Samsung counters iPhone 4S with Galaxy S II comparison chart

http://www.geek.com/articles/mobile/samsung-counters-iphone-4s-with-galaxy-s-ii-comparison-chart-2011105/

by ukdm • 15 years ago

31 63 15 years ago

Wow, is the 4GS on Sprint and Verizon really CDMA 3G? As a previous Sprint customer I was rarely able to crack 1mbps on their 3G network, and my average speeds were around 200 or 300kbps. I have a mere 3G t-mobile HSPA phone now that cracks 4mbps routinely and must average at 2 or 3mbps per second. I don't have battery issues or anything. Its just fast and it works.

3G CDMA is something I had on my windows Treo like 6 years ago. Its incredible how this ancient technology is the standard for millions of new iPhone 4S customers. I feel sorry for the guys signing 2 year contracts on this stuff.

technoslut4• 15 years ago

>I feel sorry for the guys signing 2 year contracts on this stuff.

This comes off as a fanboy response or at least ill-informed. Right now 4G devices drain battery life. It is faster but there are compromises to be made.

One could easily argue that Samsung has a lower res screen and ppi, the A5 is vastly superior to the Enyox and the S II has a rear casing made of plastic.

There are benefits to the S II as well such as a larger screen (if that is your preference), better front camera and removable battery.

I don't think that 4G/HSPA+ is a clear benefit to customers considering that real world speeds aren't what is stated by Apple or Samsung and it it is still not widespread.

ZeroGravitas6• 15 years ago

Why do you think you could easily argue that the A5 is vastly superior to the Exnyos?

lookelsewhere2• 15 years ago

One thing I do wonder about is how the Galaxy S II's cpu matches up with the A5 after an overclock. That's one of the greatest things I love about Android. You have direct control over how fast you want your device to be provided you have a custom firmware installed.

mambodog• 15 years ago

The average person doesn't care about any of this stuff.

jsnk• 15 years ago

You are spot on. Samsung has built a better phone, Apple is better at making people think that they built a better phone.

dhughes4• 15 years ago

Creepy though to see how effective Apple marketing can be.

4.3" screen (the Fusion edit: make that "Infuse" is 4.5") versus 3.5" screen is a massive difference.

Apple pushes Facetime yet Samsung SGII has front camera with 2MP 1920x1080 versus the iPhone at VGA 640x480 (.3MP)

Vlingo is pretty darn good too.

Although Android has to fix stuff like this http://i.imgur.com/mGwxD.jpg

thenduks2• 15 years ago

Except for one item. They've heard of iOS5, want it bad and have no idea what this silly named 'gingerbread' thing is.

For my part, some of their plusses are actually detractors.

Removable battery? Every phone I've had was rickety and ended up with a broken battery cover (I wouldn't consider myself hard on electronics) and a bunch of lint and dust inside the phone. 4+ inch screen? Seems big and it's lower resolution, I prefer higher DPI in a smaller screen that can fit in my pocket without making a big flat bulge. And lastly 4G = battery drain. 3G where I live has great performance and I often use the personal wi-fi hotspot and for regular browsing and email and stuff I have only good things to say.

kyleslattery2• 15 years ago

Also, I've never really understood why a removable battery is necessary. By the time my battery died in a phone, it's always been time to upgrade anyway, so I never replaced it. Also, if you need extra power during the day, an extra battery seems like it would be pretty annoying, because you have to power off the phone to replace it. I'd rather have an external battery pack to recharge the battery, so I can keep using the phone.

smackfu• 15 years ago

I disagree. They care about screen size. That makes people go "wow" when they are in the cell phone store.

Also, not having to pay an extra $100 or $200 for more capacity, although they probably "don't care" in that they just buy the smallest iPhone.

Terretta• 15 years ago

> screen size ... makes people go "wow" when they are in the cell phone store.

Then makes them go "crap" when they're trying to walk and text with one thumb.

bobbles• 15 years ago

Yes because we all know right now that the millions of users of iPhones use them because of the hardware inside. /s

joejohnson• 15 years ago

Also, the Samsung phones come with nice carrier logos on the face. Classy.

sjwright2• 15 years ago

How is it that Apple seem to be the only ones with the balls to say no to carrier logos?

technoslut4• 15 years ago

I'm surprised this has been upvoted so highly considering it's just marketing propaganda with selective data compiled by Samsung.

kumarm• 15 years ago

Isn't entire AAPL event the same though?

technoslut4• 15 years ago

Of course it is. That doesn't mean the stats Apple pushes should make it to the front page of Hacker News either.

jorkos• 15 years ago

I like the 'only app store' part as if that's a bad thing

54mf2• 15 years ago

Also, no mention of the number of available apps. Samsung has more app stores, and far fewer apps.

funkah2• 15 years ago

Ah yes, the good old feature checklist comparison. Because that tells a customer so much about what it's actually like to use the thing they're buying.

