iPhone 5S VS Galaxy S4: How The New iPhone Compares To Samsung’s Best

The iPhone 5S vs Galaxy S4 grudge match is upon us with the looming September 20 iPhone 5S release date.

As previously reported by The Inquisitr, the 2013 Apple Launch Event featured the iPhone 5S, which we reported on live.

We’ve compared the iPhone 5S to the original iPhone 5 to see what the major differences are. Anything not mentioned for the the iPhone 5S release date will probably be available with the future Apple iPhone 6 according to rumors. The iPhone 5S release date isn’t even here yet people are already worrying about Apple iPhone 5S Touch ID fingerprint scanner hacking.

iPhone 5S vs Galaxy S4: Fight!

Unfortunately, the iPhone 5S, Galaxy S4 matchup almost seems unfair to Apple. Because the Samsung Galaxy S4 is such a big boy it features a 2600 mAh battery while the iPhone 5S is stuck with the same battery life as the iPhone 5. It’s like sticking a 3.95 ounce welterweight in the ring with a 4.6 ounce heavyweight even though they’re about the same thinness (0.3 inches vs 0.31).

But that’s because the iPhone 5S screen size is the same 4 inches from the original iPhone 5. The Galaxy S4 features a 5 inch display. The iPhone 5S screen resolution is 640 x 1136, which gives it a Pixel Per Inch (PPI) of 326 while the Galaxy S4 boasts a full 1080 x 1920 HD resolution resulting in a 441 PPI.

This is not as bad as it sounds, though. The 1080 HD resolution featured in the Galaxy S4 is overkill for a screen that small. When you look at your smartphone the “apparent” visual clarity is largely determined by the size of the screen, the screen resolution, and the distance between the display and your eyes. Even 20/20 vision cannot resolve sharpness above 229 pixels per inch according to scientists, so even a six inch screen with a 1080 by 1920 resolution has a 367 ppi which is way beyond what is necessary for a smartphone. Apple played the smart move by matching the iPhone 5S screen size to a resolution that is actually needed.

iPhone 5S A7 CPU: Two Cores Too Little?

Next up in the iPhone 5S vs Galaxy S4 fight is the CPU. The 64 bit iPhone 5S A7 CPU has dual cores and is fighting against the Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 quad core.

Apple boasts it’s the first 64 bit smartphone CPU, which is true, but since both competitors feature less than 4GB of memory the point is moot. Apple hasn’t said how much memory the iPhone 5S will have but it’s likely to match the Galaxy S4’s 2GB. (By the way, this type of memory is used by the CPU. Both smartphones will max out at 64GB of internal memory storage.) Never mind, 99.99 percent of iPhone apps are all compiled for 32 bit and this will change slowly since only the iPhone 5S supports 64 bit apps.

At the same time, the four cores of the Snapdragon don’t have much teeth when it comes to current smartphone apps. Most iOS and Android apps tend to be optimized for single thread, single core code. Video processing and high end 3D games like Infinity Blade 3 can and will use multiple cores but in general most apps and games tend to be single threaded.

This writer personally uses an Android phone with multiple cores and when I’ve analyzed CPU usage history often times the second through fourth cores are either running at reduced clock speeds or are shut off entirely from lack of usage. In general, the primary core will handle whatever app is running on screen and the other cores will handle background processes. Because of these realities, it’s possible Apple chose to focus on optimizing single threaded CPU performance with the A7.

The iPhone 5S System On a Chip (SoC) design includes a graphics processing unit. Not much is known about the iPhone 5S GPU other than Apple claiming it’s much faster. Epic Games showed off Infinity Blade as an example of the new graphics processing power of the iPhone 5S, with the graphics appearing to be on par with the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. But no modern mobile GPU can touch the Xbox One or PlayStation 4 hardware. As far as I’m aware, the Nvidia Tegra 4 is the fastest mobile GPU available now.

iPhone 5S Camera: Putting On A Pretty Face

In general, smartphone cameras tend to be used for selfies and people in Walmart. The iPhone 5S and Galaxy S4 camera apps are about on par when it comes to features. The iPhone 5S camera is 8 megapixels but supposedly features a larger image sensor than the Galaxy S4. So it’s possible the Galaxy S4 camera’s 13 megapixels won’t help it much.Both the Galaxy S4 and iPhone 5S video recording is capable of 1080p.

The iPhone 5S FaceTime HD front facing camera is capable of 720p and provides better low light support. The iPhone 5S front facing camera was rumored to have a front facing flash but apparently the final version does not. This is important if you like to video chat or take tons of selfies.

iPhone 5S vs Galaxy S4: The Minor Jabs

The Galaxy S4 has multiple features the iPhone 5S is flat out missing the punch with. There is no Near Field Communications (NFC), microSD slot, and wireless AC WiFi isn’t in the checklist. Apple can be excused for not including NFC since most retailers haven’t implemented it for purchasing yet, but wireless AC is the latest 802.11 standard and has been out for quite a while now. Still, wireless routers that use AC will provide connections at N and G speeds for years to come. And the iPhone 5S supports more LTE bands than any other smartphone in the world.

Of course, no other smartphone can boast the extra security of the iPhone 5S fingerprint scanner called the Touch ID. This feature also controls access to iTunes, so it could potentially prevent children from going on a shopping spree with your iPhone 5S. But the iPhone 5S fingerprint scanner is hardly a knockout blow in favor of Apple.

Who do you think wins the Apple iPhone 5S vs Galaxy S4 matchup?