Samsung Galaxy S4 Or iPhone 5 – Summary
Deciding which to get, a Samsung Galaxy S4 Or iPhone 5 ? If you’re prepared to genuinely consider both and decide rationally, you’ll probably end up with a Samsung Galaxy S4.
The Samsung Galaxy S4’s screen is best in market and huge in comparison to the iPhone 5’s. Core Android software differences mean the Galaxy S4 is more customisable, personalizable and deals with notifications better. Samsung’s ‘Special Sauce’ Unique User Interface provides a host of camera features and ergonomic enhancements, some of which are extremely useful. Add in the usual Samsung Galaxy range strengths – removable back plate enabling battery change / swapping and external memory addition and the Galaxy S4 is one of the best Androids in market right now.
Strengths of the iPhone 5 include better build quality and aesthetics than the plastic Samsung Galaxy S4. People that love their iPhones prefer the simplicity of use, familiarity of experience and how easy it is to integrate another Apple product in to their existing ecosystem.
Samsung Galaxy S4 Or iPhone 5 – Apple Boring
Even last year, the right answer when faced with the question of Samsung Galaxy S4 Or iPhone 5 would have been based on the brand you favour
Samsung’s great products and recent, huge marketing efforts have changed that. At the same time, Apple have been losing momentum. More important than the tech journalists who review phones, normal people, the people who buy the phones have started to ask questions of Apple. Many believe that iOS, the Apple Operating System, has started to stagnate. By a growing number, Apple is seen as inflexible and boring. For many, choosing Samsung Galaxy S4 Or iPhone 5 is a far more rational choice than it was and Apple’s market share has declined as these thoughts have been expressed over dinner and pub tables around Australia.
Take a look at the in depth comparative review below and form your own view.
Samsung Galaxy S4 or iPhone 5 Specifications and Features Comparison
Samsung Galaxy S4 Vs iPhone 5 – Key Differences
Side by side, the most obvious differences when comparing the Samsung Galaxy S4 vs iPhone 5 are the looks of the products, the size of the screen and the quality of the hardware.
Samsung must have had a dilemma with the Samsung Galaxy S4. The S3 sold 50+ million units and you don’t change what ain’t broken so the plastic device looks of the Galaxy S3 were kept. In short, the S4 looks almost identical to its predecessor. Unfortunately, what looked cutting edge and modern last year looks slightly dated now.
Net to that, it’s hard to argue with the always modern, always popular, ubiquitous iPhone 5. I don’t have to describe it, you have a friend with one and you know what they look like.
There is an 18 gram weight difference between them. The iPhone 5 seems hollow at 112 grams. The Samsung Galaxy 4 is almost indiscernibly heavier at 130 grams. Of the two, the metallic and glass construction of the iPhone 5 give it a higher class, more modern, more substantial feel – despite the weight difference.
The other side of the coins is the size. For the record, the dimensions of the Samsung Galaxy S4 ( 137 x 69 mm x 7.6 ) are a full 1.5 cm wider and 1 cm taller than the iPhone 5 ( 123mm x 59 mm x 7.6 mm. ) The iPhone has a 4 inch screen, the Samsung Galaxy S4 has a 5 inch screen.
That’s all very factual and precise. Looking at the screens in real life, the iPhone 5 is dwarfed by the Samsung Galaxy S4. Starting with the Samsung Galaxy S2, over a period of 2 years, phone buyers have been embarrassed with riches from Android – a huge range of devices with a multitude of form factors and screen sizes to choose from. Only the very low end Android devices have been 4 inch screen phones or less. People have realised that using larger screens is more engaging – the screen, after all, if it’s not too simple to say, is what you spend most of your time looking at. )
The Super AMOLED Plus screen on the Samsung Galaxy S4 is no exception. It is a genuine thing of beauty. Colours are sharper, bolder than the iPhone 5. Icons are bigger, web pages are more engaging simply because you’re looking at such a vibrant phone face. The screen on the Samsung Galaxy S4 is a full 54% bigger than the iPhone 5 ! If you watch any kind of media on your phone, TV shows, the ABC news on the bus, get a Samsung Galaxy S4. It’s the best screen on the market.
Samsung Galaxy S4 Vs iPhone 5 – Other Differences
Software
The software is a huge part of how much you’re going to like using your phone. Increasingly, in a world of commoditised hardware components, where Samsung actually make some parts of the iPhone 5, software is the way phone makers are differentiating their products.
Nowhere is software differentiation more evident than in choosing the Samsung Galaxy S4 or iPhone 5. It’s so important, they’ve been suing each other for $1bn over it.
We have detailed resources which address this fundamental question. Android vs iOS vs Windows 8 will give you chapter and verse on the top global phone operating systems if that’s what you need.
By way of summary and looking at some of the key innovative features that Samsung have included in the Samsung Galaxy S4 :
iPhone 5 – iOS – Nice and Simple – Lacks Flexibility
iOS is the Apple Operating System for mobile products. If you’ve used an iPad or an iPhone before, you’ll find it easy to use. It’s reliable, simple to learn and good grief, it’s boring. It hasn’t changed noticibly in the last 6 years, since the launch of the original iPhone.
