Iphone 4s vs Samsung Galaxy S3

squizza

squizza

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Good evening everyone

So I'm due a new phone. Except, I haven't upgraded for a couple of years so am a bit confused and behind with all the tech stuff

There's a couple of decent contracts I found, both offering the same contract as I'm on now, but about £15 cheaper! I was well and truly had.

Anyways, I've had enough of paying through the nose, so the options I have are the iPhone 4S or Samsung Galaxy S3.

(I'm not going for the iPhone 5 nor the Samsung Galaxy S4 due to the extra £££)

Any advice/opinions on either much appreciated, particularly on the camera and battery life.

I've read other reviews on it but real life experience of handling these phones can't be beaten.

Kind regards and thanks in advance
 
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without going through the specs of each (and in process of tossing up an iphone 5 v galaxy 4 v sony xperia z) it boils down to do you like itunes and the istore or android etc.

Personally I found it far easier to bung stuff on a sd card and then bung that in the phone compared to faffing around with plugging phones into pc's etc... however wife has an iphone 3Gs and wants a newer iphone (battery not lasting)....

which brings me on to another plus for the samsung............ S2 s4 and note , note II can rip the back off and swap the battery etc if you need to (£20 from a well known internet auction site)

It's horses for courses.. if you are a steve jobs fan then there is one answer, if not fussed the other... i would be more concerned with provider and quality of coverage for where you intend to use it the most..

By the way - hello stranger - not seen you on here for a while!!!
 
Both are good phone, imo the best 2 in that sector of the market.

Quite simply, you will get Samsung owners saying the S3, and people like me saying the iPhone. Much is what you get used to. I have a Samsung Ace work phone and I find the OS pants and so much harder to use, but thats personal preference.

Get the one YOU like the look and feel of the best. Am sure you have friends with both who would let you have a play.
 
Lynton said:
without going through the specs of each (and in process of tossing up an iphone 5 v galaxy 4 v sony xperia z) it boils down to do you like itunes and the istore or android etc.

Personally I found it far easier to bung stuff on a sd card and then bung that in the phone compared to faffing around with plugging phones into pc's etc... however wife has an iphone 3Gs and wants a newer iphone (battery not lasting)....

which brings me on to another plus for the samsung............ S2 s4 and note , note II can rip the back off and swap the battery etc if you need to (£20 from a well known internet auction site)

It's horses for courses.. if you are a steve jobs fan then there is one answer, if not fussed the other... i would be more concerned with provider and quality of coverage for where you intend to use it the most..

By the way - hello stranger - not seen you on here for a while!!!
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Hi Lynton!

Haven't been on here for a while as I kinda went through a faze where I felt like I was going nowhere with the photography so avoided the forums as I felt like my stuff wasn't up to the standard I was seeing and I guess I was winding myself up. Now I'm back to taking pics for me again, and have found my love for it again.

Hope the twins and family are well :)

Regarding the phone....yes I am an Apple fan. I like the build quality of the iPhone - not too impressed by the plasticy feel and build that keeps getting commented on for the S3, so built quality is another factor. Size also, love the look of the S3 but my friend has one and its quite big where as the iPhone suits me for size.

I've heard the camera on the S3 is a cracker though. Which is what's made me undecided.

I'm looking to go onto O2, seems pretty good from what I've heard back from friends etc..
 
I had the same question myself and went for the Samsung :)
the bigger screen is brilliant
I bought a 32GB memory card and was able to put all of my music on it and loads of pictures

I just copied the music albums from itunes on to the phone

my other half wants an iphone tho so am going to get her an iphone 4s:)
 
When my iPhone 4S contract ended I decided on getting a S3. And I wish I could swap back...
 
I went from an iphone to a Galaxy S3, abandoning A.pple was the best decision I ever made ;)

Well, not quite, but the S3 is nice to use, the screen is lovely and it doesn't tie you into the abomination that is itunes (itself the biggest factor in me not getting another iphone).
 
onomatopoeia said:
I went from an iphone to a Galaxy S3, abandoning A.pple was the best decision I ever made ;)

Well, not quite, but the S3 is nice to use, the screen is lovely and it doesn't tie you into the abomination that is itunes (itself the biggest factor in me not getting another iphone).
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You see, I like iTunes and don't see the problem with it. I just use it, it works, end of!
 
S3's build quality leaves a lot to be desired in my experience , my wife has the Xperia z, very nice bit of kit.
Guess my advice would be to research the two models you've listed .:-)
 
iphone 4 is 3 years old next month and suffers from the grip of death
you need to have a bumper on it or keep it in a case to stop it losing its signal when you hold it
what is the cost of the deal you have found as there are some good ones about
i have just got a couple of iphone 5's for my two teenagers
unlimited minutes and txts and 1 gb of data for 36-00 a month
 
cambsno said:
You see, I like iTunes and don't see the problem with it. I just use it, it works, end of!
Click to expand...

