The Samsung Galaxy S3 is superior to the iPhone 5

INTRODUCTION The iPhone3G was my first smartphone, a gift from my partner for Christmas to replace the ancient, half-functioning Nokia I’d been rocking when we started dating. Since then, we’ve had 3 new models come out; the iPhone 4, the iPhone4S and the iPhone5. Significant hardware improvements but the operating system, namely iOS is still the same. Around two months ago my work phone was upgraded to an older HTC (Some kind of Sensation) running Android. It took about 2 weeks of using that before I realised that I infinitely preferred Android to iOS. So I did my research, looked at the variety of hardware options and decided to buy what most considered the best Android phone on the market; the Samsung Galaxy S3. Since then, the iPhone 5 has been released. I have seen and used the iPhone 5 and I’m intimately familiar with iOS (except for Siri and the latest update, iOS6 I believe (fact check?) but I kept my iPhone software up to date, so I’m in a good position to compare them. Which is what I’m going to do; my opening argument will consist of two parts; software comparison and hardware comparison. Let’s go! ARGUMENTS Hardware comparison: Ways in which the S3 is superior to the iPhone 5. Display The iPhone 5 measure 4.0’ with a resolution of 1136x640 and sporting a LCD display. The S3 measures 4.8’, with a resolution of 1280x720 and sporting a Super AMOLED display. The iPhone 5’s retina display might be impressive but they already passed the point where the human eye can distinguish the difference with previous models. The human eye simply cannot perceive the difference. So, with a bigger display and a higher resolution, the S3 is the clear winner. Size The iPhone5 measures 4.87” tall by 2.31” wide and is 0.31” thick. It weighs 112g. The S3 measures 5.37” tall by 2.77” wide and is 0.33” thick. It weighs 133g. So clearly the S3 is the bigger phone. This is a matter of preference I suppose. I like the bigger phone for the advantage of a bigger screen. The iPhone is lighter and thinner though, so I would call this a tie. CPU, memory and other things The iPhone 5 runs with a Dual core A6 CPU and 1GB of ram The S3 runs a with 1.4 GHz quad-core ARM Cortex-A9 and 2GB of ram. In terms of pure specification comparison, the S3 is the obvious winner. Having said that bench mark tests show the iPhone 5 as performing better, but I will extrapolate more on that in the software section. I mention the internal memory since both come with a range of options but the S3 includes NFC, micro SD expansion and a higher resolution front-facing camera. S3 takes the win here. Battery Life Simple: the S3 offers 11 hours of ‘talk time’ to the iPhone 5’s 8. Add the fact the S3 has a removable battery and this is a slam dunk. CONCLUSION These are the important factors in which the S3 is superior. I’m sure my opponent will want to talk about some of the ways the iPhone 5 is superior, hardware wise, and I’ll comment on them as he does. I haven’t provided any sources on the above as it seems unnecessary for such widely available uniform information. Software Comparison: Why Android 4.1 with TouchWiz "Nature UX" is superior to Apple iOS6 This could probably just take the form of a monologue about the pitfalls of Apples restrictive nature towards customisation but I’ll try very hard to prevent that. I’m sure my opponent will want to mention the sleeky, user friendly nature of iOS coupled with the powerful iPhone 5, so I’ll leave that to him. Here are some of the biggest advantages of having an Android operating system: CUSTOMISATION The iOS system is very simple. If you keep scrolling left, you get to the search page. To the right of that, are (unlimited?) numerous screens made up of 5 by 4 spaces. Whether these spaces have apps, folders or blank space is at the desecration of the user. And that’s about the extent of it. The thing is, it works really, really well if you don’t want to tinker with things and for a lot of people, that’s fine. It’s all part of Apples secret company motto “Let’s lock people into doing only what we want them to do.” If, on the other hand, you want to tinker with things, ladies and gentleman let me present… ANDROID! And I have one word for you: Widgets. Widgets are without a doubt the coolest, most significant difference between iOS and Android in this humble users opinions. What is a widget? Well, like the iOS system, Android has a bunch of squares on its ‘pages’ but unlike iOS you can put things other than apps and folders into them. You can put a calendar, a clock, a weather report, a report showing you how much credit you have left on your prepaid account, a music player, a torch button (this is what I have on my phone). They can take up one square, or they can take up 8x4 squares. It really makes getting the most out of your phone and its various applications easier. PUTTING FILES ONTO YOUR PHONE You can actually *shock horror* access the files on your phone. That’s right, you can actually use your phone as a media device, and put files directly onto it (like PDFs, mp3s, avis for example). No stinking iTunes harshing your buzz all the time. Then, you can open a file explorer, find your file and hey presto, use it. MAPS The iPhone map debacle is extremely widely publicised. Google Maps just keeps going from strength to strength while Apples attempt to create their own map software is mediocre at best. SMOOOOOOTHNESS Yes, the iPhone has been touted for a long time as superior to Android in terms of fluidity of use. But those days are increasingly becoming the past. With the Jelly Bean update Project Butter came into realisation and we see the fruits of that work here. Where once Android was clunky, it is now fluid to use. It may not be superior (yet) but the big advantage iOS had a year ago is no longer true. CONCLUSION Take from the above what you will. CONCLUSIVE CONCLUSION The iPhone 5 is a very nice phone, don’t get me wrong. But Apple are falling behind due to what appears to be more interest in suing their competitors for doing smartphones better than they are in innovation. The S3 is just a beautiful thing to use. I have more to add, but I need to submit something or I risk forgetting and running out of time. Tally ho! Over to you, sir.