iPhone 5 vs. Galaxy S3
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| Both phones are roughly the same size, even though the S3 has a much larger screen. |
After endless rumors, Apple's latest smartphone -- the iPhone 5 -- is finally out.
Rather than just do a straight iPhone 5 review, I'll address something more topical -- the hot topic that's being discussed everywhere right now, including coffee shops, television ads and everywhere online: Which smartphone is better - the brand new iPhone 5, or the recently released Samsung Galaxy S3?
I happened to have my hands on both at the same time (a Verizon iPhone 5, and an AT&T Galaxy S3), so I'll run down the comparisons between the two and let you know how the two most well-known super-phones on the market compare.
LOOKS
First, let's talk about screen size. The iPhone 5 has grown, it's up to 4 inches; the first size upgrade since the phone debuted. This means a taller, larger screen that iPhone fans have been waiting for. This is better, but not as much as I would have wanted. Even at 4 inches, I find the keyboard to be a bit small for typing.
If you want real size, the GS3 has the numbers - 4.8 inches to be exact. This is more real estate for your viewing pleasure, though some folks might not want a phone that big. It's up to each person to decide how big is too big, but I think most people will be just fine with a 4.8 inch screen, which is a little more manageable than the 5-inch plus screen on phones like the Galaxy Note and the LG Intuition.
In terms of materials, the iPhone wins this battle; it's more solid and less plasticky, an Apple hallmark. But don't think the GS3 is a slouch here. It will withstand some drops too, it's just not quite as sturdy as the iphone. To be safe, with either phone, get a case. Slimness is close, but iPhone wins out by a hair 0.30 inches for iPhone, 0.34 inches for GS3. The difference is negligible, as both are very slim and light.
Full specs are as follows: The iPhone comes in at 4.87 inches high, 2.31 inches wide, .3 inches thick and a weight of 3.95 ounces. The GS3 is 5.38 inches high, 2.78 inches wide, .34 inches thick, and weighs 4.7 ounces.
SCREEN
In terms of what you'll see on screen, both devices offer sharp visual quality for viewing media and photos and video.
With the iPhone 5, you get their well-known Retina display on the 4-inch touchscreen.
There is a 1136x640 resolution, or 326 ppi (pixels per inch). There is a fingerprint-resistant coating on the front, but it didn't really work in my experience. I still found myself wiping my fingerprints off the phone regularly.
In the GS3, you get a slightly better resolution of 1280x720, but due to the larger 4.8-inch size the ppi is slightly less. The HD Super AMOLED screen on the GS3 is very bright and attractive.
This is one area where I would call it a push between the two phones. The numbers are slightly different, but both look amazing.
Processor
The iPhone 5, no exaggeration, is lightning quick. Apple did a bang-up job with its dual-core Apple A6 processor, and you won't be waiting long to do anything.
But hold on, because the GS3 is definitely up to pace, in fact it's even faster. Its 1.5 GHz dual-core Snapdragon processor is nothing to sneeze at (the European version is even better with a quad-core processor). Multitasking will not slow it down in the least, even if it involves intensive apps such as Pandora Radio or Netflix. (Side note: One benefit of Android over Apple's operating system is that multitasking is much easier to manage on the Android OS than it is on an iPhone).
In the area of RAM, the iPhone 5 features 1 GB, but the GS3 features a whopping 2GB of RAM. This is going to become the new standard for smartphones, and the iPhone 5 will be seen as behind in this area, though Apple will argue its operating system requires less RAM to operate than the Android OS.
Siri vs. S Voice
The star feature of the iPhone 4S was Siri, your personal assistant who will answer any question you ask - sometimes accurately, sometimes not. She's a little better this time around, and still has a little wit in her, but Samsung also offers something similar on the GS3 - called S Voice. It's got its own bugs, too, just like Siri, but both of them allow you to ask questions, open apps, make calls, etc.
