TripZilla
As much as we decry mobile devices for keeping us too plugged in to technology, there is no denying how it has made life more convenient than before. For travellers, your phone may constantly bombard you with work emails while you’re trying to get away from your hectic corporate life. At other times, your phone may be the best travel tool – you can check flight schedules, book a cab, navigate foreign cities using the trusty GPS, and search for reviews on the top places to dine and shop.
Read also: 10 Smart Gadgets All Business Travellers Should Have
Apple’s iPhone 6 and 6 Plus have launched very recently and we can anticipate the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 release this coming October.
Here at TripZilla Magazine, we love travelling just as much as we are attached to our smartphones, so we got together and voted for the smartphone of our choice.
This is for every tech-savvy traveller – our very own travel smartphone smackdown.
Camera
The camera is a defining factor for travellers who want to capture their travels without the hassle of a bulky camera. The Samsung Galaxy Note 4 boasts a 16 megapixels rear-facing camera and a 3.7 megapixels front-facing camera. The Apple iPhone 6 and 6 Plus pale in comparison – 8 megapixels for the rear-facing camera and a mere 1.2 megapixels for your selfies. Both the iPhone 6 plus and Note 4 come with the optical image stabilisation technology, while the iPhone 6 is only capable of digital image stabilisation.
We vote: Samsung Galaxy Note 4 for the best Instagram-worthy pictures
Battery life
Battery life is an important consideration for travellers – you need your smartphone to last through an entire day of checking maps, reviews and local recommendations while on the go.
The Note 4 has a 3,220 mAh battery which is similar to its predecessor, the Note 3 so you can expect 15 hours of video watching. The iPhone 6 Plus has a close 2,915 mAh battery and the iPhone 6 a mere 1,810 mAh battery. In engadget’s video-playback tests, the iPhone 6 lasted 10 hours 19 minutes and the iPhone 6 Plus lasted almost 12 hours.
We vote: The Samsung Galaxy Note 4 will definitely get you through an entire day of travelling with heavy usage.
Fast charging
Fast charging can give your phone a quick boost. This is perfect for when you forget to charge your phone before crashing after a long day of travelling.
The Note 4 has a fast charging feature so that in about half an hour, your phone battery will go from 0 to 50 percent. This is tremendous improvement from the Note 3, which took a hour. Apple smartphones do not have a fast charging feature.
We vote: You’ll be glad to have the Note 4 when your smartphone is in need of some juice real quick.
Protection from the elements
The worst thing that could possible happen while on holiday is for your brand spanking new smartphone to be broken accidentally.
While the iPhone screens are not made from the rumoured sapphire glass, we get what’s called an ‘ion strengthened glass’ screen. The first iPhone 6 bought in Perth was actually dropped during an interview! Perhaps the ion strengthened glass screen survived the great fall…
The Note 4 will have the Gorilla Glass 3 protection. The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus are not waterproof and neither is the Note 4 – despite the Samsung Galaxy S5 being dust and water resistant.
We vote: Tie. As of now, both Apple’s and Samsung’s new smartphones seem pretty sturdy but they won’t give the best protection from sweat, rain, liquids, sand, and dust.
One-handed usability
When you are walking down a street with a bag in hand, whether or not you can use your smartphone with one hand will become important.
The display sizes for the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus and Galaxy Note 4 are 4.7 inches, 5.5 inches and 5.7 inches respectively. One-handed use is bound to be more difficult for larger phones and especially so for phablets. Both companies offer software-based workarounds this issue.
Apple’s iPhone 6 and 6 Plus will have a ‘Reachability’ feature that slides down the entire user interface to you, so you won’t have to stretch your fingers all the way to the top of the screen. However, this does not address the issue of one-handed typing for the much wider iPhone 6 Plus. Samsung’s Note 4 will shrink the entire screen to a smaller size for one-handed use, including the keyboard.
We vote: The Samsung Galaxy Note 4’s shrinking feature appears to be more useful that Apple’s slide down feature. However, those with very small hands will find the iPhone 6 most comfortable to hold.
Apps
The days when an iPhone app would be available way before the android version are long behind us. Both the iTunes App Store and Google Play have surpassed 1.2 million apps available for downloads. This means that there will be great travel apps available for both iPhone 6 and Note 4 users.
We vote: Tie – the statistics don’t lie. Yet violence ensued when ‘M’ insisted that there are more android apps available and apple-fan ‘K’ disagreed. It was a sad day for the rest of us as dark clouds loomed overhead.
Our verdict
The Samsung Galaxy Note 4 is a hit amongst the staff at TripZilla Magazine. We love its powerful camera, longer battery life and one-handed usability. There are many considerations when buying a new phone but for the tech-savvy traveller, the Note 4 is a stand out.
What phone will you be getting this holiday season?
