Iphone 5 vs Samsung Galaxy S3

[Mavecryst]

Hi all. Not sure where this topic belongs, but made the most sense going in here. Anyways, I am now able to purchase either one of these phones, but am having a lot of trouble deciding which one to get. Here's a breakdown of my decision thoughts:

Price is not a problem, both are within budget.
Music is not a problem, I'm not stuck on using iTunes forever and evermore (currently owning an Iphone 3GS).
I don't watch videos.
I'm not particularly fussed about camera specs, I think both are fine so it's not an issue for me.

I'm wondering more about app support vs viewing pleasure. Basically, I'd use my phone to play games/read forums while I go to work. For reading, the s3 obviously wins out. For games however, I'm still under the impression that the iPhone is easier to use and offers the widest range of games. However, then again, I mainly play RPG games which tend to make me feel cramped on the 3GS.

So, sell me the phone of your choice any and all reasonably voiced opinions are welcome!

Edit: Battery life is also not a problem for me. Performance wise, I'm more concerned about general usage; if there's general stuttering/bad lag in one or both the phones it would be great to know from those who have been using them.

[Oogly]

I'm wondering more about app support vs viewing pleasure. Basically, I'd use my phone to play games/read forums while I go to work. For reading, the s3 obviously wins out. For games however, I'm still under the impression that the iPhone is easier to use and offers the widest range of games. However, then again, I mainly play RPG games which tend to make me feel cramped on the 3GS.

Your own words in this paragraph alone make it seem you are more leaning towards the Samsung. If I had the choice myself as you do I would go for the Samsung anyday. I pretty much hate everything Apple stand for (if you knew just how much they try and screw over every other business in the world with their rampant lying and cheating on getting patents that aren't even theirs you'd hate em too) and wouldn't buy any of their products given a choice.

[Deleted]

Well i'd say that s3 win anyday. I only dislike the size of s3, but otherwise it beats apple both in apps and reading.

P.S I work as apple reseller and i have s2 my self xD so you can trust my words.

[mrgibb]

I used to have iPhones earlier but switched to a S3 instead and I'll never return to iPhone again

[Deleted]

I used to have iPhones earlier but switched to a S3 instead and I'll never return to iPhone again

qft

and as an Android and iOS developer....iOS, just burn in hell -.-

[mafao]

S3 would be too big for me personally, but I think for your usage scenario it would be a better choice.

[Legion]

iPhone? Why would you even consider it? The S3 is so much better than the iPhone, it's not even funny. Take the display, for example. Gorilla Glass 2. Afaik, iPhone doesn't even have gorilla glass 1.
Went hiking the other weekend, had my S3 drop on a rock and then into the water. Un-fucking-harmed. I was in awe.

[Jeleh]

S3 hands down, if for nothing else other than the fact apple restrict everything you do to vendor only functions unless you wanna jailbreak it. Funny watching my brothers cry because i'm running pokemon on my phone and other such activities apple wont allow.

[Heksar]

S3.. Has been working perfectly from the day I bought it.. My GF bought Iphone at the same time and she has had a couple problems with it, mostly because of iOS 6.

With S3 you don't have to worry about any stupid restrictions that apple has. Only bad thing about S3 in my opinion that it squeeks because of the plastic back cover, but it's replaceable

[Dieselol]

Well i'd say that s3 win anyday. I only dislike the size of s3, but otherwise it beats apple both in apps and reading.

P.S I work as apple reseller and i have s2 my self xD so you can trust my words.

I work for Google and use an iPhone 5, so I all you are going on is personal preference. If I were you I'd go iPhone 5, it wins most Benchmark test, the App Store still has way more apps and games than Play store and all together for me the iPhone 5 is the better phone at the moment. But as said above, this is my preference because I dont care for huge screens, if I want that I'll use my tablet.

[Tehterokkar]

I work for Google and use an iPhone 5, so I all you are going on is personal preference. If I were you I'd go iPhone 5, it wins most Benchmark test, the App Store still has way more apps and games than Play store and all together for me the iPhone 5 is the better phone at the moment. But as said above, this is my preference because I dont care for huge screens, if I want that I'll use my tablet.

Does your phone have Flash?(Not taking Jailbreak into consideration)
Almost every video in the internet works with Flash, that's why I chose S3 myself.

[Deleted]

Personally I switched from a 3GS to a SG3 (if that's not confusing I don't know what is) about a month ago.

I don't think I'll return to an iPhone at any point. The only "disadvantages" I can think of regarding the S3 (quotation because it entirely depends on your point of view) are that it's a tiny bit too big, although you get used to it eventually, and that the voice control system isn't as sophisticated and quirky as its iPhone counterpart. Also, iOS is more stable than Android. However, on some of the plus sides I'll have to say it's great that you can purchase and install apps from several different services. Competition breeds excellence. You're also much more likely to find a particular app for Android (unless it was specifically made for iOS and iOS only), since there's no policing of "this will be allowed for Android and this will not be allowed for Android" like iTunes Store does. Android also feels slightly faster to me. The ability to replace the default keyboard is awesome (using Swype now, and I actually enjoy typing on the keyboard whereas I hated it on the 3GS). It's also pretty damn easy to use custom roms if you want.

