Apple iPhone or Samsung Galaxy S3? Matt Donovan compares the pros and cons of two of the world's most popular smart phones — with entertaining results.
SO, YOU'VE OPENED the new present Santa gave you and are now busily exploring it.
It's a shiny new Apple iPhone, or maybe its strongest rival, the Samsung Galaxy S3.
Well, I've now owned both.I recently dropped my iPhone and smashed the screen. As it was at the end of its contract, it cost me nothing to switch allegiance to the Samsung Galaxy S3.
WOW! What a phone! Big, sexy and easy to use … sort of. What I like most about the S3 is its screen size. I'm blind as a bat and getting worse every day. I can hardly imagine myself with a small screen phone ever again now.
So, what does the S3 do that an iPhone doesn't?
Well, in my opinion, they are both much the same. However, I have to say the Samsung only works perfectly most of the time, while the iPhone works all the time.
You can sync them both with your car bluetooth, use them for all your music needs and both offer hands free functionality. If both phones remember the relevant pass codes they sync automatically every time. However, with the Galaxy my experience has been that every fourth or fifth time you get in the car you have go through the painstaking process of syncing it with your car's bluetooth.
This can get to you after a while, especially if you're an iPhone user who has happily changed over to the "dark side".
The iPhone drops out from time to , but then so does the Galaxy. And both seem to end a call if they think you're prattling on too much, or have washing to hang out .
Why do they bother with such features like Siri and S-Voice? In my experience, they are both useless toys that simply don't work.
The Siri iPhone experience:
Matt Don': Hi Siri! Call John!
Siri: Waiting…
Siri: Waiting…
Siri: Was that call June?
MD: No... John!
Siri: Calling Jason.
Me: [Groan] OK, call Jason then.
Siri: I thought you wanted John?
MD: Bloody hell!
Siri: Now, now. No need for profanity.
Samsung S-Voice while driving:
MD: Call Pete.
S-Voice: Call Kate?
MD: No, Pete.
S-Voice: Calling Kate.
All of a sudden from behind comes the sound of sirens. I pull over. A Revenue Collections Officer, dressed as a member of the Police, approaches.
Officer: Were you talking on your phone?
MD: No.
S-Voice: Liar!
Officer: [Puzzled] What!? Who said that? Were you talking on your phone or not?
MD: No!
S-Voice: Yes, he was.
Bugger!
So, which is the better option?
In my opinion you really can't go wrong either way.
Personally, I like the Samsung Galaxy S3 — mainly because it has a larger screen. I only use it with headphones and utilise its line mic for talking. I don't hold phones up to my ear these days, so phone size doesn't matter in that respect. When it comes to reading emails and such it's much easier on the S3. Not to mention it being great for watching movies or playing music on the go.
Having said that, the iPhone still wins.
It wins, because everything works first time every time. It's easy to use and its features are simple to learn. Sure, the screen is small and the music is all through the iTunes store — but, hey, I already have an iPad (which I also love), a Macbook Air, Time Capsule and everything else Apple. I converted to Apple because it works. No hassles and I don't care how whizzbang other products are because when I buy an Apple product I know what to expect. Quality.
Note: The iPhone was as iPhone 4 and the Siri and S-Voice conversations are purely for comic effect. Neither the author or Independent Australia received any compensation, monetary or otherwise, for the publication of this piece.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Australia License
