Apple iPhone 4S vs Samsung Galaxy SIII

The most heated debate in smartphone history. Two devices, one budget – which one should you go for?

Apple iPhone 4S Overview

Released Autumn 2011, the iPhone 4S packed a new processor, Siri and various other hardware improvements. It was labelled by Apple as “the best smartphone we have ever made”, nothing new there then. For almost six months the new iPhone seemed to be unrivalled. Google released it’s wildcards, as did Microsoft with several Windows Phones – but iPhone 4S sales were relatively unphased. The device packs the new A5 processor, retina display, 14.4MBit downloads all in a lightweight body (140g).

Samsung Galaxy SIII Overview

Perhaps strategically released six months after the iPhone 4S to pick up Apple left-overs and packed with power. The Galaxy S3 features a Quad-core processor, 1.3MP front facing camera, 4G and LTE, and a Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen. Samsung’s gamble has paid off, and leaked reports suggested over 4 million handsets were sold in a matter of weeks! The SIII is no doubt a step up from the SII with general hardware improvements – and Android 4.0 out of the box!

Points For iPhone

  • No pixel-sharing
  • 5% higher pixel density comapred to the S3 (326ppi vs 316ppi)
  • 27% less body volume
  • 12mm narrower
  • Physical camera button (volume control button)
  • Direct OS update from Apple. The S3 will have to wait for (modified) updates from both your Network and Samsung before being able to update to the latest Android version.
  • Approx 100,000 more app store downloads available
  • 1.9x faster downloads
  • Seamless integration with iCloud, iTunes, iPad, Apple TV and Macs

Points for Galaxy SIII

  • More megapixel for front camera (1.3MP vs 0.3MP)
  • Can play Adobe Flash
  • Free, built-in, turn-by-turn navigation software
  • 7 grams lighter
  • 0.7mm thinner
  • Near Field Communication support
  • Expandable storage with MicroSD
  • DLNA support – can stream music and videos to other devices over-the-air
  • Can be hooked up to a HD TV with a HDMI cable
  • Supports wireless/dock charging
  • Removable battery (user preference)
  • More RAM (1GB vs 0.5GB)
  • Faster CPU clock
  • Higher screen resolution of 1280×720
  • Bigger screen of 4.8″

Additional Notes

It is important to take into note that the Galaxy SIII was released well after the iPhone 4S. Therefore Samsung could easily have bumped up the specs just to simply beat the iPhone. Pre-S3, the 4S was compared to the S2; which it beat hands down. And it is fair to say the S2 is the rival of the iPhone 4S – not the Galaxy SIII.

Conclusion

To conclude, it is easy to say the Samsung Galaxy SIII is the clear winner in terms of hardware specs. But that isn’t what a piece of technology is about. TechRadar used tests to prove that if the OS is not optimized for the device – no matter how fast the CPU – it will be slow. And for launching Apps, that is the case with the S3 against the 4S.

In addition, iOS is a better mobile platform. It si the pioneer of modern mobile operating systems – Google built Android to challenge iOS, not to innovate and push forward a market. The iPhone 4S is also due a OS update (iOS 5) which will beat Android 4.0 hands down. The only downside is users have to jailbreak to be able to customize their device to the extent available on Android.

Subscribe to Email Updates