iPhone 7 Plus vs Samsung Galaxy Note 7: Battle of Premium Phablets; Which One Should You Buy?
Both Devices Come With New Innovations and Technologies, But Which One Reigns Supreme?
Competition among tech companies heat up with every release of new devices. Apple and Samsung are now essentially household names in the premium smartphone industry, and with them, the new iPhone 7 Plus and the Galaxy Note 7 battle it out for the best phablet in the market.
Design and Display
The iPhone 7 Plus is covered by the same glass and aluminum finish similar to its predecessor. The antenna lines are also subtler, with the Home button flush with the entire body. The headphone jack also gets ditched.
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The Galaxy Note 7 is likewise similar to its previous generation, with metal sandwiched between front and back curved glass panels. The entire phone is covered with Gorilla Glass 5 for maximum protection against scratches and cracks.
However, the iPhone 7 Plus offers a stereo speaker setup, where the Galaxy Note 7 sports a bottom-firing one. Both phones have some sort of water resistance, as the iPhone 7 Plus is IP67 certified for water and dust resistance, while the Note 7 packs an IP68 certification for better water proofing.
Apple is offering five color options for the iPhone, with the new Jet Black and Plain Black, plus the usual Silver, Gold, and Rose Gold. Samsung offers the Note 7 in four variants—Black Onyx, Blue Coral, Gold Platinum, and Silver Titanium.
However, the Note 7 gets a slight advantage as it also packs the S-Pen. The stylus comes with its own features with the Note software taking advantage of this hardware. There is also an iris scanner for an additional layer of security.
The trademark retina display of Apple devices makes it way to the iPhone 7. The full HD resolution 5.5-inch IPS LCD display also comes with 3D Touch. The Note 7 however packs a much larger quad-HD resolution in its 5.7-inch display. The superior Super AMOLED panel is tailored with dual curved edges.
Performance
The iPhone 7 Plus packs the A10 Fusion processor, which is a quad-core chipset made up of two high-performance cores, balanced by two energy-efficient cores. There's also 2GB of RAM and a hexa-core GPU powering the internal graphics.
The Note 7 is then powered by the Snapdragon 820, a quad-core processor clocked in at 2.15GHz. The available RAM is at 4GB, while the Adreno 530 powers the graphics.
As for the internal storage, the new iPhone 7 a new base model is of 32GB and topping out at 256GB. However, there are no expansion options here. The Note 7 offers only one standard 64GB of option. It is then expandable via a microSD card of up to 256GB.
On the software, the iPhone 7 will be sporting the new iOS 10. The Note 7 started shipping with the Android 6.0 Marshmallow with future update to the 7.0 Nougat. These two software platforms are primarily geared toward productivity and efficiency.
Camera
Where the iPhone 7 Plus innovates is in the camera department. It comes equipped with a dual 12-megapixel rear camera setup. It features a six-element lens same elements, Phase Detection Auto Focus (PDAF), and Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) technologies. The first 28mm lens offers a wide-angle view with an aperture of f/1.8. The second one offers a 58mm telephoto perspective that comes with an f/2.8 aperture. The FaceTime camera also gets upgraded to 7-megapixels with f/2.2 aperture.
The Note 7 does not skimp with its camera too. The 12-megapixel rear-facing camera is equipped with an f/1.7 aperture for better low light performance. It also packs its own PDAF and OIS technologies. The selfie snapper is a 5-megapixel sensor with a similar f/1.7 aperture.
Battery
Where Samsung totally beats Apple is in battery. The Note 7 packs a humongous 3500 mAh battery with fast charging, wireless charging, and fast wireless charging capabilities. The exact capacity of iPhone 7 Plus remains undisclosed, but is said to last an hour longer than its predecessor's 2750 mAh. However, Samsung is currently under fire as it faces a recall fiasco due to faulty battery packs in the Note 7.
Price and Availability
The iPhone 7 will be available for pre-order on September 9, with official release on September 16. It sells for $649 for the 32GB version, $749 for the 128GB version, and $849 for the 256GB version.
The Galaxy Note 7 has been available for purchase last month, with unlocked versions starting at $849. Note that there is only one storage option available—the 64GB model.