Some consider S Voice to be a clone of Siri, but that's for the courts to settle (Apple and Samsung will likely be suing each other into the next century over various copyright cases). To the user, I'll just say this: Both Siri and S Voice do what they're supposed to do - for the most part, but with a few hiccups that will likely be worked out on future updates. Siri maybe gets a slight advantage, but it's not by much.
iPhone Connector issue
In addition to the change in size, a major update on the iPhone 5 is the new size of the charging connector - the newly named Lightning connector that is a lot smaller than all previous Apple chargers. A connector is included with your phone, but if you want to connect your iPhone 5 to your old iPhone accessories, you'll need a new Lightning adaptor - which, in true Apple fashion, they're willing to sell you online for only $30 (yes, a bit ridiculous I know).
Luckily for the Apple faithful, knockoffs usually come shortly after a new overprice adaptor is announced, but Apple should be ashamed of itself for this overcharging here like it always does for its silly adaptors. They probably cost $2 to make, and it's simply price gouging. (Luckily for them, the most hardcore Apple fanboys/fangirls don't care about their general trend of overpricing everything the company sells, for some strange reason I've yet to comprehend).
Storage
You can get the iPhone with various storage levels -- 16, 32 or 64 GB; of course, that's what you get, no upgradability in the iPhones. The GS3 is available in 16GB or 32 GB options, plus it has a microSD slot, which allows for up to 64GB, so the potential for more storage space is there on the GS3. Realistically, though, most people don't need to go past 64 GB, or even that high, especially with so much data and music, etc., stored in the cloud these days (For example, all your music could be stored online in iTunes or Google Music, so it wouldn't take up space on your phone).
PRICES
The pricing for the iPhone 5 is the same on Verizon, AT&T and Sprint: With a new 2-year-contract, you pay $199 for the 16GB version, $299 for the 32GB version and $399 for the 64GB version.
Costs for the Samsung Galaxy S3 vary by carrier: On both Verizon and Sprint, it costs $199.99 for 16GB version, $249.99 for 32GB version, with new contract; on AT&T, it's $199.99 for 16GB version (and refurbished GS3s are just $99.99) with a new contract; and on T-Mobile, prices are now $99.99 for 16GB version and $149.99 for 32GB version, with a new contract.
This is to be expected, as Apple never adjusts its pricing (at least until the next model comes out), but with the Android phones you can sometimes catch a break at the point of purchase. Personally, I think the $399.99 price out of pocket even with a contract is a bit ridiculous, but I doubt most people would go that route anyway, as 64GB is not needed by 90-some percent of buyers.
BOTTOM LINE
As Samsung and Apple battle in the courtroom over copyrights and the billions they are making, the battle between these two superphones is now officially under way, as the iPhone 5 is finally here to compete with the Galaxy S3, which had been dominating the market for the past several months.
My final verdict is that these phones are very close in overall performance and quality, but the undeniable truth is that the iPhone 5 is finally catching up to its Android competition - namely the Galaxy S3. Most specs are very close between the phones, but the Galaxy S3 has some features that you can't do with iPhone (NFC) and better maps/navigation.
Both phones are very fast, have 4G access, great cameras and video, and it's a safe bet to say these are the two best phones on the market right now. Really, in the end, it all comes down to what is your favorite operating system and how big you want your phone to be. Some people (aka Apple fanboys/fangirls) swear by Apple and herald the greatness of iOS 6, which I recognize does have some solid upgrades. But others (aka Fandroids) believe that Android's OS is far superior and easier to use.
In my book, the Galaxy S3 is slightly ahead in this battle, but those who swear by the iPhone likely won't agree with me. Still, I recommend they check out the alternatives though before committing to the iPhone 5.
The iPhone may still be a great phone, but we're long past the day where it was assumed to be the best phone on the market. That only lasted a couple years, really. This time around, the Galaxy S3 gives the iPhone 5 a good run for its money, and is arguably better, so I would recommend all new smartphone buyers contemplating buying either phone try out both and see what side of the argument they choose to be on.
