Is Samsung Galaxy S6 Still Better Than the iPhone

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By Douglas A. McIntyre Published
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There is a school of thought that the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+ is a better smartphone than the Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone 6. The same may be true of the comparison with the iPhone 6s. Even if the Samsung phone is not much better, carriers, burned by the new Apple plan to sell more iPhones directly to customer on an installment plan, will push those customers toward Samsung.

The new iPhone 6s has a better camera, according to Apple. It has a better touch feature, although many customers may not care:

iPhone 6s introduces an entirely new way to interact with your phone. For the first time, iPhone senses how much pressure you apply to the display. In addition to familiar Multi‑Touch gestures like Tap, Swipe, and Pinch, 3D Touch introduces Peek and Pop. This brings a new dimension of functionality to the iPhone experience. And when you use 3D Touch, your iPhone responds with subtle taps. So not only will you see what a press can do — you’ll feel it.

Like the complicated features on new cars when many drivers just want to drive, the extras do not get used.

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What makes a “better” smartphone? The four carriers will determine that. Apple has cut them out of the upgrade cycle, at least for people who are willing to pay more for an unlocked phone that is not tethered to any carrier and that carrier’s upgrade cycle. Apple’s new plan:

After 12 installments, you can get a new iPhone and start a new iPhone Upgrade Program. No more waiting for your carrier contract to end. Just trade in your current iPhone for a new one, and your new program begins.

The pricing is $32.41 for a 16 GB model Galaxy S6 to $44.91 for the iPhone 6s Plus. Apple even has a bank partner for financing — Citizen One. The prices are not much different from what carriers change for similar upgrade programs, although the Apple charge will be added to a carrier charge, lifting the prices.

What makes a better phone? Consumers may see little difference between the Apple product and the Samsung one. Each has so many features, few people will use them all. That leaves much of the fight to price, and what carriers are willing to do to offset Apple’s new plan. It may be they have to be wildly aggressive on what they give customers financially and use the Samsung product as their other primary weapon.

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About the Author Douglas A. McIntyre →

Douglas A. McIntyre is the co-founder, chief executive officer and editor in chief of 24/7 Wall St. and 24/7 Tempo. He has held these jobs since 2006.

McIntyre has written thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St. He is an expert on corporate finance, the automotive industry, media companies and international finance. He has edited articles on national demographics, sports, personal income and travel.

His work has been quoted or mentioned in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, Time, The New Yorker, HuffPost USA Today, Business Insider, Yahoo, AOL, MarketWatch, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Forbes, The Guardian and many other major publications. McIntyre has been a guest on CNBC, the BBC and television and radio stations across the country.

A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College, McIntyre also was president of The Harvard Advocate. Founded in 1866, the Advocate is the oldest college publication in the United States.

TheStreet.com, Comps.com and Edgar Online are some of the public companies for which McIntyre served on the board of directors. He was a Vicinity Corporation board member when the company was sold to Microsoft in 2002. He served on the audit committees of some of these companies.

McIntyre has been the CEO of FutureSource, a provider of trading terminals and news to commodities and futures traders. He was president of Switchboard, the online phone directory company. He served as chairman and CEO of On2 Technologies, the video compression company that provided video compression software for Adobe’s Flash. Google bought On2 in 2009.

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