Samsung Galaxy S4 – Android + TouchWiz – Mind Blowing
The Samsung Galaxy S4 runs Android, the world’s most popular mobile device Operating System. On top of that, Samsung have installed their own UI or User Interface – TouchWiz. TouchWiz is where Samsung differentiate themselves.
Users generally find Android slightly harder to use the first time they pick it up. Like any Operating System change, using it is slower, compared to the previous one you were familiar with. It takes longer to do the basic things you’re used to. Over time, again, like any other operating system change, you’ll find that is offers new, useful features. The new Operating System becomes the one you love.
Android has a number of key feature differences from iOS. If you don’t know what a Widget is or you’ve never played with multiple keyboards to see which suits you better, you might like to check out Whatphone articles on just those subjects. Generally, Android offers a collection of facilities for mobile phone users to set up their mobiles exactly the way they want them. There are multiple homescreens which you can configure any way you like, with groups or folders of apps to help you get to them more quickly. If you don’t like the wallpaper, you can swap it out. If you’d rather use a different music player from what was installed when you bought it, you can. They’re all in the Google Play store.
On top of that, Samsung have spent months developing TouchWiz. They’ve added a number of unique features to the Samsung Galaxy S4. Some of those are nice to have at best. Some are so useful you might come to rely on them. Favourite apps figures out the applications you spend most of your time playing with and puts them automatically on the home screen so you can find them more quickly. QuickGlance uses infra red sensing to determine when your hand is near your phone and gets it ready for you. You’re shown a summary of how many messages and calls you’ve missed on your lock screen. The video player is best in class as is ( they upgraded it for the Samsung Galaxy S3 ) and now, they’ve adapted their eye tracking software to work with it. When you look away from a playing video, it’ll automatically stop so you don’t miss a thing !
There is a lot of ‘value add’ software from Samsung installed on the Samsung Galaxy S4. Some find it too much. The important point is, an increasing number of people are turning to Android and Samsung because the software is more innovative and useful than what you’ll find on an iPhone 5.
Samsung Galaxy S4 Vs iPhone 5 – Camera
The final key difference you might like to consider when comparing the Samsung Galaxy S4 Vs iPhone 5 is the camera. Samsung have upgraded the camera in the S4 to a 14 MP ( MegaPixel ) monster.
The reality of usage is that most pictures taken on a phone stay on the phone. Very few are ever printed off. Since you can print an A3 sized image off, at high quality, with less than the iPhone’s 8 MP camera, the benefit of adding another 6 MP are slim. Sure you’ll be able to endlessly zoom in on something that was in the distance when you took it. But, remember, your file size will also be much bigger for every image taken.
Samsung’s camera interface software, however, is a much better experience. It looks like they’ve taken the User Interface from the ‘new’ Samsung connected camera and used it on the Samsung Galaxy S4. The result is a heap of new features you are likely to find helpful.
- Panorama ( also available on the iPhone 5 although more restricted ) lets you pan up to 360 degrees, in either portrait or landscape modes. The Samsung Galaxy S4 then pieces together the edges of the images in to a single shot.
- Drama. Not easy to explain in words ! Drama captures and freezes images of what’s moving in a series of pictures and places them in one, combined shot, on top of what wasn’t moving. Think of the several stages of progression of a golf shot being shown, superimposed, one on top of the other, while the body of the golfer doesn’t move, and you’ve got it.
- Sound and shot will record a video for 9 seconds. You then decide which frame from it will be your image. The sound from the recording is kept with it so you get a better record of the moment. Not so easy to share unless you show people from your camera but a nice feature for reviewing the bits of a day out that you loved.
Samsung Galaxy S4 Or iPhone 5 – Bits That Are The Same
Both the Samsung Galaxy S4 and the iPhone 5 are high end phones. They have the latest and greatest components from around the world.
- Video is shot on both at 30 frames per second and looks perfectly smooth when played back.
- They both have a variety of on board memory options at purchase – 16 GB, 32 GB and 64GB. Of course, the Samsung Galaxy S4 has a removable back which means you can bulk this out with your own Micro SD card(s) if you’d like to.
- They both have the fastest possible wireless network access coverage capability of 4G / LTE.
- Both are incredibly fast to use. Our advice is not to get caught up in which has Quad Core Processors and which has Dual Core. There is more to that question than the headline specs. What’s important is how fast they are to use and both are faster than your eyes or your hand’s expectations.
Samsung Galaxy S4 Or iPhone 5 – Summing Up
The Samsung Galaxy S4 is the better phone. It’s more flexible, customizable, personalizable and comes with more innovative and useful software. The screen’s a beaut in every way, especially compared to the iPhone 5.
The iPhone has better build quality and looks. But it’s also a far more pedestrian, boring choice.
Of the two, go with the S4. But if you’re considering the Samsung Galaxy S4, you should compare it to the HTC One !