Samsung and Apple both remain titans of the smartphone industry, and with firms like BlackBerry, Sony, and HTC receding further into the background that doesn’t look set to change any time soon. Even when it comes to ambitious, forward-thinking projects poised to change the face of the market, these two are ahead; Google’s tantalising Project Ara modular phone has been killed and buried, while Samsung has plans to introduce the first fully folding and flexible OLED smartphone in 2017 with the Samsung Galaxy X. Meanwhile, Apple is allegedly planning a big event next year when it launches the 10th anniversary iPhone model, which is rumoured to have a complete ground-up redesign with a curved glass or ceramic body and OLED display tech for the first time ever on an iPhone.
But that’s all for later. Right now the big contest between these two is in the latest crop of iPhones – the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus phablet – and the combination of Samsung’s Galaxy S7 series (including the Galaxy S7 EDGE) and its most recently launched Galaxy Note 7 phablet. At the moment though, while Apple’s sales performance has declined this year and Samsung’s Galaxy S7 has sold very well indeed, Samsung is reeling from the PR disaster that is the Galaxy Note 7. The 5.7 in phone, by most accounts, is an excellent device, but due to the manufacturing flaw with the battery several units violently exploded, prompting the mass recall and replacement scheme from Samsung, which analysts estimate may cost the firm $ 1.5 billion. But it’s not so much the price of replacing all the devices that Samsung is probably worried about as it is the impact on the brand which may be putting new customers off. It would appear Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7 problem has been fixed, and in fact, most reports seem to indicate customers are choosing safe replacement units OVER the monetary refund. Read into that what you will.
Anyway, it seems pretty clear that at some point in the not too distant future the issue of exploding batteries will no longer be a problem – Samsung Galaxy Note 7 units can now be reliably purchased with no fears of spontaneous combustion. So aside from the controversy, what is the phablet like? And how does it compare to its nearest rival – Apple’s iPhone 7 Plus?
Samsung Galaxy Note 7 vs iPhone 7 Plus: Major Specs
Samsung Galaxy Note 7
- Display: 5.7 in, 2560×1440-pixel QHD, 518 ppi, Corning Gorilla Glass 5
- Storage: 64GB + expansion via MicrosSD for another 256GB
- CPU: Samsung Exynos Octa 8890 (64-bit); Quad-Core 2.3 GHz Exynos M1 “Mongoose” + Quad-Core 1.6 GHz ARM Cortex-A53
- RAM: 4GB
- Front Camera: 5MP
- Rear Camera: 12MP with OIS, f/1.7 aperture, dual-pixel phase detection autofocus
- Other: S-Pen Capacitive Stylus, IP68 Water And Dust Proofing, Fingerprint Scanner, Iris Scanner
iPhone 7 Plus
- Display: 5.5 in LCD IPS Retina 1920×1080 pixel resolution (401ppi), 3D Touch, Wide Colour Gamut
- Storage: 32GB, 128GB, and 256GB
- CPU: A10 Fusion processor
- RAM: 3GB
- Front Camera: 7MP with wide angle lens
- Rear Camera: Dual-12MP, OIS, f/1.8 aperture, telephoto and wide-angle lens
- Other: IP67 Waterproof, Capacitive Touch ID Home key
Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7 runs on the firm’s existing Exynos Octa 8990 chipset, the very same silicon running inside the Galaxy S7 and, as we know with that device, performance wise its a real workhorse of a chip, and quite battery friendly too. Although the 6GB of RAM that was rumoured didn’t materialise, it still has a hefty 4GB (note that the 6GB Galaxy Note 7 did launch…exclusive to China…yeah). Against this, Apple has introduced its new A10 Fusion chipset with 3GB of RAM, offering 40% faster speeds from the A9 with one fifth the battery consumption
On the storage side of things the Galaxy Note 7 has a single 64GB internal variant with microSD support up to 256GB (again, the larger 128GB variant is available in China). Apple has switched its storage options to include 32GB, 128GB and 256GB models), and of course none of them support cards.
In short, Samsung has just about covered the bare essential of onboard storage, but offers the flexibility of card storage, conversely, Apple hits all the right notes on internal capacity, but if you need card support you are, the ever, out of luck.
Samsung Galaxy Note 7 vs iPhone 7 Plus: Design & Features
The Galaxy Note 7 looks like a big Galaxy S7 EDGE, complete with the curved display, and metal and glass bodywork. It packs an S-Pen stylus, fingerprint and iris scanners for biometric security, and full IP68 water and dust proofing.
Apple’s iPhone 7 Plus likeiwse looks like a big iPhone 7, with the new discrete antenna band design, new black and Jet Black (gloss) colour options, and the capacitive (and Haptic) touch the Home key. There are a few big firsts on the iPhone 7 series too though, including IP67 water and dust proofing and stereo speakers. It’s also ditched the 3.5 mm headphone jack in favour of the multi-role Lightning port which now does audio as well as data and charging.
Samsung Galaxy Note 7 vs iPhone 7 Plus: Display
Samsung is pretty much the king when it comes to display tech and that hasn’t changed with the Galaxy Note 7 – it is using the same critically acclaimed Super AMOLED setup found in the Galaxy S7, but of course on the larger 5.7 in scale. This time it has a QHD resolution for stunning clarity, combined with Super AMOLED’s usual high quality contrast, colour, and brightness.
Apple’s display is a little smaller at 5.5 in. It’s still an IPS LCD Retina panel with a 1920×1080 pixel FHD resolution and looks pretty damn sharp. Apple has also boosted the brightness by 25% and implemented a new wide colour gamut for improved visual quality. Is it better than the Note 7 though? Sadly until we get both in our hands we can’t say, but somehow we doubt it will best the Samsung.
Samsung Galaxy Note 7 vs iPhone 7 Plus: Camera
Despite the swirl of rumours surround the Galaxy Note 7, Samsung opted for a fairly straightforward imaging setup pulled directly from the Galaxy S7 flagship – the 12MP sensor with an f/1.7 aperture and Samsung’s unique, best-in-class dual-pixel phase detection autofocus, dual-LED flash, optical image stabilisation (OIS), 1/2.5″ sensor size and 1.4 µm pixel size. Is it the best camera on the market? In. But it’s pretty damn good, up there with the best of them, and extremely user friendly and easy to get great results with.
Apple’s camera changes are a bigger deal this time round. The iPhone 7 Plus has a 12MP dual-sensor camera with one featuring the telephoto lens and the other the wide-angle setup, with specially-made 6-element and 5-element lenses, the bespoke image signal processor, an f/1.8 aperture, an optical image stabilisation module (OIS) and the quad-LED flash with built-in flicker sensor – this allows it to compensate for articifical lighting. The dual-sensor tech allows the iPhone 7 Plus to implement the 2x optical zoom, and up to 10x digital software zoom, as well as to simulate depth-of-field Bokeh effects.
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