Which one is the better holiday companion these days?

Aug 9, 2015 07:31 GMT  ·  By

If you're looking to buy a new flagship phone these days, your options are quite limited. Sure, every company has its very own high-end model, but in reality, if you really want something that's super powerful, looks good, feels great in hand, and has decent battery life, there are not as many devices to choose from as you might be tempted to believe at first glance.

Two of them are certainly the Apple iPhone 6/6 Plus and the Samsung Galaxy S6 (the Galaxy Note 5 will soon join this select group, but its launch will only take place later this year), both of which are already up for grabs in most of the markets and promise a terrific experience with no compromise.

The key term here is promise, and living proof is the marketing campaign that each parent company has put together in every corner of the world.

Par exemple, here's the first Apple iPhone 6/6 Plus ad:

And here's the Samsung Galaxy S6 commercial:

But how many of the things you can see in these official videos are actually true? How accurate are the battery life specs, ergonomics praises, and photo quality ads when you take these devices out in the wild and test them like a mad man? That's exactly what I did for one week, as part of a road trip from Romania to Greece during which I used absolutely no other gadget (besides my smartwatch).

So no, I had no photo camera other than the iPhone 6 Plus and the Galaxy S6, no video recorder, no external battery for emergency recharging, and no dedicated GPS navigation system (I turned the built-in car system off in order to use apps available on the phones). For those wondering, the smartwatch was only synced with the smartphones when they were plugged in, so their battery life wasn't in any way impacted.

The in-car experience

So basically, what I was trying to do was find out how a smartphone could replace all the other electronics around us during a one-week trip to Greece.

It all started with the in-car navigation system. First, it was iPhone's turn.

Buckle up the seatbelts, plug in the iPhone to the car charger, launch Waze, configure the destination (Platamonas, Greece - this was the hotel location, but we then spent a couple of nights in Skiathos as well), and off we go. According to Waze, 9 hours and 50 minutes, about 820 kilometers, and crossing through Bulgaria.

823 kilometers and approximately 9 hours and a half with no stops
823 kilometers and approximately 9 hours and a half with no stops

It turns out that the iPhone 6 Plus and Waze make for an excellent mix that can guide you throughout the entire journey with no problem. Sure, it got us on some pretty awkward roads with no sign of civilization, but that wasn't at all a bad thing because our goal was to reach our destination as fast as possible.

The iPhone never got hot, despite the fact that it was always plugged in, Waze was permanently running, and every once in a while I jumped in the email client for quick texting (yeah, I know I'm not supposed to do that behind the wheel, I have no excuse). To prevent the device from heating, the phone dock was placed in the air vent, so the air conditioning system was always cooling it.

With a super awesome 1.5 mAh car charger, the iPhone reached 100 percent of battery in no time, so whenever we made a stop, I always had a full battery. That's super reassuring, especially when trying to snap a photo quickly (or a million, as my SO wanted every single time) and hop back behind the wheel.

Amazing in-car performance.

Whenever we used the iPhone for photos, it was Galaxy S6's turn to guide us to Leonidas' land. As compared to the iPhone, the S6 got a little hot during this time (Waze + charging + occasional emailing and texting), but to prevent it, I did the car vent trick. This most likely happens because of the fast charging system that the S6 uses, so while it charges super fast, it also gets hot too.

The Galaxy S6 can easily cope with such tasks, but Waze just seems to run more smoothly on the iPhone. This is probably some sort of known bug on the Galaxy S6, but Google promised to fix it soon. And yet, the iPhone gets an extra point for this one.

All in all, getting from point A to point B is not really a challenging task for any of the two, so they both performed pretty well during the whole time. They were both charged to 100 percent when we arrived nearly 12 hours later.

The ultimate test

This is where it gets interesting. The holiday pretty much started once we passed the border from Bulgaria to Greece. Super often stops, tons of pictures, both phones put up to the test.

Quick facts: the iPhone 6 Plus performs waaaaaay better when it comes to battery life. Sure, there's a difference - Apple used a 2915 mAh battery, while Samsung turned to a 2550 mAh unit - but the iPhone also has a bigger screen - 5.5 inches vs. 5.1 inches.

Shooting photos for about 10 minutes with the Galaxy S6 dropped battery to 85 percent in optimal light conditions, while the iPhone lost some 5 percent of the battery during the same time. The S6, however, recharged faster when plugged in, so hats off to Samsung for its uber awesome recharging system.

