Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Mobile

Galaxy S4 vs. iPhone 5: Spec Comparison

Joshua Sherman
By
comparison-iphone-s4
Image used with permission by copyright holder

The Galaxy S4 has been announced by Samsung, and with it comes a slimmer and lighter design alongside powerful hardware including an impressive eight-core processor. Samsung is certainly basking in the glory of its highly anticipated launch, and is already probably doing a victory dance against Apple, but the question remains to see just how the Galaxy S4 stacks up to Apple’s own heavyweight, the iPhone 5. The Galaxy S4 is certainly the newest player on the block, and the iPhone 5 is already beginning to seem a tad dusty with six months under its belt, but let’s let the numbers do the talking for this one.

(Be sure to check out our other GS4 spec comparisons including the Galaxy S4 vs. Galaxy S3 and Galaxy S4 vs HTC One. We’ve also got a full Galaxy S4 hands on with videos and pics galore. Finally, if you want a full rundown of features and information, check out our GS4: Everything You Need To Know.)

Recommended Videos
 

Galaxy S4

galaxys4
Image used with permission by copyright holder

iPhone 5

iphone
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Price
 TBA $200
Availability

TBA

 AT&T, Sprint, Verizon, Cricket
OS Android 4.2.2 Touchwiz UX/US iSO 6.1.2
Processor Exynos 5 (Eight-core) Dual-core A6X
RAM 2GB 1GB
Display 5-inch Super AMOLED 4.0-inch Retina Display
Resolution 1920×1080 pixels 1136×640 pixels
Dimensions (WxDxH) 5.38″ x 2.78″ x 0.34″ 4.87″ x 2.3″ x 0.3″
Weight 4.60 oz 3.95 oz
4G LTE Yes Yes
NFC Yes No
Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n  802.11 b/g/n 
Rear-facing camera 13 megapixels 8 megapixels
Front-facing camera 2 megapixels 1.2 megapixels
Video capabilities 1080p recording 1080p recording
Internal storage 16/32/64GB 16/32/64GB
SD card slot Yes (up to 64GB) No
Max. battery life 2600 mAh 1440 mAh
Related

The bottom line: Let’s face it, unless you’re a really big fan of iOS, or you hate big screens, the iPhone 5 and its hardware just doesn’t hold a candle to the hardware pumped into the new Samsung Galaxy S4. With an eight-core processor, bigger battery, and bigger screen, you almost feel like the Samsung Galaxy S4 is cheating in comparison to the mere 4-inch screen and dual-core processor in the iPhone 5. While Apple may, at the very least, catch up with a quad-core processor come July or August with its iPhone 5S, it’s still not going to cut it for the Apple handheld. While a bit heavier than the iPhone 5 and with a inch more of real estate, the Galaxy S4 just wins in every category, hands down.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Joshua Sherman
Joshua Sherman
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Joshua Sherman is a contributor for Digital Trends who writes about all things mobile from Apple to Zynga. Josh pulls his…
iPhone SE 4: news, rumored price, release date, and more
The Apple iPhone SE (2022) and Apple iPhone SE (2020) together.

While the spotlight always seems to be on Apple’s mainline iPhones, the iPhone SE is a great pick for those who are on a budget. If you want an iPhone that doesn't break the bank, the SE is the way to go.

The original iPhone SE came out in 2016, and then Apple revamped it in 2020 and 2022 by giving it some more modern hardware. The iPhone SE tends to get updated every two or so years rather than annually like the traditional iPhone. This means  that we should see a new iPhone SE 4 this year, but it’s not so cut-and-dried with this particular model.

Read more
3 reasons why I’ll actually use Anker’s new iPhone power bank
A person holding the Anker MagGo Power Bank.

Power banks are a necessary evil, and even if you don’t consider yourself a “power user” who's likely to drain a phone’s battery in less than a day, there will be times when one comes in handy. And when I am forced to carry one, I want it to be as helpful and versatile as possible.

I’ve been trying Anker’s MagGo Power Bank 10K -- meaning it has a 10,000mAh cell inside it -- and there are three reasons why I'm OK with it taking up valuable space in my bag.
It has a screen on it

Read more
Here’s how Apple could change your iPhone forever
An iPhone 15 Pro Max laying on its back, showing its home screen.

Over the past few months, Apple has released a steady stream of research papers detailing its work with generative AI. So far, Apple has been tight-lipped about what exactly is cooking in its research labs, while rumors circulate that Apple is in talks with Google to license its Gemini AI for iPhones.

But there have been a couple of teasers of what we can expect. In February, an Apple research paper detailed an open-source model called MLLM-Guided Image Editing (MGIE) that is capable of media editing using natural language instructions from users. Now, another research paper on Ferret UI has sent the AI community into a frenzy.

Read more