Tech

5 big ways the Samsung Galaxy S7 is better than the iPhone 6s

By
Zach Epstein, BGR
Published Feb. 22, 2016, 1:55 p.m. ET

There’s little question that the LG G5 was the most innovative smartphone unveiled on press day at this year’s Mobile World Congress trade show, but Samsung’s Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge still managed to steal the show. Meanwhile, Apple’s 2016 flagship iPhones won’t be released for another seven months, so for the foreseeable future, Samsung’s new Galaxy S7 phones have a leg up on Apple in 2016.

No sensible person would try to dispute that each company’s flagship smartphone lineup has pros and cons compared to its rivals, but there are some pretty important areas where Samsung definitely beats Apple’s latest iPhones. We went over 15 nifty features the Galaxy S7 has that iPhones don’t in an earlier post, but now we’ll focus on the five most important ways Samsung’s new phones outclass Apple’s iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus.

Related: Everything you need to know about Samsung’s Galaxy S7 and S7 edge

Camera

First and foremost, the new camera on Samsung’s Galaxy S7 lineup is a huge step forward in several key ways.

Samsung’s Galaxy Note 5 has what we believe to be the best camera on any currently available smartphone, but its margin of victory over the iPhone 6 Plus isn’t very wide. The S7’s camera, however, looks like it’s in a whole new league.

We won’t know the full story until we spend time reviewing the new Galaxy S7, but we’ve already done a fair amount of testing for our hand-on Galaxy S7 preview and we were blown away. The camera focuses on its subject insanely quickly — in our early tests, the S7 was done focusing before the iPhone 6s even started to focus — and low-light performance has been dramatically improved thanks to the f1.7 aperture and brighter pixels.

You can read more about the camera on the Galaxy S7 right here.

Display

This should come as no surprise, since when it comes to smartphone displays, Apple has fallen pretty far behind Samsung in recent years. Samsung is simply the best in the business when it comes to screens, whether they’re on smartphones, tablets or TVs, and the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge will set the new standard when they launch next month.

The S7 and S7 edge have Samsung’s latest Super AMOLED displays, and both models feature 2K quad HD resolution. At 720p and 1080p, respectively, Apple’s iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus are simply no match.

Dust and water resistance

The iPhone 6s and 6s Plus can survive a splash with no problem, but a serious dunk will still almost certainly put your iPhone out of commission. With the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge, Samsung has scored an IP68 water and dust resistance rating, which means the phones can spend 30 minutes under water and come out like nothing even happened.

Expandable memory

This is another huge advantage for Samsung. While we can certainly understand why Apple steers clear of expandable memory — look at those iPhone ASPs! — this is one rare case where Apple puts its business interests ahead of the needs of its users.

Apple might never change its tune in this regard. Meanwhile, the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge can take an additional 200GB of storage thanks to microSDXC support.

Phablet comfort

The iPhone 6/6s Plus was the first iPhone that I simply couldn’t live with despite how hard I tried. Unless you have gigantic hands, it’s just not possible to use comfortably with one hand.

Meanwhile, the Galaxy S7 edge’s design is nothing short of astounding. With rounded glass on the front and back, it could be the most comfortable phone in the world to hold. There’s also barely any bezel on either side of the display, so the handset is 5mm narrower than the iPhone 6s Plus despite the fact that both phones have a 5.5-inch screen.

The Galaxy S7 edge is far more compact and comfortable in the hand, and it could be the first phablet ever that I can actually live with.