Apple iPhone 7 Plus vs. LG V20 vs. Galaxy Note 7 vs. Google Nexus 6P – Who Has Your Attention?

Apple jumped to the phablet world back in 2014 with the iPhone 6 Plus and the journey is still on with the new iPhone 7 Plus now in town. However, there are the likes of Samsung, LG, and Google who also happen to have delved into this world, coming in with great plus-sized smartphones with top-notch hardware.

Even though Apple’s iPhone 7 Plus will not be out until September 16, we already have details of the specs and feature of this phone, which makes it easier to pit it against other phablets that include Samsung Galaxy Note 7, LG V20 as well as the Google Nexus 6P. In essence, this is a comparison of the best Android phones against the best of Apple’s iPhone.

Here’s a head-to-head look at the specs:

Design and display

Given that these four smartphones are their company’s flagships, there is none that disappoints when it comes to the build. You will still come across a very similar design language to the iPhone 7 Plus when compared to the iPhone 6S Plus, but the premium looks are not gone. The series 7000 aluminum material has been retained, giving the phone a more than premium look, especially since it has now received water resistance capabilities.

The LG V20, on the other hand, does away with the stainless steel material used on the V20 in favor of a premium-looking aluminum build. Even though a year old, the Google Nexus 6P doesn’t disappoint on design matters. It still has the looks and feels premium too, but the Galaxy Note 7 could be the best when it comes to design, but the issue of the phone catching fires when charging is a huge stumbling block. But still, there nothing classier than the glass and metal material used on the Note 7.

When it comes to the display quality, the three Android phablets lead the way with QHD displays that boast 2K resolutions whereas the Apple iPhone 7 Plus is still stuck with a Full HD 1080p resolution screen. Another major difference here is that the Android trio has a larger 5.7-inch panel as opposed to the 5.5-inch panel used on Apple’s flagship. If anything, Apple is lagging behind when it comes to display quality, but the company still insists that the display looks great.

As far as uniqueness is concerned, you will enjoy the Galaxy Note 7 with its dual-edge screen, which is also curved. It’s basically a secondary screen that will carry shortcuts to apps, notifications and other useful information, something similar to what the secondary screen of the LG V20 does. Unlike the Note 7 which has this screen on the edges, the V20 has it on top of the main screen and it offers something close to the always-on display you get with the Note 7.

Even though the iPhone 7 Plus still boasts a curved glass on the edges, this has nothing to do with the display. However, the usual 3D Touch technology is still in use, with the home button tweaked to include haptic feedback. As for the Google Nexus 6P, there is nothing much on offer, but you still get a great screen that delivers amazing views.

Performance and battery life

The performance of these devices can only be determined through real-world tests. However, the specs on paper can also offer a different dimension of this aspect. The Snapdragon 820 used on the LG V20 and Samsung Galaxy Note 7 is the best SoC you can find on an Android device. Given that it’s the successor to the Snapdragon 810 used on the Nexus 6P, you will be guaranteed of better performance from the two handsets as opposed to the latter Google flagship. It gets even better as the 2016 flagships have 4GB RAM as compared to the 3GB RAM on the 6P, which pushes the Nexus phone even further down the pecking order.

As for the iPhone 7 Plus, it packs a new A10 SoC that is said to be 40% better than its predecessor, the A9, which has already proven to be a tough hardware to beat in terms of performance. Although the flagship gets a smaller RAM of 2GB, software and hardware optimizations could mean you end up with an even better performance from the Apple phone as compared to its Android counterparts. As for the software, there is the new iOS 10 on the iPhone while Nexus 6P and LG V20 are the only ones with Android 7.0 Nougat. There is no word on when Samsung will avail this new Android flavor for the Galaxy Note 7, which means you still have to stick around with the current Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow for some time.

In terms of battery life, the new iPhone 7 Plus is said to offer a longer battery life than its predecessor, however, the tech giant did not go into specifics regarding the capacity. As for the Android lot, the Galaxy Note 7 and Nexus 6P have an almost equal battery capacity of 3500mAh and 3450mAh, which should deliver about the same amount of battery life. On the other hand, the LG V20 gets the advantage of packing a removable battery of 3200mAh, which is something most flagships have been doing away with in the recent past.

Photography

The level of energy being directed to the photography aspects of flagship phones is astonishing. Apple has stepped up the iPhone 7 Plus snappers by adding a second lens to the rear of the phone and upping the megapixel count on the front snapper. The second 12MP telephoto snapper plays a huge role in allowing users to zoom without the need for digital zoom. The LG V20 also offers the same dual-lens photography, but it utilizes the two lenses in a slightly different way.

The 16MP sensor on the V20 is meant for normal shots while the 8MP sensor comes in to take care of wide-angle shots. Where the iPhone 7 Plus zooms in from far, the LG V20 tries to bring in more details from wider angles. These features are only exclusive to the iPhone 7 Plus and LG V20, but the Galaxy Note 7 and Nexus 6P have single-lens setups. Still, the Note 7 has been hailed for the amazing shots the f/1.7-aperture DualPixel lens brings into play.

So, will it be iPhone 7 Plus, LG V20, Samsung Galaxy Note 7 or will you stick with the slightly older Google Nexus 6P?