A new drop test video compares the resilience of the Samsung Galaxy S4 and the iPhone 5. The Galaxy S4 just hit the U.S. market over the weekend, while the iPhone 5 has been out since last year, but both phones are still the top picks for their respective platforms.
I prefer drop tests that alternate surface materials, differentiating between a wooden floor, asphalt driveways or streets and concrete sidewalks (runners know that concrete is much less forgiving).
This test focuses on asphalt, though. Both phones are dropped from three heights: waist, shoulder and above-the-head, with the video camera running.
Neither the Galaxy S4 nor the iPhone 5 suffered much damage from the waist drop, aside from a few scratches. Same goes for the shoulder drop. But the above-the-head drop cracked the corner of the S4's screen, while the iPhone 5 remained essentially undamaged.
After that, the test takes a Mythbusters-like turn. Both phones are dropped from 10 feet onto a concrete patio. This kills the S4, but the iPhone handles it, along with a face-down 10-foot drop with minimum damage. Then it gets run over by a car, with seemingly no ill effect.
A few things to consider: the video cuts between drops and damage evaluation. That doesn't necessarily mean anything fishy is going on , but many videos make sure to keep the camera running so viewers know it's the same phone.
In addition, after the 10-foot concrete tests, the evaluation takes place on asphalt. Maybe the phones were moved before checking for damage, but that seems a bit sketchy.
Of course, no one is disputing the excellent build quality of the iPhone 5, but Samsung's no slouch either. But the polycarbonate body of the Galaxy S4 might not be quite as tough as aluminum.
Whatever phone you have, get a case!
The Samsung Galaxy S4 features a 1.6GHz eight-core Exynos 5 Octa processor or a 1.9GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 processor (depending on country), 2GB of RAM, a 5-inch 1920x1080 Full HD AMOLED display at 441 ppi, a 13-megapixel rear-facing camera with 1080p HD video, a 2-megapixel front facing camera, internal storage between 16 and 64GB, an SD card slot that can accommodate an additional 64GB, a polycarbonate body, Smart Pause and floating touch tech and runs Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean.
The Apple iPhone 5 features a 1.3GHz dual-core Apple A6 plus processor, 1GB of RAM, a 4-inch 1136x640 display at 326 ppi, an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera with 1080p HD video, a 1.2-megapixel front-facing camera with 720p HD video, up to 64GB of internal storage and runs Apple's proprietary iOS 6.1.3 operating system.