cogitodexter

Hmm... a Force Touch Pencil.

I'd buy that.

I imagine I'm in quite the rare position of actually owning a 6S+ and an S7 Edge and can compare real world experiences side by side. (For development purposes I have two phones and I've just replaced my Nexus 5 with an S7 Edge).

My first honest impressions of the hardware:

The S7 screen is gorgeous. Colours pop far more than the iPhone's screen. If I browse to the same website on both phones, the S7's display is much much better. 
The camera is better in low light conditions on the S7. Now for me that's not a huge issue, but it might be for others.

As for the software:

Managing music if you have a big library already on iTunes is a total pain in the proverbial, requiring downloading Google Music, uploading everything without DRM to the cloud and then manually downloading again every single album from that cloud if you want offline playing (say, for example, on a plane). If you've got any iTunes music with DRM, then forget it entirely. It's stuck there. iPhone wins hands down on this because it's tightly integrated.

User Interface experience - again iPhone wins. It's consistent, predictable and intuitive, even if it does feel a bit dated. The S7 takes a stock Android model, which is already less intuitive than iOS, and adds further unnecessary complexity and buries already difficult to find system options in extra layers of 'where the hell is this?'. It's frustrating, to say the least, to set up the phone. But, having finally done it, it's less irritating for day to day use.

Speed - both seem snappy in day to day use. Neither phone suffers any lag that I can detect. They're both satisfying in that respect.

Fingerprint ID - both the iPhone and the S7 have reliable fingerprint sensors. I can't speak to the underlying system security of the stored prints on the S7 as I don't know enough about the engineering, but in use it offers similar features.

Contactless payments - Apple Pay works in the UK, where I am. Samsung's version doesn't. Indisputable win for Apple there.

The physical device itself...

The iPhone has a slightly matt back panel, the S7 has a shiny one. I've never dropped my iPhone but the S7 has slipped out of my hands several times in the past few days. It also won't stay put on the arm of the couch where the iPhone will. Sooner or later it's going to end up in or on the dog or crushed underfoot when it falls off, yet again.

Verdict?

iPhone 8 out of 10. It needs to drastically improve its camera and, frankly, iOS's UI is getting a bit dated and needs to smarten up a bit but it seriously Just Works... Physically reliable though and easy to use in the hand. So-so screen. Overall integration with music and other systems like email is exceptionally good though.

Galaxy S7 Edge - 7 out of 10. Music handling is awful if you're coming from iTunes (like many are). Body is ridiculously slippery and phones will break when they fall out of pockets or hands. Great camera. Screen is gorgeous. Android/TouchWiz user experience significantly less than optimal, but once you're set up it's not so bad.

All in all, each phone has different bugbears, but balanced out, they're pretty much on a par.

As I say, this is an honest review. My main phone remains the iPhone and I use Apple kit for the majority of my day to day stuff and will continue doing so, however I do have to give praise where its due, regardless of who is receiving it.

Hmm. Someone uses non-genuine parts to attempt a repair to a critical part of their iPhone and then they wonder why it doesn't work afterwards? And then they seek to take it to court? If I were the judge, I'd laugh at them and then point them swiftly in the direction of the door. (I'd do that regardless of what manufacturers were involved)

When it comes to unauthorised repairs, there's only one rule: Caveat Emptor.

apple ][ said:

Good! Apple should not be sponsoring that project. And besides, the idiot mayor of London insulted the next President of the United States, so any American company should not be doing business with such lowlife types.

Ha! The entire political establishment in the UK is completely against Trump. It's not just Boris (who is far from an idiot - he's actually very clever and the bumbling act is just window dressing).

And, to be fair to them all, they're right. Trump is a massive numpty. He stated that there are areas of the UK where the Police are scared to go because of Muslim radicals. That is an absolute lie. No such place exists. He also stated that the UK has a 'massive Muslim problem'. Also totally untrue - and plenty of other descriptive terms can be applied to that nonsense too, but this if a family site, so I shall desist.  He is the man who was happy to stand side by side with Sarah Palin. I mean, really? That successful politician? The one who couldn't even be bothered to see out her one gubernatorial term? The one who thinks she could 'see Russia' from her window? The one who blames her son's alleged spousal abuse incident on the current president?! 

Honestly... I'm building a bunker if Trump gets elected. And I don't even live in the US.

sog35 said:

All I was asking Tim Cook to do was [blah blah blah]

I'm reasonably sure that Tim Cook has a million better things to do than listen to what *you* want him to do.