

Samsung counters iPhone 4S with Galaxy S II comparison chart - ukdm
http://www.geek.com/articles/mobile/samsung-counters-iphone-4s-with-galaxy-s-ii-comparison-chart-2011105/

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avolcano
This is a great example of what's wrong with Android marketing.

Most consumers are not interested in checklists, comparisons, "anything you
can do I can do better!" Consumers are interested in apps. Services. Angry
Birds. iTunes. Status. Style.

Just look at some of these. "Can be used as HDTV remote control." "microSD
slot." "Content Stores."

These don't matter to the average person. They may matter to you or me, sure -
I certainly envy a handful of Android features - but they do not matter to
most people. And that's the biggest flaw in high-end Android phones, and why
they don't take away iOS market share in the high end, only replace dumbphones
in the low end.

This, by the way, is why the Droid is the only Android phone brand that has
been impressed on the average users. They had the standout commercials, and as
weirdly overproduced as they were, it worked far better than the average
feature checklist, announcer spouting off stats, or comparison chart.

The whole is greater than the sum of the parts when it comes to smart phones.
Comparisons like this miss the big picture.

~~~
DrJokepu
People are interested in different things. Some people, like me, appreciate
the superior design of Apple products. Those people will not buy Samsung
products. Some people are interested in apps. Some people are indeed
interested in checklists and base their purchasing decisions on them. Samsung
is targeting those people with this checklist as they are trying to
differentiate themselves and serve a part of the market that is more
interested in feature counts than other aspects of a product.

~~~
jsavimbi
You're right. It's not about one being better than the other when compared
side-by-side, it's about re-enforcing a particular market segment's belief
that their purchasing decision or decision to be was the correct one.

Samsung, or any other same-space competitor is making no allusions about
converting hordes of Apple customers based on a chart or infograph; they're
reconverting existing customers and trolling for virgins.

td;dr: your wife will put out if you talk about the new girl at the office.

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technoslut
I'm surprised this has been upvoted so highly considering it's just marketing
propaganda with selective data compiled by Samsung.

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kumarm
Isn't entire AAPL event the same though?

~~~
technoslut
Of course it is. That doesn't mean the stats Apple pushes should make it to
the front page of Hacker News either.

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drzaiusapelord
Wow, is the 4GS on Sprint and Verizon really CDMA 3G? As a previous Sprint
customer I was rarely able to crack 1mbps on their 3G network, and my average
speeds were around 200 or 300kbps. I have a mere 3G t-mobile HSPA phone now
that cracks 4mbps routinely and must average at 2 or 3mbps per second. I don't
have battery issues or anything. Its just fast and it works.

3G CDMA is something I had on my windows Treo like 6 years ago. Its incredible
how this ancient technology is the standard for millions of new iPhone 4S
customers. I feel sorry for the guys signing 2 year contracts on this stuff.

~~~
technoslut
>I feel sorry for the guys signing 2 year contracts on this stuff.

This comes off as a fanboy response or at least ill-informed. Right now 4G
devices drain battery life. It is faster but there are compromises to be made.

One could easily argue that Samsung has a lower res screen and ppi, the A5 is
vastly superior to the Enyox and the S II has a rear casing made of plastic.

There are benefits to the S II as well such as a larger screen (if that is
your preference), better front camera and removable battery.

I don't think that 4G/HSPA+ is a clear benefit to customers considering that
real world speeds aren't what is stated by Apple or Samsung and it it is still
not widespread.

~~~
ZeroGravitas
Why do you think you could easily argue that the A5 is vastly superior to the
Exnyos?

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technoslut
The Galaxy S II’s processor/GPU combo is the fastest in the mobile industry
according to Anandtech with the major difference being the A5 with the
SGX-543.

[http://www.anandtech.com/show/4760/arms-mali400-mp4-is-
the-f...](http://www.anandtech.com/show/4760/arms-mali400-mp4-is-the-fastest-
smartphone-gpufor-now)

In terms of performance, the Mali-400 MP is only slightly behind the PowerVR
SGX543MP2. The only major performance difference is the A5.

~~~
ZeroGravitas
They said that it was the best GPU in smartphones. The processor shouldn't be
radically different from any other dual A9 at the same clock speed and I'm
guessing that the one in the iPhone 4S is a slower clockspeed. As for the GPU,
that again will depend on what speed it is run at. There was speculation that
the iPhone 4S would lose one GPU core compared with the iPad 2. It appears to
have both from what information is available, but speed hasn't been specified.
They may have lowered it for heat or battery reasons.

