Samsung’s Biggest or Apple’s Newest? The Samsung Galaxy Mega vs. The Apple iPhone 5S

by Sam Jones Content Creator and Link Builder

There are some amazingly powerful mobile phones on today's market, and knowing which one to choose can seem almost impossible. For a new, top of the line device you're looking at paying a minimum of around five hundred pounds, so this is a decision that you're going to want to take pretty seriously. And with so many employers requiring the constant contact of a mobile number and so many people giving up the unnecessary expense of a home land line phone, getting a good quality and reliable hand set is essential. Ideally, when you're choosing your new phone you should research mobile spec sheets. These will detail the features of given phone models and allow you to compare mobiles so that you can see which is best. But spec sheets are complicated and weighed down with technical terminology and big numbers. And that's why we're here. We want to help you by showing you head to head comparisons of some of the biggest and best new mobile phones on the market. This way you'll easily be able to see which phone is the best buy for you. Interested in the phones that we're looking at today? Then read on to find out all you need to know to make the best mobile purchasing decision...

The Phones...

The all new just released Apple iPhone 5S is bigger and better than any other iPhone that's come before it. The iPhone 5S was one of the most eagerly anticipated releases of 2013, and now that it's finally here we can see just how impressive its features are. It's got some nice specs, and even has a fingerprint locking system, but it doesn't come cheap. So is it worth paying for that Apple brand name? Our second device today is a new phablet device from Samsung. A phablet combines the functionality of a phone with the large screen of a tablet. The Samsung Galaxy Mega is a pretty stunning device. But do you really want to carry around something that's just so big?

The Prices...

The iPhone 5S is going to cost you around five hundred and fifty pounds SIM free for the basic 16 GB model. More memory is going to cost you more money. So if you want that 64 GB device with tons of room to store your mobile numbers, music and photos you're looking at paying over seven hundred pounds. Not all operators have released contract prices on the iPhone 5S yet, so we're not sure who's going to offer the best deal, but O2 is generally the cheapest operator for iPhone contracts. The Samsung Galaxy Mega will cost you five hundred pounds for the SIM free hand set. On contract your best bet is going to be with Three, who will give you the device for zero cash down on a £33 a month contract.

Why Go With the Samsung Galaxy Mega?

There are certain things that we look for in a good mobile phone, most notably processing power and screen size. When it comes to these two factors the Samsung Galaxy Mega clearly wins out. It's not surprising that as a phablet device it does have a larger screen and it measures in at a massive 6.3 inches versus the four inch screen on the iPhone. That larger screen is a huge advantage. You get a better video viewing experience certainly, but you can also read web pages and documents without too much scrolling, and typing on that on screen keyboard is a lot easier. Plus it is a TFT LCD screen rather than the older LCD technology seen on the iPhone, so it's got better and more vivid colour reproduction. The Galaxy Mega does run a 1700 MHz processor, which is far faster than the 1500 MHz processor on the iPhone. So not only is the Mega more powerful than the iPhone, but it's also more responsive to user input. On top of all of this, the battery life on the Mega is better. This is somewhat surprising, since a larger screen usually drains battery power a lot more quickly. However, the Mega gets around seventy per cent more standby time per battery charge cycle than the iPhone, averaging about seventeen and a half days versus just ten and a half days. This of course means that you'll need to charge your phone a lot less often, which can only be a good thing.

Why Go With the iPhone 5S?

But all of this isn't to say that the iPhone 5S doesn't have its own advantages. Maybe it's got a smaller screen, but it's a far better quality display. It has around two and half times higher screen resolution as well as about two and a half times more PPI (pixels per inch), making the iPhone's display brighter, sharper and better defined. You also get a better camera. The iPhone's 13.1 MP in built camera captures a lot more fine detail than the standard 8 MP camera found on the Galaxy, so you just get better quality pictures. Obviously, with a screen that's so much smaller the iPhone is generally smaller than the Mega, in fact it's about half the size. And it's lighter too, weighing in at a mere 112 grams versus the 199 gram bulk of the Samsung. This just makes the iPhone more portable and easier to carry around with you all day. Finally, you might want to keep in mind the fact that an iPhone has a lot more app and game options than an Android model like the Galaxy. The iPhone app store has around thirty per cent more apps available to download than the Android App Market has.

Which to Buy?

This is a pretty tough choice. Generally, we wouldn't hesitate to recommend the phone with the bigger screen and the faster processor. However, the iPhone 5S has a lot to recommend it. It has a better quality screen and camera, and it's far easier to carry around. Plus there's all that internal memory for storing your mobile numbers and photos if you're willing to pay for it. So our recommendation today is going to the iPhone 5S.

Sam Jones was asked a lot about changing mobile numbers. Information on sites like uSwitch showed how easy it was to change a number if you wanted to.