Samsung Galaxy S II vs Apple iPhone 4S – Which Is The Better Value?

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As Android users, we know today’s announced iPhone 4S will quickly be eclipsed by the fabled Nexus Prime to be (hopefully) announced during next week’s CTIA trade show. But how does Apple’s latest and greatest stack up to some of the Android devices currently available on the market? Well, Samsung was nice enough to provide us with this handy chart showcasing a quick comparison chart between the reigning king of Androids, the Samsung Galaxy S II and Apple’s newest heavy hitter — the iPhone 4S. Pound for pound who will come out on top? I think you may already know the answer. (Ding, ding!)

While there’s no denying Apple has released another solid product, that product is also playing catch-up with Android. The iPhone 4S may be a welcome upgrade for iPhone users but when it comes to Android —  this is nothing but old news. This chart could be a great tool in helping some friends or loved ones possibly on the fence of an iPhone 4S purchase. It’s easy to see which of these 2 devices is already the better value without shoving anything down anyone’s throat. Can’t wait to see Samsung provide the same chart once the Nexus Prime is officially announced. Spoiler: It’s going to be a massacre.

Chris Chavez
I've been obsessed with consumer technology for about as long as I can remember, be it video games, photography, or mobile devices. If you can plug it in, I have to own it. Preparing for the day when Android finally becomes self-aware and I get to welcome our new robot overlords.

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77 Comments

  1. Love my GSII but really there should be a couple blue highlights in the iPhone column, such as screen resolution and battery life.

    1. I noticed Samsung only highlighted their “wins” too…

      1. that’s because it’s a marketing tool not an actual comparison sheet. it may be in the form of a comparison sheet, but make no mistake, it’s only a sammy commercial.

        now, what i really wish they could do was add NFC. it’s really the only thing the Nexus S has over the GSII. oh well, i have no job right now anyway. still i’ll be interested to see how the prime stacks up against this.

    2. When you can test 4G on an iPhone id give them that for the battery life but gs2 accesses 4G and gets those lives with iPhone gets that on 3G which both are significantly different. It like say your 2g dumbphone will last longer than a 4g smartphone. Well yeah because you aren’t doing as much and its not constantly switching between so many other networks of which will drain your battery. Retina isn’t better than SAMOLED the colors on samoled are wayyyyyyyy better in comparison lets also mention viewing angles. Samoled has the best angles possible and best performance in the sun than retina

      1. I don’t consider any of those techs “4G”

        1. YOU don’t have to, fact of the matter is that they are considered 4G legitimately wheter you agree or not.

  2. DUH!

  3. Prime vs iFone 5

    1. Let me fix that:

      Prime > iFone 5

    2. I would say:
      Galaxy S III > iPhone 5

      1. Well let me fix that

        Galaxy S II > iPhone 5

  4. Any ‘official’ word on the 4S processor speed and RAM? (I have read that it is ‘probably’ 1ghz and 512mb, respectively). Regardless, I’m holding out for the prime.

  5. Eh. The only thing they have on GSII is the dedicated camera button and screen resolution. Feature wise, GSII wins.

    1. the dedicated camera button doesn’t even matter since most people use the onscreen one anyway AND the button can actually make your pics come out slightly blurry, since you move the phone a bit when you press it.

      1. I could have sworn the gs2 on the epic touch had a dedicated camera button when I was playing with it.

        1. I would LOVE to have a dedicated camera button on my Sensation (or my ol’ Vibrant when I had it). It’s kinda tough taking a snapshot of yourself and trying to hit the on screen shutter button.

          So I would consider that a “win” for the iPhone.

          I really hate these comparisons, though. Is having 3 different places to go to to get your apps really that cool? I had the Amazon App Store installed on my phone for a week or so and found that I had had to go there for app updates for anything downloaded from Amazon, and had to go to the Market for everything downloaded there. I find it to be more of a pain than anything else.

          But I like things to be simple. Makes things easier and allows me to be a lot more efficient.

        2. Nope, just the onscreen button. SGS2E4GT owner.

      2. I still like the dedicated button. I missed a lot of shots with the kids or the dog simply because I had to unlock the phone and go to the camera app. It’s a cool feature.

    2. I have the Motorola Droid X, which has a dedicated camera button, and it is rarely used. So, I don’t feel that the iPhone has that over Samsung’s Galaxy S II

  6. Oh GS2 how I used to love thee… but when I was ready to commit, you kept me waiting for months… and months… and months. You just never could make up your mind on when you were ready to be with me. Your attributes are still sexy baby, voluptuous and exotic dual processors, a nice firm memory, buttery smooth interface… But I have moved on baby,.. I met a new korean girl, and her name is Prime and she’s got it all over you doll.

    I just couldn’t help myself.

    1. You might want to pop off that battery cover and check out the “hardware” on the Prime, if you know what I mean…Those Korean lady boys will get you if you’re not careful. I mean unless you’re into that kind of stuff, then as you were…

  7. GsII has better stats. But Samsung makes crap products. Never seen one last more than 3 months before hardware starts to fail.

