Apple iPhone 4S vs Samsung Galaxy Note

I know that we are going to compare two Smartphones that are still rumoured to be released this year and if we are lucky, we might get a chance to show them off! I have compared iPhone 5 and Galaxy Note on 10 different specifications. This will help us draw our conclusion and since, today is 26 of September 2011, iPhone 5’s specifications are still in rumoured stage. So, we will take whatever we have in our hands and combine that to draw a very close comparison between these two gadgets.

We can take iPhone 4 as our base gadget, which is still top notch in comparison to most gadgets, to calculate what could be inside of iPhone 5. So let us get started, shall we?

1. Processor

iPhone 5 will feature none other than 1 GHz dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 processor, PowerVR SGX543MP2 GPU, Apple A5 chipset.

Galaxy Note features Dual-core 1.4GHz ARM Cortex-A9 processor and Mali-400MP GPU, Exynos chipset.

You may ask, “How can you be so sure?” and I would say, “Experience!”

That is the right thing to say at this point. I take it that though Apple had quite a lot of time to develop a different processor especially for iPhone 5, they could use the same to super charge iPhone 6 because at that moment, iPhone 6 could be competing against super-phones with quad-core processors!

Now, based on the benchmarking video of Samsung Galaxy Note (embedded below), I can safely say that ARM Cortex-A9 processor has what it takes to do multi-tasking on a phone. However, I still don’t believe if hyper-threading is possible in Smartphones at this time. I haven’t even heard of that thing in tablets as of yet. So, let’s leave this section at this because if iPhone 5 is going to feature the same processor that powers iPad 2 right now then I think it would be fairly quick to get things done in comparison to Galaxy Note.

I had a great chance to operate iPad 2 in Ambience Mall, Gurgaon, India, to my heart’s content and Samsung Galaxy Tab 750 (which is basically Galaxy Tab 10.1). Between the two of them, I liked iPad 2 because as I was going through Honey Comb, i.e. Android 3.1, I felt iOS 4 a lot faster than Android 3.0.

So, as of this moment, we can safely deduce the fact that Apple would be releasing iPhone 5 next month with iOS 5.0 in it and it should (can’t be too certain) be faster than before and all in all, faster than Android 2.3, Gingerbread, which is presently the operating system in Galaxy Note.

2. RAM

Don’t worry because I am not going to stretch this section like Processor.

Both phones are likely to have 1 Giga Byte of RAM. In case of Galaxy Note, I am entirely certain because the specifications sheet is out and in case of iPhone 5, I have to be certain because of the trend.

I have always wondered why they never show the type of RAM that is present in these devices. It would be so much better if we could replace the RAM with a better one like we do with laptops and desktops. This can be true for tablets and pads as soon as next year.

As far as RAM consumption is concerned, based on my experience on iPad 2 and Galaxy Tab 750, I can suggest that they perform equally for apps developed by same developers. Like Angry Birds game consumed same amount of memory in both devices and so was the case with Mobo-Video Player while playing HD content.

3. Screen

Fortunately, we have the data regarding pixel density of Galaxy Note and I am sad to say that it doesn’t have quite the punch in comparison to iPhone 4, let alone be better than iPhone 5.

For data hungry geeks, here it is:

Samsung Galaxy Note: 800 x 1280 pixels, 5.3 inches (~285 ppi pixel density)

Apple iPhone 4: 640 x 960 pixels, 3.5 inches (~330 ppi pixel density)

For new comers, it means that more pixels are compressed per inch (pixels per inch). To put it more simply, this would mean, no distortion while playing video content and images. So, Galaxy Note still doesn’t stand a chance against iPhone 5.

iPhone 5 Wins the round!

4. Weight

Apple has always been there with light gadgets. If they could, they would remove gravity from Earth in order to make their devices without any weight whatsoever. But let us be realistic here.

Galaxy Note has a weight of 178 gram, which is pretty heavy if you are not used to it and trust me, nobody is! The weight is gained because of the massive screen and other ‘amazing’ components.

