Smartphones compared: Apple iPhone 5 vs. Samsung Galaxy S3, Nokia Lumia

September 14, 2012

Stocks, Mutual Funds, Forex, Finance Philippines

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Smartphones compared: Apple iPhone 5 vs. Samsung Galaxy S3, Nokia Lumia The new Apple iPhone 5 is finally here.

The company unveiled yesterday the latest version of its hugely popular smartphone. Most of the features have already been leaked to the public weeks or months ago, but millions of Apple fanboys and upcoming converts were still generally satisfied with the launch.

Apple announced that the new iPhone will be on public sale starting September 21 in nine countries, including the US, UK, Canada, Germany, France, Australia, Japan, Hong Kong, and Singapore. It will be sold in other countries months later.

Before we decide to buy the new iPhone, let’s look at the fact sheet first that compares how the iPhone 5 fares with other smartphones in the market, such as the Samsung Galaxy S3, the Nokia Lumia 920, Samsung ATIV S, and HTC One X.

Apple iPhone 5 vs. Samsung Galaxy S3 vs. Nokia Lumia Here is a useful infographic from Thomson Reuters comparing the Apple iPhone 5 with the smartphones from Samsung, Nokia, and HTC. Based on the following specs, which would you say is better?

Smartphones compared: Apple iPhone 5 vs. Samsung Galaxy S3, Nokia Lumia

iPhone 5: Lighter, Thinner, Bigger, Faster

As promised, the Apple is lighter, thinner, bigger and faster. Weighing only 112 grams, the iPhone 5 is 20% lighter than the iPhone 4S and also lighter than the Galaxy S3 (133 g), Nokia Lumia (185 g), and HTC One X (130 g). It is also thinner — about 18% less bulky than the current iPhone 4S model. With depth of 7.6 mm, the iPhone 5 is also much thinner than the other smartphones. The Galaxy S3, for one, has a depth of 8.6 mm; HTC One X, 8.9 mm; while the Lumia is bulkier at 10.7 mm. The iPhone 5 sports a much bigger screen versus the previous model, but still relatively small compared to the other smartphones.

The iPhone 5 has a brighter 326ppi retina display screen with a 4-inch size. The other phones, however, have larger displays — Samsung Galaxy S3 has a 4.8-in screen; Nokia Lumia has a 4.5-in display; while HTC One X’s screen is sized 4.7-in.

The new iPhone is designed to be “taller, not wider”, according to Apple, so that users will still find typing and scrolling comfortable even with a bigger screen. The bigger display now provides for an additional row of app icons — from four rows in the iPhone 4S to five rows now, plus the usual bottom row of shortcuts.

By carrying 4G LTE technology, the iPhone 5 supposedly provides “ultrafast” wireless communication, enabling faster data download which means users (hopefully) downloading an app in just a matter of seconds.

Where to buy the cheapest iPhone 5?

In the United States, the iPhone 5 is priced at $199 for the 16GB model; $299 for the 32GB model; and $399 for the 64 GB model.

In the UK, the prices are £529 ($855) for 16GB; £599 ($968) for 32GB; and £699 ($1,129) for 64GB, if the unit is bought directly from Apple and is unlocked.

Discounted and subsidized prices vary with the contract plans offered by telco networks. We looked for the cheapest prices of the iPhone 5 in various countries. Read that article to learn where we found it.