Samsung Galaxy Nexus vs iPhone 4S | Galaxy Nexus vs Apple iPhone 4S Speed, Performance and Features | Full Specs Compared
Samsung and Google unveiled their first Ice Cream Sandwich Phone, the Galaxy Nexus (aka Nexus Prime or Droid Prime) at the Ice Cream Sandwich event in Hong Kong today (19 October 2011). Galaxy Nexus by Samsung is Google’s premium phone to give the pure Google experience. The Galaxy Nexus has 4G LTE and HSPA+ versions. iPhone 4S is the latest released Apple smartphone , which choose to stay with the same design of iPhone 4. However the processing power is doubled, and the graphic acceleration is claimed as 7+ times more than iPhone 4. It is interesting to see how both the new devices will perform in the market.
Galaxy Nexus
Galaxy Nexus is the latest Android smart phone released by Samsung. This device is designed for Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich). Galaxy Nexus was officially announced on 18 October 2011. It will be available to users from November 2011. Galaxy Nexus is launched in collaboration of Google and Samsung. The device is designed to deliver a pure Google experience, and the device will receive updates on software as soon as it is available.
Galaxy Nexus 5.33” tall and 2.67” wide and the device remains 0.35” thick. These dimensions are related to a quite large phone in comparison to the current smart phone market standards. It is important to note that Galaxy Nexus is quite thin. (IPhone 4 and 4S is also 0.37” thick). Bigger dimensions of Galaxy Nexus will make the device appear even thinner. It is also important to note that for above dimensions Galaxy Nexus weighs reasonably less. The Hyper-skin backing on the battery cover will make a firm grip on the phone and will make it slip resistant. Galaxy Nexus has a 4.65” Super AMOLED screen with 1280X720 pixels resolution. Galaxy Nexus is the first phone with a 4.65” high definition display. The screen real estate will be appreciated by many Android fans and the display quality and high resolution is quite promising. Galaxy Nexus is complete with sensors such as accelerometer for UI auto rotate, compass, gyro sensor, light sensor, Proximity and barometer. In terms of connectivity, Galaxy nexus supports 3G and GPRS speeds. An LTE variant of the device will be available based on the region. Galaxy Nexus is complete with WI-Fi, Bluetooth, USB support and it is NFC enabled.
Galaxy Nexus is powered by a 1.2 GHz Dual Core Processor. According to the official press release, the device includes 1 GB worth RAM and internal storage is available in 16 GB and 32 GB. The processing power, memory and storage are in par with the high-end smart phone specifications in the current market and they will enable a responsive and an efficient Android experience to users of Galaxy Nexus. The availability of the micro-SD card slot in order to expand the storage is not yet clear.
Galaxy Nexus comes with Android 4.0 and it is not customized in any way. This is the first time users get to have a look at Galaxy Nexus. The much talked about new feature on Galaxy Nexus is screen unlock facility. The device is now capable of recognizing the shape of the users face to unlock the device. The UI is re designed for a better experience. According to the official press release the multi tasking, notifications and web browsing is enhanced in Galaxy Nexus. With the screen quality and display size available on Galaxy Nexus, one can anticipate a unique browsing experience combined with the impressive processing capacity. Galaxy Nexus comes with NFC support as well. The device is available with many google services such as Android Market, Gmail™, and Google Maps™ 5.0 with 3D maps, Navigation, Google Earth™, Movie Studio, YouTube™, Google Calendar™, and Google+. The home screen and phone application has gone through re design and has acquired a new look under Android 4.0. Android 4.0 ( Ice cream Sandwich) also includes a new people Application allowing users to browse friends and other contacts, their photographs and status updates from multiple social networking platforms.
Galaxy Nexus has a 5-mega pixel rear-facing camera with LED flash. The rear-facing camera has zero shutter lag reducing the time between the time the picture is taken and the time the picture is actually shot. The camera also has additional features such as panoramic view, auto focus, silly faces and background replacement. The rear-facing camera is capable of HD video recording at 1080 P. The front facing camera is 1.3 mega pixels and is capable of rendering good quality video for video conferencing. The camera specifications on Galaxy Nexus fall under middle range specifications and will deliver satisfactory photo and video quality.
The multimedia support on Galaxy nexus is also note worthy. The device is capable of HD video playback with 1080 P at 30 frames per second. By default, Galaxy Nexus has video codec for MPEG4, H.263 and H.264 formats. The HD video playback quality on Galaxy Nexus coupled with the impressive display will deliver a superior movie watching experience on a smart phone. Galaxy Nexus includes MP3, AAC, AAC+ and eAAC+ audio codec formats. The device also includes a 3.5 mm audio jack.