Rather than just do a straight iPhone 5 review, I'll address something more topical -- the hot topic that's being discussed everywhere right now, including coffee shops, television ads and everywhere online: Which smartphone is better - the brand new iPhone 5, or the recently released Samsung Galaxy S3?
I happened to have my hands on both at the same time (a Verizon iPhone 5, and an AT&T Galaxy S3), so I'll run down the comparisons between the two and let you know how the two most well-known super-phones on the market compare.
LOOKS
First, let's talk about screen size. The iPhone 5 has grown, it's up to 4 inches; the first size upgrade since the phone debuted. This means a taller, larger screen that iPhone fans have been waiting for. This is better, but not as much as I would have wanted. Even at 4 inches, I find the keyboard to be a bit small for typing.
If you want real size, the GS3 has the numbers - 4.8 inches to be exact. This is more real estate for your viewing pleasure, though some folks might not want a phone that big. It's up to each person to decide how big is too big, but I think most people will be just fine with a 4.8 inch screen, which is a little more manageable than the 5-inch plus screen on phones like the Galaxy Note and the LG Intuition.
In terms of materials, the iPhone wins this battle; it's more solid and less plasticky, an Apple hallmark. But don't think the GS3 is a slouch here. It will withstand some drops too, it's just not quite as sturdy as the iphone. To be safe, with either phone, get a case. Slimness is close, but iPhone wins out by a hair 0.30 inches for iPhone, 0.34 inches for GS3. The difference is negligible, as both are very slim and light.
Full specs are as follows: The iPhone comes in at 4.87 inches high, 2.31 inches wide, .3 inches thick and a weight of 3.95 ounces. The GS3 is 5.38 inches high, 2.78 inches wide, .34 inches thick, and weighs 4.7 ounces.
SCREEN
In terms of what you'll see on screen, both devices offer sharp visual quality for viewing media and photos and video.
With the iPhone 5, you get their well-known Retina display on the 4-inch touchscreen.
There is a 1136x640 resolution, or 326 ppi (pixels per inch). There is a fingerprint-resistant coating on the front, but it didn't really work in my experience. I still found myself wiping my fingerprints off the phone regularly.
In the GS3, you get a slightly better resolution of 1280x720, but due to the larger 4.8-inch size the ppi is slightly less. The HD Super AMOLED screen on the GS3 is very bright and attractive.
This is one area where I would call it a push between the two phones. The numbers are slightly different, but both look amazing.
Processor
The iPhone 5, no exaggeration, is lightning quick. Apple did a bang-up job with its dual-core Apple A6 processor, and you won't be waiting long to do anything.
But hold on, because the GS3 is definitely up to pace, in fact it's even faster. Its 1.5 GHz dual-core Snapdragon processor is nothing to sneeze at (the European version is even better with a quad-core processor). Multitasking will not slow it down in the least, even if it involves intensive apps such as Pandora Radio or Netflix. (Side note: One benefit of Android over Apple's operating system is that multitasking is much easier to manage on the Android OS than it is on an iPhone).
In the area of RAM, the iPhone 5 features 1 GB, but the GS3 features a whopping 2GB of RAM. This is going to become the new standard for smartphones, and the iPhone 5 will be seen as behind in this area, though Apple will argue its operating system requires less RAM to operate than the Android OS.
Siri vs. S Voice
The star feature of the iPhone 4S was Siri, your personal assistant who will answer any question you ask - sometimes accurately, sometimes not. She's a little better this time around, and still has a little wit in her, but Samsung also offers something similar on the GS3 - called S Voice. It's got its own bugs, too, just like Siri, but both of them allow you to ask questions, open apps, make calls, etc.
