hand side. The volume rocker and mute switch on the left. The base is populated by the charging port, headphone jack and speakers, whilst the top is completely untouched. Apple’s trademark logo adorns the rear, along with two antenna strips. And the trademark home button takes residence on the front, along with the call speaker and front camera lens. No battle scars or blemishes in sight.

The entire picture is really quite flawless, and you have to wonder how Apple will improve on the design. But you know if anyone can, it’s the Cupertino-based company.

iPhone 6s is available in four different colours, each as eye-catching as the next: gold, rose gold, space grey and silver. But the reigning champ only has one colour in mind…

Samsung Galaxy S7 shares a similar style to iPhone 6s, in that it too is built from a blend of metal and glass. However, its form isn’t quite as smooth, as it’s interrupted by an aluminium frame. That frame wraps around the outline of the device, equipping it with added strength and a premium appeal. So its presence is by no means unwelcomed.

A sheet of tough glass covers the rear, curving in slightly at the edges for a more comfortable grip. With a 5.1-inch display, Samsung Galaxy S7 is slightly larger – and heavier, too, at 152g – but it’s not too large that it becomes difficult to manage with just one hand.

Like iPhone 6s, the home button is positioned on the face of Galaxy S7, at the base, but it’s also joined by a touch-sensitive panel for other shortcuts. The very bottom of the device is, again, very similar, and that goes for the position of the power key and volume rocker, too. However, an added slot for a microSD card, which we’ll return to in a later round, offers some differentiation to the head of the device.

Colours include black and gold. Fewer options mean we have to deduct a point…

The Galaxy S7 is without a doubt the best looking Samsung smartphone to date, but it’s not as dazzling as iPhone 6s, who narrowly edges the first round.

Display and Showmanship

iPhone 6s enters the second round with a noticeable swagger; Samsung Galaxy S7 could take advantage of that with one or two sucker punches. Let’s get straight in.

As we saw earlier, iPhone 6s sports a 4.7-inch display, that sits somewhere in the Goldilocks region of being not too big, or too small. It features a ‘Retina HD’ resolution, which translates to 750 x 1334 pixels and a density of 326 ppi. The quality is sharp enough that you won’t discern individual pixels, and colours appear totally natural and balanced.

Samsung Galaxy S7, however, returns with a damaging blow, wielding a larger 5.1-inch Quad HD display that boasts a staggering 1440 x 2560 resolution, or 577 pixels per inch. Definition is obviously much sharper than that on iPhone 6s, bringing your content to life in a way that not many other mobile phones can compete with.

That could’ve been an early knockout for iPhone 6s, if it wasn’t for 3D Touch – its pressure sensitive screen technology, which lets you interact with your content by pressing against the display. Peek and Pop, for instance, allows you to preview emails and links without actually opening them.

Owing to its lethal Quad HD display, Samsung Galaxy S7 takes the second round with considerable ease. It’s one a piece.

Media Handling

Having just drawn level, Samsung Galaxy S7 will be looking to carry some momentum into the third round. The pressure is on iPhone 6s to recover.

Upgraded from an 8MP sensor, iPhone 6s houses a 12MP iSight camera that’s the best we’ve ever seen from Apple’s range. It features advanced pixel technology and a state-of-the-art sensor, producing some of the best results obtainable from a mobile phone.

iPhone 6s also shoots 4K video – iMovie comes included for powerful editing – and also lets you experiment with cool effects like time-lapse and slo-mo video (for recording knock outs like the one below). The front-facing 5MP camera is perfect for cheeky selfies and, of course, Face-Time with friends. The display doubles as a front flash.

Matching iPhone 6s pixel-for-pixel, Samsung Galaxy S7 packs a 12MP camera. Where it beats iPhone to the punch, though, is Dual Pixel technology. This is a technology that allows it to focus more accurately and with more speed. It’s the first smartphone to feature such a combo in its arsenal.

A larger F1.7 lens also allows Samsung Galaxy S7 to capture more light in each shot, which not only illuminates otherwise dark photos, but also brings out the detail in your shots. It too is capable of 4K video recording, though editing software isn’t as powerful as iMovie.

The front 5MP camera is just as proficient as that on iPhone 6s, though the addition of beauty mode (for ironing out blemishes) is a definite bonus point for Samsung Galaxy S7. As is the wide angle lens that captures up to 120 degrees, thus, more of your squad can squeeze into shot.

Both contenders come with the added ability to capture photos that turn into short videos in an instant. Called Live Photos on iPhone 6s, the iSight camera captures 1.5 seconds before and after you press the shutter, creating a moment in motion when you press the photo. Samsung’s version is called Motion Photo, capable of more or less the same thing.

Perhaps the tightest round yet sees Samsung Galaxy S7 narrowly scrape a victory. It’s two to one, to the South Korean combatant.

Mentality

iPhone 6s needs to get off the ropes in this next round and level the scores. Another victory for Samsung Galaxy S7 could spell early trouble.

iOS is designed to feel familiar the moment you pick an iPhone up and start using it. It’s designed so anyone can find his or her way around without any practice or prior knowledge.

