Apple iPhone 5C versus Samsung Galaxy S3

Last month, Apple released two new iPhones- the 5S and the 5C, which are all ready to take on the competition with Android phones in the market, like the Samsung Galaxy S3. With the two companies always competing for the number one spot with their latest releases, there have been two camps formed- the diehard Apple fans and the loyal Samsung fans.

For those who still wonder which the better phone is, here is a comparison between the Apple iPhone 5C and the Samsung Galaxy S3.

Exterior

When talking about the design, the two phones look completely different. The iPhone 5C looks pretty much like its predecessors, except that it comes in bright, splashy new colours. Apple has not given in to the trend of bigger smartphones started by Samsung either. The Galaxy S3 on the other hand, is still a big smartphone like the S2, but looks subtly different, with its curved edges and thinner body. Of the two, the S3 is thinner at 8.6mm compared to iPhone 5C’s 8.97mm, while both of them weigh about 132g. Both these phones come with a polycarbonate chassis, which feels sturdy in the hand and looks quite classy as well.

Display

The Samsung Galaxy S3 has a 4.7 inch, 1280×720 pixel Super AMOLED display. Apple, one the other hand, has not jumped in to the trend of larger displays yet- the iPhone 5C has a 4 inch display with a resolution of 1136×640 pixels. While Samsung no doubt has the bigger screen which is also an upgrade from its predecessor, unlike the iPhone 5C which sports the same display as the iPhone 5, Apple has outfitted its latest phone with its Retina display, which gives the user one of the sharpest and clearest screens in the market.

Software

The iPhone 5C comes with Apple’s latest iOS 7 preinstalled, while the Galaxy S3 uses Android 4.1.2 which is upgradeable to the latest version- 4.3 Jelly Bean. Powering all this in the iPhone 5C is the A6X processor, which by today’s standards does seem a little outdated and slow-it faces the same problem the iPhone 5 did of speed issues, although all said and done the phone is able to handle all the user’s needs. The Samsung Galaxy S3 on the other hand comes with a quad core A9 Cortex processor which clocks in at 1.4 GHz. Both come with 1 GB of RAM. The former comes with 16 or 32 GB of storage while the latter comes with 16, 32 or 64 GB of storage- the difference being that the Galaxy S3 has allowances for a micro SD card to increase storage while the iPhone 5C does not.

Battery

As with its other release, the iPhone 5S, Apple has not commented on the battery life of this phone either, but it is expected to have a talk time of about 10 hours. Samsung has incorporated a 2100 mAh battery into the Galaxy S3, which is expected gives a talk time of about 11 hours and 40 minutes, which basically means you need to charge it once a day, which is not bad for a smartphone with its screen size.

Camera

Both these phones have an 8 MP camera that comes with LED flash. While the iPhone 5C has the same iSight camera as its predecessor- it is not a big issue since it worked spectacularly in the iPhone 5. Although, the iOS 7 has given it a couple of new features like digital zoom when recording video. The Galaxy S3 has also not shot up its specs after the S2, but the camera sensor, while not being the best in the market, is still much of an improvement from before and is more than enough for this phone’s needs. With the latest version of Android, the shutter speed of this phone has been greatly improved and getting the camera to open up quickly from even a locked screen is a snap, considering it does not have a dedicated shutter button.

Both these phones have a Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0, but while Samsung has its micro USB port, Apple has its lightning connector. The Galaxy S3 also comes with NFC.

Another issue is also the price; since the Galaxy S3 is priced moderately at INR 27,000, the Apple iPhone 5C price is high, costing $549 or about INR 35,000.

So while it is a close shave between the two phones tech wise, pricewise, we definitely know which one to go with.