Our experience with Apple will tell us that they will stick with 3.5 – inch screen and if they could make it even lighter, trust me, they would!

iPhone 4 weighs 137 gram (41 gram less) and if you make it even lighter, then I would like to go with 120 gram! Why? Well, based on another experience of mine with Samsung Galaxy S II. It has a big screen (4.3 –inch), has amazing components and is super-super light. It weighs only 119 grams.

Oh and before you start calling me Samsung fan boy, I would like to present you some terrific weight data.

Motorola Defy: 118 gram (3.7 – inch)

Nokia N9: 135 gram (3.9 –inch)

Sony Ericsson: 117 gram (4.2 – inch)

LG Optimus Hub: 123 gram (3.5 – inch)

HTC Raider 4G: 119 gram (4.5 – inch)

Blackberry Torch 9860: 135 gram (3.7 – inch)

5. Disk Space

I know that by as time progresses everything will be coming in very high quality and space consuming. I am talking about everything from videos to mp3s to documents to images, etc. So, let us compare the disk space.

With Galaxy Note, we have two variants with 16 GB and 32 GB. The disk space can be increased by micro-sd card all the way to 32 GB. This will give us a total space of 48 GB and 64 GB, respectively.

With iPhone 5, we are not going to see some amazing thing happening because I have seen what happens with these Smartphones with a lot of data. I don’t know about you but I have filled my iPhone 4 many times with all the data I could get, borrowed one of my friends 32-GB micro-sd card and I had to delete all the extra stuff as soon as possible.

I guess you are catching the drift, aren’t you? The phone became too much slow to believe that I paid Rs.40,000/- for it. I know that these new phones are going to have so much power with new processors but they are not sporting the same specifications with RAM and hard disk.

We are trying to operate the same content that we operate on our high-end laptops and desktops and if we hope that the phone is going to run smooth then it would be just playing stupid. Think about it logically and it will make sense to you.

For me, none of these gadgets wins the round and it is a tie.

6. Camera/Video Capture

A rumour that I heard while searching for iPhone 5 specs, told me that it may have 8 mega pixels camera with auto focus and CMOS sensor. If it is true than Galaxy Note doesn’t stand a chance.

With Note, we already have 8 mega pixels camera with auto focus and LED flash, but without CMOS sensor!

CMOS sensor provides natural look to the images and videos taken. So, if the rumour is true than iPhone 5 wins the round, else Samsung Galaxy Note does, because I have read many reviews about it and thought I don’t trust them completely, I have seen the quality of my Nokia N8 and Galaxy Ace and I can imagine the difference between them.

Also, without a doubt, I have seen the quality of images taken form Galaxy Note and that is the basis of this decision.

7. Video Playback

Both devices are bound to play 1080p content without fail. However, with iPhone 5’s screen (not the size, but the quality); I would have to give iPhone 5 a slight edge. But for me, Galaxy Note will win the round because this one is my personal favourite. I like watching videos on big screen and I had a lot of fun with Samsung Galaxy S II and the difference is not that noticeable to start despising it!

So, hats off to Samsung for giving us an amazing big display but I sincerely hope that it doesn’t turn out like Dell Streak. Galaxy Note wins the round friends.

8. Operating System

This is the biggest downer in case of Galaxy Note because though it is going to be released after the launch of Android 3.1 (Honey Comb), the Smartphone itself has Android 2.3, i.e. Gingerbread. I know it is pretty fast because I am running the same operating system in my Samsung Galaxy Ace (after upgrading it), but will it be enough in comparison to Android 3.1.

Also, we are not comparing Android 2.3 to Android 3.1; we are comparing Android 2.3 with iOS 5.0 that is expected to be released next month on 4^th. I am sure that it will contain several tweaks, features and performance enhancements over Android 2.3.

So, clearly Apple iPhone 5 wins this round.

Benchmarking Videos

Now, let me complete this article by including some benchmarking videos uploaded by various gadget reviewers.

Disclaimer: All rights of videos belong to their respective uploaders on YouTube. They are shared for knowledge and entertainment purpose only.