Samsung Galaxy S6 v LG G4 v HTC One M9

aaf

Hi,

My old Samsung Galaxy S2 has finally bitten the bullet so I need a new phone. I have borrowed a spare phone from a friend so I need a new one asap.

I would prefer one of the flagship phones due to their specs. I've trawled through the various threads here on boards and I'm no closer to making a decision. I had decided on an S6 or S6 edge but there seems to be battery issues although latest Android 5.1.1 update seems to have fixed that.

I want a good low light camera for taking photos at gigs etc and I want good audio as I listen to music a lot on my phone. I know the G4 is best in class for photos. I know the M9 is best for audio. I know the S6 is probably best of both worlds.

I know the Sony Xperia Z5 will probably be announced next week but it'll probably be a good while before we find out how good it is. I believe the Z3+ was nothing to write home about and the camera wasn't great.

I'm aware that the Moto X Style will also be launced next week but again, it'll probably be a while before we find out how good or bad it is. Also, at 5.7", it's a monster! Probably too big for me.

I'm also aware of the various gotchas with each phone such as expandable storage, replaceable batteries, etc.

So, has anyone got anything to say that would sway me towards either of the above?

I want to buy this SIM free so will also need to know where to get it cheap? Probably Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.de.

All opinions welcomed. Thanks in advance!

Flaccus

I had an M9 and currently own an S6 edge. Below re the pros and cons on both in my opinion. As for the G4 I don't own one. By all accounts the 808 soc in it while slower than the M9 and S6 does't throttle down as much as the 810 on the M9 and in everyday use is as quick as you'd want. And the camera matches or surpasses the S6, plus it has the bigger screen. The only reason I don't own a G4 is because I simply don't like all that plastic on a phone especially something with a piano black finish which means scratches.

S6 pros's v M9
1. camera on S6 vastly superior and can take excellent photos in auto mode
2. fit and finish and build quality surpasses M9 and iPhone 6 (aluminium feels more premium and doesn't have chamfered edges which can scuff easily). No plastic, unlike M9 - the IR blaster and top and bottom speaker grilles are in fact made from plastic.
3. feels nicer in the hand, and is lighter and thinner.
4. faster octa core cpu which so far doesn't run as hot as M9 and no stuttering in games detected. M9 throttles cpu speed down when taxed.
5. best in class amoled quad hd screen, which outdoors in sunlight triggers a hidden mode which causes the nit output of the phone to reach levels higher than anything on the market. So also the best screen outdoors. the M9 display is 1080p and is actually worse than last years M8 due it having a very cold colour temperature.
4. 115gb one drive storage from Microsoft plus free Word and Excel as well as free 6 months subscription to Pocket premium, Economist, and Wunderlist
5. Stock GUI lets you change Grid arrangement on home screens. M9 does not.
6. Fast charger included as standard. Have to buy one for M9.
7. Wireless charging out of the box. Not supported on M9.
8. Fastest internal storage on market (UFS 2.0)

M9 pros v S6
1. rear camera is covered in sapphire and sits flush unlike S6 which has regular glass and has a bump so easy to smash.
2. best in class speakers though not as loud as M8.
3. higher voltage output on headphone jack so louder than S6 by a large margin though quality wise I would say they are equal
4. excellent theme customisation whereas S6 just lets you download a theme and not customize individual components
5. slightly better battery life than S6.
6. SD card support up to 256gb so not fixed storage like S6.
7. HTC say M9 aluminium back treated with special coating giving it some scratch resistance. So arguably more durable than back of S6 which is Gorilla Glass 4.

Others
no memory issues on M9 unlike S6 which constantly has up to 85% memory usage but in my view this is a good thing with Android. I have not detected any lag what so ever opening and closing stuff and so far no forced closes. So I am not sure if there is an issue but something to be aware of as it has been reported on these forums as a problem with the S6.

s6 touchwiz gui is no faster or slower than HTC sense in my view. Samsung did a great job toning it down. However they did include this Smart manager software which is basically CC Cleaner (without the ad's) and Intel Security (mcafee). The CC Cleaner stuff is not needed for Android at all and only slows it down. Other than that very little bloat on either phone.

reported issues of the fast charger frying the accelerometer on the S6 causing the screen to not rotate or get stuck in landscape mode. seems to be an early batch affected from what I have seen and read.

amoled screens are supposed to be more prone to burn in or image retention than lcd screens. not seen any issues on my s6 but a known issue on the nexus 6 which is also amoled but rumoured not to be a tier1 panel so possibly lesser quality than the s6 screen.

a lot of reports of poor battery life on s6. still getting full day myself but m9 has larger battery so possibly a better bet if that's important to you.