Even if you allow Apple all the benefits of the doubt here, I'm not sure it
mounts up to easily arguing that it's vastly superior, "has a slower CPU, less
RAM (guessing, sort-of) and a better GPU" maybe.

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S_A_P
So that chart is the same chart as posted in "androidguys" blog. I dont think
Samsung would highlight carrier differences as an "advantage". Maybe someone
more enlightened than I can tell me if max download speed is a relevant
comparison tool. I rarely if ever even approach the maximum 3G limit on my
iPhone due to AT&Ts network, and I don't think any phone network has the
capacity to truly serve up these max speeds consistently. Maybe Im being
cynical here, but I dont know that I would want that much speed since it would
just encourage me to hit my bandwidth cap more quickly...

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mambodog
The average person doesn't care about _any_ of this stuff.

~~~
thenduks
Except for one item. They've heard of iOS5, want it bad and have no idea what
this silly named 'gingerbread' thing is.

For my part, some of their plusses are actually detractors.

Removable battery? Every phone I've had was rickety and ended up with a broken
battery cover (I wouldn't consider myself hard on electronics) and a bunch of
lint and dust inside the phone. 4+ inch screen? Seems big and it's lower
resolution, I prefer higher DPI in a smaller screen that can fit in my pocket
without making a big flat bulge. And lastly 4G = battery drain. 3G where I
live has great performance and I often use the personal wi-fi hotspot and for
regular browsing and email and stuff I have only good things to say.

~~~
kyleslattery
Also, I've never really understood why a removable battery is necessary. By
the time my battery died in a phone, it's always been time to upgrade anyway,
so I never replaced it. Also, if you need extra power during the day, an extra
battery seems like it would be pretty annoying, because you have to power off
the phone to replace it. I'd rather have an external battery pack to recharge
the battery, so I can keep using the phone.

~~~
thenduks
Great point.

Also imagine the space you save by not having a user serviceable battery
compartment. No latches and contacts in a little plastic housing and walls to
separate the battery from the rest of the device. You can make it any shape
you want and fill the entire device.

I don't think giving away those benefits are really very worthwhile in any
device I own. That includes everything from my toothbrush to my laptop.

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joejohnson
Also, the Samsung phones come with nice carrier logos on the face. Classy.

~~~
sjwright
How is it that Apple seem to be the only ones with the balls to say no to
carrier logos?

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metatronscube
Unless it runs IOS I don't care about specs like that. Its all about the
overall experience, applications and support.

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bobbles
Yes because we all know right now that the millions of users of iPhones use
them because of the hardware inside. /s

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teilo
Speaking as someone who has used both extensively, anyone who says they prefer
Samsung's Super AMOLED to Apple's Retina has been paid to say that. Seriously,
there is no comparison. Retina is brighter and crisper, and in bright sunlight
both are bad.

The only edge AMOLED has is in battery life.

~~~
koffiezet
The Samsung Galaxy S2's display "pro" is battery life? Does not reflect real-
life use then...

Small thing that happened today: a collegue of mine happens to have an S2, and
he had to charge his today at 3PM. I gave him a strange look and asked if he
had charged him over-night. "Yea sure". Then I asked him what he had done with
his phone today, I wanted to compare his usage with mine, which was imo an
average use.

This was my iPhone 4's activity up to that point: 1) In the car: connected to
the car-kit with Bluetooth, making 1 call of about 5 minutes 2) In the car:
connected with a cable to the car-radio playing music for about 40 minuted.
Since the car-radio kit was only intended for old iPods, this causes the
display to be constant "on" while playing music, and displaying "charging not
supported with this accessory". 3) Calling about 30 minutes in the office 4)
Sending about 20 texts 5) Receiving about 50 texts (some servers went down and
spammed my phone) 6) Playing music using my earbuds for about an hour. 7)
Checked twitter and facebook when I got a notification 8) Played one Planets
vs Zombies level. 9) Installing Infinity Blade and 5 other smaller app updates
from the appstore over WiFi (Infinity blade alone is 500mb+)

My battery level now, about 3,5h after he had to charge his phone: 65%. Now
his answer was: 1) a 5 minute call 2) and sending/receiving about 10 texts in
total. 3) 5 minutes of checking the news in the browser during lunch. 4)
Searching and installing a small app on the Android market and playing with it
for a few minutes.

I almost couldn't believe this, so asked him about a carkit? No. Music in car?
No. Music at the office? No. He then made it worse by mentioning he had a
"battery improvement" app installed, which he claimed helped a lot, and that
he had bluetooth and wifi disabled. Certainly the wifi struck me as odd, but
he explained he had a 2gb/month data contract, so he didn't really care, and
enabled his wifi manually when he thought it was needed.

We both started the day at 100%. Ok, so he did start his day about 1h earlier
than me, but still, it should at least make it through the day with that
little useage?

So yea, apparently, the AMOLED really helps to improve the battery life...

