2015! What a great year it had been for the smartphones! We have seen thousands of new phones launching in 2015, while some of the smartphones were unable to make their mark in the industry, others achieved a milestone through their sales record.

Like you might have encountered some unforgettable moments in the last year, there were some phones which will be never forgotten. While the flagship phones are always popular, there are many phones from 2015 which were offered in the budget segment and they had overtaken flagship phones in terms of their popularity.

So to give you a glimpse of some of the most popular phones in last year here’s the list of 25 Most Popular Phones of 2015 :

Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+

Samsung’s flagship device of 2015 dubbed as Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge Plus is powered by Exynos 7420 processor with 4 GB RAM. The killer feature about this smartphone is its 5.7 inches curve edged screen with Super AMOLED display and a fingerprint scanner.

The Galaxy S6 Edge Plus boasts a 16 MP rear camera and 5 MP selfie snapper. It comes in 32 GB/ 64 GB storage variant and is backed by 3000 mAh battery. It is available from Rs. 52,499.

Apple iPhone 6S/ iPhone 6S Plus

Apple’s iPhone 6S Plus features a 5.5 inch of Full HD screen, while iPhone 6S flaunts 4.7 inches HD screen, both phone have Force Touch display technology. Both the smartphone runs on company’s own A9 processor with 2 GB of RAM. They features a 12 MP rear camera and 5 megapixel front camera.

The iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus comes in 16/64/128 GB storage variant and the prices starts from Rs. 54,999.

Samsung Galaxy Note 5

Samsung Galaxy Note 5 features a 5.7 inches of Super AMOLED display with a screen resolution of 1440 x 2560 pixels. It is powered by Exynos 7420 SoC, coupled with 4 GB RAM. It comes in 32/64/128 GB of storage variant.

The highlight of this phone was its S Pen Stylus and Samsung Pay. The smartphone sports a 16 MP rear camera and 5 Mp front camera and is backed by a 300 mAh battery. It is available from Rs. 46,700.

Lenovo K3 Note

Lenovo K3 Note was the phone which exceeded the expectations of its users. The K3 Note flaunts a 5.5 inch of Full HD IPS display. It is powered by octa-core Mediatek MT6752 CPU with 2 GB of RAM and 16 GB of built-in memory.

The K3 Note sports a 13 MP autofocus rear camera with dual LED flash and 5 MP front camera. It also has Dolby Atmos sound speaker for better audio quality and this smartphone is available only at Rs.9,999.

OnePlus Two

OnePlus Two was one of the most awaited phone last year. The smartphone features a 5.5 inch of Full HD IPS LCD screen. It is powered by Snapdragon 810 SoC and comes in two variants, one with 3 GB RAM and 16 GB storage memory, while another with 4 GB RAM and 64 GB storage memory.

OnePlus Two was the first phone to feature a USB Type-C device. It has 13 MP autofocus rear camera, 5 MP front camera and a fingerprint scanner. Its prices starts from Rs. 24,999.

Motorola Moto G (3rd Gen)

Every year there are some ‘must have’ phones, Motorola’s Moto G 3rd Gen was one of them. The smartphone features a 5 inches of HD screen and Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 410 quad-core processor under the hood. It comes in two variants, one with 1 GB RAM and 8 GB internal memory, while other with 2 GB RAM and 16 GB storage memory.

The Moto G 3rd Gen sports a 13 MP rear camera and 5 MP front camera. It is backed by a 2470 mAh battery and is available from Rs. 9,999.

Motorola Moto X Play

Motorola’s Moto X Play flaunts a 5.5 inches of Full HD screen and is powered by Snapdragon 615 SoC and 2 GB RAM. It comes in 16/32 GB storage variant with memory expansion slot up to 128 GB.

The Moto X Play got famous for its 21 MP rear camera with dual LED flash, and also has 5 MP front camera. It is backed by 3630 battery and is available at price tag of Rs. 16,999.

Asus Zenfone 2

Asus Zenfone 2 features a 5.5 inches of Full HD screen and comes in many variants. The one which has 16 GB storage memory has Intel Atom Z3560 SoC with 2 GB RAM, whereas the others 32/64/128 GB storage variant has Intel Atom Z3580 SoC, paired with 4 GB RAM.

The Zenfone 2 houses a 13 MP dual flash camera at rear and 5 MP camera on the front. It is backed by a huge 3000 mAh battery and its prices starts from Rs. 13,999.

Huawei Nexus 6P

Huawei Nexus 6P was the first phone to run on Android 6.0 Marshmallow. The 5.7 inch screen smartphone runs Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 810 SoC along with 3 GB of RAM. The Nexus 6P sports a 12 MP dual LED flash rear camera and 8 MP front snapper.

The Nexus 6P comes in three storage variants, that are 32 GB/64 GB/128 GB with no microSD slot for storage expansion. The smartphone is packed by a 3450 mAh battery and features a fingerprint sensor. It is available from Rs. 39,999.

