iPhone 6s Plus vs. Samsung Galaxy A8: Samsung's budget-friendly device has a lot to offer

(Apple/Samsung)iPhone 6s Plus (left) vs Samsung Galaxy A8 (right)

There is no doubt that the iPhone 6s Plus will be one of the best selling phablets of the year. However, with a number of cheaper options available which come with impressive hardware, one of which is the Samsung Galaxy A8, the Apple device might just struggle dominating the smartphone arena. Here is how the two devices compare.

Design

When it comes to design, it is very hard to beat the iPhone 6s Plus as it has a metal body that is now made from tougher 7000 series aluminum alloy, which makes it less bendable. It has a fingerprint scanner incorporated into its home button. Its one drawback, however, is that its back panel is smooth and straight, which makes it hard to hold for some users. As for colors, there are four to choose from, rose gold, gold, silver and gray. The Galaxy A8 also has metal on its body but its back panel is made from plastic. Just like the iPhone, it also has a fingerprint scanner. As for its size, it is very slim measuring only 5.9 mm. It comes in three colors, gold, white and black.

Display

There is a 5.7-inch super AMOLED screen on the Galaxy A8 and it has a resolution of 1080 x 1920 pixels and a density of 386 pixels per inch. As for the iPhone 6s Plus, it has an IPS LCD screen measuring 5.5 inches with a resolution of 1080 x 1920 pixels and a density of 401 pixels per inch. It also has 3D Touch technology, a feature which can sense the amount of pressure being applied to the screen.

Specs

There is an Apple A9 chipset in the iPhone 6s Plus, coupled with a dual core CPU clocked at 1.8 GHz. The Galaxy A8 has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 chipset, along with an octa-core CPU comprised of four Cortex-A53 cores clocked 1.8 GHz and four clocked at 1.3 GHz and an Adreno 405 GPU.

Memory

There is no memory card slot on the iPhone 6s Plus and is therefore at a disadvantage as the Galaxy A8 which has a slot that supports up to 128 GB of external storage. When it comes to RAM however, both are equal, as each has 2 GB onboard.

Camera

The iPhone's 12-megapixel camera with optical image stabilization is pretty difficult to beat. The Galaxy A8 struggles to keep up with the image quality, even though it has a 16-megapixel version.

Price

The iPhone 6s Plus costs $299 with a two-year contract, while the Galaxy A8 has a price tag of $510, unlocked.

Copyright © 2015 Ecumenical News