Samsung and Apple have been the leading smartphone manufacturers over the past few years. The two companies are constantly trying to outrun each other and win the love of more mobile users. The giants’ latest flagship devices are among the top 5 smartphones on the market due to their advanced features, specifications and design. Currently, Galaxy S4 and iPhone 5 are, without a doubt, two of the most popular technology products on the global market. However, which of them is more worth investing in? In this article we are going to compare the devices in eight different categories and try to give an answer to that question.
Display
Samsung added a few extra inches to the screen size of its new Galaxy S phone. The company increased the display with 0.2 inches compared to the previous model S3. In that way Samsung’s latest smartphone follows the popular 5-inch display trend which is missing in Apple’s 4-inched iPhone 5. In addition, Galaxy S4 supports a massive 1080×1920 Full HD resolution and a density of 440ppi. That is considerably more than iPhone 5’s 640×1136 pixels and 326ppi. The screens’ of both of the devices are protected by Corning Gorilla Glass. However, S4 rocks the improved Corning Gorilla Glass 2 which was also present in Galaxy Note II.
Winner – Galaxy S4: Samsung Galaxy S4’s Super AMOLED screen offers much sharper images compared to iPhone 5’s LED IPS TFT display which was also used for Apple’s old smartphone.
Size & Weight
Samsung’s smart devices continue to get bigger and bigger. In comparison, Apple prefers to keep things more traditional and small. Galaxy S4 is wider, taller and thicker than the latest iPhone. Also, it weighs 130g, whereas Apple’s product is only 112g.
Winner – Tie: Again, it is clear that the South Korean company is sticking to the big-smartphone trend. However, not many users approve of large phone. Therefore, we are not going to point a winner in this category and we will leave the decision making entirely to you – the users.
Materials
S4’s building materials cannot be said to be high-end. Plastic is the dominating material in this and many other Samsung smartphones. As a result, the device gives a low-cost feeling. Despite that, the plastic greatly reduces the weight of the phone. In comparison, iPhone 5 has an aluminum body which looks and feels more sophisticated.
Winner – iPhone 5: Apple did a better job here.
Software & Apps
In this category we have another clash – Android vs. iOS. Both of these mobile operating systems have their haters and lovers. In addition, both of them have their pros and cons. Samsung Galaxy S4 runs on the newest Android – Jelly Bean 4.2, while iPhone 5 is on iOS 6. The latest iOS has a few bugs, however, the general feeling is that it is lighter than Jelly Bean. On the other hand, the number of Android applications is no longer way under that of iOS apps. Still, Android continues to be less user-friendly. That is mainly because it offers less help options and too much customization features. It is also obvious that Samsung and Apple have done their best to develop useful and innovative features. iPhone 5 shines with video calling app FaceTime, voice control app Siri and Apple Maps (which still needs some work on). But Samsung managed to catch up thank to its TouchWiz UI skin. S4 comes with functions and applications like S Translator, Smart Pause and S Health which also manage to impress.
Winner – Tie: We will call it a tie here since in some areas the operating systems of the smartphones excels and in others – lack. For example, iOS works smooth, but its ecosystem is really closed. Jelly Bean, on the other hand, is more open. Yet, it is harder to operate with.
Camera
Galaxy S4 comes with more powerful cameras. At the front, S4 has a 2MP camera and at the back – 13MP. iPhone 5, however, offers a 1.2MP front-facing camera and 8MP rear one. Samsung ‘s device also has a Dual Camera and a Dual Video features which allow shooting from the two cameras at the same time.
Winner – Galaxy S4: Samsung’s phone uses more modern technology compared to the iPhone 5 which was released in 2012.
Processor
S4 has an eight-core 1.6GHz Exynos Octa processor which is boosting with power. Nevertheless, Samsung has not included features that would need so much juice. In comparison, iPhone 5 runs on an A6 processor which is less powerful than Galaxy S4’s, but more energy-efficient.
Winner – Tie: Although S4 has a better processor, the features of the smartphone do not require such power. Apple’s device is less robust, but all of its apps run really smoothly.
Storage Capacity
Samsung’s S4 will have a 64GB edition which will be able to reach 128GB with a microSD card. The latest iPhone also has a 65GB models. However, it does not support external memory. In addition, Apple’s phone has only 1GB of RAM, whereas, the new Galaxy S rocks 2GB of RAM.
Winner – Galaxy S4: If iPhone 5 supported memory cards it could get a tie here. But that is still not the case.
Battery
It is true that Galaxy S4 has a massive 2,600 mAh battery. That is a lot more than iPhone 5’s 1,440. Nevertheless, Samsung’s device still hasn’t been released. That means that its performance is yet to be tested. After all, S4’s processor is pretty powerful and it may consume a big part of the battery energy.
Winner – Tie: We announce a tie here due to lack of any tests.
Conclusion
At first glance, it seems that Samsung Galaxy S4 has the upper hand. However, it should be noted that many features and specifications of S4 still have not been tested since the device has not hit the stores yet. Therefore, we will conclude that Samsung’s newest flagship smartphone looks very promising… on video. iPhone 5, on the other hand, performs excellent in practice. The final outcome of the battle will soon be known.