Sony Xperia Z5 Premium

Sony’s Xperia Z5 Premium was the world’s first smartphone to have 4K display. It comes with a 5.5 inches of IPS LCD screen and is powered by Snapdragon 810 processor with 3 GB RAM and 32 GB of internal memory.

The Xperia Z5 Premium boasts a 23 MP of rear camera and a 5 MP of front camera. The smartphone is backed by 3430 mAh battery with Quick Charge 2.0 support and a fingerprint sensor. It is now available at the price of Rs.57,240.

Asus Zenfone 2 Laser

Asus Zenfone 2 Laser was one of the most successful budget phone. The smartphone flaunts a 5 inch of HD screen and is powered by Snapdragon 410, paired with 2 GB RAM. It has 8 GB and 16 GB storage variants with microSD slot for storage expansion up to 128 GB.

The Zenfone 2 Laser sports a 13 MP laser autofocus rear camera and 5 MP front facing camera. The dual SIM smartphone is packed with 2400 mAh battery. Its prices starts from Rs. 9,999

Nexus 5X

Last year, Google introduced two Nexus phones, one from Huawei and another from their veteran ally LG. Although, it was LG’s Nexus 5X who prevailed the Huawei’s Nexus 6P. The LG Nexus 5X flaunts a 5.2 inches of Full HD IPS LCD screen and is powered by Snapdragon 808 SoC, paired with 2 GB RAM. It comes in 16/32 GB storage variant.

The Nexus 5X sports a 12 MP rear camera, 5 MP front camera and a fingerprint sensor. The phone supports USB Type-C connectivity and is backed by 2700 mAh battery. The prices for LG Nexus 5X starts from Rs. 20,999.

LG G4

LG G4 comes with a 5.5 inches of QHD IPS screen and is powered by Snapdragon 808 quad-core processor. It has 3 GB RAM and 32 GB of built-in memory.

The G4 sports a 16 MP rear camera , 8 MP front camera and is backed by 3000 mAh battery. The price for the LG G4 starts from Rs. 35,435.

HTC One M9/ M9+

The March released phone HTC One M9 features a 5 inches of Full HD screen whereas M9+ features a 5.2 inches of screen with resolution of 1440 x 2560 pixels. Both are powered by Snapdragon 810 processor, paired with 4 GB RAM. It has 32 GB of inbuilt memory with storage expansion slot.

The HTC One M9/M9+ sports a 20 MP rear camera and 4 MP front camera. The smartphones are backed by 2840 mAh battery and price of these phones starts from Rs. 40,775.

Xiaomi Mi4i

Xiaomi’s Mi4i comes with a 5 inches of Full HD IPS LCD screen and is powered by Snapdragon 615 SoC and a 2 GB RAM. It comes in 16 GB/ 32 GB storage variant.

The Android running dual SIM smartphone features a 13 MP rear camera and 5 MP front camera. It is backed by a non-removable 3120 mAh battery and the prices for the device starts from Rs. 11,999.

Yu Yureka Plus

Yu Yureka Plus was another a great package from Yu Televentures, the Indian manufacturer. Yureka Plus had a 5.5 inches of Full HD screen and is powered by Snapdragon 615 CPU, coupled with 2 GB RAM and has 16 GB of internal memory.

The Yureka Plus has 13 MP rear camera and 5 MP front camera. It is packed with a 2500 mAh battery and is available for Rs. 11,380.

Xiaomi Redmi 2 Prime

Redmi 2 Prime was another great entry-level budget smartphone by Xiaomi. The smartphone has a 4.7 inches of HD screen and is powered by Snapdragon 410 SoC, paired with 2 GB RAM. It also has 16 GB of internal memory.

Xiaomi Redmi 2 Prime sports a 8 MP rear camera, 2 MP front camera and is backed by 2200 mAh battery. The smartphone is available at a price of Rs. 6,999.

Yu Yuphoria

It was a great year for Yu Televentures, a subsidiary brand of Micromax Mobiles, as their smartphones delivered more than expected. Yu’s Yuphoria was one of them, that carries a 5 inches of HD screen with IPS LCD display. It is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 410 SoC and 2 GB RAM. It also has 16 GB of internal memory storage, expandable up to 32 GB.

The Yuphoria houses a 8 MP autofocus rear camera, 5 MP front snapper and 2230 mAh battery. It is available at price tag of Rs. 7,879

OnePlus X

Just like OnePlus Two, OnePlus X was huge success in 2015. The OnePlus X flaunts a 5 inch of Full HD AMOLED screen and is powered by Snapdragon 801 processor and 3 GB RAM. It has 32 GB of internal memory storage, expandable up to 128 GB.

The One Plus X sports a 13 MP rear camera and 8 MP front camera. It is backed 2525 mAh battery and is available at Rs. 16,999.

