Samsung Galaxy Nexus vs. iPhone 4S
Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus and Apple’s iPhone 4S may have defined what future smartphones should be. Both are the top phones of the two companies as of now (although the Galaxy Note could make a case but I see it as a phone/tablet hybrid) and they have surely put a lot of things in them. They are quite pricy and only few privileged could possibly afford them. But if you have that kind of money, which one would you choose? Let us help you decide with our Samsung Galaxy Nexus vs. iPhone 4S comparison after the break.
Contents
Looks
The choice between the Galaxy Nexus and the iPhone 4S on the design department would vary from person to person. Both look very good in my opinion. Their materials and dimensions differ noticeably so one could satisfy one person’s preference. If you want a large (5.33 by 2.67 inches) but slim (0.35 in.) phone made from very light (135 g) plastic then the Nexus could be for you. Otherwise, if you want your phone to be of standard size (4.54 by 2.31 inches) with an exterior made entirely of glass and steel plus scratch resistant back then go for the iPhone 4S.
Display
The phones also have their own mark when it comes to display as the iPhone 4S uses IPS-LCD while the Galaxy Nexus employs Super AMOLED. You don’t have to know which screen technology is better. What you need to know though is that the Nexus has a higher resolution than the iPhone 4S, 720 x 1280 to 640 x 960 pixels. Naturally, the larger Nexus has a larger screen than the iPhone 4S. This makes viewing movies, web pages and games on the Galaxy Nexus better than on the iPhone 4S.
Camera
The Galaxy Nexus sports a 5 MP rear camera and a 1.3 MP front camera which would be fine for your snapshots. But if you really want to have great quality pictures then you would definitely go for the iPhone 4S. Its rear camera is 8 MP! That’s 3264×2448 pixels against 2592×1944 pixels of the Nexus. The difference is subtle when taking photos outdoors but when indoors, you will easily notice the difference in picture quality. Both cameras can take HD (1080p) videos except you can also use the LED on the iPhone 4S as video light.
sample picture taken using the Galaxy Nexus (credits to PhoneArena)
sample picture taken using iPhone 4S (credits to PhoneArena)
Interface and Apps
The user interface would be an iOS5 vs. Ice Cream Sandwich battle. Galaxy Nexus are more on the cool side with its animated wallpapers and a slew of 3D transitions and effects. There are people who complain about the complexities of all versions of Androids. If you are one of those people then you might prefer the simple interface of the iPhone 4S.
If you are into apps, you would find more in the Apple App Store than in the Android Market. Although there are hundreds of thousands Android Apps, only a few of them are worth checking out. The Apple App Store contains a lot of applications as well and you will find it hard to choose because there are lots of good ones.
Know how to easily get Android Apps to your phone
Performance
The Galaxy Nexus runs on 1.2 GHz dual-core TI processor while the iPhone 4S contains a 1 GHz dual-core A5 processor. You will hardly notice the difference in clock speeds and RAM (Nexus doubles the RAM of the other, 1 GB to 512 MB). Actually, the likelihood of experiencing lags is higher on the Nexus than on the iPhone 4S. This suggests the superiority of Apple’s A5 processor against any other mobile brain.
Connectivity
Web browsing is faster with the Galaxy Nexus because of its 4G LTE support. It can download at a maximum speed of 21 MB/s and upload at a speed of 5.76 MB/s. The iPhone 4S is limited to HSDPA so expect max speeds of 14.4 MB/s (download) and 5.8 MB/s (upload).
Meanwhile, the iPhone 4S is the first smartphone to feature Bluetooth 4.0. This version of the famous wireless technology consumes less power with extended range. The Nexus remains at Bluetooth 3.0 but it has Near Field Communication (NFC). Check out how we compared these wireless technologies in our NFC vs. Bluetooth post.
Features
Both these phones are packed with features. Both have an accelerometer, gyroscope and compass with the Nexus adding a barometer. The iPhone 4S supports both A-GPS and Glonass while the Nexus only supports A-GPS. But the Nexus is capable of rendering Flash as well as Java apps which ups the phone’s multimedia experience considerably.
The iPhone 4S, however, has an ace card with their intelligent voice-activated digital assistant, Siri. Voice activated commands are not new but like past Apple technologies, they have made this one better. Siri has been used in a few third party applications suggesting that most people find it as a reliable voice-activated assistant.
Price
Samsung Galaxy Nexus
$439.99 $449.00 $799.99Merchant Product Price Buy Now 
Samsung I9250 Galaxy Nexus 16GB (Unlocked)
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Samsung Galaxy Nexus SA-I9250 Unlocked Cellphone--International Warranty (Silver)
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Samsung Galaxy Nexus 4G Mobile Phone - Black
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Apple iPhone 4S
$553.59 $553.59 $560.00 $698.95Merchant Product Price Buy Now 
Apple iPhone 4S 16GB - AT&T - Black
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Apple iPhone 4s (16gb, LOCKED to AT&T, BLACK)
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Apple iPhone 4S 16GB (White)
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Apple iPhone 4S 16GB - FACTORY UNLOCKED, Black
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Specs
Galaxy Nexus iPhone 4S
Dimensions and Weight 5.33 x 2.67 x 0.35 in., 135 g 4.54 x 2.31 x 0.37 in., 140g
Connectivity GSM/HSDPA/4G LTE/Bluetooth 3.0 GSM/HSDPA/CDMA2000/Bluetooth 4.0
Processor and RAM 1.2 GHz dual core TI OMAP 4460 / 1 GB RAM 1 GHz dual core Apple A5/ 512 MB RAM
Operating System Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0) Apple iOS 5
Storage 16 GB/32 GB 16 GB/32 GB/64 GB
Camera 5 MP rear, 1.3 MP front, 1080p 30 fps video with autofocus, LED flash, touch focus, geo-tagging, face detection 8 MP rear, VGA front, 1080p 30 fps video with autofocus, LED flash, touch focus, geo-tagging, face detection, HDR ,LED video light, video stabilization
Other Features -Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic
-TV-out (via MHL A/V link)
-MP4/H.264/H.263 player
-MP3/WAV/eAAC+/AC3 player
-Organizer
-Image/video editor
-Document viewer
-Google Search, Maps, Gmail,
-YouTube, Calendar, Google Talk, Picasa -integration
-Voice memo/dial/commands
-Predictive text input-MicroSIM card support only
- Scratch-resistant glass back panel
- Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic
- Siri natural language commands and dictation
- iCloud cloud service
- Twitter integration
- Google Maps
- Audio/video player and editor
- Image editor
- Voice command/dial
- TV-out
Conclusion – Samsung Galaxy Nexus vs. iPhone 4S
It is hard to choose a winner in the Galaxy Nexus vs. iPhone 4S debate because each has their own unique flavor. As the current flagship of Android phones, the Nexus is larger, has better internet speed and display. As Apple’s latest product, the iPhone 4S has Siri, superior camera, better selection of apps and sturdier look. When it comes to innovation, Nexus gave birth to NFC while the iPhone 4S introduced Bluetooth 4.0. So let us judge this one as a tie. If you disagree then feel free to leave a comment!
Photo Credits: PocketNow
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Iphone fan boyisms! I think the Nexus is awesome and more than a “couple” good apps as you say. My wife chose a droid phone over an iphone after she played with them, she preferred the droid 4.