The iPhone 5s was unveiled and released soon after the "Samsung Unpacked" event, where the South Korean smartphone-maker unveiled the new Samsung Galaxy Note 3. Will the iPhone 5s steal Samsung's thunder? We'll see, as one of the nation's largest wireless providers, Verizon Wireless, is about to release the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 on Oct. 10. Let's compare the two leading smartphones and see how they stack up.
Display
The Galaxy Note 3 is certainly a phablet - meaning it's a cross between a smartphone and a tablet. It has a 5.7-inch touchscreen display, which is 0.2-inches larger than its predecessor. Meanwhile, Apple hasn't changed the display on the iPhone 5s, compared to previous models.
That means the iPhone 5s gets 1136 x 640p resolution on its "Retina" display, which gives you a respectable, but not great 326 pixels per inch on the relatively small 4-inch screen. Meanwhile, the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 manages to pack 386ppi on its big 5.7-inch screen, at a Full HD resolution of 1080 x 1920p. The Galaxy Note 3's display has been lauded as one of the best displays out there, and it beats the iPhone 5s for that reason.
Power (Processor and Battery)
The Galaxy Note 3 takes its cutting edge Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 to 2.3GHz with 3GB of RAM, which is the first time anyone's given a mobile device that much memory. Not to be outdone, Apple has introduced the A7 processor, which has a 64-bit architecture and packs twice the number of transistors into about the same size chip. It also introduced the M7, which runs the iPhone's motion hardware without having to engage the main processor, leaving the A7 with plenty of power for high-graphics gaming and other apps.
Comparing the two is like apples and oranges, but until more apps are created for the 64-bit architecture, you won't fully be able to harness the A7's power, whereas the Qualcomm's system on a chip is ready to go with all software now. Neither handset will feel sluggish at all. As far as being future proof? The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 will probably perform admirably for years to come. But with Samsung's own announcement that it's moving into 64-bit processor architecture with its next phone (and remember, Samsung built the A7 for Apple), the future literally is being shaped by Apple's processor.
Camera and Storage
The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 was expected to have a new camera technology that would provide much more stable images through optical image stabilization. It has image stabilization, but the 13-megapixel Galaxy Note 3 main camera isn't anything to write home about, compared to many other Android smartphones on the market. Especially in the U.S., the camera for the Galaxy Note 3 is great, but unremarkable.
Apple upgraded its camera, giving it a larger aperture and sensor size, in a bid to increase quality without amping up the megapixel count. It still has an 8-megapixel camera, but its dual LED flash will give you nicer-toned picture inside and the larger sensor - like the HTC One's - will give you better low-light photography. However, for zooming in shots, the 13-megapixel Galaxy Note 3 camera will win.
The winner on storage space is clear though: Samsung. Apple has always eschewed the microSD card slot in its mobile phones, and the iPhone 5s is no exception. Both phones come with up to 64GB of internal storage, but the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 can pack 64GB more of media storage with a microSD card, giving you more room to breathe, especially if you're snapping a lot of pictures or shooting 1080p videos using the camera's top quality setting.
Other Features
Of course, being the top smartphones this year from the two top smartphone manufacturers, each comes stacked with WiFI, GPS, LTE speeds, and every other major flagship feature. But both smartphones offer something unique.
The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 has beefed up its S Pen's functionality, baking in lots of multitasking options and an intelligent auto-fill capability that will make taking notes, creating contacts, and copy-paste super easy and fast.
But the Apple iPhone 5s brought something entirely new to the tablet: the fingerprint scanner. (Okay, so the quirky Motorola Atrix spyphone from 3 years ago had a fingerprint scanner, but we all remember how that shook up the industry). Touch ID, Apple's new fingerprint scanner-centric security feature may set a new precedent for mobile security. It may even change the way IT does privacy protection, eliminating the password.
For now, though, it's a great way to keep your smartphone safe without having to deal with swipe passwords or tiresome combinations, which often result in users just not locking their smartphones at all.
Price and Availability
The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 has a Verizon release date of Oct. 10. It'll cost $300 for the base model with a two-year contract. That's pretty steep, but as you see, it's a phone that will stay up to speed and capable for years to come.
As everyone knows, the Apple iPhone 5s is already on the market, but due to its popularity, Verizon has most models on backorder. At the earliest, you'll find it available later in October, but for some iPhones, like the Gold option, mid-November is how long you'll have to wait. The base price with a two-year contract is $200.00, but for a model with comparable storage space, it will cost the same as the Galaxy Note 3: $300.
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