Yu Yunique

Yu Yunique brought a revolution in smartphone industry, as it packed some interesting features at great price. The smartphone comes with a 4.7 inch of HD screen and is powered by Snapdragon 410 quad-core processor with 1 GB RAM and 8 GB internal memory. It also 4G connectivity.

The Yunique sports a 8 MP rear camera and 2 MP front snapper.It is backed by 2000 mAh battery and is priced for Rs. 6,400.

Yu Yutopia

Yu Yutopia was the flagship device of the Yu Televentures last year, that flaunts a 5.2 inches of IPS LCD display with screen resolution of 1440 x 2560 pixels. The smartphone is powered by Snapdragon 810 octa-core SoC, coupled with 4 GB RAM. It has 32 GB of built-in memory, expandable up to 128 GB.

The Yutopia boasts a 21 MP of autofocus rear camera, 8 MP of front camera and a fingerprint sensor. It is backed by 3000 mAh battery and is available for Rs. 24,999.

Lenovo A6000 Plus

Lenovo A6000 Plus was one of most sold phones in 2015, due to its overall specs and exciting price. The A6000 Plus flaunts a 5 inch HD screen with resolutions of 1280 X 720 pixels. It is powered by Snapdragon 410 quad-core processor, paired with 2 GB RAM and 16 GB internal memory.

The A6000+ boasts a 8 MP rear camera and 2 MP selfie snapper. It is backed by 2300 mAh battery and is available at a price of Rs. 7,499.

Coolpad Note 3

The Coolpad Note 3 was one of the most spectacular phone in previous year, all due to its extensive features. The Note 3 features 5.5 inches of IPS HD display. It is powered by Mediatek MT6753 octa-core processor, coupled with 3 GB RAM. It comes with a 16 GB in-built memory, expandable up to 64 GB via micro SD card.

The Coolpad Note 3 sports a 13 MP autofocus rear camera, 5 MP front camera and a fingerprint scanner. The dual SIM smartphone is backed by 3000 mAh battery and is priced for Rs. 8,999.

Samsung Galaxy J7

Samsung has launched many mid-budget phones like J5, On5, On7,etc., but Galaxy J7 was the one who was remarkable in previous year. The Galaxy J7 comes with a 5.5 inches of HD screen. It is powered by Snapdragon 615 CPU, coupled with 1.5 GB of RAM. It has 16 GB of internal memory, expandable up to 128 GB.

The Samsung Galaxy J7 boasts a 13 MP rear camera and 5 MP front camera. It is backed by massive 3000 mAh battery and is priced for Rs. 14,999.

Microsoft Lumia 950 XL

Microsoft Lumia 950 XL was perhaps the only Windows OS running smartphone which got popular last year. The Lumia 950 XL features a giant 5.7 inch QHD screen. The Windows 10 smartphone is powered by Snapdragon 810 quad-core processor, paired with 3 GB RAM and 32 GB internal memory.

The Lumia 950 XL houses a 20 MP Carl Zeiss rear sensor and 5 Mp camera on the front panel. It is packed with a non removable 3340 mAh battery and is available for Rs. 43,999.

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We know there are still many popular phones like the Huawei Honor 4X/7, the BlackBerry Priv, the Moto E (2nd Gen), the Obi Worldphone SF1, the QiKU Q Terra, the HTC One A9 or the Samsung Galaxy A8 (and the list goes on……) which are not in this list but, as we had to choose only the Top 25 we had to take some hard decisions. If you believe any of these phones or some other phone should be in the list of 25 Most Popular Phones of 2015, let us know via the comments section below.

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by KOUSTUBH CHOUDHARIMARCH 31, 2016

The South Korean tech giant, Samsung has launched a new budget smartphone dubbed as, Samsung Galaxy J3 (2016) in India. The 4G enabled smartphone is priced at Rs. 8,990 and is now available exclusively on Snapdeal.

The Samsung Galaxy J3 (2016) features a 5-inch HD (1280 x 720 Pixels) Super AMOLED display. It is powered by 1.5 GHz quad-core Spreadtrum SC9830 64-bit processor, paired with Mali-400 GPU and 1.5 GB RAM. It bears 8 GB internal memory, that is further expandable up to 128 GB with microSD card slot. It runs on Android 5.1 Lollipop based TouchWiz UI on top.

The USP of the Galaxy J3 (2016) is its ‘S Bike Mode’ feature for bikers, which once enabled automatically replies to calls with pre-recorded messages in 14 languages and motion lock feature to ensure rider comes to a halt before answering. It sports an 8 megapixel auto focus rear camera with LED Flash and 5 megapixel front-facing camera. It is backed by a 2600mAh battery.

Connectivity options on the smartphone includes 4G LTE / 3G HSPA+, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.1, GPS, NFC, and USB OTG. It measures 142.3 x 71x 7.9mm and weighs 138 g. The Samsung Galaxy J3 (2016) will be offered in Black, White and Gold color variants.

