The Samsung Galaxy S3 was, for me, the best phone of 2012. It won many awards and for pundits was well above the iPhone 5. The iPhone 5 however had superb sales figures and Apple loyal brand followers pre-ordered the device in their millions.
Lets take a look at how these phones stock up on specifications and come to a decision as to which is better. Ive already let you in to my opinion but lets take a look at the facts.
The Processor
The processor on the iPhone 5 is inferior to that on the Samsung Galaxy S3. It has a 1.2GHz Apple A6 Dual Core processor. The Samsung Galaxy S3 sports a 1.4GHz Exynos 4412 Quad Core processor. The Samsung Galaxy S3 is certainly more powerful and it does show in performance terms. However, the iPhone 5 rarely stumbles and falls. It is in the interesting position that all of the applications are designed to be usable on it. And therefore, it normally has the processing power to get the job done. The 1GB of RAM similarly performs very well on the iPhone 5 and the 1GB on the Samsung Galaxy S3 sometimes means it can be a little bit sluggish.
When you look at the new Samsung Galaxy S, the S4, you have 2GB of RAM and you have an upgrade on the Quad Core by an extra 0.5GHz. Apple seems to get a lot out of their specifications and the processor on the iPhone 5 is no different. Overall though, I would say that the Samsung Galaxy S3 wins on the processor in terms of specifications and performance.
The Memory Capacity
The S3 comes in 16, 32, and 64GB variants exactly the same as the iPhone 5. However, the iPhone offers no expandable storage option, whereas, the Samsung Galaxy S3 provides you with a microSD card slot. This is a real benefit of the Samsung Galaxy S3 as it means you can dramatically expand even the smaller variance of the phone. For me, this means that the Samsung Galaxy S3 wins on the memory capacity as well.
The Displays
In the market these days we are spoiled by some incredible displays. The Samsung Galaxy S4 has 440ppi and the HTC One has 469ppi. We should judge these displays in terms of premium phones and therefore both the iPhone 5 and the Samsung Galaxy S3 are some way behind. However, with 306ppi on the Samsung Galaxy S3 and 326ppi on the iPhone 5, both are extremely good displays.
The Samsung Galaxy S4 benefits from Super AMOLED HD technology on the 4.8-inch display. It has 1280 x 720 pixels. The iPhone 5 is smaller at 4 inches with an IPS LCD 1136 x 640 pixels display. Certainly, the Samsung Galaxy S3 is a more impressive display because of the size and the iPhone 5 for me is a little bit small. If you believe rumours, then the next iPhone will have a 4.5+-inch display.
The Samsung Galaxy S3 is very good when viewed at different angles and in outdoor conditions and in reality both displays are functionally pretty much the same. I just prefer the Samsung Galaxy S3 size to the iPhone 5, although some people will prefer the smaller phone because it is more manageable in the hand.
The Cameras
Both cameras have an 8MP main camera that performs very similarly. Its very difficult to split them. The front camera on the Samsung Galaxy S3 is 1.9MP compared to 1.2MP on the iPhone 5. Both have sufficient quality cameras for midrange phones these days but dont quite match up to the Samsung Galaxy S4, HTC One, and Sony Xperia Z that we see in the market today.
The iPhone 5 and the Samsung Galaxy S3 do a very good job of taking photos in good light conditions and their videos are very good. However, in poor light conditions, they both suffer slightly and are not up to the top premium end phones at the moment.
The Dimensions
The Samsung Galaxy S3 is necessarily bigger than the iPhone 5. It measures 136.6 x 70.6 x 8.6 mm and weighs 133g. The iPhone 5 offers dimensions of 123.8 x 58.6 x 7.6 mm and weighs just 112 g. Both are balanced in the hand and probably appropriately sized for the displays. You havent got a lot of waste on either phone. These days we tend to have edge to edge displays on our touch screens and these dont buck the trend there.
If you are looking for a decent sized display on a good value phone, then the Samsung Galaxy S3 certainly works.
iPhone Offers
The iPhone 5 will soon be available on offer, much as the Samsung Galaxy S3 is. This is because the iPhone 5 will be superseded by a new flagship Apple iPhone in the near future. When this happens, well see some really good deals and well see offers that probably compare with the iPhone 4S now. The iPhone 4S will become even cheaper and even drop out of the market in terms of the main high street and online retailers.
Right now, the iPhone 5 is not at the pinnacle of the smartphone market. It is behind in terms of specifications and although it performs very well, isnt quite up to par with the best. The Samsung Galaxy S3 is in a similar position. Both phones are still in the top 10 smartphones on the market, but neither is in the top five in my opinion. If I were to choose between the two, I would go for the Samsung Galaxy S3 because I prefer the size and the design. However, many people will go for the iPhone 5 because of the brand.
Make sure you research properly and test the phones out before you choose a phone. If youre going for an iPhone 5, you may better off going for the Samsung Galaxy S4, an HTC One, or a Sony Xperia Z.
Top Tip
When youre choosing a phone, make sure you get enough data for your lifestyle. Theres no point having a phone where you are particularly restricted especially when you are forking out over £500 for the device over the course of your contract.
With 4G connectivity rolling around the country and 3G getting better and better, we are doing more and more with our data and therefore a 500MB limit may well not suffice for you. And you may want to look for 1, 2, 3, or even 4GB data package. There are data packages available up to 20GB per month and you may want to look at this if you spend a lot of time streaming and watching YouTube.
Indeed, these packages are becoming more affordable and you can get something like a Sony Xperia Z on Everything Everywhere for around £50 or £60 a month with a 20GB package.
It seemed to Sam Jones that there were far too many iPhone offers. He used sites like uSwitch to filter out the ones that did not interest him.
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