Today we will put two devices head-to-head in a classic iOS vs Android smartphone battle, and this time the competitors are the shining stars from Apple and Samsung: the iPhone 5s and the Galaxy S5. We’ll analyze various components of both devices, like design, camera and processor, and see if one manages to make it to the top, although this may prove to be difficult because at the end of the day, we are comparing apples and oranges.

© Samsung/Apple/AndroidPIT Design iPhone 5SSamsung Galaxy S5Dimensions123.8 x 58.6 x 7.6142 x 72.5 x 8.1Weight112 g145 gMaterialAluminium and glassPolycarbonate plastic

It seems that Samsung paid no heed to user complaints, staying faithful to plastic as their choice of material. We have our theories on this though. Since it really comes down to a matter of taste, I won’t beat around the bush to admit that I personally am not a fan of the Galaxy S5 design, and must admit, even as an Android fan, that Apple’s choice of material and design is more aesthetic. Both devices are expensive, but at least you feel the worth of your money when holding the iPhone in your hand.

Samsung is faithful to the plastic, yet wanted to change the design slightly and add another type of texture. / © AndroidPIT

Both devices are encompassed by silver frames, although in the case of the iPhone 5S, they’ve used metal and the S5 sticks with silver plastic. One of the biggest differences is that the Samsung Galaxy S5 chassis can be removed, giving users access to the removable battery and slots for the microSD and SIM cards. On the other hand, it has a textured design, which caused me to wonder, at the first moment when our paths crossed, if the design department was on vacation at the time of its production. Harsh yes, but first impressions mean a lot. Many have gone as far as to compare it to a Band-Aid.

Display iPhone 5SSamsung Galaxy S5Dimensions4-inch5.1-inch Resolution1,136 x 640 pixels, 326 ppi1,920 x 1,080 píxeles, 432 ppiMaterialIPS, Retina DisplaySuper AMOLEDThe screen of the S5 is one of the brightest in the market. / © AndroidPIT

While the first paragraph supports the iPhone 5S, this round is where the Samsung Galaxy S5 shows what it can do. The Super AMOLED screen on the S5 is spectacular, not only for its size but also because it offers ridiculously bright and vivid colors. Furthermore, the density of pixels per inch is considerably higher than that of the iPhone 5S (432 ppi vs 326 ppi). Samsung has managed to offer a good screen size, perfect for displaying enough information and enjoy multimedia content on a compact smartphone.

Camera iPhone 5SSamsung Galaxy S5Picture resolution 8 MP/ 1.2 MP16 MP/ 2 MPVideo resolution1080 p4KExtrasDual FlashHDR in real-time, ISOCELLThe iPhone 5S features a dual flash. / © Apple

Samsung is catching up in this area and stocked its new device with double the resolution of the iPhone 5s’ camera sensor. Instead, the Apple device offers an extra which the S5 lacks, being the TrueTone double flash that makes colors in nighttime pictures look much more natural. Meanwhile, Samsung's smartphone offers an ISOCELL camera sensor which produces better color reproduction even when the lighting is bad. You can read all about why the Samsung Galaxy S5 camera is so good.

The South Korean company packed its flagship’s camera once again with numerous modes which are not found on the iPhone 5S, although the latter does offer filters and effects in real time. The S5 on the other hand received a new feature called real-time HDR, which could come in handy for seeing the effects before shooting the pic as well as selective focusing after the fact.

Processor, operating system and interface iPhone 5SSamsung Galaxy  S5ProcessorApple A7 + M7 co-processorQualcomm Snapdragon 801 / Exynos OctaPropertiesDual-core, 64 bit, 1 GB RAMQuad-core, 2.5 GHz / 8 core, 2.1 GHz / 2 GB RAMOSiOS 7Android 4.4.2

The Samsung Galaxy S5 processor is no competition for the 64-bit architecture used for the chipset found in the iPhone 5s. On the other hand, the Apple device has less RAM, which will affect background processes and multitasking.

Like we mentioned earlier in our iPhone 5S and Nexus 5 comparison, the biggest difference is the operating system. Though I don’t want to repeat what I’ve previously written, here’s a brief summary of what is running on either device.

The Galaxy S5 settings menu © AndroidPIT

The Samsung Galaxy S5 comes with Android 4.4.2 right out of the box, the latest Android version you can get. It also has an improved TouchWiz UI design, which is now more modern with two-dimensional icons among some other changes. In fact, the newly adopted aesthetics of the icons are closer to what iOS usually offers. Samsung has revised and improved some of its applications such as S Health and or S Translator. Meanwhile, the iPhone 5s comes with the latest version of its firmware, iOS7 and offers its typical series of software, such as iTunes, iPhoto or applications like Instagram.

On the left, the iOS Control Center, and on the right, the Samsung Quick Settings. / © AndroidPITConnectivity and extras

One of the advantages of the S5 compared to iPhone 5S is the micro SD slot, which allows users to significantly expand the smartphone’s memory. Another difference is the NFC chip. The Samsung Galaxy S5 incorporates it just like most Android handsets and Apple still remains undecided as to whether they would like to add it to future iPhones.

Now lets talk fingerprint scanners: Both devices have this new feature on their home buttons and their uses are the same: to be able to lock and unlock the device more safely. Samsung has added an extra something though, and that is the capability of authenticating PayPal payments or your Samsung account with your thumb.

 iPhone 5SSamsung Galaxy S5ConnectivityLTE, HSPA+, Bluetooth 4.0, WiFi 802.11a/b/g/nHSPA, LTE, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC, Wi-Fi, dual bandwidth 802.11a/b/g/nExtrasTouch IDFingerpring scanner, heart-rate monitor, water-resistant IP67Internal storage16 / 32 / 64 GB16 / 32 GB + micro SDThe iPhone 5s was the first Apple phone to incorporate a fingerprint sensor. / © AppleSamsung has also added a fingerprint scanner in your Home button © AndroidPIT

Another Galaxy S5 bonus is that it is IP67 certified, making it resistant to water and dust. I haven’t been able to test this out yet though.

Battery iPhone 5SSamsung Galaxy S5Capacity1,570 mAh2,800 mAh

Duration (according to the manufacturer):

Standby mode

10 h / 250 h 21 h / 390 h RemovablenoyesFinal verdict

The flagships delivered by Apple and Samsung are quite different, therefore it’s hard to compare the two. If I had to choose one of the two, I would have to go with the Samsung Galaxy S5 because of its immaculate display which immediately caught my attention. However, considering the price for both the Galaxy S5 and iPhone 5s, which is around 850 USD (for an unlocked Sim-Free 64GB iPhone 5s), I can’t imagine I would buy either of them.

What is your opinion? Did Samsung or Apple make a better fingerprint-scanner-packing flagship? Or are you waiting for the HTC One 2014  to come on March 25th?

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