Yesterday, Samsung launched the Galaxy A9 Pro in China.

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Just a few days ago we learned that Xiaomi is working on a new 4 inch smartphone, and today a new leak suggests that it will also launch the second generation of Mi Note 2 in the coming months.

According to a leaked image spotted on Weibo, the Mi Note 2 will sport a 5.7 inch QHD (2560 x 1440) curved edge display with 3D Force Touch feature, that was first seen in Apple iPhone 6s and iPhone 6S Plus. The tipster also reveals that it will sport either Snapdragon 820 or Snapdragon 823 SoC and may come with 4 GB or 6 GB RAM. Well, there could be two variants for smartphone like Mi Note 2 and Mi Note 2 Pro. And as if 32/64/128 GB internal storage was bit old-fashioned, it is rumored that the 256 GB variant might also get launched.

And then there’s a 16-megapixel rear camera (Sony’s IMX295 sensor) with OIS and a 5-megapixel front camera. It is said to have a 3,600mAh battery with support for 18W Quick Charging. The full metal unibody smartphone is expected to be priced around 2999 yuan (approx. Rs. 30,740).

With all these awesome specifications, we are just excited to get some more leaks of the smartphone to confirm these list.

Earlier today, Xiaomi launched the Mi 5 in India at Rs. 24,999.

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by KOUSTUBH CHOUDHARIMARCH 28, 2016

The upcoming flagship phone from OnePlus has been spotted on AnTuTu benchmarking site. According to Gizmo China, the OnePlus 3 was found listed on AnTuTu with model number of A3000.

As per the listing, OnePlus 3 may feature a 1080p display, a Snapdragon 820 SoC with Adreno 530 GPU and 4GB RAM, and Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow. It also sports a 16-megapixel rear camera with dual-tone LED flash and has an 8 megapixel front-facing camera on board along with the fingerprint scanner. No details about the screen size or battery capacity has been revealed yet.

The OnePlus 3 was first rumored to get launched on April 7, however in a statement to Android Authority, OnePlus has confirmed that “the April 7 event is focused on the China market. We will not be launching our next device then”.

Also, the OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei has earlier said that the upcoming flagship will feature a ‘new design,’ and will launch by the end of Q2 2016.

The company has recently announced the permanent price cut on both the variants of OnePlus 2.

Featured Image: OnePlus One

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Galaxy S6 or iPhone 6S? Does the new Apple flagship have enough to take on Samsung's best smartphone yet?

Samsung's current flagship phone launched earlier in the year, and was an obvious attempt to take on the iPhone 6 with its premium build and impressive performance.

Now that the iPhone 6S is on the market, how does the Samsung Galaxy S6 fare?

IPHONE 6S VS SAMSUNG GALAXY S6: DESIGN

iPhone 6S: 7.1mm thick, Series 7000 anodised aluminium back

Galaxy S6: 6.9mm thick, aluminium unibody and glass panel

You know the story with Apple's S-range phones by now. They look and feel almost identical to the previous model.

As such, the iPhone 6S is pretty much a dead ringer for the iPhone 6. It's not identical, though.

For one thing, the iPhone 6S is marginally thicker than the iPhone 6 thanks to a couple of important new features. We're only talking 2mm here.

Another difference to the iPhone 6S design won't be readily visible, but it makes for a sturdier device. Apple has switched to the Series 7000 aluminium it uses for the Apple Watch.

This material is 60 percent stronger than standard aluminium, but just as light. Add in some reinforcements for key weak points (such as near button openings), and it's clear that Apple is determined to avoid a repeat of the 'bendgate' controversy.

Will that be enough to trump the Galaxy S6 on sheer desirability? Well, given that the Galaxy S6 evidently borrows a few of its design tricks from the iPhone 6, it's a fairly close call.

However, Samsung has gone with a strikingly shimmery glass back and a distinctively moulded metallic edge with Galaxy S6. For pure eye-catching looks, then, the S6 phone wins - and that's not something we would have imagined saying about a Samsung phone 12 months ago.

However, that glass back is an undeniable weak point in terms of practicality. It's excessively slippery and undeniably shatter-prone.

In terms of practical day-to-day usage and ruggedness, we have to give the iPhone 6S and its all-metal construction the nod - particularly with those reinforcements. And THAT's not something we would have imagined saying 12 months ago either.

The iPhone 6S is also the easier phone to hold, thanks to its smaller size and metal back. The Galaxy S6, by contrast, is a slippery little sucker thanks to its glass back. Don't even think of laying it down on a slightly angled, non-grippy surface, as it has the tendency of sliding off with minimal provocation.

IPHONE 6S VS SAMSUNG GALAXY S6: SCREEN

iPhone 6S: 4.7-inch, 1334 x 750 IPS LCD, 3D Touch

Galaxy S6: 5.1-inch, 2440 x 1560 'QHD' Super AMOLED

The iPhone 6S display is very similar indeed to the iPhone 6's. That means a 4.7-inch IPS LCD display and no gorgeous QHD display that's currently packed into the S6.

