UPDATED 12:47 EST / APRIL 17 2013

Samsung Galaxy S4 vs. iPhone 5

If you’re an iPhone owner who’s looking to upgrade to a newer device, you’ve got cash to burn, and can’t decide whether to buy an iPhone 5 or the Samsung Galaxy SIV when it hits US stores later this month, perhaps we can help.

We’ve already done a comparison piece for top 2013 smartphones vs the Galaxy SIV, in case you missed it, here it is: Samsung Galaxy SIV vs. Top Smartphones of 2013.  We didn’t include the iPhone 5 as it was last year’s model, but since that’s still Apple’s current phone offering, we deem it appropriate for its own versus piece against the Galaxy SIV.

So who will reign in this round?  Most of you guys already know the answer to this, but no spoilers!  Read on ‘til the end. ;)

Samsung Galaxy S4 vs. iPhone 5

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Design

Samsung Galaxy SIV: Special polycarbonate body, slim bezel, wide display, unique textured design

iPhone 5: Anodized 6000 series aluminum body, ceramic glass or pigmented glass inlays that gives it the two-toned look, diamond-Cut beveled edge, first Retina display with integrated touch technology that makes it the thinnest, lightest, fastest iPhone – according to Apple.

Dimensions

Galaxy SIV: Height 136.6 x Width 69.8 x Depth 7.9 mm, Weight 130g

Phone 5: 123.8 x 58.6 x 7.6 mm, 112 g

Display

Galaxy SIV:  5-inch Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, 1080 x 1920 pixels, ~441 ppi pixel density, topped with Corning Gorilla Glass 3. multitouch

iPhone 5: 4” Retina display with 1136 x 640 resolution and 326 ppi, Fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating on front

Operating System

Galaxy SIV: Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean

iPhone 5: iOS 6

Processor

Galaxy SIV: Exynos 5 Octa 5410, 1.9GHz quad-core or 1.6GHz octa-core processor, depending on what region you’re from, 2GB RAM

iPhone 5: A6 – Apple engineered chip – dual-core 1.2 GHz

Battery/battery life

Galaxy SIV: 2600 mAh Li-Ion removable battery, no data yet on battery life

iPhone 5: Talk time: Up to 8 hours on 3G; Browsing time: Up to 8 hours on LTE, Up to 8 hours on 3G, Up to 10 hours on Wi-Fi; Standby time: Up to 225 hours

Capacity and Price

Galaxy SIV: 16/32/64 GB storage, can be upgraded with up to 64GB of storage via microSD, about US$725 or £480 or AUD$695 without a contract. Coming to T-Mobile on the 24th of April, with a $149 downpayment and a $20 monthly installment fee for 24 months.  For Sprint, the device will be available on the 27th of April, and pricing starts at $249.99 with a 2-year contract for current subscribers, while news subscribers will get to enjoy the device at a lower price of $149.99.  Other carriers are expected to release pricing and release date soon.

iPhone 5: 16GB $199, 32GB $299, 64GB $399with free 5GB iCloud – with a new two-year contract either on AT&T, Sprint or Verizon. T-Mobile offers the iPhone 5 with an installment plan of $99 for the first payment, then $20 per month for two years.

Cellular and Wireless

Galaxy SIV: 2G GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900, 3G HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100, 4G LTE, GPRS, EDGE, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, DLNA, Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi hotspot, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC, Infrared port

iPhone 5: GSM model: GSM/EDGE; UMTS/HSPA+; DC-HSDPA; CDMA model: CDMA EV-DO Rev. A and Rev. B; LTE; Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n; 802.11n on 2.4GHz and 5GHz); Bluetooth 4.0; GPS and GLONASS

Camera

Galaxy SIV: rear camera – 13MP, 4128 x 3096 pixels, autofocus, LED flash, front camera – 2 MP, 1080p@30fps, dual video call, Dual Shot, Simultaneous HD video and image recording, geo-tagging, touch focus, face and smile detection, image stabilization, HDR

iPhone 5: 8MP iSight camera that features Autofocus, Tap to focus, LED flash, Backside illumination sensor, Five-element lens, Face detection, Hybrid IR filter, ƒ/2.4 aperture, Panorama and improved video recording feature now with face detection and enhanced image stabilization, 30fps; 1.2MP FaceTime camera with 720p HD video and Backside illumination sensor

Sensors

Galaxy SIV: Accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass, barometer, temperature, humidity, gesture

iPhone 5: Three-axis gyro, Accelerometer, Proximity sensor, Ambient light sensor, Compass

SIM

Galaxy SIV: Micro SIM

iPhone 5: Nano SIM

Special features

Galaxy SIV: Smart Screen – Smart Stay, Smart Pause, Smart Rotation, Smart Scroll; Air Gesture, WatchOn, ChatOn, AirView, Group Play, S Health, wireless charging cover, S Translator, Sound and Shot, Dual Shot, Cinema Photo, Drama Shot

Phone 5: Retina Display, iSight camera, Ultrafast Wireless, Maps, EarPods, Lightning connector, enhanced Siri, Passbook, Panorama mode, iCloud, AirPlay – provided you have an Apple TV, AirPrint – provided you have an AirPrint enabled printer.

Who takes the crown?

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There you have it, the specs of both the iPhone 5 and the Galaxy SIV.  Which is the best?  For the design, let’s be honest, the iPhone 5 looks more sophisticated and sleek.

For the other technical specs, the Galaxy SIV has a higher grade chipset, better screen resolution, better camera, plus the removable battery can be a positive feature as you can just change the battery whenever you’re running low on juice.

And the standout features, who wouldn’t want Jedi-like features on their phones?  Without touching the screen, you can preview stuff; keep the screen lighted just by looking at it; pause videos when you’re not looking at the screen, and the Air gesture totally makes you feel like a Jedi.

The iPhone 5 seems pretty boring compared with the Galaxy SIV’s Jedi-like features.

In Yoda’s voice: “Buy a smartphone, if you must, Galaxy SIV, the choice is.”


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