Gizmo Guy: iPhone Defector

If you had to do it all over again, would you dive head first and deep into the Apple "eco-system"?

Until now, Gizmo Guy has been a gung-ho Apple team player, happy with the seamless interfacing of his iPhone, iPad, iMac and Watch, which magically share services, images and contacts.

But if I were a newbie to smartphone land or not a camp follower, I'd be pretty iffy on the whole deep dive loyalty thing.

Can't really blame the new quasi-biopic Steve Jobs - though this intense flick does paint the late Apple CEO as a ruthless perfectionist of Shakespearean (or Aaron Sorkin-ian) dimensions.

What's truly turned me around is the new Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge - a smartphone so sleek and advanced that it makes the newly finessed iPhone 6S seem, at times, like an "also-ran" in comparison tests. Might even give the cocky ghost in the Apple machine a Jobs-like complex.

Remake/remodel. Samsung phones used to suffer from obvious "me-too-isms" - close approximations of iPhone features and "trade dress" that provoked Apple lawsuits.

But the Galaxy S6 Edge is something else, a next generation thing of beauty with several tech differentiators.

Start with the state-of-the-art 5.7 inch, ultra-high definition AMOLED screen that's not just brilliantly bright and clear but also wrapping around left and right sides of the phone like one of those optical illusion "infinity edge" swimming pools. The stylish brushed aluminum trim and ultra thin profile also help it stand out.

Images appear to float above the surface on the S6 Edge. The screen glows with light even when turned to the side.

But not just window dressing, the "dual edge" screen (Samsung's official terminology) inspires extra functionality. Swipe in from a virtual button on the right edge to bring up apps - planner, email, gallery, music - or contacts you can then directly call or shoot a message, photo or emoticon. The S6 Edge also has two extra, useful function buttons on the bottom of the touch screen, invisible until you touch 'em. Neat.

Not nearly as sexy, the Retina screen on the iPhone S6 (4.7 inch) and big brother S6 Plus (5.5 inch) is almost as discernibly sharp (high definition), almost as bright.

Where it jumps ahead is with 3D Touch - a pressure sensitive screen enhancement that, with one push, will open select apps such as email or Apple's News feed. Pushing again then takes you deeper into a site or story.

Apple calls this time-saving process "peek and pop." For me, the pressure sensitivity may also make the Apple screen less prone than the Galaxy S6 Edge to inadvertent touch activation - the ever popular "butt dial" effect.

Call center and photo zone. In testing call capabilities, both phones were decent but hardly exceptional. Voices on the Samsung (running on T-Mobile) appeared a tad brighter than the Apple phone (on Verizon), though the S6's sharpening effect is mostly done through higher-pitched reverberation.

Comparisons of photo imaging - a bigger use than calls for many people - proved more telling. Color tones on Apple snaps looked a tad truer to life. But the extra level of clarity in Samsung shots more significantly enhanced the sense of photo realism, sharpening dimples, whiskers, wood graining and blades of grass.

Samsung-shot images likewise held up better when zooming in for close-ups. The "tell" is Samsung's higher pixel count image chip (16 MP versus 12 MP) and wider aperture lens (f1.9 versus f2.2).

For selfies, both smart phones use a 5 MP camera of equal quality when the lighting is good. Under very low light, the Apple phone jumps ahead because its Retina HD screen can be deployed as a flash, a feat Samsung ought to ape with a software upgrade, if it can avoid another patent infringement suit, ha ha.

In the imaging features department, Samsung has a lot more going on. It's really fun to make an ultra-wide angle still by half-circling around a subject. Or to create an arty, mosaic block of four separate six-second videos, before being efficiently emailed or posted.

I also liked how you can trigger a selfie on the Galaxy S6 Edge just by holding up and then dropping a hand. Or opt for a 16x9 wide angle shot.

Apple's coolest image thing on the iPhone 6S is "Live Photo," an option to shoot snaps that "move" a little on replay - like one of those 3D wiggle postcards - actually achieved by capturing a short burst of frames.

Energy consumption. While the updated operating systems in the new phones are supposed to extend battery life, this tester still felt compelled to recharge both every night. The "Lightning" power connector on new/recent vintage Apple products is foolproof: There's no longer a front and a back side to the plug.

But the Samsung's wireless charging is sooooo much nicer. Just plop the phone down on a "Qi" charger base (or a charger equipped piece of furniture from Ikea) and the power-up process begins perfectly. And that ain't sour apples talking.

takiffj@phillynews.com

215-854-5960 @JTakiff