Some consider S Voice to be a clone of Siri, but that's for the courts to settle (Apple and Samsung will likely be suing each other into the next century over various copyright cases). To the user, I'll just say this: Both Siri and S Voice do what they're supposed to do - for the most part, but with a few hiccups that will likely be worked out on future updates. Siri maybe gets a slight advantage, but it's not by much.
iPhone Connector issue
In addition to the change in size, a major update on the iPhone 5 is the new size of the charging connector - the newly named Lightning connector that is a lot smaller than all previous Apple chargers. A connector is included with your phone, but if you want to connect your iPhone 5 to your old iPhone accessories, you'll need a new Lightning adaptor - which, in true Apple fashion, they're willing to sell you online for only $30 (yes, a bit ridiculous I know).
Luckily for the Apple faithful, knockoffs usually come shortly after a new overprice adaptor is announced, but Apple should be ashamed of itself for this overcharging here like it always does for its silly adaptors. They probably cost $2 to make, and it's simply price gouging. (Luckily for them, the most hardcore Apple fanboys/fangirls don't care about their general trend of overpricing everything the company sells, for some strange reason I've yet to comprehend).
Storage
You can get the iPhone with various storage levels -- 16, 32 or 64 GB; of course, that's what you get, no upgradability in the iPhones. The GS3 is available in 16GB or 32 GB options, plus it has a microSD slot, which allows for up to 64GB, so the potential for more storage space is there on the GS3. Realistically, though, most people don't need to go past 64 GB, or even that high, especially with so much data and music, etc., stored in the cloud these days (For example, all your music could be stored online in iTunes or Google Music, so it wouldn't take up space on your phone).
PRICES
The pricing for the iPhone 5 is the same on Verizon, AT&T and Sprint: With a new 2-year-contract, you pay $199 for the 16GB version, $299 for the 32GB version and $399 for the 64GB version.
Costs for the Samsung Galaxy S3 vary by carrier: On both Verizon and Sprint, it costs $199.99 for 16GB version, $249.99 for 32GB version, with new contract; on AT&T, it's $199.99 for 16GB version (and refurbished GS3s are just $99.99) with a new contract; and on T-Mobile, prices are now $99.99 for 16GB version and $149.99 for 32GB version, with a new contract.
This is to be expected, as Apple never adjusts its pricing (at least until the next model comes out), but with the Android phones you can sometimes catch a break at the point of purchase. Personally, I think the $399.99 price out of pocket even with a contract is a bit ridiculous, but I doubt most people would go that route anyway, as 64GB is not needed by 90-some percent of buyers.
BOTTOM LINE
As Samsung and Apple battle in the courtroom over copyrights and the billions they are making, the battle between these two superphones is now officially under way, as the iPhone 5 is finally here to compete with the Galaxy S3, which had been dominating the market for the past several months.
My final verdict is that these phones are very close in overall performance and quality, but the undeniable truth is that the iPhone 5 is finally catching up to its Android competition - namely the Galaxy S3. Most specs are very close between the phones, but the Galaxy S3 has some features that you can't do with iPhone (NFC) and better maps/navigation.
Both phones are very fast, have 4G access, great cameras and video, and it's a safe bet to say these are the two best phones on the market right now. Really, in the end, it all comes down to what is your favorite operating system and how big you want your phone to be. Some people (aka Apple fanboys/fangirls) swear by Apple and herald the greatness of iOS 6, which I recognize does have some solid upgrades. But others (aka Fandroids) believe that Android's OS is far superior and easier to use.
In my book, the Galaxy S3 is slightly ahead in this battle, but those who swear by the iPhone likely won't agree with me. Still, I recommend they check out the alternatives though before committing to the iPhone 5.
The iPhone may still be a great phone, but we're long past the day where it was assumed to be the best phone on the market. That only lasted a couple years, really. This time around, the Galaxy S3 gives the iPhone 5 a good run for its money, and is arguably better, so I would recommend all new smartphone buyers contemplating buying either phone try out both and see what side of the argument they choose to be on.
