Comparing the iPhone 4s vs Samsung Galaxy S3
In the opinion of Whatphone, a decision about whether to go with the iPhone 4S vs Galaxy S3 is about 1 thing. It’s a decision about the safety of the Apple brand. Apple defined the Smartphone market. For many years, they set the standard. However, going by almost any objective measure of today ( except battery – see below, ) the Samsung Galaxy S3 is a better device.
The Samsung Galaxy S3 is better at :
- Screen size and quality
- Front facing camera
- LTE / 4G capability
- Offering a safe phone option for two types of person ( see below. )
Key device specification comparison :
The primary differences between the two devices’ hardware are between the processors, network speed capability and screens.
Processors : The Samsung Galaxy S3 has Quad Core processors, the Apple iPhone 4S, Dual Core. In practical effect, right now, there is very little difference between the performance of the two. Software houses have yet to find a way to max the quad core chips out and apps don’t fully utilise their capability. But there is security in knowing that if you’re taking out a 2 year contract, the Samsung Galaxy S3 is future proofed.
Screensize : The Samsung Galaxy S3 has a 4.8 inch HD Super AMOLED screen with 720 x 1200 resolution. It simply overwhelms the 3.5 inch 640 x 960 ‘Retina’ screen of the iPhone 4S. The screen on the Galaxy S3 is noticeably better. I watch a lot of multimedia content and the Samsung Galaxy S3 makes that much easier. I find being required ( largely ) to use iTunes to manage my multimedia content on the iPhone 4S constrictive.
Talking about multimedia capabilities, the Samsung Galaxy S3 has extendable memory. You can put your own Micro SD card in. This makes managing files between your PC and Galaxy S3 easier and offers scope for multiple cards if you want a lot of content. And I do.
Network Speeds : The Galaxy S3 is 4g enabled : At launch, the samsung Galaxy S3 was a 3G product, the same as the iPhone 4s. A few short months later and Samsung upgraded the Galaxy S3 to the Samsung Galaxy S3 4G. LTE or 4G speeds make the Galaxy S3 an even more usable product for the average user than the Apple iPhone 4s. Most of people’s phone usage these days is looking at it rather than talking in to it. LTE or 4G data access speeds make the whole ‘data experience’ ( watching anything on the internet from your phone, streaming music, looking at maps – all the things people actuallydo with their phone – easier and more enjoyable.
The addition of 4G capabilities simply makes using the Samsung Galaxy S3 4G much more enjoyable than using the iPhone 4s.
Everything else is about the same :
The weights of the two products are so near as to be almost identical. 133 grams for the Samsung Galaxy S3 vs 140 grams for the Apple iPhone 4S.
In most other regards, the devices are comparable :
The battery standby is 500 hours on the Samsung Galaxy S3 vs 200 hours on the iPhone 4S. Talk time is 10 hours for the Samsung and 8 hours for the iPhone. In reality, it’s hard to trust these manufacturer measures of battery. What matters is the daily usage you experience. To be fair to the iPhone 4S, I could get a full day out of it. The battery on the GalayS3 was disappointing. My experience was that it ran out on me late afternoon / early evening. And it’s not just me. Friends with S3s experienced the same thing. Both take a micro SIM and have 8 MP cameras – which can shoot 30 frames per second in High Definition.
The front facing camera on the Samsung Galaxy S3 is a lot better.
Other things to consider
As I said at the start of the article, putting the hardware to one side, there is a major difference between the 2 phones. The major difference between the iPhone 4S and the Samsung Galaxy S3 is around the safety of the Apple brand. It will influence your likely experience of the software.
At Whatphone, we spend our lives talking aout phones. We talk to site visitors and the rest of the world, friends, colleagues in the telecommunications industry, people we meet at bus stops and pubs. We never stop discussing mobiles. They all say the same thing :
The iPhone 4S might be right for you if :
On the feature specifications which, as you can tell from the above, Samsung wins hands down. Despite that, there are a lot of people who just love the Apple iPhone 4S.
The ‘types’ of people ( that we meet at bus stops etc. ) that do love the iPhone 4S seem to be broken down in to 2 sets :
- People who have had Apple products for a while. They usually have a few of them, iPads, iMacs. They love the Apple brand. They know the Apple User Interface well and they’re used to it. They have become to rely on it. To be fair to them, as a device operating system, the Apple IOS is a simple one to use. It works well, particularly for basic tasks and it’s hard to break. The iPhone 4S is a physically robust device. It looks elegant and modern, even now,years after its launch. It feels high quality.
- People who are new to ‘Smart’ mobile phones. These days, it’s harder and harder to find people who are on their first device but they are out there and a lot of them have Apple products. They know that when they buy an Apple iPhone 4S, they’re not making a mistake – because everyone else has one.
If you’re one of those two types of people, you can probably recognize yourself within that description. And the iPhone 4S might well be the right device for you.
Samsung Galaxy S3 might be right for you if :
I love the sleek looks of the Samsung Galaxy S3 and if you’re considering the product, you’ll know whether you like the aesthetics or not.
The Galaxy S3 might be right for you if :
- LTE or 4G data access speeds are important t o you.
- You have had a ‘Smart’ mobile phone ( or two, or more ) in the past. ‘Smart’ mobiles are the ones with big touch screens and lots of computer like capabilities.
- If you started to feel that the feature set of the Apple product suite had begun to restrict some of the more advanced things you wanted to do.
- You know what a widget is and why that’s a good thing in Android devices
- You like to try new things ( you’re an ‘Eary Adopter’ )
- You have a strong desire to watch multimedia content and / or do a lot of browsing on the device
There is a reason Whatphone has compared the iPhone 4s vs Samsung Galaxy S3. They are both outstanding products. You’re not going to make a mistake with either.
Aug ’12
Written by:
Kurt Hands