Introduction
Boy do we have a good one for you today – a specification comparison and discussion of the hottest smartphones and phablets on the market today. For your enjoyment, we have the Apple iPhone 6, the Samsung Galaxy Note 4, the Motorola Nexus 6, The Sony Xperia Z4, the HTC One M9, the LG G4 and the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge. All of these devices are the flagships of their line and represent the pinnacle of technology…at this time. With technology, especially where mobile devices are concerned, every few months the specifications seem to be bumped up to a new level. However, this list of devices is a great place to start and their build quality, processors and displays make using any of these devices a real joy.
Please take a deliberate look at the detailed Specifications Comparison chart below and here you will see just how these seven devices stack up against one another – click on the “View Full Comparison” link at the end of the chart to expand the details. After that, we will look at different areas of the devices in greater detail and point out some pros and cons. From all of this information we can draw some conclusions based on specs and execution of design and functions.
Displays
The displays come in a variety of sizes…and from smallest to largest…the iPhone 6 is 4.7-inch, One M9 is 5-inches, the S6 Edge is 5.1-inch and curved on both sides, the Xperia Z4 comes in at 5.2-inches, the LG G4 is 5.5-inches and appears to be slightly curved (either the display of glass), the Galaxy Note 4 is 5.7-inches, and the Nexus 6 is 5.96-inches. They will have either the LCD or AMOLED technology and are either Full HD (FHD) with a resolution of 1920 x1080 pixels or Quad HD (QHD) with a resolution of 2560 x 1440 pixels. The Xperia Z4, HTC One M9 are both LCD and FHD displays – the Galaxy Note 4 and S6 Edge are both QHD and Super AMOLED displays, while the Nexus 6 is a QHD and an AMOLED display. The iPhone 6 has its own Retina HD resolution of 1334 x 750 pixels with a LCD display.
Processor/Memory
The processor, RAM and memory all play a part in the performance of the smartphone. The iPhone 6 uses a proprietary A8 64-bit dual-core processor clocked at 1.4GHz with 1GB of RAM and either 16GB, 64GB or 128GB of internal memory with no room for expansion. The Samsung Galaxy Note 4 and the Nexus 6 both use the 32-bit Snapdragon 805 quad-core processor, 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage – the Galaxy Note 4 has room for expansion, and the Nexus 6 does not. The Xperia Z4, One M9 and the LG G4 all use the newest 64-bit Snapdragon 810 octa-core processor, 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage, all with available expansion. The Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge uses its homegrown 64-bit Exynos 7420 octa-core processor with 3GB of their new DDR4 RAM and either 32GB, 64GB or 128GB of their new UFS 2.0 Flash Memory with no room for expansion.
Cameras
The cameras are as varied as they can get – from the 8MP on the iPhone 6 to the 20.7MP on the Xperia Z4. The Nexus 6 has 13MP, the Galaxy Note 4, S6 Edge, LG G4 weigh in at 16MP and the HTC One M9 comes in at 20MP. We all know there is more to taking a great picture that purely megapixels – the software design is especially important in smartphones, as is the rest of the hardware…aperture, flash, the speed of the shutter and auto focus and certainly whether it has an Optical Image Stabilizer (OIS). The Galaxy Note 4, S6 Edge, the Nexus 6 and the LG G4 all incorporate OIS while the HTC One M9, Xperia Z4 and iPhone 6 do not use OIS, although Apple uses OIS in the iPhone 6 Plus. All of these smartphones take great pictures, although latest testing is leaning toward the Galaxy S6 Edge as having the camera to beat. The front-facing cameras (FFC) also vary greatly with the iPhone 6 coming in at only 1.2MP, the Nexus 6 has a 2MP, the Galaxy Note 4 comes in at 3.7MP, the One M9 has a 4MP (UltraPixel), the LG G4 and the Galaxy S6 Edge come in at 5MP and the Xperia Z4 tops the list at 5.1MP.
Battery
Battery size is always a concern to smartphone buyers that would like to see their next device last a week before they need to charge their batteries…okay, I exaggerate, but you get the picture. Going from smallest to largest battery – the iPhone 6 at 1810mAh, the Galaxy S6 Edge at 2600mAH, the HTC One M9 at 2840mAh, the Xperia Z4 at 2930mAh, the LG G4 at 3000mAh, and both the Galaxy Note 4 and Nexus 6 coming in at 3220mAh. Just like the most megapixels does not mean the best camera, neither does the largest battery mean it is the longest lasting. The drain on the battery can be caused by the display (QHD uses more power), processor, memory and even the use of Wi-Fi/4G LTE. Devices are also offering battery saving features, such as Samsung’s UPSM (Ultra Power Saving Mode) as well as ways to charge the battery quicker. Some offer a quick-charge feature and some are even including built-in wireless charging, such as the Galaxy S6 Edge and LG G4 .
Software
The iPhone 6 runs the very restrictive iOS 8…the remaining devices are running the latest Android Lollipop 5.0 and Google’s new Material Design. It is now 64-bit, faster, smoother and better looking than ever. It offers themes, widgets, multiple home screens, multiple keyboards and even true multi-tasking with multi-windows – one of the reasons that Android is so popular.
Summary
These devices are all slightly different, some, more so than others and your favorite selection will be based on your likes and needs – do you want an all-metal body, glass and metal, a phablet-type device, one with an S-Pen or will you die without iOS. How do you use your device the most – phone calls, picture taking, emailing, texting, watching videos or playing games? All seven devices are beautiful, solidly built and look like the premium devices they are. Google, LG, HTC, Sony, Samsung and Apple have now put their cards on the table and we hope you are excited about getting your hands on all of these for a thorough testing.
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