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Apple iPhone 5 is Nice, but Galaxy SIII Remains My Phone of Choice

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Today Apple announced its new iPhone 5 with a slightly larger 4-inch screen that’s only taller and not really bigger in the best ways. The iPhone 5 also offers some other great new features like 4G LTE and of course iOS 6. But that’s not enough to make the iPhone 5 my phone of choice.

While I’m going to get the new phone as a replacement for the iPhone 4S I use as my family line, I’m still going to rely on the Samsung Galaxy SIII (even without a Jelly Bean update) as my daily driver for the most important tasks for a number of reasons. I’m only bothering to upgrade my family line phone because I want to write about it here at GottaBeMobile and it comes with 4G LTE from Verizon, which just hit my neighborhood in June.

So why not use the new Apple wonder as my daily driver?

iphone 5 front and back

iPhone 5 looks like a nice phone but I still prefer the Galaxy S III

Screen’s Not Really Bigger, Not Where It Matters

First, the screen size of the Galaxy SIII whips Apple’s new “bigger” screen. The iPhone 5 boasts a 4-inch screen but going taller and not wider means the display grew but nothing on the screen got bigger. I want a bigger screen so I can read small text and watch video when I need to while on the go. Using the same width means that the iPhone 5 now offers a wide aspect ratio so video gets a bit bigger, but text and images will remain the same size, giving no practical improvement where it matters to me.

iPhone 5 Only Catches Up to Android

Second, most of the new features of the iPhone 5 simply bring the phone up to par with modern Android phones like the Samsung Galaxy S III. Here’s a few examples of how the iPhone 5 and iOS 6 finally catch up with the Samsung Galaxy SIII:

  • 4G LTE – my area got Verizon LTE later than most, but I’ve still been able to connect for months now
  • Turn-by-turn directions and 3D modeling in the maps
  • A replacement for Google Wallet called Passbook
  • Expansion to Siri’s capabilities

maps_navigation_hero

I’ll buy the iPhone 5 and use it. It looks like a great phone. But it won’t replace my daily driver and will sit at home as our family line instead of the phone I carry most for daily use. If I didn’t write about technology, I seriously doubt I’d bother upgrading. Without 4G, I know I wouldn’t upgrade. My colleagues would get to write all the iPhone 5 stories, which they’ll do most of anyway since many plan to upgrade excitedly. Apple will likely sell millions out of the gate, but at what point does their policy of glacially slow innovation start to hurt? For many, I believe that time may come soon. It feels like Apple’s starting to coast. I wish we’d all just hold back for a generation and show Apple that they need to get more creative, kind of like they did when they introduced the iPhone and the iPad.

8 Comments

8 Comments

  1. Jrod

    09/13/2012 at 6:27 am

    You, sir, are an idiot. Have fun with your rootkits and 3 minutes of battery life.

    • ghost of jobs

      09/13/2012 at 7:42 pm

      Geez fanboys get upset quick if you don’t praise their deity unwaiveringly.

  2. JM_66

    09/13/2012 at 6:50 am

    Why is he an idiot? He makes valid points all around, regardless of whether you are able to acknowledge them. Apple is playing catch-up. While Kevin’s area is only just rolling out 4G, my area has had it for a year, with plenty of phones to choose from to take advantage of it. Apple is slow out of the gate on this one. Larger than 4″ screens have been around for more than two years, so again, Apple is slow out of the gate on this one. Google Maps is better and has been for a long time. Apple decided to go their own way, and has a lot of catching up to do. Nokia is the closest when it comes to mapping….so yes, Apple is catching up on this one. It was a mistake to boot google Maps out of their app store. another example of Apple not allowing choice (hmm…didn’t Microsoft lose a legal battle for not giving people a browser choice back in the 90’s?) So Apple added Passbook to compete with Google Wallet, but no NFC? Still playing catch up. We could go on, but the reality is they are catching up when it comes to features. I will give them credit for a faster processor (although nobody has had a chance to test it out and verify benchmarks), but beyond that…this is not what Apple needed to come out with to surpass the features of other current smartphones. I’m sure they will sell a lot based on history and marketing. But that doesn’t mean it’s a better phone or that kevin is an idiot. But your comment was idiotic.

    • Colin

      09/13/2012 at 7:16 am

      well said..

  3. Apple user

    09/13/2012 at 6:57 am

    So everything that you say made Android great , Apple has now added to the IPhone and you say it’s crap ? ( not in those words but close enough ) so then what does that make the Android ? CRAP to ! I like my phone to be updated regularly and in a timely fashion . I was a Android user but always having issues n resets and waiting years to get updates pulled me away . You like what you like and in the end it’s all that matters , regardless of opinions . I’ll stay with Apple and upgrade ASAP .

  4. Geri O

    09/13/2012 at 8:28 am

    Without resorting to name-calling, I disagree with the catching-up angle of the article. Maybe Android had more features, but on the several Android phones I had (including the S3 for a few days before battery life and data-dropping led me to return it for yet another iPhone), a lot of the features and apps seem incomplete and rough around the edges. So what’s the point of more features if they don’t work consistently and reliably (in my experience, of course)?

    So, yeah, pass the apple juice.

    Geri O

  5. Lance Peart

    09/13/2012 at 10:18 pm

    I believe the author was making a couple key and valid points. Apple is playing catch-up these days whereas they used to be the innovator. They have fallen behind the tech curve by about 6 or so months which is a big gap in the tech arena. The other point is the iphone 5 is in no way superior to an android phone like the Galaxy SIII. All the hype and media that Apple is spewing is a disappointment for something less than groundbreaking. It’s like waiting for hours in the park for the fireworks to begin and all you get is a guy on the stage with a wet book of matches and some ladyfingers.

  6. Trent

    09/14/2012 at 11:03 pm

    In spite of Apple’s recent “catch-up” in certain areas they still remain the originator, and the innovator, not the imitator! Lol. There remains an elegance and a beauty in the design of the iPhone, inside and out, that no other phone can touch, and the fact is every other cell phone maker out there is doing there damnedest to develop a phone that will beat the iPhone in sales and customer loyalty. The iPhone remains the high standard by which everything else is measured. Do I LOVE my iPhone? Yes, I do. Do I care if the screen isn’t as big as other phones? Not enough to give up everything it does so well for a couple of things it doesn’t. Yet.

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