Samsung has announced a bigger version of the beautiful Galaxy S6 edge smartphone that was announced back in March at Mobile World Congress.

The Samsung Galaxy S6 edge Plus has been the subject of rumours for several months, and it is every bit as good looking as its smaller brother is, with an extra bit to marvel over.

Put it against the Apple iPhone 6 Plus and you have two devices that both have a six and a plus in their names, but do they have anything else in common? We have compared their specs and crunched their numbers to see what the differences and similarities, if any, are.

The Apple iPhone 6 Plus is bigger and heavier

The Samsung Galaxy S6 edge Plus measures 154.4 x 75.8mm, while the Apple iPhone 6 Plus measures 158.1 x 77.8mm, meaning the Samsung is slightly smaller all round. It is also slimmer by a fraction of a millimetre, measuring just 6.9mm compared to Apple's 7.1mm. Let's hope we don't get a repeat of bendgate with a body that slim.

In terms of weight, there is quite a big difference between these two handsets. The Apple weighs 172g, while the Samsung is just 153g, which is pretty light for a device of this size. We've never thought the iPhone 6 Plus has felt heavy though.

The Samsung is the more exciting in terms of design, thanks to its dual-edge display, but it won't be to everyone's taste. Apple is known for offering well-designed products and the iPhone 6 Plus is no different. In reality, you get two beautiful devices, but as we all have our own preferences, you've probably already decided which you like better.

The iPhone 6 Plus comes in silver, space grey and gold, while the Galaxy S6 edge Plus is available in white, black and gold. Both offer a fingerprint sensor.

The Galaxy S6 edge plus has a larger, sharper display

As we mentioned, the Galaxy S6 edge Plus has a dual-edge display, which straight away makes it different to the iPhone 6 Plus and the rest of its phablet competition. There is a difference in size and resolution too though.

The Galaxy S6 edge plus has a 5.7-inch Super AMOLED display with a 2560 x 1440 resolution, resulting in a pixel density of 515ppi. The iPhone 6 Plus on the other hand, features a 5.5-inch display with a Full HD resolution, meaning a few less pixels per inch at 401ppi.

Although we never had any issues with the sharpness of the iPhone 6 Plus, the Galaxy S6 edge Plus will theoretically deliver crisper images than Apple's phablet thanks to the extra pixels.

The Galaxy S6 edge Plus has more megapixels and a wider aperture

The Galaxy S6 edge Plus features a 16-megapixel rear camera and a 5-megapixel front snapper, both with an aperture of f/1.9. The iPhone 6 Plus has an 8-megapixel rear camera and a 1.2-megapixel front camera, both with an aperture of f/2.2. As the Samsung device has a wider aperture, this should mean it is more capable in low light conditions.

In Apple's defence, it isn't all about the number of megapixels and we have found the iPhone 6 Plus to take some great shots, but if you go on spec sheet alone - this isn't looking great for the iPhone. The Samsung Galaxy S6 edge takes some brilliant shots too so we suspect the S6 edge plus will be just as good.

The iPhone 6 Plus has a higher storage capacity option

Under the hoods of these two devices, you will find very different offerings. The Galaxy S6 edge plus comes with an octa-core Exynos chip while Apple uses its latest A8 chip. Apple doesn't release specifics on its processor speeds, nor the RAM on board, but we suspect it isn't 4GB for the latter, like it is for the Galaxy S6 edge Plus.

Apple does offer a larger storage capacity than Samsung however, with the iPhone 6 Plus available in 16GB, 64GB and 128GB options. The Galaxy S6 edge plus comes in 32GB ad 64GB models only.

In terms of battery capacity, Apple doesn't offer this information either. Instead it just tells us how long we can expect to get out of it before it runs out, which consequently is said to be 16 hours of 3G talk time. It has been suggested the capacity is 2915mAh, although this hasn't been confirmed by Apple. If this is correct though, the Galaxy S6 edge Plus only just pips it to the post with a 3000mAh capacity. It's worth remembering the Samsung as a bigger and higher resolution display to power though.

Software

The Galaxy S6 edge plus runs on Android Lollipop with Samsung's overlay on top while the iPhone 6 Plus runs on Apple's iOS 8.

Comparing Android and iOS is like comparing chalk and cheese. Some people like Android, others like iOS and as with the design, you probably already know which camp you are in.

There are pros and cons to both platforms. If you have other Apple devices, the iPhone 6 Plus will work seamlessly with them, while those who use predominantly Google services will find a seamless experience on Android.

The Galaxy S6 edge Plus has specific apps that take advantage of the right edge of the dual-edge screen and Samsung Pay is also on board. On the other hand, the iPhone 6 Plus has Apple Pay on board, which is accepted in hundreds of retailers already.

Conclusion

In terms of specs, the Samsung Galaxy S6 edge Plus blows the Apple iPhone 6 Plus out of the water. It offers a smaller and slimmer build despite having a larger, crisper display and it offers more megapixels on both the front and rear cameras.

There is also presumably more RAM and a very slightly larger battery on board the Galaxy S6 edge Plus, as well as a few extra cores in the processor. The iPhone 6 Plus does have more storage options though, but the 128GB model comes at a high price.

Ultimately, the decision between these two devices isn't likely to come down to the numbers though. It will come down to which design you like better and which operating system you prefer. If you like the Samsung design but the iOS platform, or vice versa, well then in terms of numbers, the Galaxy S6 edge Plus wins this battle.