iPhone 6 vs Galaxy Note 3
Two new arrivals on the smartphone market have spiked the interest of many tech enthusiasts and otherwise, around the world. The iPhone 6 has just been launched with great hype surrounding it, while the Galaxy Note 4 is already considered one of the best phablet smartphones you can find on the market. But what happens when the allegedly best smartphone on the market is a bit ahead of your budget? You can opt for its older brother, the Galaxy Note 2, which is also considered top of the line.
If you’re struggling at upgrading your phone and would like a few suggestions, hear us out. The iPhone 6 is about the newest smartphone you can get your hands on and it encompasses all Apple prowess. We have to admit that Apple could have done better, though. Nonetheless, the iPhone 6 is an excellent example of great engineering, designing and great manufacturing. The iPhone 6 specs stand in line with flagship characteristics of the year, but are behind the Galaxy Note 4 specs and are aimed for a different type of device with a different type of target consumer. That’s one of the main reasons why comparing the iPhone 6 to the behemoth Galaxy Note 4 might not be fair.
The Galaxy Note 3, however, still stands in the top spots of many phone reviewers, right up there with the Nexus 5, HTC One M8, Lumia 930 and Sony Xperia Z2. The Note 3 specs aren’t comparable to the Galaxy Note 4, though, so make no mistake, there is a pretty substantial difference between the two phones. That’s why we choose the Galaxy Note 3 as a competitor for the iPhone 6 specs, display, price and camera.
First off, if you’re aiming to save some money or have a limited budget, neither of these phone is the perfect match, unless you are happy with buying them with 2 year binding carrier contracts. I mind, so I prefer to value smartphones according to their off contract prices. The Galaxy Note 3 will set you back around $500, while the iPhone 6 price is $650, off contract. Now, the Galaxy Note 3 might be the cheaper one in this comparison, but it certainly doesn’t fall in the affordable smartphone category. That’s where Android One falls, and we hope to see something like that in the U.S.
As for availability, you can easily get both phones from retailers or carrier stores, or directly from the companies. But before ordering a phone, you usually have to check out what’s under the hood, what the hood is made of, how good the windshields are and how long will last. There’s no doubt that both the Galaxy Note 3 and iPhone 6 specs, display, battery power and performance are impressive, but not the best you can find on the market. They are among the best ones in their price-range if that’s a consolation.
Since the Galaxy Note 3 just got a successor, you might expect retail stores to heavily discount the device in the holiday season and even after. The Galaxy Note 4 is $200 more expensive than the Galaxy Note 3 and about $80 more expensive than the iPhone 6. The Galaxy Note 3 is phablet device, while the iPhone 6 has a more standard 4.7 inch display, catering to those who enjoy conventional measurements on a phone, aside from the fact that it fits in your hands and pocket. The Galaxy Note 3 has a 5.7 inch display so it’s definitely not the perfect choice for those of you want to use your phone one-handed, especially if you’ve got small hands. But, if you’d rather choose a bigger screen and use a stylus, you will look classy doing it, so buying the Galaxy Note 3 shouldn’t be a problem for you.
The 4.7 inch iPhone 6 display has a 750*1334 resolution, with 326 ppi pixel density while the Galaxy Note 3 5.7 inch display is a Super AMOLED one with a 1080*1920 resolution and 386 pp pixel resolution. To be fair, you will barely notice any difference between the two displays, only if you actually put them side by side. The Galaxy Note 3 does have a bit of issue with color reproduction, but it doesn’t happen very often. Otherwise, it tends to seem more vivid, bright and sharp than the display on the iPhone 6. But that shouldn’t be a deal breaker. Both smartphones have excellent displays and you will be able to enjoy them equally, in my opinion.