The interface is clean, the user experience feels intuitive and on iOS 9 there are reams of fantastic apps built in, like Music, Maps, News, FaceTime, Health and Notes. It connects seamlessly across platforms, i.e. your iPad, Mac and Apple Watch. And security is airtight – as we’ve learnt from the recent FBI controversy…

Granted, iOS isn’t as open to customisation as Android, in terms of home widgets and the like. But then again, if you don’t get the widget layout right, it can look unsightly and unbalanced. Though not as bad as the result of going 12 rounds with Mike Tyson.

It’s the feeling of greater freedom and control over your smartphone that attracts people to Android. It’s a more open platform, allowing you to tweak and tinker with more to suit your preferences. This can either be taken as a positive, or a distraction. Most iOS users are happy with the OS because it feels just right as it is.

That’s why iPhone 6s edges this round, to bring the points level.

Performance

So far, iPhone 6s and Samsung Galaxy S7 have matched each other blow-by-blow. This is anyone’s victory.

This category is typically measured in raw numbers, which, as I’ll explain shortly, can be a harebrained mistake.

On the face of it, you might feel underwhelmed by the hardware driving iPhone 6s. Consider a dual-core 1.84GHz processor and 2GB RAM next to Samsung Galaxy S7’s four cores, working in pairs that clock in at 2.15GHz and 1.6GHz, along with 4GB RAM. It’s a totally one-sided brawl, right?

Wrong. iPhone 6s is a stylist, relying on skill rather than brawn. Its hardware and software are built to perform in perfect harmony, allowing for greater efficiency and performance. In other words, iPhone 6s doesn’t need to be jacked up on juice to keep up with the big guns. It is the big gun, despite its seemingly modest spec list; iPhone 6s out performs every other Android device going.

But the difference between these two elites is pretty negligible; both are excellent at running the highest performance games, juggling multiple apps and tasks simultaneously, and delivering the sort of fluid user experience you expect from a top-of-the-range smartphone.

Again, it’s another neck and neck round, but iPhone 6s was ultimately able to roll with punches more effectively than Samsung Galaxy S7, and retakes the lead.

Mental Capacity

iPhone 6s has really found its feet now, taking two rounds in a row. Is Samsung Galaxy S7 starting to buckle?

The moment Samsung announced the return of the microSD card, Samsung Galaxy S7 became an instant hit for me. Scrapping it when the Galaxy S6 was launched was an unforgivable mistake. Samsung tried to replicate the Apple ethos of controlling the storage space in a three tiered offering of 32, 64, and 128GB. This might work for Apple, but Android users are so accustomed to storage expansion offered by microSD cards that it created an instant backlash.

Now though, with a generous storage size of 32GB as standard, and room for a microSD card slot up to 200GB, Samsung Galaxy S7 is a formidable choice. More so than iPhone 6s, which is limited to 16, 64 and 128GB variants. The cost between each size upgrade is greater than the cost of a larger microSD card, so you have to agree when I say the Galaxy S7 gets the majority decision here.

Boom! Out of nowhere, Samsung Galaxy S7 lands a counterpunch right where it hurts. It’s level pegging.

Toughness

Who can handle the most blows and walk away unscathed? This round should reveal all.

Apple created its most robust iPhone yet in the 6s, fashioning it from aerospace-grade 7000 Series aluminium. Even the front panel is cut from the “strongest cover glass used on any smartphone”. And whilst we have to stress this is NOT the official line, some bloggers are claiming that iPhone 6s is actually water-resistant. We implore you to exercise your common sense, and avoid testing that theory.

The official line on Samsung Galaxy S7, however, is the device can survive in water, with an IP68 rating that allows it to be submerged in liquid up to 1.5 meters, for around 30 minutes. Its super resilient build means all the usual concerns, like taking calls in the rain or using your device by the pool, need not be concerns at all.

Whilst iPhone 6s might feature the strongest alloy ever used in an iPhone, it’s not brawny as Samsung Galaxy S7, who can bear the harshness of the elements like a true champ. It’s four to three; the S7 leads going into the final round.

Endurance

It’s fitting that we should finish this historical bout on endurance, the category that measures our two contender’s ability to go the distance. Will it be iPhone 6s who digs the deepest, to save the draw, and its title, or will Samsung Galaxy S7 finish its opponent off with a crowd-pleasing haymaker?

Similarly to processing power, battery performance shouldn’t always be measured by numbers alone… iPhone 6s houses a 1715 mAh battery, compared to Samsung Galaxy S7’s 3000 mAh unit. Yes, that is almost twice as large…

The combined efficiency of iPhone’s chipset and operating system require less fuel than a typical Android handset, however we think the significantly larger battery size fuelling Galaxy S7 is too much for iPhone 6s to compete with.

Plus – here comes the haymaker – Samsung Galaxy is the only one of our two fighters to feature wireless charging technology, which isn’t just more convenient, it’s damn cool.

With that, iPhone 6s is down and out for the count. Our new World Heavyweight Champion is the beautiful but brutish Samsung Galaxy S7! It bested its opponent in no less than 5 of the 8 rounds, finishing with a crushing knock out. Rumour has it, Apple is already preparing its next contender, who’s touted to surface this September…