Samsung has just released their best weapon - Galaxy S3 - from its arsenal. With its excellent design and innovative features, the latest Samsung phone has won millions of hearts already and also gathered accolades from smartphone pundits from all over the world.
While the Samsung phone is almost a single player in the smartphone market and has enough time to play it well in the market, Apple is not very far from releasing its own biggest bet, the next generation iPhone, popularly dubbed as iPhone 5. According to rumors, the Apple smartphone is expected to hit the shelves in anytime in October and will sport features to give its biggest rival run for its money.
But should you trust the rumors swirling in the market or should you believe in the reality? Should you buy Samsung's flagship Galaxy S3 smartphone or should you wait till the launch of the fabled iPhone 5?
We would try here to compare two smartphone heroes of our time but we should caution our readers to read the iPhone 5 features with a pinch of salt.
Display
Rumors are rife that iPhone 5 will sport a 4-inch Display, Teardrop Design and Rubberized Bezel Body and the "resolutionary" Retina display with 1280 x 720 resolutions (367ppi). Moreover, various rumors suggest, iPhone 5 might sport a Quantum Dot LED curved glass edge-to-edge display
Galaxy S3, on the other hand, sports a 4.8-inch Super AMOLED HD panel with 1280×720-pixel resolution and more than 319 ppi.
When compared with iPhone 4s, The HD Super AMOLED display of Galaxy S3 gives richer color contrast and feels less cramped than iPhone (although 4S gives brighter and razor-sharp display) and even if the next generation iPhone sports a bigger display, Samsung is still a winner in this field.
Processor
Samsung Galaxy S3 has packed in a dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor that clocks at 1.4 GHz for the US version and it is currently the nation's fastest phone. The Japanese version of the phone is expected to come with 2GB RAM while other global versions will have 1GB RAM. Meanwhile, rumor is rife that Apple will pack in a faster A5X chip and quad-core graphics processor in the new iPhone. It's difficult to say which phone works better as internals of both the phones impress.
Operating System
Apple has already launched iOS 6 at this year's WWDC and it will feature in the iPhone 5. While the last iOS 5.1 was nothing but a mere upgrade of the iOS 5, the new iOS 6 introduced some welcome features such as Shared Photo Streams toggle, Reading List syncing over 3G, new Twitter icon, new TweetSheet in Siri UI, Guided Access mode, Calendar item ending times in Notification Center along with other.
For Galaxy S3, Samsung was predictable while providing Android Ice Cream Sandwich OS. With the expected launch of next version of Android OS, Jelly Bean, Samsung users can expect to receive the upgrade on their Galaxy S3.
Camera
Apple lovers can expect a revolutionary camera with its iPhone 5 as Patently Apple earlier reported that, "Apple has invented a killer 3D imaging camera that will apply to both still photography and video. The new cameras in development will utilize new depth-detection sensors such as LIDAR, RADAR and Laser that will create stereo disparity maps in creating 3D imagery. Additionally, the cameras will use advanced chrominance and luminance Sensors for superior color accuracy."
Meanwhile, Samsung has provided an 8 MP primary snapper with the phone and the camera features high dynamic range, non-existent shutter lag, panoramic shooting, burst shot, two sharing modes and Best Shot option. While we still do not know what to expect in the iPhone 5 camera, we can surely tag the Galaxy S3 camera as one of the best in the market along with the HTC One X camera.
Battery
As iPhone 5 will sport a HD enabled display and some powerful apps, it is highly probable that the Cupertino giant will pack in a better battery than the current iPhone 4S Li-Po 1420 mAh.
Galaxy S3, on the other hand, comes with a 2100 mAh battery, a much better battery than its predecessor's Li-Ion 1650 mAh battery. The phone gives almost 1350 minutes of talk time in 2G and up to 700 minutes in 3G.
Memory
Samsung phone comes with 16/32/64 GB storage options and storage can be expanded up to 64 GB through External Memory card.
Apple will also have the similar storage option but there's very less chance of seeing an expandable memory card option.
Price
In the U.S., Galaxy S3 comes with a price tag of $199.99 for the 16GB and $249.99 for the 32GB model (on two-year contract but price differs from carrier to carrier). The new iPhone, if anything, will not be cheaper than its predecessor which is now priced at $199.99 (16GB), $299.99 (32GB) and $399.99 (64GB).
Human Interaction features of Galaxy S3
The new Human Interaction features of Galaxy S includes S Voice (a customized voice recognition system that recognizes a variety of commands like turning on snooze mode, launching the camera application, play and control music, control volume, compose text and email and more), Smart Stay (using the front-facing camera, the phone monitors your eyes and maintain a "bright display for continued viewing pleasure"), S Beam (an enhanced version of Android Beam system that will allow content to be shared easily, and works with NFC and Wi-Fi Direct), Pop Up play (to let user watch a video while using other apps like browsing web), Direct Call (it will allow users to make a call to the person they are texting simply by lifting the phone to their ear), Smart Alert (this feature will inform you of missed calls, messages, or emails by vibrating gently when you pick up the after keeping it idle for some time), Social Tag (it recognize faces in photos and links with social media information directly from the gallery), AllShare Media and more.
But, a few features (read S Voice, AllShare Media) share striking resemblance with Apple's few apps and might not sway Apple fans.
The Samsung phone also sports a revolutionary wireless charging used with a special charger.
Some features expected to be seen in iPhone 5 are Siri 2.0, Face Unlock, Universal Remote Control, New Dock Connector and Crack-Resistant Glass.
Verdict: Buying a smartphone depends solely on the preference and personal choice of the user. But Samsung has done a splendid job with the Galaxy S3 smartphone. And Apple has quite a tough battle to win against the Galaxy S3. We are eager to see the smartphone battle in coming days between iPhone 5 and Galaxy S3.