As a final argument I present to you... this:

[himynameisruss]

I've read other threads about this debate and it seems the two main points people make about getting an iPhone 5 over the GS3 is stability and size.

As far as stability goes, I don't know where people get this information. This is my first Android device, and I've never had any issues with apps crashing or general phone instability, especially with my Galaxy SIII. It just seems like they're grasping at straws, to be honest. Especially considering this phone will soon have the new Android OS (Jellybean), this holds no merit.

The other issue, regarding the size, I guess I can understand. However, considering Samsung is coming out with the Galaxy SIII Mini, this point, like the other, becomes null. I can't post any URLs, so just look it up on Google.


That being said, I choose the SIII over an iPhone 5. I enjoy a customizable OS. I don't want to be forced to root or jailbreak my phone just to be able to do what I want.

[Deleted]

As far as stability goes, I don't know where people get this information. This is my first Android device, and I've never had any issues with apps crashing or general phone instability, especially with my Galaxy SIII. It just seems like they're grasping at straws, to be honest. Especially considering this phone will soon have the new Android OS (Jellybean), this holds no merit.

As someone who's used the same phone for a month, I have experienced more instability with it than with my old iPhone 3GS. Since updating to Jelly Bean, one complete phone crash and one app crash. With Ice Cream Sandwich, three phone crashes and four app crashes. Compared with the iPhone 3GS which I used for two and a half years (a little longer, but let's say 2½), with one phone crash and one app crash over that period, I'd say iOS is significantly more stable; however, Android isn't so unstable as to take away from the enjoyment of using it. If you can live with having your phone off for fifteen seconds per week, you're not going to be really troubled by Android.

[Milkshake86]

Anyone complaining about flash support on apple need to read more on flash in general. It is probably one of the sloppiest nastiest codes every created, noone wants to support it anymore. Apple just has the ability to sell products and say NO we will not support flash.

[Deleted]

It's hard to compare Android performance against iOS because the two operating systems are built differently. In my honest opinion, there's no clear winner between these two phones. They both have some excellent features.

In short, you pick the iPhone 5 because...

• The A6 SOC
• iOS
• Design

In short, you don't pick the iPhone 5 because...

• Few new features compared to the 4S
• iOS 6 no huge leap forward
• Maps are horrid
• No expandable storage
• Very locked to Apple's ecosystem

In short, you pick the Galaxy S3 because...

• Larger screen
• Android and its more "open" approch
• Samsung implemented features
• Expandable storage

In short, you don't pick the Galaxy S3 because...

• Larger screen being too large
• Plastic enclosure
• Updates must go through Samsung and not Google

[himynameisruss]

As someone who's used the same phone for a month, I have experienced more instability with it than with my old iPhone 3GS. Since updating to Jelly Bean, one complete phone crash and one app crash. With Ice Cream Sandwich, three phone crashes and four app crashes. Compared with the iPhone 3GS which I used for two and a half years (a little longer, but let's say 2½), with one phone crash and one app crash over that period, I'd say iOS is significantly more stable; however, Android isn't so unstable as to take away from the enjoyment of using it. If you can live with having your phone off for fifteen seconds per week, you're not going to be really troubled by Android.

I understand your experience may be slightly negative, but that doesn't mean everyone's is. I've had my phone for almost a month now with, I believe, 1 application crash. Never had my phone crash, at all.

Can't give my experiences with 4.1 as It hasn't been released for my provider as of yet. We'll see. I'd still take my Android over an iPhone even if it did have an app crash once every two weeks. I can live with that.

[noteworthynerd]

I'm struggling myself with this quandary, although my choices are between the Nokia Lumia 920 (running Windows 8) and the iPhone 5 (I tried the HTC One X and the Samsung Galaxy S III and didn't really like the feel of Android).

Both of the phones I'm considering have excellent specs, so what I'm struggling with is:

• Windows 8 Phone lacks a lot of apps I use, and it is yet to be seen whether or not it will attract enough people to convince developers to develop those apps.
• I've used an iPhone since 2007 meaning all of the apps I've used (and a lot that I've paid for) are all on iOS. I'm also extremely comfortable with the iPhone and iOS, so much so that I prefer the smaller size and locked operating system over the larger size and "unlocked" operating system that the One X or the Galaxy 3 provides. That being said, I really do not like Apple's business practices.

TL;DR: If you can get past Apple's extremely shady (really downright disgusting) business practices that Oogly laid out in their post, then I'd go with the iPhone 5 (especially if you're used to and comfortable with the iPhone).

[Deleted]

iPhone 5, just got one myself, made the switch from my Samsung Galaxy Nexus. I had a 3GS years ago, got bored and switched to Android but I started to miss iOS a bit and now I'm glad I'm back with it.

[WarTV]

i own a iphone 4S
my brother bought the S3 a few months ago
Compared to the 4S the samsung offers more flexibility.I like to watch video's / live streams on the my phone and samsung display beats the iphone display hands down in that department.. there is no comparison.

i will be going for the samsung s4 when it is gets released in the future. the only thing that is holding me right now is the money i spent on apps.