Must admit, I'm the same in that regard. I went from an iphone 3GS to an S3 last year, 2 months later, I sold it and got an iphone 4S. The S3 was too big, I found the OS extremely unintuitive and an absolute mess as far as adding/removing content.

terryuk said:
iphone 4 is 3 years old next month and suffers from the grip of death
you need to have a bumper on it or keep it in a case to stop it losing its signal when you hold it
what is the cost of the deal you have found as there are some good ones about
i have just got a couple of iphone 5's for my two teenagers
unlimited minutes and txts and 1 gb of data for 36-00 a month
Click to expand...

Sarah's talking about the 4S which doesn't have the signal issues associated with the 4
 
I have just made the swap from an iPhone 4S to a Galaxy S3 last week. They're both fantastic phones, and as somebody pointed out it really boils down to an iOS vs Android preference.

My main reasons for changing were to move back to Android. I love iOS for it's simplicity and stability, but I do find it very restrictive. I enjoy customisation and tinkering around with things, so that was a major factor because Android allows this much more easily. However, if you want a phone that just 'works' then the iPhone is fantastic. That's not to say Android doesn't work (in fact it's become much more stable and fluid in the year or so that I wasn't using it ) but there is certainly a larger learning curve to get the best out of it.

The larger screen also appealed, but this does make for a much larger handset. I've found myself getting used to it quite quickly, but I am a large man with large man hands, my wife on the other hand thinks the S3 is way too big, and prefers her iPhone.....!

Camera wise I'd say the iPhone is better. The quality of the S3's camera photos and video are brilliant, but the iPhone seems to expose better and is a little snappier esp when photographing in low light. Having said that the iPhone only has limited camera controls (although there are 3rd party camera apps which offer this), where as the S3 has iso, exposure comp, WB etc, straight out of the box.

Battery life is much better on the S3. It still needs a nightly charge, but my iPhone would have often died before I got home (esp on quieter days in work where I was fiddling more on it). The S3, despite the bigger screen, to me anyway, has a much better battery life, and I've yet to have it run out of juice on me.

So yeah, they're both amazing, and whichever you go for you'll love.

Fire me a PM if there's anything you'd want to know that I might be able to help with!
 
I went from iPhone4(hated the battery life) to the S2 (hated the battery life slightly less) to the iPhone5(much better battery life) and now on the Galaxy Note 2 (awesome battery life).

OS wise I like both iOS and Android, they both have +/- so its working out what you cannot live without.

things to think about

get real world tests of battery life
storage
make sure the apps you want/need are available on chosen OS
live widgets
satnav
 
After the 4 and 4s I switched to the Galaxy S3 and haven't looked back to be honest. Some say the build quality is less on the Galaxy but as i'm pretty careful with my stuff it's been of no consequence to me.

I favour Android over iOS as you don't have to be a slave to the manufacturer. Apple were the gurus of style with the innovative iPhone and iPod but it now looks like the tables are turning as Apple now seem to be losing ground to Samsung etc.

For Apple to regain their crown they need to get the wow factor back with a new product as they did with the iPhone/iPod back in the day.
 
Thank you so much everyone for your replies.


I had a play with the Samsung in a phone shop today. Wow it's a big phone. Although it does have an amazing screen.

I also had a play with the iPhone 4S my friend has and it is a nice size, build quality suited my hand better - I found the S3 quite light and it just didn't feel suited to my hand as much as the iPhone.

I agree the iOS system is very restrictive but I've been on a Htc with android and haven't really tweaked anything as I like everything structured an in its place.

But the S3 screen is amazing.

The tariff I found is the same for both phones, however iPhone is £49 upfront cost then £22 per month with 300 mins, unlimited texts, 500mb data....or have I been had again.
 
I went from Android to IOS and think it was the best decision I've made regarding mobile tech, but bought an Android tablet at Christamas (good deal) and I'm still of the same conclusion. Whilst some like the freedom to tinker that Android gives, to me it still feels slightly unfinished - almost final beta software.

However, you need to try both and then decide. You don't even have to use itunes as you can sync to cloud and perform IOS updates without needing itunes.

I also find it much harder to sync my android tablet with my macbook, whereas an iphone was easy with both mac and pcs.

There are aspects of Android I prefer, such as the widgetised home page and hope to see something like this in the next version of IOS.
 
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I've just gone from a s3 to iPhone 5 due to my s3 screen dying, four of the people at work are all having constant problems with crashing and freezing with them.

In regards to battery all depends on how much Internet browsing you do, if you a lot expect a day or less if its occasional you should a few days out of them.

In regards to the camera I much prefer the camera on the iPhone, from my few days use th colours seem more natural whereas the s3 over saturates the pictures to much for my liking.

I've just got a olloclip for mine which will be quite cool when it arrives with its fisheye wide angle and macro lens attachment so that's another option to expand the options on the camera and they can bought on eBay for about £35 I think.
 