We loved this display in the iPhone 6, and we still love it in the iPhone 6S. It's perfectly sized for one-handed usage, without being restrictive like previous 4-inch iPhones. At that size, too, the iPhone's 1334 x 750 resolution is just sharp enough. It's also extremely bright and vivid.

While there's no change in the resolution stakes, where the iPhone 6S display does get an improvement is in its functionality.

Apple has added 3D Touch to its smartphone range after successful (if tentatively applied) showings in the Apple Watch and New MacBook. This new technology recognises the amount of pressure you place on the display, literally enabling an extra layer of depth to touch inputs.

We found this technology to be much more than just a gimmick, with lots of handy little applications dotted throughout iOS 9, such as the ability to preview emails and websites, or jump straight to the selfie cam. It's only going to get more useful as more and more developers add 3D Touch support, too.

The Samsung Galaxy S6 has no such pressure-sensing technology, but as a pure display, it's touch to argue that it still isn't flat out superior to the iPhone 6S's. Yes, its QHD resolution is much sharper than the iPhone's, but that's the least of its feats.

Samsung's supreme grip on Super AMOLED technology means it's more vibrant, with deeper blacks and higher contrast.

If you care about somewhere to watch video and browse the web, the S6 is a cut above the iPhone 6s, but that's not to say that Apple's latest phone isn't accomplished in these areas.

Put simply, the iPhone 6S display is smarter, but the Samsung Galaxy S6 screen is better looking.

IPHONE 6S VS SAMSUNG GALAXY S6: POWER

iPhone 6S: Apple A9 64-bit dual-core CPU, 2GB RAM

Galaxy S6: Exynos 7420 64-bit octa-core, 3GB RAM

The iPhone 6 impressed with its potent 64-bit A8 CPU, which as always blew away the off-the-shelf Android competition on single-core performance - still incredibly important for mobile usage.

However, the Galaxy S6 came along with Samsung's own Exynos 7420, an octa-core chip that blitzed the A8 on multi-core performance and got surprisingly close on single-core terms. At the time of its launch, it was pretty much the best mobile SoC (System on Chip) around.

So what of the iPhone 6S? Well, it runs on the A9 chip, which is significantly faster than the A8 in both CPU and GPU departments. We're talking around 70 percent faster on the CPU front, and 90 percent faster on the GPU front.

It gives the Galaxy S6's Exynos chip a serious run for its money. In terms of single-core performance the A9 blitzes the Galaxy S6, while the Galaxy S6 only pips the iPhone 6S by a small amount on the multi-core benchmarks.

Things get interesting when we turn to RAM. The Galaxy S6 has a generous 3GB, while the iPhone 6S has 2GB of RAM.

The S6 appears to have the edge on the RAM count, but it's worth mentioning that iOS is renowned for being much easier on the RAM than Android. In actual fact, the iPhone 6S doubles up on the memory of previous iPhones, making for a dramatic performance increase. It's noticeably quicker than the iPhone 6.

It's also worth mentioning that the iPhone 6S comes with a new and improved version of Touch ID, which loads up much faster than before. We'd even say that it feels faster than the Galaxy S6 equivalent, although we don't have any complaints with either.

IPHONE 6S VS SAMSUNG GALAXY S6: CAMERA

iPhone 6S: 12-megapixel rear camera, f/2.2 aperture, dual LED flash, 4K video recording

Galaxy S6: 16-megapixel rear camera, f/1.9 aperture single LED flash, OIS, 4K video recording

Apple has had the smartphone camera market all but sown up in recent years - until the launch of the Samsung Galaxy S6. Here for the first time Samsung provided a camera that topped its great rival's effort in many people's estimations.

Naturally, Apple looked to redress the balance with the iPhone 6S. It did so by bumping up the megapixel count for the first time since the iPhone 4S, with a new 12-megapixel image sensor. Up front is a 5-megapixel Retina HD with Retina flash that uses the entire phone screen to capture your mug.

The rear camera technically still trails the 16-megapixel Galaxy S6, but we've all realised that more doesn't necessarily mean better in image sensors of this size, haven't we?

One disappointment with the new iPhone 6S camera is the lack of OIS (optical image stabilisation). One of the reasons the iPhone 6 omitted the shot-steadying technology while the iPhone 6 Plus included it is because the smaller phone was too thin and sadly the handy feature for improving low-light photography misses out again.

The S6 has a lot going for it beyond more megapixels and OIS, of course. It's very fast to take a shot, which is helped by its splendid home button-based camera shortcut. It also has an excellent Pro manual mode, which Apple's iPhone range still lacks.

The Galaxy S6 also has a wider aperture f/1.9 lens than the f/2.2 iPhone 6S, which lets more light in and helps with low-light shots, as well as in capturing that lovely defocused background, or bokeh, effect.

