Samsung Galaxy S2(II) vs Apple iPhone 4 | Full Spec Compared | Galaxy S2 vs iPhone 4 Performance and Features
Samsung Galaxy S2 and Apple iPhone 4 are two strong competitors in the Smartphone market. Apple was boasting that iPhone 4 and iPad 2 as the thinnest phone and tablet in the world until Samsung released Galaxy S2 and Galaxy Tab 10.1 and Galaxy Tab 8.9. Now Samsung has created a new benchmark for the thickness of the phones and tablet PCs. The competition not ends there, it continues with the other features too. Apple iPhone 4 runs on Apple iOS 4.2.1 (now can be upgraded to iOS 4.3) and Samsung Galaxy S2 runs on Android 2.3 Gingerbread. Apple iPhone 4 is packed with 1.0 GHz Apple A4 processor and 3.5″ capacitive touch, Retina display whereas Galaxy S2 comes with 1.2 GHz dual core Application Processor and 4.3″ WVGA super AMOLED plus touch screen. Samsung Galaxy S2 is better in performance and speed and creates a new benchmark for 3G Smartphones in the world. The excellent hardware features from Samsung complemented with the Android 2.3 features make Galaxy S2 the most attractive Smartphone today.
Galaxy S2(II)
Galaxy S II (or Galaxy S2) is the thinnest phone to date, measuring only 8.49 mm. It’s much faster and gives better viewing experience than its predecessor Galaxy S. Galaxy S II is packed with 4.3″ WVGA Super AMOLED plus touch screen, Exynos chipset with 1.2 GHz dual core Cortex A9 CPU and ARM Mali-400 MP GPU, 8 megapixels camera with LED flash, touch focus and [email protected] HD video recording, 2 megapixels front facing camera for video calling, 1GB RAM, 16 GB internal memory expandable with microSD card, Bluetooth 3.0 support, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, HDMI out, DLNA certified, Adobe Flash Player 10.1, mobile hotspot capability and runs Android’s latest OS Android 2.3.3 (Gingerbread).
The super AMOLED plus display is highly responsive and has a better viewing angle than its predecessor. The display is very bright with vivid colours and readable under direct sunlight. It also consume less power so it can conserve battery power. Samsung also introduces a new personalizable UX on Galaxy S2 which has a magazine style layout that selects the contents used most and displays on the homescreen. The live contents can be personalized. And the web browsing also improved to optimize Android 2.3 fully and you get a seamless browsing experience with Adobe Flash Player. The 1.2 GHz dual core processor with multi core GPU delivers high performance, excellent browsing experience with fast web page loading and smooth multi tasking.
Galaxy S II has access to Android Market and Google Mobile Applications, most of which are already integrated to the system. The additonal applications include Kies 2.0, Kies Air, AllShare, Voice Recognition & Voice Translation, NFC (Near Field Communication) and the native Social, Music and Games hub from Samsung. Game hub offers 12 social network games and 13 premium games including Gameloft’s Let Golf 2 and Real Football 2011.
Samsung in addtion to providing entertainment has more to offer the businesses. The entreprise solutions include Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync, On Device Encryption, Cisco’s AnyConnect VPN, MDM (Mobile Device Management) and Cisco WebEx.
iPhone 4
Though Apple iPhone 4 created a hype with its stylish design and excellent features at it’s release in mid 2010, now many other smartphone makers have come with innovative design and better features. Anyhow, the passion for iPhone has not subdued.
The iPhone 4 is one of the slimmest smartphone (Galaxy S II has beaten iPhone’s record). It boasts about its 3.5 inches LED backlit Retina display with higher resolution of 960×640 pixels, 512 MB eDRAM, internal memory options of 16 or 32 GB and dual camera, 5 megapixel 5x digital zoom rear camera with LED flash and 0.3 megapixel camera for video calling. The remarkable feature of the iPhone devices is the operating system iOS 4.2.1 and the Safari web browser. It is now upgradeable to iOS 4.3 that has included many new features, one such is the hotspot capability. The new iOS will be big boost to iPhones.
The very fact that new smartphones are being compared with Apple iPhone 4 that was launched in the middle of 2010 speaks volumes of the abilities of this amazing smartphone by Apple. It is a tribute to the innovative designing and outstanding features of iPhone 4. The 3.5 inches display in iPhone4 is not huge but comfortable enough to read everything because it is extremely bright with a resolution of 960 x 640 pixels. The touchscreen is highly sensitive and scratch resistant. The phone works very smoothly with a fast processor that is 1GHz Apple A4. The operating system is iOS 4 that is considered to be the best in the business. Web browsing on Safari is a pleasant experience and the user has the liberty to download thousands of apps from Apple’s app store. Emailing is fun with this smartphone as there is a full QWERTY virtual keyboard for fast typing. iPhone 4 is Facebook compatible to stay connected with friends with a single touch.
The smartphone is available in black and white colors in candy bar form. It has dimensions of 15.2 x 48.6 x 9.3 mm and weighs just 137g. For connectivity, there is Bluetooth v2.1+EDR and the phone has Wi-Fi 802.1b/g/n at 2.4 GHz. iPhone 4s front and back glass design though acclaimed for its beauty had criticism of cracking when dropped. To overcome the criticism of display fragility, Apple has given a solution with vibrant color bumpers. It comes in six colors: white, black, blue, green, orange or pink.
The additional feature in the CDMA iPhone 4 compared to GSM iPhone 4 is the mobile hotspot capability, where you can connect up to 5 Wi-Fi enabled devices. This feature is now available in GSM model too with the upgrade to iOS 4.3. iPhone 4 CDMA model is available in US with Verizon for $200 (16 GB) and $ 300 (32 GB) on new 2 year contract. And a data plan is also required for web based applications. The data plan starts at $20 monthly access (2GB allowance).
Differentiator | Samsung Galaxy S2 (Galaxy S II) | Apple iPhone 4 |
Design | Larger display (4.3″), 8MP camera | 3.5″ Retina display, 5MP camera |
Performance: | ||
Processor Speed | Higher speed processor (1.2GHz Dual Core), more efficient GPU | 1GHz Apple A4 |
Main Memory | 1GB | 512MB |
Operating System | Android 2.3 with TouchWiz 4.0 | Apple iOS 4.2.1 |
Application | Android Market, Samsung Apps | Apple Store, iTune |
Network | HSPA+, HSUPA | UMTS, HSDPA, HSUPA |
Price | £550 (Approximate) | £499 (16GB); £599 (32GB) (Approximate) |
Samsung Galaxy S2(II) – User Experiences
Samsung Galaxy SII(2) – Demo