The iPhone 6s got more hardware changes than most 2015 Android flagships

If you go to any iPhone 6s hands on article/video right now on the internet, chances are that a bunch of Android fans will be telling you that it’s exactly the same as the iPhone 6, and that the latest Android phone is better:

The problem I have with these comments is that if you think the iPhone 6S is the same as the iPhone 6, why don’t people say the same about the 2015 Android flagships? It seems that people are so distracted by the mostly-sideways design changes that Android flagships get every year that people forget that almost nothing else has changed.

So let’s put aside mostly-minor design changes and focus on significant hardware changes in Android flagships since 2015, data is shown by the table below:

This is the second version of this table, footnotes on data: ^{1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10}

The iPhone 6s beats 6/7 Android flagships in hardware changes since 2015 and draws with the phone it didn’t beat (Moto X Style). This doesn’t mean the iPhone is a better phone, but it’s a bit rich of people to say it’s the same thing as last year when there are more hardware changes than most Android flagships.

So why doesn’t this mean the iPhone 6s is a better phone? For example the Galaxy S6 has 4K video but it doesn’t get a point for it as it’s been there since the S5, the same way the iPhone doesn’t get a point for NFC as it wasn’t added this generation. I’m only showing why the iPhone 6s is not “the same as last year”, just because it’s had many changes it doesn’t mean it’s better.

If you think the table is rigged, fine. But bear in mind the Moto X Style did just as well as the iPhone, and I could’ve easily made the iPhone 6 win by adding features such as “Vibration Motor Upgrade” if I really wanted to be biased.

And sure, I didn’t list new software features like Samsung adding the ability to do a quick note as soon as you pull the stylus out, but if I included that I could’ve also included the new “Live Photos” feature on the iPhone 6s. Most phones add an equal amount of new software features.

The iPhone 6s got more hardware changes than most 2015 Android flagships: http://t.co/pqv6AelGFv

— Jack March (@JackGMarch) September 11, 2015

1. The Z5 is compared to Z3 not Z3+/Z4 as they launched a year apart. Z5 Premium not included as it has no direct predecessor.
2. The symbol “-” on the table means no change.
3. iPhone 6S is confirmed to have 2GB RAM.
4. Purple cell indicates conflicting data: For the Note 5 some sources say the battery life is better, others worse. Apple claims the iPhone 6s battery life lasts the same as the iPhone 6 but it has lower capacity.
5. Quick charging not included as Samsung has their own “fast charging” and so does Qualcomm, any company could claim their phones have fast charging.
6. Wireless changes not included as it’s hard to draw the line as what counts as an upgrade or downgrade, but this wouldn’t change the end result as the iPhone also got an upgrade.
7. Although the “significant design change” category is subjective, I think it’s hard to argue that any phone apart from the Samsung models actually took a step-forward in their appearance.
8. Thickness, weight, and surface area are not included as it wouldn’t be fair. An increase in size is likely to lead to a thinner phone, and it’s subjective as to whether bigger = worse/better. Weight is also unfair as phones which have got larger are likely to weigh more.
9. iPhone 6s, Note 5, and S6 have an asterisk for an upgrade on fingerprint authentication as all three devices already had fingerprint authentication, however the performance was significantly improved.
10. It wouldn’t be wise to add a new category called “Material Upgrades” and give the iPhone a point for 7000 Series Aluminium, this is because it’s incredibly difficult to find what counts as a material upgrade in other phones.