Overall, we can't call which camera is better. The iPhone remains the best phone for just pointing and shooting, and you'll get more consistent results from it. But the Galaxy S6 offers greater manual control and superior low-light shots.

IPHONE 6S VS SAMSUNG GALAXY S6: SOFTWARE

iPhone 6S: iOS 9

Galaxy S6: Android 5.1 Lollipop with TouchWiz UI

The iPhone 6S continues Apple's dominance of Samsung on the software front. We're big fans of Android 5.1 Lollipop in its unadulterated form, but Samsung does insist on tinkering with it.

Yes, the Galaxy S6 is much better in this regard than previous efforts, but it's still inferior to plain old Android. Samsung's efforts at differentiation serve to make any iPhone, with its uniform iOS operating system, look and feel a little classier by comparison.

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You might argue that iOS hasn't fundamentally changed enough from its original simplistic app icon-led origins. iOS 9 doesn't change that perception, as it's a largely iterative improvement over iOS 8.

But it certainly feels more cohesive and faster than Samsung's Android-with-TouchWiz. Plus, in recent years, Apple has caught up with Android's core feature count in recent years (largely through aping Google's work).

The whole app thing is less of an issue than it's ever been, but it's still undeniable that the App Store is a more vibrant, higher quality offering than the Google Play Store.

Samsung does have its own voice assistant to try and take on Siri. It's called S Voice, and there's plenty the voice assistant is capable of doing. From simple things like calling a number or adding events to calendars, it can update your social networks and even write a memo.

You do of course have the benefit of Google Now as well, which is soon to be upgraded with Google Now on Tap. Indeed, Google Now is a far better rival to Siri than S Voice. In fact, we'd argue that Android's assistant has been better than Apple's for some time now.

Apple has improved Siri considerably in iOS 9, though, and it now achieves something approaching parity. A swipe right from the main homescreen takes you to a new Siri screen, providing frequently used contacts and apps, and relevant news stories.

Siri's voice-activated element has also grown more sophisticated, with room for naturalistic requests like 'show me pictures taken in Australia,' while Spotlight also pulls in search results from third party apps.

THE VERDICT

When we last pitched the Samsung Galaxy S6 against the iPhone 6, the Samsung just about came out on top. It's a phenomenally good smartphone.

Now that the iPhone 6S is with us, things have evened out, and we could even be looking at a marginal iPhone 6S win.

Apple has made improvements to the iPhone 6S's build quality at a time when we're realising that Samsung's heavy use of glass in the Galaxy S6 was a little ill-considered. It's also improved the camera considerably, to the point where we prefer it as a reliable point and shoot (though the Galaxy S6 camera has its own strengths).

We were taken aback, too, by the performance gains made by the iPhone 6S. Everything from getting into the phone with Touch ID to juggling multiple web tabs and apps just feels quicker and more fluid than before. With the Galaxy S6's heavy software weighing an otherwise capable phone down (especially with prolonged use), it's another win for the iPhone 6S.

Conversely, Apple hasn't done anything to improve the quality of the iPhone 6S's screen. Not that it's bad as such, but the Galaxy S6's display is better in almost every way.

Almost, but not all. The real clincher here is the iPhone 6S's 3D Touch facility. This bold new pressure-sensitive screen technology looks set to be hugely influential on future smartphone interfaces. Right now, it makes the already rapid iPhone 6S even more fluid to use.

Things have see-sawed back Apple's way with the iPhone 6S. We're expecting Samsung to respond in similar fashion with the Samsung Galaxy S7.

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OnePlus 2 vs iPhone 6? We've lived with both and we've weighed up the merits of what's it's like to use the two great smartphones on a daily basis.

If you've read our OnePlus 2 review, you'll know we were glowing about the successor to the OnePlus One. It still gives you those high end features for considerably less than it costs to buy a flagship phone like the Samsung Galaxy S6, LG G4 or the HTC One M9.

So we know it competes with some of the best Android phones on the market, but how does it fare against the iPhone 6? Now we know the iPhone 6S is just weeks away from launch, but there's no doubt a few of you not sold on the 3D Touch and some of the more iterative upgrades that will come with iOS 9, which will be available on the iPhone 6.

If you're planning to choose between the iPhone 6 and the OnePlus 2, we've been browsing, gaming, taking calls and pretty much anything else you do on your smartphone to help you decide.

ONEPLUS 2 VS IPHONE 6: PRICING AND AVAILABILITY

Now this is likely to be a big factor for most picking between these two smartphones and there's clearly quite a price difference. With the OnePlus 2 (if you can get your hands on one that is), there's 16GB and 64GB models just like the iPhone 6 and no micro SD card support. The smaller capacity is priced at £239, and is goes up to £289 when you opt for the 64GB. If you compare that to the 16GB iPhone 6, which is £459, that's a big difference for the entry model. Opt for the 64GB iPhone 6 and you're looking at paying £539.