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I've just gone from an iPhone 5 to a galaxy S4

The screen on the galaxy is amazing

I haven't got to grips with it yet but so far I'm more impressed with the S4 that I was with the 5

The 4s does everything the 5 does , I wouldn't pay extra for the 5

Is the £22 a month 18 mtths or 2 years
 
squizza said:
The tariff I found is the same for both phones, however iPhone is £49 upfront cost then £22 per month with 300 mins, unlimited texts, 500mb data....or have I been had again.
Click to expand...

Can i ask who that is with - (both shop and carrier), as Mrs S is on a sim only £15 a month (forget the minutes , texts, data etc...) and the extra £7 sounds a good deal!
 
You've lost weight

Will that tariff be enough, you need to check the extra costs if you go over, if you're locked in for 2 years and it's not enough it will get expensive
 
terryuk said:
iphone 4 is 3 years old next month and suffers from the grip of death
you need to have a bumper on it or keep it in a case to stop it losing its signal when you hold it
what is the cost of the deal you have found as there are some good ones about
i have just got a couple of iphone 5's for my two teenagers
unlimited minutes and txts and 1 gb of data for 36-00 a month
Click to expand...

I didn't need a bumper on mine
 
Lynton said:
Can i ask who that is with - (both shop and carrier), as Mrs S is on a sim only £15 a month (forget the minutes , texts, data etc...) and the extra £7 sounds a good deal!
Click to expand...

It's Tesco mobile phone shop. Don't go to Tesco mobile site, go to their actual mobile phone online site. Network is 02.
 
wack61 said:
You've lost weight

Will that tariff be enough, you need to check the extra costs if you go over, if you're locked in for 2 years and it's not enough it will get expensive
Click to expand...

It's what I've been using the past four years on orange and it's enough for what I need tbh.

Were you referring to me regarding the weight? If so, yes I've lost 3 stone 8 so far. If not, ignore this comment :D
 
squizza said:
The tariff I found is the same for both phones, however iPhone is £49 upfront cost then £22 per month with 300 mins, unlimited texts, 500mb data....or have I been had again.
Click to expand...

No that sounds reasonable if its a 4S. I got a 4S a year ago similar contract per month cost but cost me £200 or so up front I think.
 
I've had iPhones since the first one in 2007, but when my contract ran out last month, I went for the S4. I know its not your preference, but moving from apple to android was a piece of cake.

As long as your fairly competent with technology and prepared to set up some cloud accounts, you cant go far wrong!
 
had iphones for years then recently moved to s3 so much more freedom without restrictions like apple best move i made
 
dexter35yrs said:
had iphones for years then recently moved to s3 so much more freedom without restrictions like apple best move i made
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I don't really get all this talk about "restrictions". We all know that you can't do all the home screen customisation with an iPhone. But does it really matter?
 
Ricardodaforce said:
I don't really get all this talk about "restrictions". We all know that you can't do all the home screen customisation with an iPhone. But does it really matter?
Click to expand...

It's not only that, with Android you can also get apps out side the play store, different modems which interestingly can improve phone signal and also battery life and all sorts of other things.
 
Ricardodaforce said:
I don't really get all this talk about "restrictions". We all know that you can't do all the home screen customisation with an iPhone. But does it really matter?
Click to expand...

If you want to develop for the iphone, you have to use a M.ac (so I bought one), if you want to upload your app you have written to your own phone, you have to pay A.pple a subscription (it was about 50 quid a year as I recall) to allow you to do so, and when you let the subscription lapse the app you wrote stops working on your own phone. Nothing to do with selling your app, this is just to put something you write yourself onto your own phone - the iphone simulator in the dev kit didn't simulate accelerometer inputs when I was using it so I had no choice but to pay to so I could test my own apps.

You are tied to itunes to interface the telephone to the computer. Some people love it (as seen in this thread), those that don't, well tough for them.

The iphone itself is a lovely thing, I've owned mine for almost five years (it was the original iphone 3G and I got mine when it was released). The problem is all the baggage that comes with the A.pple mindset. Which as I admit, some people love. I grew more and more irritated with it over time.
 
squizza said:
If so, yes I've lost 3 stone 8 so far.
Click to expand...

Just spotted this while writing an a.pple rant. Wanted to say well done :thumbs: - I've lost 8lbs since the start of the year, spurred by not wishing to replace all of my trousers with the next size up due to an ever expanding waistline, and that was enough of an effort for me :naughty:

(then again, losing another 3st would take me to 8st 2lbs, which at 6' tall would probably not be that healthy either)
 
I eyed up the Samsung on my last upgrade and I just don't want the size... Sure it has some easier features than the iPhone but other than dragging music via iTunes (which copytrans manager free gets around simply) it's spot on for me.
 
I'm actually edging towards the Samsung now, part of the reason is the price has gone up for upfront cost (must have been a special offer or something) but I can't stop thinking about that screen.
 
squizza said:
I'm actually edging towards the Samsung now, part of the reason is the price has gone up for upfront cost (must have been a special offer or something) but I can't stop thinking about that screen.
Click to expand...

Might be worth clearing your cookies/cache and revisiting the website.
 
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