~~~
teilo
A screen is not a phone. Why the sarcasm? I think you need to read more
carefully. I said the AMOLED screen has an edge over the Retina in battery
life - meaning power draw. I didn't say a thing about the phone as a whole.

My iPhone 4 outlasts almost any Android phone you care to name, regardless of
screen technology.

~~~
koffiezet
Well, look at what Android reports as main battery consumer (which you can
check on Android), you'll see that the vast majority of their claimed battery
consumption is credited to the display :)

I'm not sure if what Android reports is correct, but it is a good indication
imho...

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jorkos
I like the 'only app store' part as if that's a bad thing

~~~
54mf
Also, no mention of the number of available apps. Samsung has more app stores,
and far fewer apps.

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philipDS
Sorry, but it's not (only) about the hardware. I own an Android phone and I'd
trade it for an iPhone any day (no money atm though).

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54mf
What a joke. I could probably poke holes in just about every item they listed,
but emphasizing the fact that the Galaxy S II has a larger screen while
failing to note that the important metric - DPI - is worse is what really
kills me. I guess they must feel awful about how superior iPad 2's screen it
to the Tab: it's a whole 3 inches bigger!

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gte910h
I love how the battery comparison doesn't look at using the internet...

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iam
But why do they keep putting in a smaller 800x480 resolution screen?

~~~
ZeroGravitas
The phone is six months old, the one's they are releasing in the next month
don't have that resolution. They have 1280x720 (RGBG pentile) instead.

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fleitz
Samsung has done an amazing job porting KDE 2 to a mobile phone.

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ootachi
Less space than a nomad. Lame.

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funkah
Ah yes, the good old feature checklist comparison. Because that tells a
customer _so much_ about what it's actually like to use the thing they're
buying.

Strange how customer-satisfaction rates (or anything of the like) don't show
up in these comparison charts -- too squishy, I guess. And really, who cares
whether people actually _like_ using this thing? It's got a Super AMOLED Plus
display, dangit!

~~~
ZeroGravitas
Some slides you may have missed from the recent iPhone 4S reveal:

iPhone 4S vs download speeds:

<http://regmedia.co.uk/2011/10/04/speeds.jpg>

and

iPhone 4S camera response speeds:

[http://www.thewwwblog.com/wp-
content/uploads/2011/10/iphone-...](http://www.thewwwblog.com/wp-
content/uploads/2011/10/iphone-4s-camera-comparison.jpg)

Apple is all about the specs when it thinks it can win, and when it cant (like
the 4G downloads or the classic Altivec bake-offs with Photoshop) it's not
beneath cooking up ridiculously misleading nonsense to use for spec-whoring.

~~~
sjwright
I don't disagree with your main point, but camera responsiveness isn't exactly
nonsense. For many people, it's possibly one of the most infuriating waits on
current smartphones.

~~~
ZeroGravitas
By nonsense I meant that they compared HSDPA speed (I believe, though there
are conflicting reports online, that the iPhone 4S does not support HSPA+) so
they placed an artificial cap on the speed of the other phones and explained
it solely with an obscure acronym that no-one would understand.

(And of course historically, the use of Altivec-based Photoshop filters that
didn't reflect general processor speed).

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lomegor
I think this chart is completely wrong. Of course, it's a marketing thing, but
anyway. It doesn't even highlight the sections where the iPhone 4S is better.

Either way, I do believe the Galaxy S II is better than the iPhone 4S, and
although I think fanbois don't care about these stuff, things such as microSD
slot, 4G, weight and price matter to most people; maybe they don't care about
the other technical mumbo jumbo.

And, please, Kies SUCKS!