Photo taken with the Samsung Galaxy S6
Photo taken with the Samsung Galaxy S6
And almost the same photo/angle with the iPhone 6 Plus
And almost the same photo/angle with the iPhone 6 Plus

As far as video recording is concerned, things are getting worse for the Galaxy. It dropped to nearly 75 percent after about 15 minutes of continuous recording, while the iPhone was about 80 percent (both devices where at 100 percent when recording started). No flash, just optimal light conditions. Whenever we were leaving the hotel, we took both devices and used navigation systems, this time HERE Maps, to get around Greece. Again, the iPhone performed much better in terms of battery life, as keeping the location system enabled on the Galaxy S6 seems to be a real battery hog.

But as far as the navigation system is concerned, both did great. Instant updates, great information (congrats, HERE, for your maps, and by the way, you would be better off the German consortium), very accurate info on every point of interest, and no crash.

But imagine that, every 10 steps, we stopped to snap a photo, so both the iPhone and the S6 were heavily tested. After about 8 hours on day 2, the Galaxy asked for a recharger. The iPhone still had some 45 percent of battery.

That was pretty much the daily routine. After around 8 to 9 hours of continuous use (or even less in some cases), the Galaxy S6 needed to be recharged. The average battery life of an iPhone 6 Plus when used like a maniac was 15 hours, enough to return to the hotel and find a power source.

We occasionally used the TripAdvisor app to find places to eat or visit, but for some reason, the app crashed at random times on the S6. As I’ve already told you, the Android 5.1.1 update really ruined my S6, so the software update might be the cause (and yes, I’ve already done a full reset).

TripAdvisor app on the iPhone 6 Plus
TripAdvisor app on the iPhone 6 Plus

So the bottom line here is that both can do the same things pretty easily, but only the iPhone 6 Plus can provide the battery life you need when on vacation. Keeping an eye on battery percentage when you're supposed to be fully relaxed and enjoy your time off is not the thing you'd like to do, and this is the place where the Galaxy S6 really loses ground against competition.

Imagine you're on vacation and you run out of battery when trying to snap a few pictures of a place you've never been to. Samsung Galaxy S6 is a pretty awesome device, but it's the kind of phone that requires either a larger battery or an extra one to make sure you're good to go at all times.

The bottom line

Basically, the things you'd want from your mobile phone when leaving on a trip are great battery life, excellent photo quality, and state-of-the-art reliability to make sure you don't have to spend your time fixing bugs, app crashes, or things like that.

Here’s a wrap-up of all of the above:

Battery life

The iPhone 6 Plus provides on average 15 hours of continuous and mega heavy use (include here photo shooting, video recording, navigation, and occasional browsing). The Galaxy S6 offers around 8 to 9 hours of battery life for the very same activities.

Camera

The iPhone 6 Plus has an excellent camera and the post-shooting editing options are really helpful. The Galaxy S6 also features a state-of-the-art camera and offers several editing tools to enhance colors and contrast. Both phones perform relatively similarly, although we've noticed more vivid colors in photos taken with the Galaxy S6. The iPhone 6 Plus compensates with built-in editing features that can adjust colors.

Navigation

The Galaxy S6 is the winner here, mostly because it has Google Maps, which provides almost the same features (minus police reports and road hazards on your route). The iPhone 6 Plus indeed comes with its own Maps app, but it's better not to use it. It doesn't provide the same amount of information, lacks many features, and misses many points of interest. Google Maps is available in the App Store. Both devices can run HERE Maps, Waze, or Google Maps, but in terms of default apps, the iPhone 6 plus loses a point or two here.

Reliability

The iPhone 6 Plus excels in terms of reliability, and we had zero crashes during this whole time. The Galaxy S6 suffers from buggy OS updates and apps might crash occasionally - TripAdvisor stopped responding at random times and returned an error.

Storage

Both devices lack microSD card support, so buying a version with more built-in storage capacity is a must if you want to use it for heavy photo shooting/recording.

Non-tech conclusions

Greece is awesome, there's no doubt about it. It has really stunning panoramas, great places to visit, tasty food, and people are friendly pretty much everywhere.

If you plan to visit Greece anytime soon, make sure you take plenty of cash with you. They're going through some difficult times right now, so most restaurants, stores, and hotels ask for cash to pay their staff. As a tourist, you can withdraw as much money as you want from the ATM.

Gas is a lot more expensive in Greece than in any surrounding country. And yes, you can pay with a credit card at most stations.

And if you visit Greece, you have to try the local cuisine. They have the freshest fish you'll ever find, Gyros is pretty good if you're into fast food, and the Greek salad if a pretty good choice for you, madam. So yes, put Greece on your list, no matter what you see on TV or read online.

Most photos are made in sunlight conditions and no editing has been applied if not specified otherwise.

Photo Gallery (31 Images)

The iPhone 6 Plus with HERE Maps
iPhone 6 Plus is Apple's big bet for the phablet marketPhoto taken with the Samsung Galaxy S6
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