The new Apple iPhone 5S was announced on Tuesday as the newest flagship phone for the Cupertino-based company. Every year, Apple is expected to bring innovative new features that not only revolutionize the iPhone, but the smartphone industry in general. So how does it stack against the top players in the premium smartphone business? Here we compare the new Apple iPhone 5S to the also recently announced LG G2.
Display
The Apple iPhone 5S was unveiled with lots of new or improved features, but one standby that Apple hasn't really revolutionized is the iPhone's screen. The 5S comes with the same 4-inch display, with a Retina display capable of a top resolution of 1136 x 640p.
Compared to that, the LG's 5.2-inch screen with 1920 x 1080p Full HD resolution wins, hands down. Even if you're not one who wants a huge screen - like that on the 5.7-inch Samsung Galaxy Note 3 or the enormous 6.4-inch behemoth Xperia Z Ultra - the LG G2's 5.2-inch screen gives you just enough real estate while keeping the phone away from "phablet" territory.
Both the iPhone 5S and the LG G2's screen are LCD displays, but the LG G2 comes out top with 424 pixels per inch, compared to the iPhone 5S's 326ppi.
Size
That said, the iPhone 5S will certainly slip more easily into your pocket. It comes in a slim 128.8 x 58.6 x 7.6mm chassis, which is more portable than the LG G2's 138.5 x 70.9 x 8.9mm dimensions. Same goes with the weight, as the iPhone 5S comes in at an incredibly light 112 grams, compared to the LG G2's 143g.
Camera and Storage
The LG G2 comes with a 13-megapixel camera, which has become pretty industry-standard for premium Android handsets. It's certainly top of the line, unless you count the new camera-centric Xperia Z1 and Nokia 1020, which have cameras with oodles of megapixels.
The iPhone 5S, meanwhile, hasn't changed the number of megapixels in its sensor - which is 8 by the way - but actually changed the sensor itself.
Like HTC, with its larger "Ultrapixel" pixel size, the iPhone 5S's sensor is 15 percent larger, meaning enhanced, low-light photography that's better than standard, 13-megapixel cameras.
The iPhone 5S also comes with several features that will make photography buffs drool, like the ability to capture slow motion 720p HD at 120 frames per second.
However, the LG G2's camera can capture 1080p HD at a full motion 60 fps, so video capture is a toss up, depending on what you want out of your phone.
When it comes to storage, most Android phones would hold an edge over the iPhone 5S because of the pure quantity of media storage available through microSD cards.
However, the LG G2 is one of the only premium Android phones on the market right now that does not feature a microSD card slot, so the iPhone 5S wins. If you are really looking for a lot of storage between these two phones, the iPhone 5S's 64GB model is the way to go.
Other
Just like the 90s with computers, when you're sizing up an Apple mobile product against the competition, there are a lot of unique factors about Apple that make comparisons difficult.
The iPhone 5S is the first phone with a 64-bit processor, which Apple says is twice as fast as the previous iPhone.
If that's true, the iPhone 5S should blow away the competition, even the LG G2's bleeding-edge quad core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor. But we'll have to wait until the benchmarks are released to know for sure.
Another "Apples-to-oranges" aspect of the iPhone 5S is its operating system. Unless you really hate iOS 7 though, the very fact that the iPhone 5S is coming with a brand new operating system should put it over the LG G2.
The LG G2 is going to be released with Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean - putting it one OS version behind the most recent Android phones (and soon to be two).
Finally, there are two unique features for the new iPhone and the LG G2 that are not comparable, but rather just interesting "outside the box" attempts to improve how we interact with smartphones.
The iPhone 5S comes with a fingerprint scanner for unlocking the phone and approving purchases on the App store, while the LG G2 has a "Rear Key" volume rocker that's located right where you put your finger when you're talking on the phone. Both are cool new features; both are totally different from each other.
As far as price goes, both start at about $200 with a two-year contract, and the iPhone 5S and LG G2 both have release dates around the same time - mid to late September.
In the end, the iPhone 5S has enough improvements and, of course, caché to make it more desirable than the LG G2.
However, the LG G2 is no slouch, so if you're in a wireless retail store looking at the new iPhone this late September (you know you will be), be sure to give the LG G2 a whirl, too.