My significant other and sometimes fiancé is pining for Samsung’s new Galaxy Note 7. Yes, Samsung skipped right over the Note 6 to keep the numbering scheme the same across its high end devices.
Why does he want a Galaxy Note 7 when he already has an iPhone 6s Plus, and Apple’s iPhone Upgrade Program which will get him an iPhone 7 Plus or Pro sometime late next month? In a word, it’s all about specifications and that’s where Samsung excels.
Do Numbers Matter?
Samsung and Apple have been playing leapfrog in recent years with one slightly outdoing the other with each new model of their flagship devices. Samsung, though, has more premium Galaxy phones than Apple has iPhone models.
The latest is the Galaxy Note 7 which bristles with everything you won’t find in an iPhone. In the tech world, among techies, specifications rule, and Samsung knows that as well as any manufacturer. Jessica Doulcourt compared today’s premium smartphones and created a handy table which displays most– but not all– of the obvious differences between the devices.
The Galaxy Note 7 is Samsung’s biggest smartphone but gets compared to Apple’s somewhat diminutive by comparison iPhone 6s (why not the iPhone 6s Plus, Jessica?). Compare Samsung’s Note 7 pixel resolution of 2,560×1,440 to the iPhone 6s at 1,334×750.
See? iPhone loses big time. Even pixel density is a paltry 326 to 518. The iPhone 6s Plus weighs more than Samsung’s Note 7, but has better than iPhone 6s screen resolution and pixel density above 400 (that’s up there high enough that average users cannot tell the difference).
Apple tends to avoid disclosing specifications that make their products seem paltry to the competition but imagine a potential customer comparing the Note 7’s 3,500 mAh battery to the iPhone 6s at 1,715 mAh. See? Me Hulk. Samsung big. Apple not big.
Paying For Product Placement
Comparing the iPhone 6s to larger models seems like a paid oversight, a situation whereby competitors pay journalists to display their biggest competitor in the worst light. The Samsung Galaxy Note 7, S7 Edge, Motorola Moto Z, OnePlus 3 all have 5.5-inch displays but they get compared to the iPhone 6s which has a measly 4.7-inch display. Ditto for screen pixel density. Apple loses.
Thankfully, such specifications don’t matter much to the average smartphone customer these days, which may explain why the iPhone line’s revenue and profits run rings around Samsung, Motorola, OnePlus, and everything else that doesn’t have an Apple logo on it.
What is interesting about such comparisons is why Apple doesn’t bother to play that game. Why not? The company easily could afford to have the most RAM, the largest storage options, the most pixels in a screen, and every bell and whistle that underpaid Chinese laborers could throw into the aluminum case, but they don’t. Instead, Apple focuses on the all important premium user experience vs. specifications. Why? We use our devices in ways where mere specifications do not matter might be the reasoning. After all, does an onto-core CPU with triple the iPhone’s RAM perform graphics and games better? No. That’s why product specifications as a point of comparison should be a thing of the past.
ViewRoyal says
Wednesday, August 3, 2016 at 7:07 PMYes, some people are specification crazy, and care very little about actual performance, hardware and software quality, support, user experience, etc.
Samsung and other companies know this fact, and so they promote their products on the basis of “big numbers” rather than real-world qualities that people actually buy a smartphone for.
As we know form past comparisons between last years’ best Samsung phone (Galaxy S6 vs. the iPhone 6S), the 2015 iPhone beats the 2015 Samsung phone in benchmarks, durability, drop tests, reliability, support, upgradeability, resale value, etc.
But as P.T. Barnum said, “There’s a sucker born every minute”. These are the people who only look for the big numbers and then buy Samsung phones.
Samsung’s 2016 high end phones, the Galaxy S7 models, have the poorly conceived design of having a backside case made out of glass. This results in your expensive GS7 phone shattering when dropped to the ground (see YouTube drop test videos)… But you won’t see THAT comparison in the “specs” that Samsung advertises.
On the other hand, Apple’s 2015 iPhones (iPhone 6S/6S Plus) and the upcoming 2016 iPhone 7, have a case made out of solid Series 7000 Aluminum alloy, which has proven to be extremely durable.
Apple has so far done an incredible job of keeping a tight lid on leaks about the iPhone 7 models. Even though we are only one month away from its release, the only thing that anyone outside of Apple has seen are the photos of the metal backside. We have no factual information about any of the technological advancements and user experience enhancements (the REALLY important things) that will arrive with the iPhone 7.
I have absolutely NO DOUBT that the iPhone 7 WILL NOT be an iPhone 6S “Part deux”, as some people have claimed in their baseless and biased opinions.
With every iPhone model released, Apple has always been ahead of the curve, with the most desirable and advanced smartphone available. I’m looking forward to being pleasantly surprised, as I am every time Apple introduces a new iPhone model, when the iPhone 7 is unveiled in September.
Ben says
Thursday, August 4, 2016 at 5:21 PMIt’s true that since Apple moved the Mac to Intel chips and SSDs instead of hard disk drives that I pay less attention to specifications and comparisons than ever before– BUT that Samsung Galaxy Note 7 sure has a nice list of specs.
Iris scanner? We’ll see if it works as well as Touch ID on the iPhone. Even Samsung’s first fingerprint scanners on the Galaxy phones were crummy by comparison but has improved.
Apple doesn’t seem to want to play the so-called ‘specs’ game but what I don’t understand is, “Why?” Or, rather, “Why not?” Certain Apple can afford it? Why be so chintzy with hardware specs.
Oh. Yeah. Massive profits.