Strange how customer-satisfaction rates (or anything of the like) don't show up in these comparison charts -- too squishy, I guess. And really, who cares whether people actually like using this thing? It's got a Super AMOLED Plus display, dangit!

ZeroGravitas6• 15 years ago

Some slides you may have missed from the recent iPhone 4S reveal:

iPhone 4S vs download speeds:

http://regmedia.co.uk/2011/10/04/speeds.jpg

and

iPhone 4S camera response speeds:

http://www.thewwwblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/iphone-...

Apple is all about the specs when it thinks it can win, and when it cant (like the 4G downloads or the classic Altivec bake-offs with Photoshop) it's not beneath cooking up ridiculously misleading nonsense to use for spec-whoring.

wvenable• 15 years ago

Download speeds and camera response speeds aren't really tech specs. It's the difference between the gigahertz of your process vs. how fast you can launch an app. One is a spec, the other is a measurement. One gives the user an idea of what the experience will be.

sjwright2• 15 years ago

I don't disagree with your main point, but camera responsiveness isn't exactly nonsense. For many people, it's possibly one of the most infuriating waits on current smartphones.

funkah2• 15 years ago

You're right, Apple does use specs when they make Apple look good. This is marketing we're talking about, after all. And checklists certainly are helpful when the presence or absence of a particular feature really does matter.

But I just can't see myself as a consumer using a comparison chart like this to decide which one I will actually buy. I don't care if the screen is "Super AMOLED Plus" or "Retina", I care which one looks better.

S_A_P• 15 years ago

So that chart is the same chart as posted in "androidguys" blog. I dont think Samsung would highlight carrier differences as an "advantage". Maybe someone more enlightened than I can tell me if max download speed is a relevant comparison tool. I rarely if ever even approach the maximum 3G limit on my iPhone due to AT&Ts network, and I don't think any phone network has the capacity to truly serve up these max speeds consistently. Maybe Im being cynical here, but I dont know that I would want that much speed since it would just encourage me to hit my bandwidth cap more quickly...

avolcano3• 15 years ago

This is a great example of what's wrong with Android marketing.

Most consumers are not interested in checklists, comparisons, "anything you can do I can do better!" Consumers are interested in apps. Services. Angry Birds. iTunes. Status. Style.

Just look at some of these. "Can be used as HDTV remote control." "microSD slot." "Content Stores."

These don't matter to the average person. They may matter to you or me, sure - I certainly envy a handful of Android features - but they do not matter to most people. And that's the biggest flaw in high-end Android phones, and why they don't take away iOS market share in the high end, only replace dumbphones in the low end.

This, by the way, is why the Droid is the only Android phone brand that has been impressed on the average users. They had the standout commercials, and as weirdly overproduced as they were, it worked far better than the average feature checklist, announcer spouting off stats, or comparison chart.

The whole is greater than the sum of the parts when it comes to smart phones. Comparisons like this miss the big picture.

mberning• 15 years ago

And they never, ever highlight any qualitative differences. Such as 'can actually scroll through pictures and contacts smoothly', 'pinch to zoom doesn't haphazardly move you to a different part of the webpage', etc.

avolcano3• 15 years ago

Exactly! And you know, the newer Android phones I've used are far smoother than they used to be, but you still don't see that in the ads. I think a big deal about the iPhone ads that just show someone using it is that it creates this image of "responsiveness" - something that is especially attractive to those using dumbphones with resistive touchscreens. Android hasn't made any strides in that; manufacturers are too busy spouting off numbers.

juliano_q2• 15 years ago

I agree that this is the problem with this specific article. But I don't think Android in the current state lacks anything to the iPhone. There are zillions of great apps in the Market. The evidence that the Samsung Galaxy S series are selling a lot proves that high-end Android phones are going very well.

fleitz3• 15 years ago

The problem on Android is the unknowns.

You don't know whether your hardware vendor will supply updates. Or whether your carrier and vendor will get in some spat over who knows what. And then when you buy the latest greatest you have to be sure you're picking the popular phone that actually gets apps tested against it, etc, etc, etc. And then what particular carrier installs the least crapware, etc. Does it have the right chip that will have acceleration in the future? Does the battery last 2 hours or 20? How many extra batteries should I buy for my particular Android phone?

Does my iPhone have the right external buttons to make the apps I want to use most productive, etc? Should I get a phone with or without a physical keyboard?

Apple's value prop is primarily that their providing a known commodity, you know the apps are going to work, it's almost impossible to choose the 'wrong' iPhone, and Apple doesn't get into silly spats with carriers about updates. You can definitely put together an Android experience that's on par with Apple but you're rolling the dice unless you wait 6 months to buy the hardware. And then there's the issue of going to the multitude of stores to find out which one has the phone for the cheapest.

DrJokepu• 15 years ago

People are interested in different things. Some people, like me, appreciate the superior design of Apple products. Those people will not buy Samsung products. Some people are interested in apps. Some people are indeed interested in checklists and base their purchasing decisions on them. Samsung is targeting those people with this checklist as they are trying to differentiate themselves and serve a part of the market that is more interested in feature counts than other aspects of a product.

jsavimbi• 15 years ago

You're right. It's not about one being better than the other when compared side-by-side, it's about re-enforcing a particular market segment's belief that their purchasing decision or decision to be was the correct one.

