Since I spent a solid weekend debating between the two phones and harassing everyone I knew to give me their opinion, I thought I would share my findings for those of you who have yet to make the switch to one of these amazing phones.
I’ll start by saying that I switched from the Blackberry Bold 9900 to the iPhone 5. I had the 4th gen Ipod touch for quite some time and was never really an “Ifangirl” (die hard apple fan). I hate the fact that they aren’t universal (much like Sony). I also was never a fan of their marketing and subsequently brainwashed fan base who shouted about their phones to everyone and anyone, nor was I fan of Steve Jobs (people who blindly admire the guy are idiots). I was perfectly content with my Blackberry that worked, was amazing at emails and was a real PHONE. So why the switch? Well, I’m still using my bb for contacts and bbm because it’s still popular overseas where a lot of my friends are however I’m a huge youtube and music junky and on my free time at work I wanted to be able to catch up on some videos/tv/video streaming– Blackberry’s are not the device to pick if you want to do anything other than tweet/text/check emails (at least until the BB 10 comes out?!)
Here is my UNBIASED review:
The casing:
The iPhone 5 wins hands down when it comes to the look and feel of the phone. It has a sleek glass and aluminum finish whereas the Galaxy S3 has a very “plasticky” and “cheap” feel to it. HOWEVER the S3’s large and beautiful screen makes you almost forget the plasticky backing. In terms of sexiness the iPhone 5 just feels sleek, sexy and amazing in your hand. If you’re big on looks like I am, you’ll prefer the iPhone 5. The black and gun metal iPhone when turned off is sleek and shiny whereas the white iPhone and S3 have a panda bear look to it. Definitely go with the black iPhone color, it’s a lot easier on the eyes when you are viewing videos and images (although the aluminum in black has been known to scratch so take care of it). If you’re all about girly cases you may want to consider a white iPhone (because most girly cases are clear with like diamonds and stuff on it and the clear looks better with the white iPhone) but the black is sexy enough to go BARE, and it just looks like a more powerful machine. Also, the diamond cut edges, the sapphire glass lens of the camera is superior and … again, sexy.
Winner: iPhone 5
Specs:
The Samsung Galaxy beats the iPhone 5 when it comes to the specs on paper, it has a quad core processer (which will really come in handy when the new operating system eventually rolls out and you’re able to simultaneously watch videos as well as surf the web at the same time). The Galaxy S3 also has a larger screen with a comparable pixel density to the iPhone 5’s. It’s great for older people who might not want to squint at their screen and for those with larger hands. At first the large phone was intimidating but after a few days it WAS a little easier. I do have smaller hands and I am on transit a lot (which requires deft manoeuvring and hanging on to the pole – the TRANSIT POLE INSIDE SKYTRAINS AND BUSES you sickos- while navigating the phone with the other hand – something I cannot imagine doing with the S3). If you’re in the house or in the car a lot or you’re doing most of your phone usage at a desk or indoors than maybe the S3 would work out okay for you – I just couldn’t realistically see myself using the S3 while out and about (clubbing? no way!). I do tend to drop my phone a lot (ahem back to the clubbing comment..)and the iPhone 5 fared better in drop tests, although I do believe that if your phone is going to drop and break it’s going to smash no matter what a drop test says so I wouldn’t put too much stock in those drop tests. I found that the iPhone 5’s LCD Retina screen was easier to look at outdoors and that the coloring on the iPhone was more true to life vs the Galaxy that had a slightly bluer tint. All in all the specs are very comparable and evenly matched – you will be getting a premium device either way – even though the S3 has a quad core vs the dual core on the iPhone, the software on the Android does not make full use of it and so they both run at roughly the same speed.
My main gripe with iPhone is that they changed to the “Lightning” connector. I thought that was cocky and unnecessary because one of the benefits was that EVERYTHING from cars to audio docks had the old iPhone connector and now everyone needs to spend more money for this “lightning” connector. Luckily though, there are enough ifanboys in the world that will immediately jump out and buy the new connector and cars will soon switch to this so in a short while it shouldn’t be too much of a problem to find a spare charger at your friend’s house or whatever.
The iPhone 5 comes in 16 or 32gb, the Samsung Galaxy S3 has the ability to expand by inserting micro sd cards into the phone. Also you are able to take out and replace the battery very easily on the S3 whereas you would be looking at spending major moolah to replace the built in battery on the iPhone. If you’re travelling you may like the fact that you can carry around another S3 battery. I opted for the 32gb iPhone and I know I won’t be needing much more space than that but I suppose it’s nice to know the option to expand is there for S3 users. Again, it’s all about what is important to you – if you aren’t storing thousands of videos or photos or music on your phone than I wouldn’t worry too much about how much it can hold. We all still have laptops and desktop computers for a reason.
Winner: Tie! (as a girl the size of the S3 and where I would be using it made me lean to the iPhone 5 but the fact that Apple changed their connector just pisses me off and so it’s a tie.)
