Samsung’s just-announced Galaxy Note 4 is the latest addition to a lineup that has ruled the large-screen phone segment since it practically invented the category a few years back. Now, Apple is getting into the big screen phone game with the iPhone 6, and the iPhone maker looks set to blow past the Galaxy Note without looking back.
As we had expected, Samsung revealed the Galaxy Note 4 last week to no small amount of fanfare, and the newest model of Samsung’s bestselling phablet is an absolute beast. The Galaxy Note 4 will pack an eight-core chip, 3GB of RAM, and an eye-melting 1440×2560 Super AMOLED display. Among Android phones, you would be hard pressed to find a device that packs more of a punch.
The Galaxy Note 4 will also have a heart rate monitor and a fingerprint sensor. There’s also the famed S Pen – something we’ve loved since the first Galaxy Note model – that really puts the Note 4 ahead of the competition if you know how to use it.
On top of all that, the Galaxy Note 4 will finally have metal included in its build materials. This may not seem like a big deal, but trust us: Once you’ve gotten used to premium build materials like the kind you find with Apple’s iPhone, there’s no going back.
So Apple’s big phone is dead in the water, right? There’s no way the iPhone 6 can compete against Samsung’s beastly Galaxy Note 4, especially not when Samsung is stepping its design game up, right?
Right?
Wrong.
The iPhone 6 will probably be unveiled this Tuesday, and it will likely see release in just under two weeks. That’s how Apple did it last year, and they’re actually kind of predictable in this sort of thing. The expected release date for the iPhone 6 will give it just under a month’s lead time on the Galaxy Note 4, which will hit stores on October 10. Apple will have sold tens of millions of iPhone 6 models before the Galaxy Note 4 even hits shelves. In the process, a ton of upgrade-eligible big phone lovers will opt for the iPhone 6 instead of waiting for the new Galaxy Note.
It’s not just the release date advantage, though. Apple also has the edge on Samsung in terms of perceived quality, resale value, and overall platform experience. Look at it this way: Even with consumers clamoring for a larger iPhone, Apple waited years before it bumped up its screen sizes with the iPhone 5. If the rumors about the iPhone 6 having a larger screen are correct, it will mark another two years that Apple waited before bumping up its screen size, even while observers and analysts were screaming that a bigger phone was necessary.
Over that time, Apple has sold hundreds of millions of iPhones, and it shows no signs of slowing down. Each generation of Samsung’s Galaxy Note series now sells about 20 to 25 million units over the course of 18 months. Apple sells 25 million iPhones in three months. A bad three months.
There’s simply no comparison. The Galaxy Note series is a line of great phones. We love them. They regularly sell well. Their entire unit sales, though, are a blip in the course of a year’s iPhone sales.
That’s not even mentioning Apple’s edge in design. The Galaxy Note 4 will be a step up for Samsung, but the same device would be a step down for Apple. The iPhone 6 will likely adopt the look that Apple has for its iPad Air and iPad mini devices, which have earned rave reviews. It will also have Apple’s Touch ID fingerprint sensor built in, which works much better than Samsung’s fingerprint sensor technology so far.
The Galaxy Note 4’s one real edge, though, is that S Pen. It’s difficult to express exactly how useful the stylus is once you get to know its ins and outs. For the majority of consumers, though, the stylus on the Note 4 is something of an afterthought, and the Note 4 will still be successful, but it will probably prove something of an afterthought itself once Apple debuts a phone with a comparable screen size.
[Lead image via PhoneArena ]