Today was a good day for Apple and Apple lovers, but it makes me wonder, “Apple, have you forgotten that you are competing with other manufacturers in the mobile world?” I ask myself that because the iPhone 4S is behind in almost every category, and that is not an opinion, that is an observed fact when you compare the specs with other devices. Don’t believe me? Lets compare the iPhone 4S with the Samsung Galaxy S II.
First, a brief background on the Galaxy S II if you are not familiar with it. The Galaxy S II was announced earlier this year as the sucessor to the globally popular Galaxy S. European and Asian markets enjoyed the device well before the major carriers in the United States got their hands on it, and Samsung announced that they had sold over three million Galaxy S II’s within the first 55 days. That number climbed to five million by the end of July, despite the fact that it was not available in the US yet. Samsung has recently reported that they have doubled that figure–a full ten million devices sold–during the five months it has been available almost everywhere outside of the US. Now, AT&T and Sprint stores are carrying the Galaxy S II at $200 for a new two year agreement, and T-Mobile will be added to the list by the end of next month. On top of that, Verizon is expected to have the third variant of the Nexus, based off of the Galaxy S II, by the end of next month as well. The device as a large list of features and is capable of jaw-dropping speeds with 4G on every network it is on. But how does all of that compare with the iPhone 4S? In short, it doesn’t. The Galaxy S II is almost in a class of its own, as the iPhone 4S falls behind in almost every category.
Lets look at power. At the heart of every device is its processor. The iPhone 4S has a “1GHz” Dual Core A5 processor, and I put quotes around the speed because it has been found on the iPad 2 that the A5 is nearly 1GHz. The device has been claimed to run 7x faster than the iPhone 4, a claim that cannot be backed up with hard evidence. With a dual core processor, it is almost like having two processors at once, so this is a major upgrade from the iPhone 4. On the contrary, the Galaxy S II has a 1.2GHz Dual Core Exynos processor, which according to my math is faster, and the newest variants of the Galaxy S II have an even faster 1.5GHz dual core processor. RAM is another necessity for smartphones to operate smoothly. The iPhone 4S comes up short again, with an expected 512MB of RAM as opposed to the 1GB of RAM on the Galaxy S II. I say expected because Apple has not announced the official amount, and we will not be sure until the device is taken apart and examined. With a faster processor and more RAM, the Galaxy S II dominates in the category of power.
Another category that is looked upon when comparing two devices is screen size and quality. The iPhone 4S has the widely acclaimed Retina display with a resolution of 960×640, but a major downfall of the display is the fact that it is one of the smallest in the smartphone market, only 3.5″. The Galaxy S II, on the other hand, has a much larger 4.3″ display (with variants at 4.5″) and a screen resolution of 800×480. With a display that is an inch larger, and a pixel density that is already great, I don’t care if you have a full HD display on the iPhone 4S. 3.5″ is simply way too small to enjoy movies, games, and the internet. The 4S may have a higher quality screen, but the Galaxy S II wins in the display category.
One of the things Apple bragged about with the iPhone 4 last year was that it was the thinnest and one of the lightest devices on the market. This year, they cannot brag about either. The Galaxy S II weighs between 113g and 130g, depending on what variant you purchase, whereas the iPhone 4S is 140g. The Galaxy S II is also as thin as 8.49mm while the iPhone 4S is 9.3mm.
The only category that the iPhone 4S is at par with the Galaxy S II is the cameras. Both devices feature two cameras, one on the back as well as one for video calling on the front. Both devices also have 8MP cameras that can capture full HD 1080p video. The only difference between the two devices is the better front camera on the Galaxy S II, rated at 2MP vs the VGA quality front camera on the iPhone 4S. And, if you are really concerned about how the Galaxy S II captures a picture in a second and a half while the iPhone 4S does it in one second, then you could say the iPhone 4S is ever so slightly better in the camera category. Truth is, it isn’t. On the Galaxy S II, and on pretty much every Android device out these days, you can share your pictures directly with your friends via Facebook, text, or mail right from the photo preview page. On the iPhone 4S, you have to open the dedicated application and do it from there. So, the Galaxy S II and iPhone 4S tie in this category.
How about 4G? The iPhone 4S will have HSPA+ “4G” (more like faux-g) on AT&T, with speeds maxing out at 14 megs. The Galaxy S II will also have HSPA+ on AT&T, as well as on T-Mobile, WiMax 4G on Sprint, and the Nexus Prime (aka Galaxy Nexus or Nexus 3, based off of the Galaxy S II) will most likely run LTE 4G on Verizon. It is pretty clear that the Galaxy S II wins in this category as well.
There are many other things we can compare between the two, and the Galaxy S II wins in almost every category. You are probably saying, though, “Why should I care, a phone is a phone”. The truth is, there is a really good reason why you should care: both the Galaxy S II and iPhone 4S start at $200. For the same price, you can get the better device, and that is saying something considering the phone you purchase will most likely be yours for almost two years.
On the topic of price, Apple seemed really proud about the pricing scheme of the iPhone 4S and the mark down of the iPhone 4. For $200, you can buy a 16GB iPhone 4S, $300 for 32GB, or $400 for 64GB, with all prices are on a two year agreement. Look at it this way, the iPhone 4S does not have an expandable memory slot like the Galaxy S II does, so when you run out of memory, you have to either delete things or get a new device. On the Galaxy S II, for $200 on a new two year agreement, you get 32GB of storage, and an expandable slot allowing you to theoretically never run out of storage. And, with the iPhone 4 8GB now at $100 on a two year contract, you may think that is a good deal, right? Wrong. The EVO 4G, a device that has been accredited as the first “iPhone Killer” in terms of specs, came out around the same time the iPhone 4 did, and it is $50 on a two year agreement with Sprint. The device has 4G, which is a major difference from the iPhone 4. Either way, you can get a much better deal, and a better device.
The Galaxy S II may be beat by the end of the year, the HTC Vigor/Rezound hasn’t been unveiled yet. That device has been rumored to pack a 1.5GHz dual core processor, an 8MP camera, and the industries first 720p HD screen, as well as Verizon LTE 4G, with speeds up to 35 megs down. In comparison, most CenturyLink customers get only 5 megs. That phone may not be the best of 2011 either, as on Tuesday the 11th, Google and Samsung will show off the top tier variant of the Galaxy S II, the third Nexus device, packing a rumored 2GHz dual core processor, HD 4.6″ screen, and also running on Verizon’s LTE network. And, the Galaxy S III, which is expected early next year, may have the industries first quad core processor.
It is exciting times in the mobile technology world, so stay up to date with agrstech.com!
Nicolas Wiggins
Android Correspondent
Oh, and just a little joke that Jake Root, our Apple Correspondent, whipped up in Photoshop:
I think that is what a lot of Apple employees were thinking today.