The iPhone 6 is clearly the smaller and lighter phone out of the two, but many are saying that they wouldn’t have minded if Apple made the iPhone 6 thicker, so it would be capable of housing a larger battery… and wouldn’t bend. Jokes aside, the iPhone 6 is constructed out of a metal unibody with chamfered edges and is one of the lightest, thinnest devices around. If you like aerial devices that you barely feel in your pocket, the iPhone 6 should definitely be your choice. The Galaxy Note 3 won’t even fit in my pocket, I don’t know about you. The design on the Galaxy Note 3 could have used a little Galaxy Alpha-like charm, but Samsung hadn’t thought about that at the time the Galaxy Note 3 was being manufactured. The Note 3 ended up with a polycarbonate body with a removable back that doesn’t feel nearly as premium as the iPhone 6.
The iPhone 6 specs include Apple’s latest A8 chipset with an M8 coprocessor, 1 GB RAM and either 16 GB, 64 GB or 128 GB internal storage, each upgrade costing $100 extra. The iPhone 6 fingerprint sensor is an improved one compared to the iPhone 5S and it is supposed to work faster and you won’t have to repeat-scan your finger. The Galaxy Note 3 runs on an octa core Snapdragon 800 CPU backed by 3 GB RAM and available in 16, 32 and 64 GB storage configurations, with a microSD card slot available. The iPhone 6 runs on Apple’s lates iOS 8, which has proved to be a great performer, although the first release and subsequent updates still left iOS 8 bug-filled and with connectivity issues. But since it’s Apple we’re dealing with, we’re sure iOS 8 will soon be updated to a stable, bug-free version. The Galaxy Note 3 runs on Android 4.3 Jelly Bean out of the box, but can be upgraded to Android 4.4 KitKat, and probably to Android L Lemon Meringue Pie when it is launched. Both operating systems and smartphones handle intensive use well, so processing power and speed shouldn’t be a concern. Although, if you want the one with the more horsepower, you should go for the cheaper Galaxy Note 3/
The iPhone 6 camera isn’t bad with its 8 MP iSight main shooter, which performs great, especially with manual controls in the iOS 8 app enabled. So far, the iPhone 6 produced photos can rival those taken on a Sony Xperia Z3 and the HTC One M8. The Galaxy Note 3 has a bigger 13 MP main sensor, and it certainly is a good rival to the iPhone 6, but there isn’t much difference to be seen between the shots taken by the flagships. The iPhone 6 front camera is a 1.2 MP one while the Galaxy Note 3 has a 2 MP front shooter. Neither are optimal camera setups and there’s certainly room for improvement in this area. If you’re like me, though, and don’t really care that much about front facing selfie sensors, either the iPhone 6 or the Galaxy Note 3 will do just fine in terms of smartphone cameras.
The iPhone 6 battery is known to perform on an average level, with a 1810 mAh juice supply. The Galaxy Note 3, on the other hand, is tailor made for power use with its 3000 mAH battery and will last you well into tomorrow. The Galaxy Note 3 has NFC and IR blaster, while the iPhone 6 only has NFC and that’s locked to Apple Pay for now. If you’re keen on using your Note 3 as a remote control, you need to know that you won’t be able to do that with the iPhone 6.
Keeping in mind that the Galaxy Note 3 is already over a year old, we would have expected the iPhone 6, which has barely hit stores, to outdo the flagship in almost every area. But as you can see, this comparison ends up with a divided situation. If you’re all in for phablets with great screens that just pop, the Galaxy Note 3 would be your perfect choice. If you don’t mind the pretty cheap design. The iPhone 6, however, will fit any pocket and hand perfectly and will make you stare at it for hours thanks to its premium build and elegant design (except for those lines on the back, those could have been left out). If you want a powerhouse of a smartphone with Android 4.4 and are not bothered by a stylus or two-handed use, the Galaxy Note 3, once again, should be your choice. If you love what Apple did with iOS 8 and the new features excite you, you should know you’d be making a great choice in the iPhone 6. You’d also get Apple Pay and HealthKit, so it would be a win-win situation. What do you end up choosing?