![]()
By Ryan Borja
By Ryan Borja
Before the iPhone 5, the Samsung Galaxy S3 was the reigning smartphone king with its massive appeal to smartphone fans and tech pundits alike. Since launching in May this year, the Galaxy S3 had sold 20 million units in the first 100 days of its release. Now, with the iPhone 5 due here soon a Battle Royale is about to erupt for the consumer dollar. So, how do the two devices stack up against each other? Here’s a round-up of the S3 and iPhone 5 features:
Display
The Galaxy S3 has a bigger display of 4.8-inch HD Super AMOLED screen with 1280×720 pixel resolution, 306 pixels per inch. This AMOLED technology is the reason why Galaxy S3 can give vibrant colours, deep contrast and deep blacks. But images at Galaxy S3 is less sharp than the iPhone 5. Drawbacks, however, are high reflection and a dimmer maximum brightness. But a screen this size is fine for watching videos, readings, and composing messages.
The iPhone 5’s 4-inch LCD display with 1,135x 640 pixel resolution also called the Retina display can yield 326 pixels per inch, which means sharper screen than the Galaxy S3’s. Apple prides its sRGB display that can deliver 44 per cent more colour saturation and fewer glares and because its screen is LCD, the iPhone 5 can display whites much better.
Operating System
Galaxy S3 is pre-loaded with the Android Ice Cream Sandwich version of Google’s operating system for mobile devices but this is upgradeable to the latest 4.1 version or Android Jelly Beans that comes packed with its very own Touchwiz user interface. Android as an operating system is more fragmented than the iOS which is more focused and smoother.
The iPhone 5 comes with iOS 6, the latest of Apple’s mobile operating system and this includes a smarter Siri, more Facebook integration and some home-grown apps like Maps in lieu of Google Maps.
Power
Galaxy S3’s quad-core 1.4GHz CPU comes with 2GB of RAM, which claims to provide the slickest Android experience that can rival iOS for stability. On board storage of both Galaxy S3 and iPhone 5 comes with 16GB/32GB/64GB. But while Galaxy S3’s memory can be expanded for up to 32-gigabyte using microSD card, the iPhone 5 does not offer option to boost storage.
The new iPhone has an A6 chipset which can power up the CPU and graphics performance of the device twice faster than the A5 of the older generation’s. This additional power can yield faster launching of apps, features, loading of web pages, downloading email attachments and improved support to the bigger display.
Camera
Both Galaxy S3 and iPhone 5 has built-in 8-megapixel main cameras that are capable of 1080p video, and front-cameras capable of 720p video. The two smartphone’s allow taking still images while shooting video. Galaxy S3’s camera comes with 3264×2448 pixels, autofocus feature, and LED flash. It also includes a 1.9-inch front-facing camera, boasting of providing good quality, crispier, and rich-coloured still images and video. Fancy shooting modes like panorama and multi-shot burst mode is also a plus. If observers will be believed, Android devices’ camera surpasses the iPhone.
The iPhone 5’s panorama feature is what it claims delivers improved photo and video taking performance because it now uses sapphire crystal lens cover, enhanced image stabilisation and with the help of its A6 CPU, photo processing is much better.
Battery Life
With both smartphones promising even better power and productivity that comes with battery-draining high-end features, battery life is a very important component that users are looking at. This is one of the waterloos of Apple iPhone devices and with the arrival of iPhone 5, the company should make good of its claim that it will now offer 10 hours of video playback and 8 hours of Web surfing over LTE. Galaxy S3 has a slightly larger 2,100 mAh battery that can boost the phone’s power to stand long 9 hours of video playing and 11.6 hours of 3G talk time.
Connectivity
Both the Galaxy S3 and iPhone 5 arrive loaded with nearly all possible type of connectivity in store. Except for the near-field communication space, which the iPhone 5 has none and a bit disappointing, the Galaxy S3 and the Apple smartphone come packed with 4G/HSDPA, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS.
Design
This is the most subjective part, pitting the Galaxy S3 and the iPhone 5 as to which is the better-looking smartphone. So users might want to look around how the design decisions go. With the Galaxy S3, it has a measurement that is a millimetre thicker than the iPhone 5 and weighs 21-grams more, a factor that may be due to the screen size that is a diagonal inch larger. The iPhone has stretched its phone (not wider) to accommodate the now larger 4-inch screen but it is thinner and lighter than the Korean smartphone.
The all-glass back confinement of the iPhone 4 and 4S was now replaced with a metal centre in the iPhone 5 with anodised aluminium on the black model and raw aluminium on the white model. Dock connector is now called Lightning which means the legacy 30-pin is now replaced with a much slimmer 8-pin. The headphone jack has also been moved to the bottom from its previous top location where speakers are also made larger. The Galaxy S3’s body is made of polycarbonate, which gives a glossy plasticky look may be something that renders a less solid and precise build.
Pricing
Apple gives the following price range for the unlocked iPhone 5: AUS$699 (16GB), AUS$799 (32G B), and AUS$899 (64GB). Meanwhile, unlocked, SIM-free Galaxy S3 started selling the 16GB model for AUS$519 and AUS$569 for the 32GB.
