Now that Apple and Samsung have both shown their hands for their flagship smartphone lineups for the holiday season, expect the conversation to shift away from speculation on the specs of the phones and back to the eternal debate of which device is superior: iPhone 6 (plus) or Galaxy S5.

From just surface level aesthetics, the lines of preference are already drawn when just looking at the two devices. There's no doubt that Apple has made a name for itself by creating high end, expensive looking machines, and the latest iPhone looks like no exception. However Samsung users are quick to defend the Galaxy series and its durable, waterproof plastic shell for its sense of practicality. Still there is no doubt that the iPhone is the current measuring stick of smart devices in terms of looks, even with that increase in size.

Of course that larger form factor means looking out for a larger screen. This is one area where Samsung has a slight advantage over Apple. The AMOLED screen is HD and has colors that pop at 432ppi. It even continues to look great outdoors, somthing that Apple still has not cracked. The iPhone 6 is making big strides with its new Retina HD display, and with 326ppi they're out to prove they're no slouch in this department either, but Samsung has the edge here in terms of pixel count.

The cameras on the two machines are especially problematic. While there's no doubt that many were disappointed with only 8MP built-in to the iPhone 6's iSight camera, there are still plenty of interesting features to keep shutterbugs happy. A new sensor with an f/2.2 aperture lens, faster autofocus and software image stabilization are all welcome features. Throw in a 1080p video recorder and a burst mode for selfies, and it is clear that the camera got plenty of love during the development of the iPhone 6.

That is not to discount the S5's 16MP camera, though. The detailed autofocus is definitely something to write home about, and with Selective Focus in video, it always promises crisp and smooth footage as well.

Close call, but there is a reason why Apple has been the go to for amateur photos for years now. The company simply knows how to pour features into what it knows is its most used feature on the phone, next to texting and calling, of course.

Of course none of the hardware really matters without the software to make it function. Apple's biggest claim to fame has been the continuity that it has established throughout its products. That trend will continue with iOS 8. Start an e-mail on your iPad and finishing it on your iPhone is just the tip of the iceberg with this one. Putting that aside, the spotlight (no pun intended) is on new features Apple Pay and Health Kit.

No one has been able to truly make either mobile payments and fitness tracking work yet on a mobile device, which gives the advantage to Apple.

Android KitKat has proven to be the cleanest version of the Google mobile OS yet. The S5 offers what many consider to be a strong compromise between digital form and function. The days of apps being native to the iOS for years are, with a few notable exceptions, largely over. So, choosing between iOS and Android becomes mostly a preference of aesthetics.

However, while some would accuse Apple of not taking many risks as far as their hardware is concerned, the fact is that Apple is taking features like mobile payments and health tracking and making them their own.

Finally there is the one aspect where it may be impossible to determine a winner: the A8 chip versus the Snapdragon 801 chip. Apple says that the A8 has 50% more power than the A7 to adequately handle the new gaming and app standards that they advertise. The S5 meanwhile has managed to move past the minor problems that tripped up previous models and has been lag free in most of the hands-on videos seen so far. There's very little that either of these two could do to edge each other out in this field, so expect two very speedy machines on the market soon.

While at the moment it seems that the iPhone 6 has a slight edge on the Galaxy S5, should there be an major hiccups along the road once the iPhone 6 hits market, expect things to be much more equalized.

The Galaxy S5 and iPhone 6 both begin at retail prices of $199 on-contract.