Mobile Network Comparison

In its recent review of the top smartphones for 2016, The Week choose the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge as the handset with the best smartphone screen. This is an opinion shared by many technology critics who regard the Galaxy S6 and the S6 Edge as two of the best smartphones available at the moment.

The Samsung S6 Edge was declared the winner of the Best Phone in the 2015 TechRadar Phone Awards while the S6 was voted their best smartphone for 2016.

The design of the Samsung S6 Edge is undeniably beautiful. The fact that the curved glass looks good is already enough to make people want this phone. But the curve has a purpose too. It is an additional area for communication and this really makes it different from the rest of the smartphones on the market.

The technical specifications are excellent. The main display is 5.1 inches with an impressive QHD, 1440 x 2560 resolution which gives excellent clarity and sharpness. This married to Samsung’s Super AMOLED technology makes for a bright and vibrant display. The pixel density of 577 ppi is one of the best in its class. With Gorilla Glass 4 covering the S6 it should be less prone to cracked screens than its primary competitor the iPhone 6.

The real innovation in this phone is the fact that the curved side screen provides some pretty useful functions. If the main screen is off, a quick slide of a finger along the edge of the screen will reveal an overview of important notifications such as news headlines, sports scores, or updates on time, date and weather. Any new text message will also scroll along the edge screen in its entirety.

Another enjoyable feature of the screen is People Edge which manifests itself as five circles to which you can assign five contacts (“My People”). These are then easily available for texting, calling or emailing. Another useful feature is that when you pick the phone off a surface, it will notify you on the screen whether you have any missed calls, texts or emails from your My People contacts.

When you place the handset face down and you receive a call, text or email from you key contacts you will be notified by a discreet light on the side display. The colour of this light can be customised to match your key contacts. On receiving a call from My People, you are able to dismiss the call and send a pre-written text message to that person by placing a finger on the heart rate monitor for two seconds.

The Samsung Galaxy S6, White Pearl 32GB (SIM free) is currently available from a new low of just £360.

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The bestselling smartphone in 2015 is the 2014 iPhone 6 16GB, followed closely by the 2013 iPhone 5S with the 64GB iPhone 6 in the third position. The newer, but pricier, iPhone 6, the 6S 16GB, is the fourth best seller of the year. That the latest iPhone 6S managed to get a 4th place is particularly impressive since the phone was only released in September. The iPhone 6 has topped the global charts since September 2014 and is a worldwide favourite. Samsung only managed a lowly 5th spot with their top offering, the Galaxy S6 32GB.

Remarkably, next in the list the iPhone returns with phones in 6th and 7th position. Budget conscious buyers have been pushing up sales of the now discontinued 5C to 6th place followed by the 64GB iPhone 6S. Samsung manages to secure the final top ten positions with the Galaxy S6 Edge 32GB, followed by the Note 4. Coming in at the 10th position is the Galaxy S5.

Rob Kerr, the mobiles expert at uSwitch.com, said, “Apple’s authority in the UK mobile market is unrivalled. It’s the only manufacturer that can still attract queues days ahead of its major launches. It even makes Samsung look like a perennial underachiever.”

What is interesting is that the large screen iPhone 6S Plus does not make it into the list, which seems to indicate that the market is happier with the smaller form Apple handset tarher than the phablet. This may be a sign that users want a phone which is light, high tech and still slips easily into the pocket. And of course, it still has that distinctive Apple logo on the back which is arguable one of the main reasons for buying an iPhone.

What was your last phone? And would you always choose an Apple iPhone over another phone from a different brand?

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In the smartphone world, “pink gold” seems to be the new black. Following the introduction of Apple’s Rose Gold iPhones 6s and iPhone 6s Plus, Samsung announced it is preparing to launch a Pink Gold version of its Galaxy Note 5 in South Korea. The phablet will also appear in “Silver Titanium”.

Apple has given Samsung and other smartphone manufacturers a hard time this year. After the introduction of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, the company’s share price tripled. Samsung, however, is still showing good results in the lower-priced phones segment, where the company controls over 59% of the market.

Last year HTC presented a girlie smartphone – the HTC One. There also were several pink and red models produced by LG, Samsung, and other phone manufacturers, but none of them has got a lot of attention. Now Apple has introduced its stylish and elegant Rose Gold colour, which can’t be categorically described as feminine. There are a lot of discussions on forums and social networks regarding this aspect. Some men think it is a “girlie” phone, others disagree. Yet, Rose Gold iPhones seem to be extremely popular. First sales results worldwide showed they are selling faster than other versions. Apparently these data have prompted Samsung to copy the new trend to take on the competition. This is not the first time Apple and Samsung have done this; the companies have a long history of patent infringement lawsuits.

iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus devices will become available in South Korea on October 23rd. The presentation of the Pink Gold and Silver Titanium Galaxy Note 5 is scheduled for next week as well. Samsung is clearly going to compete hard for its home market. The company has plans to start sales of Pink Gold and Silver Titanium phones in other Asian countries later this year.

However, here in the UK, we have to show some patience. The Galaxy Note 5 is not yet available for British consumers at all. Rumour has it Samsung plans to launch the device in the European market in January 2016. We expect the long awaited phablet will be presented in several colours, including Pink Gold.

What do you think? Is Apple’s Pink Gold really a feminine colour? And if you’re a guy, would you buy a Pink Gold handset?

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