Challenging the norms of smartphone design, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. unveiled two flagship devices at Mobile World Congress this week: the flat screen Galaxy S6 and the dual-curved screen Galaxy S6 Edge. Between the sibling handsets specifications vary little, the Edge’s dual-curved screen being the biggest point of differentiation.

It would seem launching two devices is en vogue. Even Apple launched two flagship devices last year, the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.

Speaking of two flagship devices, how does the Galaxy S6 Edge compare to the iPhone 6 Plus?

Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge vs. Apple iPhone 6 Plus

Design and dimension

Galaxy S6 Edge: Height 142.1mm x width 70.1mm x depth 7mm; weight 132g; features dual-curved edges; and sports a Gorilla Glass 4 back cover.

iPhone 6 Plus: Height 158.1mm x width 77.8mm x depth 7.1mm; weight 172g; features an ion-strengthened cover glass, rounded edges and curves that seamlessly connect with the anodized aluminum enclosure at the back, like the iPhone 6.

Display

Galaxy S6 Edge: 5.1-inch, 2560×1440, Super AMOLED display with 577ppi, Gorilla Glass 4.

iPhone 6 Plus: 5.5-inch LED-backlit widescreen Multi-Touch display with IPS technology, 1920×1080-pixel resolution at 401ppi.

Internal components

Galaxy S6 Edge: Exynos 7420, 64-bit Quad-core 1.5 GHz Cortex-A53 & Quad-core 2.1 GHz Cortex-A5, 32/64/128GB with no microSD slot for expansion, 3GB RAM, NFC, infrared port, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot, Bluetooth LE, A-GPS, GLONASS, Beidou.

iPhone 6 Plus: A8 chip with 64-bit architecture, M8 motion coprocessor, runs iOS 8, available in 16/64/128GB with no microSD slot, NFC chip, Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, Wi-Fi hotspot.

Camera

Galaxy S6 Edge: Back camera: 16MP, 2988 x 5312 pixels, optical image stabilization, autofocus, LED flash; Selfie camera: 5MP, 1080p@30fps, dual video call, auto HDR, wide-angle.

iPhone 6 Plus: 8MP iSight camera with 1.5µ pixels, autofocus with Focus Pixels, True Tone flash, five-element lens, sapphire crystal lens cover, auto image stabilization, burst mode, slo-mo video; 1.2MP FaceTime camera, burst selfie, HDR, geo-tagging, face detection.

Sensors

Galaxy S6 Edge: Accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass, barometer, gesture, heart rate.

iPhone 6 Plus: Barometer, three-axis gyro, accelerometer, proximity.

Battery

Galaxy S6 Edge: Non-removable Li-Ion 2600 mAh battery.

iPhone 6 Plus: Built-in rechargeable lithium-ion battery with a standby time of 384 hours.

Operating system

Galaxy S6 Edge: Android 5.0 Lollipop.

iPhone 6 Plus: iOS 8.

Special features

Galaxy S6 Edge: Dual-curved screen with features we’ve already seen from the Edge Note, including the Information Stream, Night Clock, Edge Lighting and People Edge, the color-coded interface that glows different tones for different contacts. Samsung continues to explore tactile points of interaction on its smartphones, extending the touchscreen to visual and audio cues. Samsung is also pushing its alternative to Apple-run services, with a health center and mobile payments support, recently boosted with the acquisition of LoopPay.

iPhone 6 Plus: Apple Pay via new NFC chip, new Health app, Touch ID for security, Siri, barometer, three-axis gyro, accelerometer, proximity sensor, ambient light sensor.

To compensate for the bigger screen, Apple added a Reachability feature that compresses screen content nearer to tapping thumbs. Reachability is turned on by default on the iPhone 6 Plus; just double tap (not press) on the Home button to decrease the size of the screen. Want to turn the feature off? From the Home screen go to Settings > General > Accessibility > then look for the ‘Interaction’ section. Scroll down to find Reachability and toggle the switch to “off”.

Price

The Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge are slated for an April 10, 2015 release date in 20 unnamed countries. So far, carriers in Europe are the first to offer pre-orders of the devices. The 32GB version of the Galaxy S6 is priced at €700 while the 32GB version of the Galaxy S6 Edge is priced at €850. Models with larger storage can go for as much as €1049. For the price in the U.S., carriers have yet to provide details. You can register for alerts here.

The Verdict

The Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge have similar technical specifications, with only the dual-curved screen setting it apart, making it difficult to justify the €150 price difference for the base models.  Still, the S6 Edge has a dynamic design and could drive Samsung’s sales this year.

Early reactions for both Samsung S6 devices are quite positive.

Rob Kerr, uSwitch mobile analyst, expressed his approval of the design overhaul for both devices.

“Samsung has finally decided that plastic isn’t fantastic, with a welcomed move to a full-metal body flagship phone,” Kerr said.

“These waters are already tried and tested routes by the likes of HTC and Apple, where a cheaper looking handset just doesn’t cut it anymore in the premium mobile phone world.”

A poll conducted by Droid Life revealed that consumers are more interested in the dual-curved screen Galaxy S6 Edge than its flat counterpart, with 5,873 votes at the time of writing. Consumers are even choosing the HTC M9 over the Galaxy S6 by a hundred or so more votes.

David Ludlow of ExpertsReviews got to personally try the devices at MWC 2015 and run a few benchmarks on the Galaxy S6. Things are looking speedy for the S6, as Ludlow stated that “Running the SunSpider JavaScript test using the default browser (Chrome 38), the phone completed the test in 353.1ms, which is iPhone speed; however, using the latest version of Chrome (39), the phone was much slower, completing the test in 985.9ms.”

He added that Chrome may perform faster on the Galaxy S6 Edge and also noted that the device’s GPU is one of the fastest he has seen. In conclusion, Ludlow stated that despite the similarities between the two Galaxy devices, the S6 Edge will be the one people will want stating that “It’s beautifully made, the colour options all look fantastic and it’s a handset like no other.”

Image source: Samsung.com