iPhone 6 Plus vs. Galaxy Note 4: Apple Hits Record-Breaking Sales, but Samsung's Phablet Remains Superior for Features and Specifications

By Adhelyn Divina Oct 29, 2014 05:03 AM EDT

Galaxy Note 4 vs iPhone 6 Plus — (Photo : YouTube)

iPhone 6 Plus vs. Galaxy Note 4: Apple Hits Record-Breaking Sales, but Samsung's Phablet Remains Superior for Features and Specifications

Apple and Samsung can be considered the modern day Coke and Pepsi, engaged in their own version of the "Cola Wars." During the peak of their rivalry, the two soda companies battled for both profits and market share. The "Cola Wars" is still considered one of the most famous brand rivalries, and it seems Coca-Cola won the showdown, if the Famous Rivalries website is to be believed.

Fast forward to the present: the smartphone showdown is now between a Korean tech and electrical goods giant, and the American, Cupertino-based high-technology and design phenomenon. Similar to Coke and Pepsi, the two firms are now in the midst of a battle for greater profit margins and market share. In the early years of the rivalry, Samsung had the upper hand after it spearheaded large-screen smartphones. But, after Apple's recent launch of the iPhone 6 series, the global handset table was turned.

It has been reported that Samsung admitted losing income and shares due to the popularity of the new handsets from its rival. Then, the Korea-based corporation's nightmare seemed to only continue, as The Wall Street Journal reported that Apple's market share, even in Samsung's home court, increased after the iPhone 6 series release.

It appears that Apple has neutralized the battlefield; but, does this mean that the iPhone 6 Plus is truly better than Samsung's newest flagship phablet, the Galaxy Note 4? Let's see what the two phablets' hardware and software have to say in a comparison, using the details in Phone Arena's listing.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 4 is bigger, at 6.04 x 3.09 x 0.33 inches (153.5 x 78.6 x 8.5 mm), compared to Apple's iPhone 6 Plus, with dimensions of 6.22 x 3.06 x 0.28 inches (158.1 x 77.8 x 7.1 mm), and the former is also heavier, with a weight of 6.21 oz. versus the 6.07 oz. of Apple's device. Apple's sleeker handset, made from aluminium, is made with superior material.

However, the smartphone from Korea is still superior in terms of display size and quality. It sports a 5.7-inch Super AMOLED screen, with 1440 x 2560 pixels and 515 ppi, versus Apple's 5.5-inch IPS LCD display, with 1080 x 1920 pixels and 401 ppi. Both handsets feature scratch-resistant displays, but Samsung's is notably made of sturdy Corning Gorilla Glass 3.

The iPhone 6 Plus is again inferior compared to the Galaxy Note 4 when camera quality is considered. While Samsung's handset has a 16MP camera with LED flash, Apple has half the capacity of the latter's camera: 8MP. Even Note 4's 3.7MP "selfie" cam is much better than the 6 Plus' 1.2MP front snapper.

Note 4 wins again with an octa-core processor clocked at 190GHz, combined with an Exynos 5433 chip, versus the 6 Plus' dual-core processor, which clocked at 140 GHz, and is combined with an Apple A8 chipset. Samsung also equipped its latest phablet with a bigger RAM of 3GB, compared to Apple's 1GB. On the other hand, the iPhone 6 Plus has 128GB of in-house memory capacity, while the Note 4 has only 32GB of built-in storage—although, the latter has a MicroSD slot that allows for an expansion of storage that equals that of Apple's.

Finally, Apple finished ahead of Samsung with its 3220 mAh battery that can last up to 24 hours.

As far as similarities go, both devices are equipped with high-end connectivity settings, and both handsets housed the latest operating systems at the times of release: Note 4 has Android Kitkat 4.4, while 6 Plus has iOS 8.

In terms of price, the Apple iPhone 6 Plus is a bit pricier compared to the Samsung Galaxy Note 4: £789 versus £575.