Samsung, or any other same-space competitor is making no allusions about converting hordes of Apple customers based on a chart or infograph; they're reconverting existing customers and trolling for virgins.

td;dr: your wife will put out if you talk about the new girl at the office.

krmmalik• 15 years ago

Not to nitpick but i thought the quote was "The whole is greater than the sum of its parts" ? That would also tie more with what you are saying here, i think ;-)

avolcano3• 15 years ago

Agh, you're right. I shouldn't comment before coffee. Thanks :)

metatronscube• 15 years ago

Unless it runs IOS I don't care about specs like that. Its all about the overall experience, applications and support.

philipDS• 15 years ago

Sorry, but it's not (only) about the hardware. I own an Android phone and I'd trade it for an iPhone any day (no money atm though).

lomegor• 15 years ago

I think this chart is completely wrong. Of course, it's a marketing thing, but anyway. It doesn't even highlight the sections where the iPhone 4S is better.

Either way, I do believe the Galaxy S II is better than the iPhone 4S, and although I think fanbois don't care about these stuff, things such as microSD slot, 4G, weight and price matter to most people; maybe they don't care about the other technical mumbo jumbo.

And, please, Kies SUCKS!

gte910h• 15 years ago

I love how the battery comparison doesn't look at using the internet...

ootachi• 15 years ago

Less space than a nomad. Lame.

fleitz3• 15 years ago

Samsung has done an amazing job porting KDE 2 to a mobile phone.

teilo2• 15 years ago

Speaking as someone who has used both extensively, anyone who says they prefer Samsung's Super AMOLED to Apple's Retina has been paid to say that. Seriously, there is no comparison. Retina is brighter and crisper, and in bright sunlight both are bad.

The only edge AMOLED has is in battery life.

koffiezet2• 15 years ago

The Samsung Galaxy S2's display "pro" is battery life? Does not reflect real-life use then...

Small thing that happened today: a collegue of mine happens to have an S2, and he had to charge his today at 3PM. I gave him a strange look and asked if he had charged him over-night. "Yea sure". Then I asked him what he had done with his phone today, I wanted to compare his usage with mine, which was imo an average use.

This was my iPhone 4's activity up to that point: 1) In the car: connected to the car-kit with Bluetooth, making 1 call of about 5 minutes 2) In the car: connected with a cable to the car-radio playing music for about 40 minuted. Since the car-radio kit was only intended for old iPods, this causes the display to be constant "on" while playing music, and displaying "charging not supported with this accessory". 3) Calling about 30 minutes in the office 4) Sending about 20 texts 5) Receiving about 50 texts (some servers went down and spammed my phone) 6) Playing music using my earbuds for about an hour. 7) Checked twitter and facebook when I got a notification 8) Played one Planets vs Zombies level. 9) Installing Infinity Blade and 5 other smaller app updates from the appstore over WiFi (Infinity blade alone is 500mb+)

My battery level now, about 3,5h after he had to charge his phone: 65%. Now his answer was: 1) a 5 minute call 2) and sending/receiving about 10 texts in total. 3) 5 minutes of checking the news in the browser during lunch. 4) Searching and installing a small app on the Android market and playing with it for a few minutes.

I almost couldn't believe this, so asked him about a carkit? No. Music in car? No. Music at the office? No. He then made it worse by mentioning he had a "battery improvement" app installed, which he claimed helped a lot, and that he had bluetooth and wifi disabled. Certainly the wifi struck me as odd, but he explained he had a 2gb/month data contract, so he didn't really care, and enabled his wifi manually when he thought it was needed.

We both started the day at 100%. Ok, so he did start his day about 1h earlier than me, but still, it should at least make it through the day with that little useage?

So yea, apparently, the AMOLED really helps to improve the battery life...

teilo2• 15 years ago

A screen is not a phone. Why the sarcasm? I think you need to read more carefully. I said the AMOLED screen has an edge over the Retina in battery life - meaning power draw. I didn't say a thing about the phone as a whole.

My iPhone 4 outlasts almost any Android phone you care to name, regardless of screen technology.

54mf2• 15 years ago

What a joke. I could probably poke holes in just about every item they listed, but emphasizing the fact that the Galaxy S II has a larger screen while failing to note that the important metric - DPI - is worse is what really kills me. I guess they must feel awful about how superior iPad 2's screen it to the Tab: it's a whole 3 inches bigger!

iam• 15 years ago

But why do they keep putting in a smaller 800x480 resolution screen?

ZeroGravitas6• 15 years ago

The phone is six months old, the one's they are releasing in the next month don't have that resolution. They have 1280x720 (RGBG pentile) instead.

Samsung counters iPhone 4S with Galaxy S II comparison chart

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