    1. Have you even bothered to read even one review about the GSII? Ignoring my love for Android, this phone is the ‘it” phone right now. Adored by almost anyone who has layed a finger on it, including myself.

      My hardware has definitely not failed. Ignoring Samsungs previous history, they see to have gotten it right with this one.

    2. I have had my Vibrant for almost a year now and have not seen any of this hardware failure of which you speak. In fact, the only problem with my phone would be a crack in the corner of the screen from dropping the phone too much. The crack also isn’t that noticeable. I forget that it’s there sometimes. My Samsung laptop and the tallest building in the world also have something to say about your claims(yes the Burj Khalifa was built by Samsung)

    3. Probably are your hands…
      I have more than 1 year the GS Vibrant and still work like new…

      1. I’ve had the Vibrant since day 1-like 14 months-and mine works like new…. my complaint is the GPS…takes 15 minutes to zero in on my position. If the reviews for the Prime has good GPS feedback, I’m sold.

    4. I’m going to have to second this. After three Samsung devices, I would never buy another one, no matter the hardware specs. What good are all those bells and whistles if they stop making noise after a while. For Android, I would only go Motorola from here on out.

    5. i think its just u.. i’ve been using my samsung phones for a long time and i never had any problems (except crappy behold 2) i’m using HTC sensation 4g right now and i’m having so many problems only after 2 months of using it (Motorola is even worse) i am trying to decide if i should go with SGS 2 or Nexus Prime (i would go for Nexus Prime but i just can’t stand this Sensation 4G and i don’t know when they are going to release the darn thing)

  8. Two points: (1) When Samsung puts its wins in blue, i’m not sure why “latest version of Gingerbread” is a win over iOS5 (especially since 2.3.4 is technically no longer the latest version of GB) and (2) as much as I like the GSII, I really hate the absolute disaster of mismatched fonts they use every single time they write out the name of the phone. What is that, like, three completely different fonts? What a nightmare!

    1. Gingerbread in itself is a win over iOS5 simply because it does more and didn’t copy.

  9. nexus prime wins all

    1. As soon as it’s released, it will take the iPhone 4s, bend it over a bench, and rape it into oblivion.

      1. slow down there mate, this is a technology blog

        1. I apologize, I thought rape was what all the hipsters were into these days.

  10. lmfao!! Super amoled better then that fabulous retina display?? My friend stop smoking android crack!!! With the 4S doubled up on everything. I will be buying a 4S 64gb!!!

    1. Lmao sike. Its the same damn phone pretty much.

    2. To 20cm from your face… the different resolution is not important.

    3. Absolutely is get with the times its definitely Samoled Plus > Retina display not even close as a matter of fact i like htcs sensation qhd over retina

    4. Super Amoled …Plus…

      I would argue it could be seen as better than the retina display. I did think the retina display was better than Super Amoled last year. But this is …Plus…we talking about this year.

    5. what retinal display? oh you mean on that tiny little screen

  11. you just cant deny that the iPhone kills android in apps, and thats whats dragging me to the iPhone and because it’ll be easy to sinq with my mac, and the camera of it looks outstanding.

    1. I don´t think so…

    2. Hmmm… paid app over free apps of the same quality? i’ll take free and of which is android. Gs2’s camera is by far better and you can do more than just take a plain picture you could add effects on the phone

    3. What apps? Android always have alternative or the same.

    4. I did a comparison with my iphone buddies recently and they didn’t have anything on the iphone that they used regularly that wasn’t on android.

      The “app advantage” is pure BS.

      1. Right. Also, some the key Android apps (mainly Google’s) aren’t available on iOS.

  12. I would never buy an Apple phone but I have to admit the retina display looks very good. Why are no Android phones using the higher resolution displays?

    1. A lot of phones have qHD (960*540) the retina is 960*640. the (rumored) screen resolutions of the Prime and the Vigor is 1280*720 and i think samsung and LG already released a phone or two in Korea with 1280*720

  13. Screen should go to the GS2. Retina is wasted on a tiny display. At normal viewing distances the the bigger screen is simply easier to read. When they come out with 4-4.3 Retina display – then we’ll talk.

    And the battery isn’t really a fair comparison. The iPhone’s smaller screen naturally helps it. Put a bigger screen and any advantage will disappear.

    1. Not to also mention lack of 4g on the iPhone

    2. Lol.. Retina ftw.. Who cares about viewing angles.. which is all the gs2 has.. how many viewing angles do you need on a cell phone?! its not a tablet.. Also.. cute how they put the most minimal battery numbers down? how about 10 hours video? 14 hours talk time?

      This is a cute fanboy page for virus software endorsers, who want nothing more than to modify things, that clearly need modifying.. so the manufacturers allow you.. then cry about the malicious intent that arises occaisionally.

