Comparision between iPhone 5 vs Samsung Galaxy S4 vs Sony Xperia Z
The smartphone showdown doesn't get any bigger than this. Here, we compare the best of the best - The latest phones from Apple, Samsung and Sony are broken down to their last detail so that you can judge who the real winner is.
The fiercest battle in the Smartphone industry is destined to prevail in the premium segment. The flagship phones from the three bitter rivals; Apple, Samsung and Sony in the form of iPhone 5, Galaxy S4 and Xperia Z respectively are in for a triple threat match which ultimately decides the spotlight staler among the hi-ends. All the above three vendors have been working their socks off to incorporate the latest innovations to ensure they are providing the best user experience available. Finally all the three have hit the shelves at different times. Let's see how they fared when locked horns against each other.Design
All the three phones have a different approach when it comes to design. The Galaxy S4 shows up with the old school Samsung looks with polycarbonate body that feels kind of cheap in your hands. It is light weight though. But the weightlessness is not enough to forgive the cheap look. The Xperia Z also can be mentioned in the same bracket as the Galaxy S4 regarding the design. Again it's plastic and cannot justify the price tag with its design. But for a dust-proof and waterproof phone you can't argue for much more. Apple has adopted an industrious look for their flagship phone that has the most striking design between the three and is slim and nice to hold.Display
The Samsung Galaxy S4 as well as the Sony Xperia Z sport a 5 inch display as compared to the 4 inch playground of the iPhone 5. The super AMOLED full-HD screen of S4 is impressive with vibrant colors and offers good contrast. Despite boasting of Mobile BRAVIA Engine 2 tech, the Xperia Z seems pretty ordinary which has a TFT capacitive touch screen. The iPhone 5 carries an IPS LCD screen. We can conclude that Galaxy S4 is the worthy winner in this department.Performance
The Samsung Galaxy S4 features quad-core Cortex-A15 processor ticking at 1.6GHz with 2GB RAM while the Xperia Z is powered by Quad-core 1.5GHz Krait processor and 2GB RAM. The iPhone 5 arrives with fewer bells and whistles featuring Apple A6 1.3 GHz dual-core processor and a mediocre 1GB RAM. Having mentioned the specs we must bear in mind that the performance is ultimately down to the users and their real life experiences. In this regard iPhone 5 can give a run for your money when pitted against the other two.Storage
The Galaxy S4 is available with 16/32/64 GB storage and for those who dare for more the memory can be extended with micro-SD card slot up to 64GB.The extension feature is the same for the Xperia Z albeit having internal memory 16GB only. Like any other iPhone, the new version also lacks a memory card slot and can stack up to 16/32/64 GB at the expense of your pocket. Theoretically S4 wins here but who needs more than 64 GB of data in his Smartphone in the first place?Camera
The flagship phone of Samsung features a 13MP camera with LED flash at the rear side and a 2.0 MP piece at the front whereas the Xperia Z carries a rear snapper with 13.1 MP and a 2.1 MP one at the front. Again iPhone offers no competition to the other two with rear and front cameras of 8 MP with LED flash and 1.2 MP respectively. All the three Smartphones offer 1080p video recording .Judging by the performance; we can see that the Xperia Z, like other Sony handsets offers quality pics. Here Samsung takes the second place and the iPhone 5 drops to the bottom.OS and UI
The OS is what separates a good Smartphone from the great. The Galaxy S4 runs on Android v4.2.2 Jelly Bean with Samsung's very own Touchwiz interface. The Xperia Z also features android but a slightly older version, 4.1.2 Jelly Bean with Sony skin which has a planned upgrade to 4.2.2. The iPhone 5 is in a different league altogether featuring iOS6 which is exclusive to Apple. A comparison between iOS6 and Jelly Bean is down to the users as the former upholds simplicity and the latter is all about customizability. We can say that Galaxy S4 has a better OS than the Xperia Z as its upgrade is not available yet. Having said that the Xperia Z is skinned with a superior UI than Samsung as the former is more simplistic and smooth. So we don't have a clear winner.Connectivity
Both the Galaxy S4 and Xperia Z have the connectivity options like MHL MicroUSB port, MicroSD slot, Bluetooth , NFC 4.0 and Wi-Fi and of course 4G.So we have a lot of choices both wired and wireless. For those who complain about the lack of a dedicated video output, both phones are MHL-compliant means you can hook them up to your TV provided you have the suitable adapter. As always, Apple is not a big fan of connectivity as we can see in the iPhone 5 also. Apart from Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, we haven't too many choices. So it's a tie between the first two and the iPhone 5 misses out.Battery
The Galaxy S4 offers a lot of juice with the Li-Ion 2600 mAh battery. The Xperia Z is not too far behind with the Non-removable Li-Ion 2330 mAh battery but the iPhone 5 comes short with Li-Po 1440 mAh battery but it does last longer than what we really imagine. Here also the Galaxy S4 is the winner by miles.App availability
It's an open battle between the Playstore and the Appstore and for the time being it seems like the Appstore is more robust and has more variety. But in the near future we can expect Google to topple down Apple.Price
It's imperative that flagship phones carry hefty price tags. The Galaxy S4 is priced at Rs 41,500.the iPhone 5 is the costliest with a price tag of Rs 43,000 and the cheapest among the group is the Xperia Z at Rs 38,000. From our experience, we can predict that the price of Galaxy S4 is sure to diminish at a faster rate than others. By the look of things, we may say that Samsung offers the best value for money. Market reviews
Samsung Galaxy S4 fared well in its usual pockets as does the iPhone 5. Meanwhile Xperia Z caused a mixed response. But the lack of a breakthrough feature was not received well in Apple's circles. So if you think that Samsung has a little advantage, you may be right.Verdict and Review
When we take all the minuscule features and details for analysis, the Galaxy S4 may be the winner. But no one can deny the fact that an iPhone is always an iPhone. you may feel like the special one if you own one. Nobody will go crazy if the launch of a new flagship phone is due next week or so bar iPhones. We know that the iPhone 5 is the best iPhone yet and everybody loves it. Period. For adventurous people who spend most of their time outside, the Xperia Z may be a good choice as it may last longer in their hands.
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