With all of the pageantry and hype last night it was hard to not get at least semi excited for the new Galaxy S 4. But now that we have had a night to marinate on the developments it’s time to shift focus on what really matters to Samsung, how this stacks up to Apple’s flagship the iPhone 5.
Make no mistake about it, even with HTC and LG both trolling the hell out of Samsung last night, those two aren’t the real competition for the GS4 it’s the iPhone 5. Whether it’s in court or on the sales floors these two have been nipping at each other the past couple of years like nobody’s business, and since all competition breeds greatness, the winners in all of this for the most part has been us the consumers. For we are the beneficiaries of all of the great improvements and software from each manufacturer, whether they have been innovating or copying from each other. (depending who you ask)
Judging solely on building materials you may be tempted to give the iPhone 5 the prize, but this is an area where Apple has always bested Samsung. If given the choice between a plastic smartphone or a more premium feeling brushed aluminum one, the majority of people out there would take the latter. However even after opting for the cheaper materials the Samsung offering is still a little bit heavier than it’s Apple counterpart 4.5 ounces to 3.95 ounces. This could be attributed to the GS4’s larger screen and battery.
And the screen, that beautiful screen. This is where Samsung’s 5 inch display takes Apple to the woodshed. Not only is it a full inch bigger, the GS4 also sports Full HD (1080 x 1920) Super AMOLED technology. This is as compared to Apple’s good but not quite as competitive 640 x 1136 Retina Display.
Of course the best way to differentiate between the two of these devices is the OS itself. Apple’s IOS is much more the user friendly of the two and innovations are few and far between compared to Samsung. Using Android’s latest version Jelly Bean with their own TouchWiz overlay, Samsung is hoping to alter the user experience using gimmicky things like bar code readings, new camera technology, and health monitoring. Love them or hate them, Samsung is at least trying some new ideas.
Finally let’s take a look at the obligatory spec breakdown:
Galaxy S IV
- 5.3 inches x 2.74 inches x 0.3 inches; weighs 4.5 ounces
- 5-inch, full HD Super AMOLED screen; 1920 x 1080 resolution
- 16GB, 32GB and 64GB models, up to 64GB with micro SD
- 13-megapixel rear camera; 2-megapixel front
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 1.9 GHz Quad-Core Processor / Samsung Exynos 1.6 GHz Octa-Core Processor – depending on market
- 2600 mAh battery
Apple iPhone 5
- 4.87 inches x 2.31 inches x 0.30 inches; weighs 3.95 ounces
- 4-inch widescreen Retina Display; 1136 x 640 resolution
- 16GB, 32GB and 64GB models
- 8-megapixel iSight rear camera; 1.2-megapixel front
- A6 Processor
- 1440 mAh battery
Like anything else this all comes down to a matter of choice, although it’s pretty safe to say the the GS4 will get the nod of approval from the readers of this site. Let us know your thoughts in the comments.