So, the iPhone 4S, the latest and greatest Apple phone is finally here… and it doesn’t really do most of the things that everyone has been expecting it to! Sure, it has a faster processor and a bigger camera, but overall things have not changed a bit – the software features can easily run on the older generations of the iPhone without problems, and Apple is actually going to disable the Siri app on all the iPhone 3and 4’s out there on October 15th, just because it is now a selling point of the iPhone 4S. Not cool at all, Apple.
Meanwhile, in the Android world, by far the most widely recognized flagship device is the Galaxy S2 from Samsung – it’s extremely fast, has a beautiful exterior and an amazing display, plus of course all the features you will ever need. If you’re interested in how these two devices stack up against each other, then read on!
First of all, I’m not saying that the iPhone 4S is a bad phone – it is actually a great phone, but it brings nothing really new to the table and the design remains unchanged from the iPhone 4. I’m sure many people will upgrade anyway, however a lot of them might just want to stick with the previous model until the iPhone 5 comes along (and it will, next year). The Galaxy S2 looks like no other Android phone before it – it’s stylish, super slim (8.5 mm, compared to the iPhone 4S’ 9.3 mm), has a display on the front and yet fits nicely in your hand and it can do almost anything you can think of, from big tasks to small.
The 4.3 inch (or even 4.5 on the Epic 4G Touch) Super AMOLED Plus display looks just amazing, and even at the standard 800×480 pixels resolution, it better than the iPhone 4S’ 960×640 pixels 3.5 inch unit, which is still quite a performer itself.
Samsung’s own Exynos chipset that powers the Galaxy S2 (well, most versions at least) is faster than most other ARM Cortex clones out there, including Apple’s A5, although the graphics performance should be at the same level thanks to the new PowerVR SGX graphics adapter, which has two cores as well, and makes the iPhone 4S as fast as the Galaxy S2 in any games and 3D applications.
The Samsung Gamaxy S2 has a few of other things going on for it, including a full gigabyte of RAM, which allows it to run any kinds of intensive apps without problems, and run multiple apps and services at the same time without lagging or slowing down over time, like most phones do. There’s also the micro SD card slot, support for DLNA and support for HSPA+ speeds of up to 21 Mbps download (only 14.4 Mbps on the iPhone 4S). That may not be enough to sway an Apple fan’s decision, but it certainly shows that the company is just playing catch up to the current generation of phones with the iPhone 4S, and the situation is different than it was with the 3GS, which was faster and better than the competition when it was released, despite having the same design as the iPhone 3G.
Apple has already confirmed that the iPhone 5 will be coming next year (that’s right after announcing the iPhone 4S), but I think it would’ve been better for everyone if they released it now – it would’ve ascertained the position of Apple as a top manufacturer and made the competitors work harder at creating even more amazing phones. If you’re just getting a smartphone, or your contract is up, the new iPhone is not the only best choice anymore.
If you’re willing to accept a different OS, the Galaxy S2 can be a much better phone for the money – I know I work so much better on a 4 inch display than on a 3.5 inch – I don’t know why, it’s probably my minimum size, so switching from the iPhone 3G to a Droid and later G2X was the best thing I’ve ever done.
6 Comments
iphone 4s vs galaxy s2 – seems to be a tough choice!! but not really when you know what you want from your phone. After doing research for more than 1 month and experiencing various androids hand on my 2 cents are – Both these phones are capable of doing 95% of what most of the guys want thses phones to do. But what turn the game towards iphone 4s for me is –
1. Better sound quality (No doubt).
2. Arguably better image quality (even if you think image quality os at par, then do yourself a favour, hold both the phones in hand and try taking snaps. Physical button on iphone is a BIG plus for me.)
3. Shot to shot time while taking snaps (no comparison, iphone is a clear winner, its super fast).
4. Premium feel
5. I found screen of s2 over saturated.
Screen size is a big advantage of s2 but iphone’s 3.5″ looks small only when you keep them side by side and do comparison. Its good enough for watching you tube videos.
So, better music, better image quality & premium feel made me go for iphone 4s.
Trust me you wont regret.
Enjoy
ahaha come on…stop b.s. ..over saturated screen?? apple fan boy. sound quality is NOT better on the iphone 4s (tested many times)..
premium feel? really? thats why it looses it drop test due to being so premium….music is better on SGS2
overall convenience of not using crappy itunes and being able to copy/paste files….
image quality is worse on your crappy iphone…
Lol…it’s funny how people say the 3.5″ screen is good enough and 4.3″ or up is stupid. If the 4s came with a 4.3″ and the Samsung with smaller screen they’ll be bragging about their screen sizes. The 4s is a great phone no doubt but please it’s nothing compared to the SGS2. I gave my 4s to my girlfriend and bought the Skyrocket and even her said that the Iphone experience is getting boring and dated and now she wants to sell the 4s and get the white skyrocket. When I hold my Skyrocket I feel the same “premium feel” so how would that be an advantage to the Iphone. The whole “easy to use thing” with the Iphone is nice at first but in 2 years that you’re locked in contract it gets really boring. With Android there’s just so much to do. It can be from custom roms, kernels, or mods. Everyday developers come up with something new. My friend is right when he said “Once you try Android you won’t come back to iOS”.
Funny how both sides are defending their devices, you call people an apple fan boy where in fact you are one of android fanboy too!… haha terrible!
This is why you jailbreak your iphone 🙂
cant trust someone who accepts “good enough” for their video watching…..good luck with your crapple…. fyi iphone is only as good as the samsung processor running it….