We all knew that this day was coming. Seeing how the Galaxy S3 couldn’t even come close to Apple’s iPhone 5, everyone’s attention shifted to the Galaxy S4 and all the pressure has now been shifted onto Samsung’s recently unveiled flagship phone to overthrown Apple from the top of the pile. Ever since the Galaxy S4 was announced, many have touted it to be the phone that is going to replace the iPhone at the top of the list. It is a little unfair to compare it with the iPhone 5, which has been in the market since September 2012, but considering the fact that the two phones are going to be competing with each other for a while before the rumoured iPhone 5S hits the market a comparison is kind of necessary.
So lets get straight to it. A comparison of both the phones. Who will come out on top? Read on to find out…
1. Size – Well, the iPhone 5 wins this round hands down. I don’t think there is another phone in the market that can match Apple for its compactness and weight. Even though the S4 is only slightly bigger than the iPhone 5, the iPhone weighs just 112 g while the S4 weighs 130 g. That is a huge weight difference when it comes to smartphones.
2. Display – Apple has been the front runner as far as screen display is concerned for a very long time. But all that is set to change soon. With the S4 you get a 5 inch Super AMOLED capacitive touch screen with 16M colours and 1080×1920 pixels. The pixel density on the phone is an amazing 441 ppi. Now that’s outstanding as compared to the iPhone 5 which has a 4 inch screen with an LED backlit IPS LCD, capacitive touch screen with 16M colours and 640×1136 pixels. The pixel density on the iPhone 5 is a measly 326 ppi.
3. Memory & Storage – While the iPhone 5 only boasts of 1 GB of RAM, the Galaxy S4 has double the RAM which almost guarantees that the phone will perform twice as fast. Both phones are available in 16, 32 and 64 GB versions although the Galaxy S4 has an added option for external storage up to 64 GB which the iPhone 5 lacks.
4. NFC – This little feature is enough to get a special mention in this comparison. The Galaxy S4 has NFC support which gives it a huge advantage over the iPhone 5. Apart from this, the Galaxy S4 is also rumoured to have an IR port, something we have sorely missed in modern smart phones.
5. Camera – The iPhone 5’s 8MP camera is a great click and could satisfy most people’s photographing needs, but when the Galaxy S4 has a monster 13MP camera along with all the features that Apple’s camera offers plus simultaneous HD video & image recording there is only one winner here.
6. OS & Performance – The Apple is running on iOS 6, Apple’s latest software. Similarly, the Galaxy S4 is going to be running on the latest Android software, 4.2.2 (Jellybean). Considering that the Galaxy S4 has a Quad core processor and the iPhone 5 is only running on a Dual core processor, it is quite obvious that the Galaxy S4 is going to give you a better overall performance along with smoother transition between apps and easier multi tasking.
7. Battery – The iPhone 5 has a 1440 mAh battery on board which boasts of standby times of around 9 days. The Galaxy S4 on the other hand has a 2600 mAh battery which, even though it has a lot more technology to support, is definitely going to give a better stand by time and battery performance that the iPhone 5.
8. Price – Even though this might not be a very important factor to many, it does factor in when I am buying a phone. The iPhone 5 is priced between INR 40,000 and INR 55,000. There is little or no news when it comes to the price of the Galaxy S4. Rumour has it that the phone will cost somewhere around INR 40,000 upwards. Samsung hasn’t officially released the price of the phone though.
Verdict
While determining which smart phone is better, we can’t stress enough that the iPhone 5 was released in September 2012 while the Galaxy S4 was just announced in March 2013. Keeping this in mind, it was quite obvious that the Galaxy S4 was going to be running superior technology and have a host of features that are not there in the iPhone 5. We feel that the Galaxy S4 will really be tested once the iPhone 5S comes out. As of now, considering both phones are priced quite similarly, we wouldn’t mind taking a risk and choosing the Galaxy S4 over the iPhone 5. Just this once.
Samsung Galaxy S4 and iPhone 5 (Pictures)
Samsung Galaxy S4
