iPhone 6 is one of Apple's bestsellers in 2014. With the arrival of very promising phones like the Samsung Galaxy S6 and HTC One 9 this year, will Apple see a decline in its iPhone 6 profit?
Let's take a look at the pros and cons of each handset, from design, processors, screen display, memory storage options, and price.
iPhone 6 Pros
The iPhone 6's screen size which is 4.7-inch is one of the best upgrades in this handset. The size makes it usable with one hand, and it comes with 'Reachability' feature so that users with smaller hands can use it with ease. It's vibrant and bright screen Retina Display compensates its relatively low resolution which is1334x750 pixels.
The unibody aluminum chassis also makes it visually more appealing. Its dual core 1.4GHz A8 chipset and its 1GB of RAM work fast and smooth with iOS 8 on board. Glitches in the Android Lollipop update make iPhone 6 the most responsive smartphones in the market. In terms of camera, what makes it superior is its consistency of image quality irrespective of conditions. Not to mention that it has done a brilliant job with digital image stabilization now after several attempts.
iPhone 6 Cons
The built design of the iPhone 6 also comes with side-effects, such as slippy finish, protruding camera, and relatively small battery. True, the iPhone 6 battery capacity shows an increase from that of iPhone 5s but the larger screen display can also easily drain the battery life.
HTC One M9 Pros
HTC makes the full metal design of the One M9 more impressive by adding gold color aluminum on both sides of the device, complimenting the silver front and back built of the device.
The addition of Dolby 5.1 to the dual front-facing Boomsound speakers in the device makes entertainment experience better than it already is. It's 5-inch screen is also enough for one hand to hold. Its custom Android UI, Sense 7, also provides users more customization options aside from that offered by Android Lollipop. It also features IR blaster that can be used as remote control.
HTC One M9 Cons
It does not support Optical Image Stabilization which reduces shaking of the camera when taking photos or videos as well as manual control. The side bezels and the black bar below the screen could also be smaller, but until HTC finds a solution to "the huge amount of circuitry, antennae, etc." that it hides, the black bar is here to stay. The uncertainty of the Snapdragon 810 processor will pose real problem to One M9 users too. Even it's very decent 2,840 mAh battery cannot handle the overheating problem that's been linked to Qualcomm's processors.
Samsung Galaxy S6 Pros
Samsung finally gives what every brand's supporter want with the Galaxy S6's solid glass and metal built, coupled with gorgeous screen and solid performance.
The new smart camera OIS features and low-lit capabilities should make the protruding camera at the back of the device forgivable. Some camera app tweaks can make using the 5MP front camera and 16MP back camera easier.
With improved TouchWiz UI, there are also now "fewer confirmation dialogs that should make things faster. Or, more accurately, that should clear the way for the 64-bit processor to perform as it's efficient 14nm architecture suggests."
Cons
The Galaxy S6's biggest cons is the non-replaceable battery, or so it seems. But there are plenty of options to compensate the loss of this option. There is the wireless charging pad, the USB charging port built-in in cars, and so on.
Other disadvantages include smudge-prone surfaces, no longer waterproof, gets hot when pushed, and non expandable memory.
The HTC One M9 is coming out this Saturday in Taiwan. The 32GB model costs TWD 21,900 while the 64GB variant is priced at TWD 23,900. Samsung Galaxy S6 will initially be released to 20 countries in April 10 with a starting price of £599.
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