      I’m looking forward to the Prime, because it WILL be a better phone.. and without tweaking what stats i choose to favor. Seriously.. this chart/article comes off as nothing more than the Fox to Sarah Palin…

      Branch out.. get an education.

      1. Can you make a single logical point without some irrelevant analogy?

  14. Who cares…Nexus Prime …Nuff said…

  15. The 4s processor is none only than the A5 chip which unfortunately will far out perform any currently available Android. I beleive its a dual core 1.5 ghz? (correct me.if I’m wrong) although the ohone itself is still a flop for its overzealous hype.

    1. No it doesn’t out perform all android devices. the A5 should be clocked anywhere from 800MHz to 1GHz, which is dual core. The ram should be 1gb or less for the iphone 4s. Even with the A5 the Samsung galaxy S II destroys it. Here’s a link showing some performance benchmarks from Anandtech.com: http://www.anandtech.com/show/4686/samsung-galaxy-s-2-international-review-the-best-redefined/14

  16. The A5 is 1ghz and if you do your research made by samsung so the dual 1.5 is better. Plus the retina is made by lg. So you really have an lg samsung love child running an inferior os. Might as well have a kid with 3 arms it looks cool but completely useless

    1. who says a three armed kid is useless, pick up that room while talking on your new, smokin, nexus prime. :-)

  17. Watch the New Episode of Ongoing Patent Drama New Episode between Samsung and Apple…

    Source: http://www.tech.currentblips.com/2011/10/ongoing-patent-drama-new-episodesamsung.html#ixzz1ZuFJV0BZ

  18. I just have to say as an android user who will NEVER go back to apple because of their developer and app store policies that this article is completely full of it! There is no way that ANY android handset I’ve seen can beat an iphone for the average user. There are certainly power users and geeks like me who will never buy an iOS device but for 90% of the people buying phones the iPhone is the best one out there. I really find it funny how biased this blog is.Anyway just wanted to weigh in with my opinion. Love to play devil’s advocate (hopefully not coming off as too much of a troll since that’s not my intent)

    1. That’s so not true. My father never even used a computer before and he loves his first smartphone, a mytouch 4g slide.

  19. And this year’s most biased article goes toooooooooo………

    1. Goes to just about any article on CNN where iPhone is mentioned

      1. Lol. Nobody plays fair. If one side played fair, they’d get trounced by the side that doesn’t. I have to say though… Apple is a VERY talented cheater.

  20. I understand Apple doesn’t like the spec arms race but to me the number 1 most important thing is speed. While MHz isn’t everything its a good guide right now with ARM processors. I want to see what kind of 3rd party bastard PC esque software I can run on my phone this year. But, clearly iPhone isn’t made for people who know or care about that kind of thing so I was never really their target market anyways.

    1. Looked into it, its just a 1gzh like in an atrix.

      1. A5 SoC > Tegra 2

  21. The Samsung Galaxy S original and HTC Desire were already better than the iPhone 4. Samsung Galaxy SII and HTC Sensation were way better than the iPhone 4 and are still better than the iPhone 4s. New Nexus Prime, Samsung Galaxy S3 with Super Amoled HD screen and new 32nm Exynos chip + even new LG with HD screens will slaughter it.

    Apple is too damn slow to innovate and what they have “innovated” aka stolen, is things from Android to add to their software – like a notification bar than can be pulled down, multitasking, sharing and cloud services.

    I’d be peed off if I was an apple sheep, mostly because of keeping the small 3.5″ screen and the same external design.

  22. LOL what a STUPID question. But what’s worse is the STUPID Samsung dolts in the U.S.

    Samsung has been giving you the bird purposely for over a year now and they gave you SGSII like a month before it is 2nd tier.

    -smh-

    You dummies drink the Kool-Aid so much that if a Samsung CEO plugged your girlfriend (like you even have one) you’d thank him for it and run to post it!

    LOL Nitwits.

    1. So…how do you really feel?

    2. I amazed that you managed to stop smoking that apple flavored crack pipe long enough to post here.

  23. I would just like to say thanks for that totally unbiased comparison. Totally unbiased and not filled with conjecture and totally rooted in fact and not opine. It totally changed my mind on my next phone :rollseyes:

  24. It seems like copycat samsung who released this phone months ago, failed at copying the iPhone correctly… they included a screen thats too big in their model…

  25. the iphone 4s doesnt have a dedicated camera button, they use the volume button, i dont think that counts

  26. Steve Jobs sure picked the right time to step down and make look like no predecessor can successfully take his place.

  27. Itunes won’t be needed in iOS5 with the iphone, it will have wifi sync, i want that to be clarified with everyone. It is in testing in betas now and is not just a rumor

  28. I totally agree, iPhone 4S is not a REAL upgrade to 4, i found this neat comparison, check out if you wish

    Android beats iOS (even after iPhone 4S and) in all walks; Check out why http://bit.ly/qeGbnd

  29. I’m another user who hasn’t had any real issues with my Samsung GSII phones. I currenly have an NexusS 4G and I love it. The battery life is very good as well.

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