Mobile Grudge Match - Samsung Galaxy S II vs Apple iPhone 4

The mobile phone segment is bursting at the seams with sophisticated, smarter and faster handsets, at this very moment. Choices are getting harder and harder to make as the competition is heating up. But, even with all of the Android goodies making their way out from the likes of LG, Samsung and HTC, Apple’s good old iPhone is still somewhere at the top of the list. With that in mind, we recently reviewed Samsung’s latest and possibly greatest offering, i.e. the Galaxy S II and while it definitely impressed us, the “big” Apple still manages to loom over the little Green robot to quite an extent and queries have been flowing in with regards to making choices. So those of you with deep pockets looking for the ultimate powerhouse smartphone and tossing between the iPhone 4 and the Galaxy S II, we pitted them against each other and here are our findings.

Samsung Galaxy S II – Rs. 30,500 (16GB)
Let’s forget about the fact that, as of now, the Galaxy S II is the slimmest Android phone in the market with a large display sporting the all new Super AMOLED Plus visual enhancement. Let’s also leave aside the fact that the S II is super light weight at just 116 grams. The Galaxy S II is designed and built for ease of use with high end components packed into this sleek body and that includes a Dual-core 1.2GHz ARM Cortex-A9 processor with a GPU to boot.

Super slim and sleek

Samsung’s TouchWiz UI version 4.0 has also undergone a few UI changes adding kinetic scrolling, tilt zoom etc. With support for full HD i.e. 1080 video playback with files sporting DivX and Xvid codecs there’s never the need to convert and then transfer data between your PC and handset. The S II even sports 1080p video capture via the 8 Megapixel camera and TV Out in HD via MHL (Media Hi-Def Linking). Speaking of the camera, the S II also offers face and smile detection, as well as an auto-stitch panorama mode amongst its array of features. There’s also support for Wi-Fi Direct and DLNA compliance for hooking the S II up to HDTVs that support the same tech, for media streaming. Another important feature to take into account is USB-on-the-go that was previously limited to just a few Nokia N-series devices.

So all of this in a very decently priced, sleek and comfortable looking device makes the Samsung Galaxy S II, a rather difficult device to avoid when choosing a high-end smartphone. It’s loaded with features and packs in 16 Gigs of internal storage plus support for 32GB more via micro SD cards.

Apple iPhone 4 – Rs. – 34,500 (16GB)
When one looks at the Apple iPhone 4 for the first time, one is easily impressed by its looks alone. The iPhone 4 sports a 3.5-inch Retina Display, the highest resolution in mobiledom today and is housed inside an elegant shell with brushed stainless steel bands at the sides. The phone is basically made up of two glossy panels of aluminosilicate glass. This glass is the same type used in helicopter and train windshields, so we’re talking about serious durability.

However, Apple shows that the iPhone 4’s looks are not just skin deep with it packing a 1 GHz ARM Cortex-A8 processor and an Apple A4 chipset which simply translates into performance and speed that few handsets can equal. The iPhone operates on iOS 4.3 and like all previous versions the operating system is really simple to use. One can get easily immersed in the wide range of apps available in the App Store from games to handy mobile tools. While there may be almost an app for all conceiveable mobile purposes, it's the sheer elegance of the UI that leaves you salivating. Though the iPhone has just a 5 MP camera, it is capable of capturing stunning high quality images and also has 720p HD video recording capabilities with touch focus extending into video capture, as well.

Elegant, refined and what a User Experience

While the cost of the iPhone 4 is somewhat on the pricier side, Apple has seemingly always targeted their phones at a selective audience. With all Apple products, it is more of a way of life than a handset and provides one hell of a mobile phone experience even if it does tend to empty your pockets.

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Verdict
So based on the simple scores and our own in-house testing, we’ve come to the conclusion that the Galaxy S II is definitely the handset you should be investing in. Of course, it also depends largely on personal preference as both these handsets are very capable, but the differences in their user experiences are also big factors and we’ve taken that into account, as well.

As far as smartphones go, the S II offers the best possible mobile phone experience for the price tag it’s attached to. From functionality to ease of use and a plethora of features that are both built-in or downloadable off of the Android Market Place, rest assured, buyers remorse is not a feeling you’ll have to worry about. Sure the iPhone did provide us with the better overall user experience and with apps also looking and feeling more refined the fact is, as it is, the iPhone is still lacking in features. It’s undoubtedly a worthy contender but when it comes to absolute value for money the S II is the handset that wins hands down.

We’d also like to invite all you readers out there to send in your comments and user experiences for either of these handsets. It’ll help those looking to buy either one to make an even more calculated decision. Feel free to leave your thoughts below in our comments section or your can follow the same thread in our discussion board.

Next week we put the HTC Sensation and Galaxy S II through the ringer so stay tuned to this space for another tech2 Mobile Grudge Match.