Apple’s been having a hard time keeping its secrets under lock and key lately. Pretty much everything that we thought we knew about the iPhone 5S – at least everything that didn’t border on the absurd – came to be true. Maybe the leaks are what inspired Apple’s new fingerprint sensor feature in the iPhone 5S. Regardless of what we thought we knew, we know everything we could possibly want about the iPhone 5S after Apple’s unveiling of the device today. The iPhone 5S manages to differentiate itself from its iPhone brethren. Does it do the same against top phones from other manufacturers? We take a look with a spec showdown.
|
iPhone 5S  |
Galaxy S4  |
HTC One  |
|
| Size | 123.8 x 58.6 x 7.6 (mm) | 136.6 x 69.8 x 7.9 (mm) | 137.4 x 68.2 x 9.3 (mm) |
| Weight | 112g | 130g | 143g |
| Screen | 4.0-inch LCD | 5.0-inch Super AMOLED | 4.7-inch LCD |
| Resolution | 1136×640 pixels | 1080×1920 pixels | 1080×1920 pixels |
| OS | iOS 7 | Android 4.2 with TouchWiz UI | Android 4.1.2 with Sense UI 5 |
| Storage | 16/32/64GB | 16/32/64GB | 32/64GB |
| SD Card Slot | No | Yes | No |
| Processor | 64-bit A7 chip | Quad-core Snapdragon 600 | Quad-core Snapdragon 600 |
| RAM | 1GB | 2GB | 2GB |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi, 4G LTE, HSPA+ | Wi-Fi, 4G LTE, HSPA+ | Wi-Fi, 4G LTE, HSPA+ |
| Camera | Front 1.2MP, Rear 8MP | Front 1.9MP, Rear 13MP | Front 2.1MP, Rear 4UP |
| Bluetooth | Yes, version 4.0 | Yes, version 4.0 | Yes, version 4.0 |
| Motion Processor | M7 chip | MPU-6050 | MPU-3050 |
| Fingerprint sensor | Yes | No | No |
| Battery | 10 hours talk, 250 hours standby | 2600mAh | 2300mAh |
| Charger | Lightning connector | Micro USB | Micro USB |
| Marketplace | Apple App Store | Google Play Store | Google Play Store |
| Ave. Price | $200+ | $200+ | $100+ |
| Availability | Sept. 20 on AT&T, Sprint, Verizon | AT&T, Sprint, T-Mob, Verizon | AT&T, T-Mob, Sprint |
The iPhone 5S offers a slightly different look on the outside than the iPhone 5 did, as it’s now available in three colors: Gold, silver, or “space gray,” which is apparently what Apple calls “black” now. But the real changes come inside the device. It has an all new A7 chip set that is promising nearly twice the performance speed of its predecessor. The A7 also gives the iPhone 64-bit architecture, something entirely new in the world of smartphones. It also has a new motion processor, an improved camera with f/2.2 aperture and “true tone” dual LED flash, and the previously mentioned fingerprint sensor.
Numbers are always a little tough to compare with Apple produces simply because its devices seem to run smooth even though they’re usually behind on the spec sheet, but the A7 chip shoots the iPhone 5S into a whole new category. The Galaxy S4 and HTC One both have computing power and are speedy devices with quad-core processors and additional RAM, but we’ll be interested to see how the dual-core, 64-bit A7 clocks in in comparison to these powerful phones. It will also be interesting to see how iOS 7 manages to make up for some features that may appear lacking, such as NFC, which is present in both the Galaxy S4 and HTC One.
Apple’s offering with the iPhone 5S looks like a phone that should be up to the fight when put up against other competitors. Some benchmarking of its new chipset will go a long way to tell us just how competitive it will be, but Apple has raised the bar on its previous smartphone offerings without raising the price. We suggest getting your hands on the iPhone 5S when it becomes available September 20 and see how you like its performance and the new operating system. If you’re debating between the latest from Apple, Samsung, and HTC, you probably won’t go wrong no matter the decision you make.
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