Battle for smartphone supremacy: Galaxy S4 vs iPhone 5
Place your bets now
As you probably already know, Samsung announced the latest iteration in its über-popular Galaxy S smartphone line at a special New York City event late last week.
How does the Samsung Galaxy S4 stack up against Apple's flagship iPhone, though? That's the question on every Phandroid and iSheep's lips.
Come on. Admit it.
You know you're eager to discover which smartphone has the better display, or whether the iPhone 5's camera takes better pics than the snapper on its chief rival does.
So, without further ado, let's find out.
Display
Bigger is always better, some say. Personally, I disagree. I'd rather be hit in the face by a tennis ball than a hulking big bowling ball, that's for sure.
It's almost nonsensical to glorify or vilify a smartphone based on the size of its screen, then. It's all down to personal preference. And the size of one's digits.
The Samsung Galaxy S4 boasts a 5-inch 1080p Super AMOLED display, which is a full inch more than the Retina display on the latest iPhone.
Specs-wise, the S4's screen does beat out its Cupertino-designed counterpart. Apple's display boasts a resolution of 326 ppi (pixels per inch), whereas Samsung's display packs in a whopping 441 ppi.
To be completely honest, though, both smartphones have fantastic displays.
You won't be able to discern any individual pixels (no matter how much you squint or press your chubby nose up against the front of your device) on either of them.
Power
In some territories, the Galaxy S4 will have a 1.6GHz octa-core Exynos 5 processor under its hood. In others, it will be equipped with a 1.9GHz quad-core Snapdragon CPU.
Either way, Samsung's new flagship blower is blazingly fast. In fact, recent benchmark tests have shown that the Galaxy S4 is close to twice as fast as the iPhone 5.
The Galaxy S4 is also much speedier than the HTC One, the LG Nexus 4, the BlackBerry Z10, and - naturally - the Samsung Galaxy S III.
Camera
The iPhone 5's 8-megapixel rear-facing iSight camera is capable of capturing some truly exceptional photos, as well as crisp and clear 1080p HD video at 30 frames per second.
The Galaxy S4, meanwhile, boasts a 13-megapixel rear-facing snapper and is capable of recording similar quality HD video.
Samsung's new kid on the smartphone block can also take 100 photos in just four seconds, which is - while probably a useless feature for your Average Joe - ruddy impressive.
Samsung's Galaxy S4 beats the iPhone 5 in the front-facing camera stakes, too.
The latter has a 1.2-megapixel front-facing snapper that's capable of capturing 720p HD video at 30 frames per second.
Samsung's blower, on the other hand, houses a two-megapixel camera on its front.
Software
If you've read our hands-on with the Galaxy S4, you'll already know that Samsung's latest piece of polycarbonate eye candy will ship with Android 4.2.2 (a.k.a. Jelly Bean) and a range of new - and impressive - software features.
These include Smart Pause, which halts video playback when you take your eyes off your phone; and S Translator, which can instantly translate a phrase into multiple languages.
There's also Dual Camera, which enables you to insert yourself into whatever photograph or video you're shooting.
Still, Apple can boast about its App Store for iOS devices, which features thousands upon thousands of the best mobile apps and games that money that buy.
Oh, and Siri. Don't forget Siri.
Peripherals
There are a few bespoke iPhone 5 peripherals knocking about these days, but they're still relatively few and far between compared to iPhone 4 and 4S accessories. They're pretty expensive to boot.
The Galaxy S4, on the other hand, should be compatible with all NFC-enabled speakers and - due to having the same dock connector as its predecessor - with most Galaxy S III gadgets, too.
At last week's aforementioned Galaxy S4 event, Samsung also announced an official Bluetooth-powered controller peripheral for its smartphone line. It's called the Game Pad. Beat that, Tim Cook.
Conclusion
The Galaxy S4, then, is on paper and in benchmark tests twice as fast as the iPhone 5. It also has a better camera and a wider range of compatible peripherals.
It only comes unstuck - thanks to Apple's App Store - when you begin to talk about available software.
I don't currently know the Galaxy S4's battery life, so I can't compare it to the iPhone 5's just yet. I imagine they'll be fairly similar, though.
So, which smartphone should you buy? That's a tough call.
The iPhone 5 is a fantastic device, sure, but the Galaxy S4 is shaping up to be just as good or even better than Apple's six-month-old hardware.
