iPhone 6s Plus vs Galaxy Note 5: 6 Key Differences

iPhone 6s Plus vs Note 5: Design

This year Apple did what everyone was expecting, and that's the (S) refresh. Meaning the new iPhone 6s Plus looks almost 100% identical to last years big 5.5-inch phone. They did add a new rose gold (almost pink) color option, but visually, no one will be able to tell the difference.

That's a good thing though. The iPhone 6s Plus is one of the best looking phones available. It has a durable, and now improved re-enforced 7000 series aluminum frame that wont bend like older models, and is made almost entirely of premium glass and aluminum. It still houses the TouchID fingerprint scanner inside the home buttons, a camera around back, and a sleek design.

That said, Samsung brought its A game in 2015. Yes the new Galaxy Note 5 is more like an iPhone than a Samsung, as it doesn't have a micro-SD slot to expand storage or a replaceable battery.

As a result though, the new Galaxy Note 5 has the best design of any Android smartphone ever released, in my opinion. It features a design made entirely of aluminum chamfered edges, with glass covering the front and the back, just like the Galaxy S6 released earlier this year. The back is no longer removable, but users get a premium design that can compete with (or beat) Apple in terms of looks, and faster internal storage for smooth performance. It's a win win, if you don't care for the micro-SD slot.

In terms of the design, there's one more area the Note 5 changed that puts it on par, or ahead of Apple, and that's Samsung's own fingerprint scanner. The Note 4 had an awful attempt at a fingerprint scanner, but in 2015 it's just as good, if not faster, than the iPhone 6s Plus.

Samsung's fingerprint scanner unlocks the device, lets users pay for stuff with Samsung Pay and soon Android Pay, login to apps, websites, banking apps and more. It's extremely powerful, and does the same thing Apple does in a smaller space. A rectangle home button. This is one more reason the Note 5 is smaller, they aren't wasting as much space at the top and bottom as Apple does.

All said and done it's really hard to argue with either design. The iPhone 6s looks amazing, but so does Samsung's Note 5 covered in glass coming in White, Black, Gold or Silver. The layered glass on back gives it a three-demensional look, too, which makes the black looks almost metallic blue in the right light. It looks pretty neat.

I'm the owner of an iPhone 6 Plus and the Galaxy Note 5, but I use Android as my daily device. Both of these phones won't disappoint in terms of the design, but Samung technically wins here due to the smaller physical form with similar features.

The Note 5 is easier to hold, easier to use, multi-tasks with ease, and looks good now too.