With a standard Li-on 1750 mAh battery, the device will get by a normal working day with calling, messaging, email, and browsing with ease. The most important fact with Galaxy Nexus is the availability of updates on Android as soon as it is released. A user with a Galaxy Nexus will be the first to receive these updates as Galaxy Nexus is a pure Android experience.
iPhone 4S
The much speculated iphone 4S was released on October 4th 2011. The much speculated iphone 4S was released on October 4th 2011. The iPhone which has bench-marked standards in the smart phone hemisphere has raised the expectations more. Will iPhone 4 deliver to the expectations? Having one look at the device one can understand that the appearance of iPhone 4S remains similar to iPhone 4; the much raved predecessor. The device is available in both black and white. The glass and stainless steel built that most find appealing remains intact.
The newly released iPhone 4S remains 4.5” of height and 2.31” of width the dimensions of iPhone 4S remains similar to its predecessor iPhone 4. The thickness of the device is 0.37” as well regardless of the improvement done to the camera. There for, iPhone 4S remains the same portable slim device everyone love. iPhone 4S weighs 140g. The slight increase of device is maybe due to the many new improvements that we will discuss later. iPhone 4S includes a 3.5” touch screen with 960 x 640 resolution. The screen also includes the usual fingerprint resistant oleophobic coating. The display marketed by Apple as ‘retina display’ has a contrast ratio of 800:1. The device comes with sensors such as an accelerometer sensor for auto-rotate, three-axis gyro sensor, a proximity sensor for auto turn-off and an ambient light sensor.
The processing power is one of the many improved features on iPhone 4S than its predecessor. The iPhone 4S is powered by a Dual core A5 processor. According to Apple, the processing power is increased by 2 X and enables graphics that are 7 times faster and the energy efficient processor will improve battery life as well. While the RAM on the device is still not officially listed the device is available in 3 versions of storage; 16 GB, 32 GB and 64 GB. Apple has not allowed a micro SD slot to expand the storage. In terms of connectivity, iPhone 4S has HSPA+14.4Mbps, UMTS/WCDMA, CDMA, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth. At the moment, iPhone 4S is the only smart phone which can switch between two antennas to transmit and receive. Location based services are available through Assisted GPS, digital compass, Wi-Fi and GSM.
iPhone 4S is loaded with iOS 5 and usual applications one can find on an iPhone, such as FaceTime. The newest addition to the uniquely designed applications on iPhone is ‘Siri’; a voice assistant which can understand certain keywords we speak and virtually do everything on the device. ‘Siri’ is capable of scheduling meetings, checking weather, setting timer, sending & reading messages and etc. While voice search and voice command assisted applications were available in the market ‘Siri’ is quite a unique approach and sounds more user-friendly. iPhone 4S comes with iCloud as well, enabling users to manage content across multiple devices. iCloud wirelessly pushes files across multiple devices managed together. Applications for iPhone 4 S will be available on Apple App Store; however it will take some time for the number of applications supporting iOS 5 to increase.
The rear facing camera is another area improved on iPhone 4S. iPhone 4S is equipped with an improved camera with 8 mega pixels. The mega pixel value itself has taken a huge leave from its predecessor. The camera is coupled with LED flash as well. The camera comes with useful features such as autofocus, tap to focus, face detection on still images and geo tagging. The camera is capable of HD video capture at 1080P at about 30 frames per second. In cameras it is important to have a larger aperture since it allows the lens to collect more light. The aperture in the lens of camera in iPhone 4S has been increased allowing more light to come in however, harmful IR rays is filtered away. The enhanced camera is capable of capturing quality images in low light as well as bright light. The front facing camera is a VGA camera and it’s tightly coupled with FaceTime; the video conferencing application on iPhone.
iPhones are generally good on their battery life. Naturally, users will have higher expectations for this latest addition to the family. According to Apple, iPhone 4S will have up to 8 hours of continuous talk time with 3G on while on GSM only it will score a massive 14 hours. The device is rechargeable via USB as well. The standby time on iPhone 4S is up to 200 hours. In conclusion, the battery life is satisfactory on iPhone 4S.
The preorder of iPhone 4S starts from 7 October 2011, and will be available in US, UK, Canada, Germany, France, Australia, and Japan from 14 October 2011. Worldwide availability starts from 28 October 2011. iPhone 4S is available for purchase in different variants. One will be able to get their hands on an iPhone 4S device starting from $199 to $399 on contract. The price without contract (unlocked) is Canadian $649/ Pounds 499/ A$799/ Euro 629.
Samsung introducing Galaxy Nexus (Pure Google Experience)
Apple introducing iPhone 4S