There's also an issue of availability here as well. If you don't buy directly from Apple, then there's plenty of networks and online retailers that will offer it on both SIM-free and monthly contracts. The same sadly can't be said about the OnePlus 2. You'll need to have an invite to get your hands on one through the OnePlus website. There's a handful of low profile online retailers and you could always go eBay, but we'd suggest going the more reliable route. Right now, that means you might have to wait to get your hands on it.

ONEPLUS 2 VS IPHONE 6: DESIGN

The OnePlus One was well known for offering a great phone at an even greater price, but it wasn't was pretty. Things have got better with the second iteration, but there's still some things we don't love about it.

Now the plastic is gone replaced with a magnesium alloy frame and polished steel buttons. OnePlus has bucked the trend of putting brandishing its logo on the front, which the likes of Samsung, Sony and HTC have a tendency to do and it's also taking a very Motorola approach to customising your handset. It ships with a Sandstone Black back and we're not the biggest fans of it. It feels more like sandpaper than something that's nice to grip. You do have the option to mix and match the back including toughened kevlar and the more eye-catching bamboo. So you're not stuck with it.

Other notable features include Dual SIM card slots and a new Alert Slide physical button. The latter makes it easier to toggle through different profiles, which should come in handy when you need to jump into a meeting and don't want to be disturbed. we didn't anticipate the extra button to be all that useful but it surprisingly does.

The OnePlus 2 weighs in at 175g and measures in at 9.9mm thick, so if you want the lighter and slimmer phone, then the iPhone 6 still wins this particular battle. That's unsurprising though when there's a pretty big gulf in terms of size. If you put the 5.5-inch phone up against the iPhone 6 Plus (172g and 7.1mm thick), then you're getting something similar in terms of weight. The 6 Plus still wins on slenderness though.

Like the iPhone 6, the OnePlus 2 comes with a fingerprint sensor baked into home button. It's functionality is a bit more limited than the one on the iPhone, but it does at least unlock your phone nice and fast. It also come with the new USB Type-C connector, which Apple itself has adopted for its latest MacBook but we've found that it is a bit of a slow charger. A shame, especially when QuickCharge is so common these days.

So which one would we pick based purely on design? We'd still be inclined to say the iPhone 6. The 4.7-inch phone is still more manageable and is easier to use in one hand. It might not be Apple's most iconic design, but it firmly stand out from the crowd.

ONEPLUS 2 VS IPHONE 6: SCREEN

OnePlus has opted against going 2K like Samsung and LG, instead sticking with the same 5.5-inch Full HD 1080p LCD screen with a 401 ppi pixel density.

The new 15000:1 contrast ratio does lead to deeper blacks making it more suitable for watching films, while a new Dark Mode UI means it'll also get "incredibly dim" and is another way the screen won't be a significant drain on the battery. The bad news is that colours look a little muted and very washed out. Think Nexus 4 bad. It simply lacks the same vibrancy you get from a Samsung phone or the iPhone 6 for that matter.

While the iPhone 6 screen is not class-leading, it's still one of the best smartphone screens around. Apple's 4.7-inch LCD screen packs a 740 x 1334 resolution with a 326 ppi pixel density.

When you go by numbers, the OnePlus 2 comes out on top. But it's not as simple as that. You're dealing with different sized screens here as well, which will have an impact on how impressive these screens are. What we do know from using the iPhone 6, is that the Retina display is still sufficiently sharp with well balanced colours and strong contrast ratio that you won't feel like you're using an inferior phone.

It's clear that both phones here will offer great places for browsing, watching video and gaming. If we had to pick though, we'd go for the iPhone 6.

ONEPLUS 2 VS IPHONE 6: POWER

Before the OnePlus 2 was even announced, we had a good idea of what to expect in terms of performance. It runs on a Snapdragon 810, up from the 801 packed into last year's phone, but not quite the same one that has suffered from overheating issues and underwhelmed us on the HTC One M9 and the Sony Xperia Z3+. It's an improved version of the chip, to which OnePlus has added a dollop of thermal gel and graphite. All of which allows this 64-bit chip to finally stretch its legs as one of the fastest chips on the market.

Does it out-perform the iPhone 6's dual-core A8 chip? It's hard to equate the two, because they take very different approaches, but it can be summed up like this: the iPhone 6's A8 chip has faster single-core performance, while the Snapdragon 810 has faster multi-core performance. That's exactly what we found using them for a variety of things. Whether it's gaming, streaming or multitasking, both phones deliver a more than satisfying performance.

Practically speaking, mobile computing is still far more reliant on single-core performance than desktop computing is, so it can be argued that Apple's approach is the more efficient. But really, both phones are plenty fast.

