Mobile By Russell Holly Feb. 24, 2014 4:26 pm
Apple and Samsung are the big names in mobile right now, and their flagship phones are the standards by which everything else is compared today. With Samsung introducing the new Galaxy S5 on stage in Barcelona, it seems only fair to compare it to the other big name in the crowd.
Samsung’s next big thing is here, and they have focused hard on creating new experiences inside of a similar design. The Galaxy S5 has a lot of internal changes in the way it accomplishes tasks, with a new focus on day-to-day uses and a huge effort towards simplistic user interfaces. Sound familiar? It should, because we’ve recently seen Apple go through the same transformation with iOS 7. There are a significant number of parallels that can be drawn between these two ecosystems, despite being represented by hardware that couldn’t look more different. Which is the better phone, inside the better ecosystem, with the best overall experience? Let’s lake a look.
[h=3]Design[/h]Samsung keeps pushing the S line bigger and bigger, and this year is no exception. The 5.1-inch beast is only a slight twist on Samsung design on the outside. The plastic casing and bright colors are exactly what you expect from Samsung, with the same oval button in the middle. The rear casing of the S5 sports a new texture to help avoid accidental slips, but otherwise it’s the Samsung design that you already already don’t like or currently have in your pocket.
Apple is another company whose external design is repetitive, but the svelte textured aluminum design for the iPhone 5S makes the phone feel like it should be an expensive piece of equipment. The 4-inch display is what Samsung is currently calling Mini in some of their other products, and it’s hard to disagree anymore. There’s not many people out there who would complain about a larger iPhone anymore, which creates an amusing pair of extremes when comparing the S5 and 5S to one another.
There’s no clear winner when it comes to how big the phone is, but it can’t be argued that the iPhone 5S looks and feels like a premium device compared to the Samsung Galaxy S5.
[h=3]Specs[/h]This is a touchy subject for a couple of reasons, most notably that Samsung is guilty of both feeling slower than similarly equipped Android phones and cheating on performance benchmarks. We’ve been assured and shown that the Galaxy S5 features a slimmer and trimmer TouchWiz, so there’s a good chance that Samsung is going to be more than enough competition for Apple.
The 2.5GHz Snapdragon 800 processor with 2GB of RAM driving a 432ppi 1080p display sounds eerily similar to the Google Nexus 5, and makes the phone a powerhouse that is more than capable of delivering on whatever needs you may have. On top of raw power, Samsung has included an impressive new heartbeat sensor and a new system for optimizing the display color and gamut for whatever environment you’re in. Despite looking the same on the outside, this is an impressive Galaxy on the inside.
Apple has a well-documented history with their mobile devices and the performance levels they are capable of. Despite being underpowered on paper, they have repeatedly outclasses their Android counterparts in both competing basic tasks and complex things like games. The iPhone 5S is packing a 64-bit processor that didn’t do much to make it more powerful, but makes it a unique force to compete with. Unfortunately, Apple’s infamous 326ppi Retina display is dramatically less capable than Samsung’s latest, with no optimizations outside of brightness for different environments.
Samsung clearly has the leg up on Apple when it comes to what is written on paper, but the Galaxy S5 is facing a long history of being disappointing despite packing a superior punch. The Galaxy S5 takes this category, but only time will tell if they actually deserve it.
Next page: Camera and operating system
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Samsung’s next big thing is here, and they have focused hard on creating new experiences inside of a similar design. The Galaxy S5 has a lot of internal changes in the way it accomplishes tasks, with a new focus on day-to-day uses and a huge effort towards simplistic user interfaces. Sound familiar? It should, because we’ve recently seen Apple go through the same transformation with iOS 7. There are a significant number of parallels that can be drawn between these two ecosystems, despite being represented by hardware that couldn’t look more different. Which is the better phone, inside the better ecosystem, with the best overall experience? Let’s lake a look.
[h=3]Design[/h]Samsung keeps pushing the S line bigger and bigger, and this year is no exception. The 5.1-inch beast is only a slight twist on Samsung design on the outside. The plastic casing and bright colors are exactly what you expect from Samsung, with the same oval button in the middle. The rear casing of the S5 sports a new texture to help avoid accidental slips, but otherwise it’s the Samsung design that you already already don’t like or currently have in your pocket.
Apple is another company whose external design is repetitive, but the svelte textured aluminum design for the iPhone 5S makes the phone feel like it should be an expensive piece of equipment. The 4-inch display is what Samsung is currently calling Mini in some of their other products, and it’s hard to disagree anymore. There’s not many people out there who would complain about a larger iPhone anymore, which creates an amusing pair of extremes when comparing the S5 and 5S to one another.
There’s no clear winner when it comes to how big the phone is, but it can’t be argued that the iPhone 5S looks and feels like a premium device compared to the Samsung Galaxy S5.
[h=3]Specs[/h]This is a touchy subject for a couple of reasons, most notably that Samsung is guilty of both feeling slower than similarly equipped Android phones and cheating on performance benchmarks. We’ve been assured and shown that the Galaxy S5 features a slimmer and trimmer TouchWiz, so there’s a good chance that Samsung is going to be more than enough competition for Apple.
The 2.5GHz Snapdragon 800 processor with 2GB of RAM driving a 432ppi 1080p display sounds eerily similar to the Google Nexus 5, and makes the phone a powerhouse that is more than capable of delivering on whatever needs you may have. On top of raw power, Samsung has included an impressive new heartbeat sensor and a new system for optimizing the display color and gamut for whatever environment you’re in. Despite looking the same on the outside, this is an impressive Galaxy on the inside.
Apple has a well-documented history with their mobile devices and the performance levels they are capable of. Despite being underpowered on paper, they have repeatedly outclasses their Android counterparts in both competing basic tasks and complex things like games. The iPhone 5S is packing a 64-bit processor that didn’t do much to make it more powerful, but makes it a unique force to compete with. Unfortunately, Apple’s infamous 326ppi Retina display is dramatically less capable than Samsung’s latest, with no optimizations outside of brightness for different environments.
Samsung clearly has the leg up on Apple when it comes to what is written on paper, but the Galaxy S5 is facing a long history of being disappointing despite packing a superior punch. The Galaxy S5 takes this category, but only time will tell if they actually deserve it.
Next page: Camera and operating system
More...
