Samsung vs. Apple: Note 4 has been launched in China, but iPhone 6 is nowhere in sight

Yesterday, Apple announced that iPhone 6/6 Plus will be launched in the second batch of countries and regions, but still not in mainland China. Meanwhile, Galaxy Note 4, released 22 days ago, officially landed in the domestic market - Samsung made mainland China one of the first countries to launch Note 4.

As the world's top smartphone manufacturers, Samsung and Apple have released their flagship phones in September. The configurations are naturally top-notch and the prices are not cheap. Should we continue to wait for the iPhone 6 to enter China, or buy the Note 4 first? Isn't it a bit tangled? Let's take a look at some opinions from Tencent Technology.

Configuration: Note 4 has a perfect screen but its processor is inferior to iPhone 6

The most noteworthy thing about iPhone 6/Plus is the larger screen. The iPhone 6 is 4.7 inches, and the Plus is directly upgraded to 5.5 inches. However, compared with the 5.7-inch large screen of Note 4, it still seems a little dwarfed.

Judging from the screen performance alone, since Samsung itself is engaged in the research and development of display screens, the Note 4's large screen is superior. DisplayMate, a professional display evaluation website, said: "The Galaxy Note 4 is the best smartphone screen we have ever tested. It has tied or broken many records: the highest color reproduction accuracy, the highest screen resolution, infinite contrast, the highest peak brightness, the highest contrast in ambient light, and the smallest color distortion at viewing angles. Samsung's AMOLED screen's color management capability provides multiple color gamma values, which is a prominent advantage of Samsung that no other flagship smartphone has."

Let's look at another comparison dimension: the processor. The quality of the processor directly determines the smoothness of the smartphone's operation. After all, if the phone keeps freezing when watching videos, playing games, or chatting, it is really frustrating.

iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus both use the new A8 processor, which Apple claims has improved speed and graphics performance by 25% and 50% respectively. The benchmark test of technology website AnandTech shows that A8 takes the lead in almost all tests.

Finally, let’s take a look at the camera. With the rise of the photography and selfie parties, “photo quality” has gradually become one of the most important factors in purchasing a mobile phone.

Judging from the data, Note 4 is ahead of iPhone 6/6 Plus: Note 4's main camera is 16 million pixels, and the front camera is 3.7 million pixels, while iPhone 6/6 Plus still uses 8 million pixels main camera and 1.2 million pixels front camera.

From the perspective of photo taking, both Note 4 and iPhone 6 Plus support optical image stabilization, but Note 4 has an F1.9 ultra-large aperture, which allows for better selfie effects in low-light conditions.

However, since the final imaging effect is also related to factors such as software system optimization, further comparison results still need to be verified through actual shooting.

Price: iPhone 6 is slightly more expensive, 6 Plus is very expensive

Since the iPhone 6/6 Plus has not yet been launched in mainland China, we can only speculate on its price in mainland China.

According to the pricing on Apple's official website, the iPhone 6 prices in Hong Kong are HK$5,588 (16GB), HK$6,388 (64GB) and HK$7,188 (128GB). The iPhone 6 Plus starts at HK$6,388 (16GB), and the other two models are priced at HK$7,188 (64GB) and HK$8,088 (128GB).

As usual, the prices of these iPhone models in mainland China remain roughly the same as those in Hong Kong, except that the unit has been changed from "Hong Kong dollars" to "RMB". That is, the prices of iPhone 6 are 5,588 yuan, 6,388 yuan, and 7,188 yuan respectively, and the prices of iPhone 6 Plus are 6,388 yuan, 7,188 yuan, and 8,088 yuan respectively.

Samsung GALAXY Note 4 mainland licensed products offer multiple versions, and the prices are slightly different. Among them, the price of China Mobile 4G single-SIM version is 5199 yuan, while the price of China Telecom 4G dual-SIM version is 5288 yuan, the price of the public version (N9100) is 5399 yuan, and the price of China Unicom 4G version is also 5399 yuan.

From this we can see that in terms of price, Galaxy Note 4 still has a slight advantage.

Network support: All mobile phones have full network version

Having to change your mobile phone number in order to get a new phone is probably not something most people want to see, so the network standard has become an important "parameter".

Currently, the Galaxy Note 4 is sold in mainland China in two versions: the public version and the customized version for each operator. The so-called public version is the product announced by Samsung on its official website. The public version of Galaxy Note 4 supports five network standards: TD-LTE, FDD-LTE, TD-SCDMA, WCDMA and GSM. This is the same as the Hong Kong version of iPhone 6/6 Plus. In other words, these two versions of Note 4 and iPhone 6/6 Plus are not allowed to be used by CDMA 3G users. Apart from this, they can be regarded as all-network compatible mobile phones.

Let’s look at the customized versions of each operator, as shown in the figure below:

As can be seen from the above picture, if you are a 3G user and do not want to change your number, you can only choose the customized version of the corresponding operator; if you are a 4G user, you can basically purchase a customized phone from any operator and it will not affect your use.

Let's look at Apple. iPhone 6/6 Plus has been delayed in the mainland market. It is reported that it is due to the network standard problem. The result is likely to be: iPhone 6/6 Plus will be clearly available in TD-LTE and FDD-LTE versions in the mainland. In other words, if you are a 4G user, you have to choose a side, which may not be good news.

Samsung, why are you in such a hurry?

Based on what has been said above, perhaps some references can be given to you on how to choose between iPhone 6 and Note 4. But one last question: Samsung originally planned to launch Galaxy Note 4 globally on October 17, why did it suddenly change the plan, release it more than 20 days earlier, and choose China as the first country to launch it?

The latest "Radio Transmitter Information Disclosure" announcement on the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's website shows that the iPhone 6 has passed the model approval and 3C certification of the National Radio Administration. As long as it obtains the network access license issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, it can be put on the market in China. But when will the iPhone 6/6 Plus get the network access license? When will it be put on the market in China? It is still confusing, and Samsung may have seen an opportunity.

With the popularity and product quality being equally shared, if Samsung launches the Note 4 in China ahead of time, coupled with some price advantages, it is very likely that it will help Samsung win over users who are waiting to see the iPhone 6.

As can be seen from the above figure, although Samsung and Apple are still the dominant players in the smartphone field, it is undeniable that their strength has begun to decline. Especially this year's "Samsung vs. Xiaomi China market dominance" debate, although it has not been concluded in the end, it still reflects from the side that Samsung's authority is facing challenges, so Samsung needs to seize every opportunity to launch new phones and make up for the lost market share.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.