OnePlus 2 Geekbench 3 single-core score: 1186

iPhone 6 Geekbench 3 single-core score: 1583

OnePlus 2 Geekbench 3 multi-core score: 4299

iPhone 6 Geekbench multi-core score: 2757

What is most definitely in the OnePlus 2's favour is its 4GB of RAM. And not just any RAM either – we're talking super-fast LPDDR4 RAM, the likes of which made its way into the Samsung Galaxy S6 and similar to the ZTE Axon. That's if you go for the 64GB model though with the 16GB version opting for 3GB RAM although that's still pretty impressive to find packed into a smartphone. It shows as well. You can throw most things at the OnePlus 2 and you won't see any signs of sluggishness. By contrast, the iPhone 6's 1GB of LPDDR3 RAM looks more than a little puny but shows little signs of a struggle as well.

Power users will love the OnePlus 2 but we didn't have any problems using the iPhone 6 for most of the same things.

ONEPLUS 2 VS IPHONE 6: CAMERA

Initial rumours had suggested that the OnePlus 2 would ramp up the megapixels, however that did not happen. We still get a 13-megapixel main camera, which is not quite double the pixel count of the iPhone 6, but should help lead to sharper image resolution than its predecessor.

Of course, the iPhone camera has always been about a lot more than mere numbers. Sure enough, the iPhone 6 has one of the best smartphone cameras around, with tricks like phase-detection autofocus and Apple's peerless algorithms and UI, making for a great point-and-shoot experience.

The OnePlus 2 has a few tricks of its own, though. There's optical image stabilisation for starters joining the likes of the Galaxy S6 and the iPhone 6 Plus in improving low-light shooting. Pixels are 35% larger than they were on the One Plus One, which should also help improve nighttime photos. Taking a leaf out LG's book, the OnePlus 2 also packs laser focus to hone in on your targets in a much speedier fashion as well.

For pure cutting-edge tech, the OnePlus Two comes out on top, but we value the reliability of Apple's camera setup, along with image quality and generally being much easier to use. The iPhone camera app is easier to pick up and use without fiddling with settings. The iPhone 6 is quicker to shoot and focusing is more responsive than it is in on the OnePlus 2

ONEPLUS 2 VS IPHONE 6: OS

We won't go into the old Android vs iOS argument too much here, but, as we often point out, such comparisons are often moot in the face of so much lamentable manufacturer tinkering.

It's rarely a straight-up fight between these two great mobile platforms, because the likes of Samsung, LG, and HTC do insist on spoiling Android with custom UIs.

OnePlus isn't any different, but for one important fact – it's custom UI is great. It’s called OxygenOS and it resembles Android 5.0 Lollipop at an initial glance, but feature greater customisation potential when you dig down.

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You'll be able to pimp out your OnePlus 2 far more than an iPhone 6, which runs on the solid, if rather nailed-down, iOS 8.4 or iOS 9. Naturally the OnePlus will be less stable as a result, but that's all part of the selection process.

There's definitely some elements we really like with OnePlus 2's Android approach and there's some hidden gems. Whichever one you go, we think you'll be pleased by what you find.

ONEPLUS 2 VS IPHONE 6: BATTERY LIFE

Apple doesn't tend to reveal details about the capacity of the battery packed into its iPhones, but we do know that the iPhone 6 packs a 1,810mAh battery. In comparison, the OnePlus 2 offers a 3,300mAh battery, which is up just 200mAh on its predecessor.

Historically, iPhones have struggled to go the distance. While the larger iPhone 6 Plus is more capable of making it through the day, the smaller iPhone still requires a little more attention, like reducing the screen brightness or closing apps to make it through the day.

The difference in battery sizes here of course has to do a lot with the size of the screens that need to be powered as well. The 5.5-inch LCD screen on the OnePlus 2 is inevitably going to need a bigger battery

As we found on a daily basis the OnePlus manages about the same battery life as the Samsung Galaxy S6. It won't get you through two days, but with some tinkering, you'll comfortably get through one. It does appear to drain quite badly in standby mode and it can take almost three hours to charge it back to 100%.

While the iPhone 6 has significantly smaller battery in comparison, it will give you about a day's play as well. It's fares much better in standby mode than the OnePlus 2 and doesn't take as long too charge either. Apple will of course be introducing a new power-saving mode with iOS 9 so hopefully, things can actually get much better on the iPhone 6 for staying power.

VERDICT

So which one do you go for? Having spent a considerable amount of time both, we'd definitely say these are two of the best phones we've used this year. Lest we forget, the iPhone 6 was launched last year and still holds its own against the competition.

If we had to pick one, we'd go for the iPhone 6. That's largely down to the design, the more impressive screen and a camera that's better for getting consistent results.

The OnePlus 2 has its strengths as well. It's zippy to use and it's one of the nicest big phones that can justifiably compete with the Samsung's and the LG's of this world.

Is it better prospect than the iPhone 6? Well, that will come down to what you value in a smartphone.

Those on a budget who find Apple's iOS stifling, should definitely cast an eye on what OnePlus is doing, because it's another standout Android smartphone.

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