Operating Software:
The Galaxy S3 runs on the Android platform with it’s current “Ice Cream Sandwich” vers slowly being upgraded to the new “Jelly Bean” vers – it’s completely customizable and fresh. It’s one of the main reasons I considered the S3. The iOS on the other hand has been around for quite some time and for those who have used iPhones since they came out – the novelty of the little app buttons and slide to unlock feature have kind of worn off. This is a huge reason for people switching from Apple to Samsung – the ability to customize your phone. I absolutely loved the Samsung home screen, it was so large and pretty and the clock/weather feature as well as the different widgets and apps were amazing to set up and play with. Both Google and iTunes have thousands of apps and although the iPhone is in the lead here, Android fans are slowly catching up in numbers when it comes to available apps. If you’re not that tech savvy I would stick to the iPhone, customizing the features on the S3 can be a little intimidating and time consuming but if you LOVE customizing stuff I would go for the S3.
(L-R: iPhone 5 screen vs Galaxy S3 screen)
The downside for me with the Galaxy S3 and what led me to choose Apple is that I like being COMPLETELY up to date. iPhone users have apps that are SPECIFICALLY designed for them and they are constantly updating their operating system (yearly) and the apps that are on iTunes. You plug in or update wirelessly and you’re good to go. Android users do not all receive the OS updates at the same time and they are not on a systematic schedule for updates. Android users would do well to remember that while they may have increased the number of apps (especially free ones) that are available, the iPhone has apps that are specifically built for the few generations that have rolled out while Android apps are for ANY Android phone – Galaxy S3, HTC, etc. That could lead to certain apps glitching on your phone and not working as well as it should. On the plus side the S3 has more free apps that you can download from various resources such as Samsung’s store or Google Play, whereas Apple users download only from iTunes and they are not all free. The saying “you get what you pay for” in this instance is true – while premium apps may not be free in iTunes, you know that constant updates for any glitches are systematically rolling out and the iTunes store is trusted – less viruses, less issues. If you’re mainly going to be using your phone for Facebook and Twitter; you might not be too concerned with apps and you should be ok with the S3. I’m a little picky. If you want to connect with your tv, connect with your Xbox or PS3 or download videos and movies you may want to choose the S3 because you CAN do that with relatively no issues (and you can download in the S3 in the background while using other programs) whereas on the iPhone you would need to buy Apple TV. Initially the iPhone caught a lot of flak for their Maps app but it’s a moot point now because you can just download Google Maps :) (as well as Google Chrome and various other Google apps).
As for customizing the phone – S3 wins for the screen but it all depends on what is important to you. iPhone users can buy cases and accessories from their phone anywhere and everywhere (you would have to order online for the S3 - they do have cute cases too just not as easily found in stores like LV/Michael Kors/Chinese malls lol etc). I’m content with simply changing my lock screen image every once in a while (right now its this sexy HD leopard – I love big cats 
) .
I believe that after you’ve customized any phone you get used to it and it becomes boring – so while I am a little jealous of the S3 ability to customize the screens I think I can live with buying multiple cases for the outside, and painting my nails to look hot carrying said phone. I might just stay away from seeing my sister play with the S3 though - - ugh the screen really is beautiful I’ll give them that.
Winner: iPhone 5. The Samsung Galaxy S3 has a really cool OS which is customizable but the fact that their updates are not systematic could be problematic. If you’re really into open source stuff and want to hook up your phone with anything and everything Samsung has the lead but whatever you will want done is possible with the iPhone, you just have to pay (for Apple TV etc). I just feel secure knowing that the company is so huge and they’re focused on their product – whereas with Android you have multiple phones (HTC’s, Samsung’s etc running on their platform) and even with the Samsung line – there’s the Galaxy S3, the Note 2 just came out and with that much stuff going on I’m not too confident that glitches and issues will be resolved in a speedy manner.
Overall
Don’t be put off by iFanboys who shout and boast about their phones. At the end of the day people jumped on the Apple bandwagon and just went nuts, and NOW a lot of those bandwagoners have jumped on the S3 bandwagon and are claiming that iPhone’s are played out and everyone from a 10 year old to a 50 year old has them whereas the S3 is a more exclusive, new product that will set you apart from the crowd. I say – focus on what you want and don’t listen to those dimwits. You won’t go wrong with either phone. You really need to think about what is realistic for your lifestyle. If you’re always on the go, running around for meetings and you have smaller hands than honestly the S3 is probably not for you! If you’re a student and you want a larger screen to review notes and you spend a lot of time in class rooms or hanging out with friends at their house than the S3 might be your new best friend, likewise if you’re a club goer – the iPhone! Both phones are relatively easy to set up and sync with your gmail and other email accounts so I didn’t spend too much time reviewing that. I recommend going into an Apple or Samsung store and getting a feel of the phones. You may find simple things about each phone completely off putting so it’s great to go into the store to manually handle the phone :). For example I really disliked how on the S3 when you’re in the internet browser and you double tap the screen it doesn’t automatically filter to a page view it just zooms in and you still have to scroll left and right to read the whole sentence whereas on the Safari browser it starts off completely zoomed out and when you double click the browser arranges the wording so that you can just scroll down and see it all in one go.
Hope you enjoyed my review and let me know what you think! What phone are you using? (I didn’t include the Note 2 in this review because it’s more of a phablet – phone/tablet – than a smartphone).