Keith186

I was in a similar situation to you. None of the phones blew me away but the s6 edged it for me.
Pretty happy with it but RAM management not great but camera and screen are excellent.

aaf

Flaccus wrote: »

I had an M9 and currently own an S6 edge. Below re the pros and cons on both in my opinion. As for the G4 I don't own one. By all accounts the 808 soc in it while slower than the M9 and S6 does't throttle down as much as the 810 on the M9 and in everyday use is as quick as you'd want. And the camera matches or surpasses the S6, plus it has the bigger screen. The only reason I don't own a G4 is because I simply don't like all that plastic on a phone especially something with a piano black finish which means scratches.

S6 pros's v M9
1. camera on S6 vastly superior and can take excellent photos in auto mode
2. fit and finish and build quality surpasses M9 and iPhone 6 (aluminium feels more premium and doesn't have chamfered edges which can scuff easily). No plastic, unlike M9 - the IR blaster and top and bottom speaker grilles are in fact made from plastic.
3. feels nicer in the hand, and is lighter and thinner.
4. faster octa core cpu which so far doesn't run as hot as M9 and no stuttering in games detected. M9 throttles cpu speed down when taxed.
5. best in class amoled quad hd screen, which outdoors in sunlight triggers a hidden mode which causes the nit output of the phone to reach levels higher than anything on the market. So also the best screen outdoors. the M9 display is 1080p and is actually worse than last years M8 due it having a very cold colour temperature.
4. 115gb one drive storage from Microsoft plus free Word and Excel as well as free 6 months subscription to Pocket premium, Economist, and Wunderlist
5. Stock GUI lets you change Grid arrangement on home screens. M9 does not.
6. Fast charger included as standard. Have to buy one for M9.
7. Wireless charging out of the box. Not supported on M9.
8. Fastest internal storage on market (UFS 2.0)

M9 pros v S6
1. rear camera is covered in sapphire and sits flush unlike S6 which has regular glass and has a bump so easy to smash.
2. best in class speakers though not as loud as M8.
3. higher voltage output on headphone jack so louder than S6 by a large margin though quality wise I would say they are equal
4. excellent theme customisation whereas S6 just lets you download a theme and not customize individual components
5. slightly better battery life than S6.
6. SD card support up to 256gb so not fixed storage like S6.
7. HTC say M9 aluminium back treated with special coating giving it some scratch resistance. So arguably more durable than back of S6 which is Gorilla Glass 4.

Others
no memory issues on M9 unlike S6 which constantly has up to 85% memory usage but in my view this is a good thing with Android. I have not detected any lag what so ever opening and closing stuff and so far no forced closes. So I am not sure if there is an issue but something to be aware of as it has been reported on these forums as a problem with the S6.

s6 touchwiz gui is no faster or slower than HTC sense in my view. Samsung did a great job toning it down. However they did include this Smart manager software which is basically CC Cleaner (without the ad's) and Intel Security (mcafee). The CC Cleaner stuff is not needed for Android at all and only slows it down. Other than that very little bloat on either phone.

reported issues of the fast charger frying the accelerometer on the S6 causing the screen to not rotate or get stuck in landscape mode. seems to be an early batch affected from what I have seen and read.

amoled screens are supposed to be more prone to burn in or image retention than lcd screens. not seen any issues on my s6 but a known issue on the nexus 6 which is also amoled but rumoured not to be a tier1 panel so possibly lesser quality than the s6 screen.

a lot of reports of poor battery life on s6. still getting full day myself but m9 has larger battery so possibly a better bet if that's important to you.

Cheers. Pretty much confirmed what I was thinking, which was the S6 is the middle ground.

Now I have to decide on which model S6 and what capacity. Decisions, decisions although it probably will come down to price. Ideally I'd like the 64GB Edge but it seems to be at a ridiculous price SIM free.

Is Amazon.de the best place to pick up an S6 SIM free?

Cheers.

McHonda

I'm in similar situation myself but torn between s6 edge or lg g4. Was waiting for the oneplus 2 but can't wait anymore my htc one m7 is on the way out. 32gb s6 edge on pixmania seems to be the cheapest I can find at the minute at ~€550. Should be able to pick up the lg g4 for ~€450 so need to justify the price difference. Then there is the new line of nexus' around the corner...!