iPhone 5 vs. Samsung Galaxy S4: Which should you buy?

Alex Dobie of Android Central joins Rene Ritchie of iMore to put the brand new Samsung Galaxy S3 vs. the 2012 iPhone 5 in a battle of contrasting hardware and software philosophies. Watch along!

[sdcpb]

I just bought the S4 last week and I love it. I know now that if I went for the iPhone 5 instead of the S4, I would have been kicking myself for making that decision.

[Gukychan]

Yup, yup, yup! Completely agree with this. :) No changes has been made with the iPhone since Siri. That was probably the biggest change the iPhone has ever had.

[topografer]

I will tell you what with andoid you can do more things and what you can do with iphone you do them simpler. Also you will get an up to par camera with iphone which is class leading. You will get a huge screen if thats your style, and you have to try AMOLED tech at least once. Its awesome. Plus you will find the customisation really appealing to the point that you can change the UI looks every 2-3 weeks and never get bored of it. iOS is just a grid with icons and cool animations.

[roniii]

I just switched from iphone 5 to the S4 and my friend did the same except to a note 2. I get about double the battery from the s4 with the same usage and my friend is getting even more. I don't know what phones you tested but I have a feeling the data is being skewed by your opinions.

[MysticalMastodon]

I own the Dell Venue Pro, Samsung Focus, Galaxy Nexus, and iPhone 5. Well, these are the recent ones; I have plenty older generation phones: Palm Pré, 4 old Blackberry devices, and 2 other older Android device, etc. I've never met the end of my iPhone's battery, so, I don't know what that's like. And the data can't be skewed, otherwise there's no point to testing in the first place. My Galaxy Nexus (Sprint) is constantly running out of power within the day. It has an 1850mAh battery.

[MysticalMastodon]

Actually, a typo only occurs in printed material. You can drop this whenever and I won't bring it back up.

The Qualcomm S4 is the S4. I take argumentative classes. It's vital to an argument to say EXACTLY what you mean, and with me being an English major, I look to hone in that aspect in any argument I'm in. It's not about being any of your cheap insults.

By the way, I knew you were wrong, but I wanted you to provide the evidence. The highest score of the S4 Pro is 2100; the A6 is at 1609.

[roniii]

You were talking about the S4 and Iphone 5, both of which I mentioned along with a quick comment about the Note 2. It was entirely on topic unlike your galaxy nexus and other random phones listed (they're not even new or high end anymore). You were claiming that the battery on the S4 doesn't last, I interjected because you were making false claims. It lasts almost twice as long as the Iphone.

Don't claim falsely if you don't want to be corrected.

[frosa]

Why any person doing a video review keeps touching the screen and rolling to the left and right all the time... Trying maybe to show there is no lag when you do that?

[vertigomusic]

Dude I have a €130/$180 Feiteng H9500+ Android device which charges to full in 2 hours and lasts for 2 days of intensive using (Youtube video's, watching movies, downloading stuff, browsing the internet etc). I have never encountered any lagging, freezing or unexpected restarts.shutdowns, and I have been using it for 6 months now.

[agutierrez]

I had bad experience in prepaid android phone. My first contract phone is a white iphone 5 and I liove this. Very fast 4g lte service, I use 37Gb a month for $98.00

[VintageAlpha]

Congratulations, you found a typo! Thank you for pointing it out; it's clearly relevant to the conversation at hand. Anyways, here are the links.

Link 1: browser.primatelabs.c om/ios-benchmarks
Link 2: browser.primatelabs.c om/android-benchmarks
(remove space after c)

Now I think I understand where you got confused. Mr. Truong said that the S4 wins in specs. He was quite obviously referring to the S4 phone, not the year old processor. If you weren't so obtuse, you would have realized that.

[jeica_]

You can also check the Nokia Lumia 1020 it has an amazing camera. I was thinking to return my S4 haha but at the same time I am happy with the S4 camera. Good luck!

[SushiBlastax]

I wanted to buy an iPhone 5... But you sir... You saved my money.

[MysticalMastodon]

I do have data. That's how I was able to make a claim.

What wasn't in discussion were the two phones you mentioned. You responded to a message that was not directed toward you. You interjected with the S4 and Note 2, dude.

The S4 has a 2600mAh battery. That's nearly double the size of the iPhone's battery. If it didn't have better battery life, that'd be news. But again, that's not what the original topic of conversation was at.

[billybassman]

The S4 has a bunch of bells and whistles that most people will rarely if ever use. All of these features just makes it harder to navigate the phone. The phone also feels cheap, is bulky and is hard to navigate with one hand. The iPhone 5 is fast, very stable, more durable and easy to store in a pocket. Apple also has better support. At the end of the day we have smart phones for the apps and both platforms have free apps for just about everything. I chose the iPhone 5 for its smaller size.

[ShinyQuagsire]

If your invested into Apple's ecosystem, it might be a bit difficult to switch. My first recommendation would be to start using all of Google's services like Google Calendars, Drive, and Google Play Music. Once you detach from Apple's ecosystem, it's really not that hard to enjoy the Android experience. ;)

[MysticalMastodon]

What if I told you that Samsung only sells the 16GB version of the GS4 in the US right now? Also, what if I told you that you can't install applications to the MicroSD card? A replaceable battery is cute, but I don't know many people who are willing to spend $200 on a phone and then spend another $50 for a spare battery. It's cool for the power user, but I don't need an extra battery on my phone, and it's an essential tool in my daily life.

[MrAbnaqbi]

iPhone is not just a phone. it's a best life friend, never dies & keep upgrading as u grow up. I love my iPhone.

[EricV]

You're right it does come down to personal preference. I had an iphone for 3 days and the only reason was that all my friends had one. I had to take it back and get an S4 because of how boring, restrictive, and lacking in features iOS was.

[MysticalMastodon]

I don't need to go on iTunes to see how much space my apps take up. I can check on-the-fly in settings; no need for a computer. I'd rather not have to carry little cards around with me to access different information. I'd rather keep some things in the cloud, and only carry on my phone what I need. It's nice just having 64GB built-in.