It’s taken six years, countless dollars, and more hours in court than either party wants to admit for Samsung to finally evolve their ideal of the touch-based, slab smartphone to perfection. Apple brought the idea to the mass market with the iPhone. Back in 2007, the original iPhone smashed expectations into the dirt and went on to spawn one of the best-selling and most revolutionary products the world has ever known. Three years later, an upstart phone came from a company better known for appliances. Until the Galaxy S, Samsung’s few Android efforts had been decidedly lackluster, and their Windows Mobile devices, while well-loved, had failed to top charts. Nobody expected the Galaxy S to be the start of a massive war that would drive the smartphone space forward.
From the first Galaxy S facing off with the iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4 back in 2010, anybody who knew anything about the smartphone world could tell you that there would be a war. The Galaxy S2 upped the ante, and ended up coming close to matching the dual-core iPhone 4S in critical acclaim. Soon after the iPhone 5 was revealed, competing with the Galaxy S3, the tech world suffered a dire blow in the form of losing Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. This did not stop Samsung from stealing the show with the bevy of premium features packed into the Galaxy S4 that kept pace with the iPhone 5S, a much loved model from 2013 still in wide use today due to its powerful 64-bit processor. The iPhone 6 met a mixed reaction from diehard fans, but ultimately became the champion of the brand that everybody knew it would be. Samsung faltered a bit with the Galaxy S5, an attempt to refine the Galaxy lineup’s design. Samsung knew they had to step up their game for the Galaxy S6, and step up their game they did. The Galaxy S6 matched the iPhone 6 blow for blow in popularity, and along with the Galaxy S7, helped Samsung overcome the feature-laden iPhone 6S lineup and become the second biggest name in smartphones worldwide.
Both of them had their fair share of firsts and faults, of course. The Galaxy S3 was the first phone to sport a big, beautiful Super AMOLED panel, the S4 introduced multi-window and air gestures to smartphones, and the S6 was the first with a curved screen. The iPhone family, meanwhile, was the first phone lineup with an app store, introduced consumers to cloud integration, had the first fingerprint sensor and 64 bit processor on a mass market phone, and introduced 3D touch before any other smartphone. On the iOS side, faulty antennas, glass issues, mapping app bugs, bending phones, and chip controversies have plagued the lineup. Samsung, not to be outdone, gave users false alarm water damage, Wi-Fi issues, random reboots, ghost touches with overheating, and fingerprint scanner issues. It has been a crazy ride for both brands, and for smartphone fans, and the iPhone 7, to be revealed soon, will only make things crazier.