If you’re torn between getting the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and iPhone 5S, then we hope this article will give you all the information you need to make an educated decision. The phones contrasted in this article are both really amazing and making a decision would be hard for anyone.
Price
The iPhone 5S retails for $650 while the Note 3 retails for $800. With a 2-year contract the iPhone 5S 16GB model costs $200 and the Note 3 16GB model costs $300. Although the Note 3 is “slightly” more expensive, it is a really great investment in the long run. Don’t forget that high-end phones can always be sold two years down the road for 90-120% of the phone’s price with a two year contract.
If you put your phone into a screen protector and case as soon as you purchase it, you can sell your phone in two years (for $200+) and buy a brand new one for $200 again. Granted, the screen protector and case will cost about $40-60 in total, but they are really worth buying since they protect your phone.
In retrospect, the Note 3 is more expensive, but it’s not expensive without reason. You will see why the Note 3’s price is justfied very soon…
Screen
Photo from phonearena.com
Right off the bat you can tell that the Note 3’s screen size is huge. While the iPhone 5S has a 4.0 inch screen, the Note 3 has a 5.7 screen.
Today, most devices with huge screens have terrible pixel densities. Fortunately, that is not the case with the Note 3. The Note 3 has a resolution of 1080 x 1920 with a pixel density of 386. The iPhone 5S only has a resolution of 1136 x 640 with a pixel density of 326.
Samsung has simply outdone the iPhone 5S this time. The screen is a major win for anyone who doesn’t mind its huge size. The phone is so huge that it might not fit in the small pockets of women. They might have to buy a new phone purse for this phone! I’m not sure how that can be a bad thing. It depends on your preference.
Battery
The Note 3 also offers an amazing battery life, providing up to21 hours of talk/3G. The iPhone 5S on the other hand only runs up to 10 hours on talk/3G.
To beat the iPhone 5S even more, the Note 3 has a removable battery. This means that if the first battery dies, you can buy another one for less than $20, and just pop it in when you need it. Whereas the iPhone 5S needs recharging cases and other gadgets for recharging on the go, the Note 3 has an inexpensive solution of battery access. After all, you own your phone, you should be able to access the battery at any time you see fit.
Photo from technobuffalo.com
If your phone gets dropped in water, it’s important to cut the power immediately. On the iPhone you will need to wait about 10 seconds while holding the power button for the electricity to get cut. With the Note 3, you can quickly pull out the back case and battery.
The battery outright wins. There is no possible scenario where a removable battery with an extra 11 hours of talk time is seen as a “disadvantage.”
Special Perks
The iPhone 5S is the first phone to (successfully) implement a fingerprint scanner. It is also the first phone to run on a 64-bit processor (a processor as powerful as the processor in modern laptops).
Photo from cnet.co.uk
The Note 3 on the other hand comes with a stylus, which a lot of people find as a useful perk. Don’t just think “Stylus? Eww…” It’s not mandatory to use it. Not to mention that the Note 3 integrates a stylus better than any other phone I’ve seen. Another great feature of the Note 3 is that its NFC enabled.
Guts
The iPhone 5S runs on 1GB of RAM and a 1.7GHz dual-core 64-bit processor, while the Note 3 runs on 3GB of RAM and a quad-core 1.9GHz processor. Since the iPhone 5S is the first phone in the world to use a 64-bit processor, and the Note 3 is the first phone in the world to feature 3GB of RAM, these phones are on even playing fields when it comes to specs.
Software
The Note runs on Jelly Bean, the most recent and fluid release of Android. The iPhone 5S runs on iOS.
As it is with most phone purchases today, an important deciding factor for buying phones is the operating system. When two phones have almost exact specs, then the operating system importance rises. However, since there is such a huge difference in battery life and special perks between the iPhone 5S and the Note 3, the OS importance decreases.
Cameras
The iPhone 5S has a 8MP rear facing camera and a 1.2MP front facing camera, while the Note 3 has a 13MP rear facing camera and a 2MP front facing camera.
Photo from phonearena.com
Quick Note
The Note 3 is a bit hard to handle with one hand. It’s a huge phone after all! If you’re into games or love getting as much email or eBook content on your screen as possible, then the Note 3 is a great phone for you. As the old mantra goes “bigger is better” and it would be hard to think otherwise. I do think that if the Note 3 was any bigger though, it would be too much.
Keep in mind that the Note 3 is really thin for its size (5.95 x 3.11 x .32 inches) and will feel great in your hand. The iPhone 5S is only slightly slimmer but way smaller as well: 4.87 x 2.30 x .3 inches.
Conclusion
I like to think that I am not a biased technology enthusiast. Yet every time a new Android phone comes out, it’s hard for me not to roll my eyes at it. Everything from the specs on Android phones to the app market makes me cringe, but the Note 3 is something altogether.
I own an iPhone 5S mainly because I couldn’t wait 5 more days for the Note 3 to be released. If I could go back and buy another phone, then I would easily buy the Note 3. It’s screen has an amazing clarity unprecedented by any other phone. Friends and I have played the same exact games on both devices and you can tell instantly that the Note 3’s graphics and screen are superior.
Photo from gizmag.com
Don’t fool yourselves iFans. Even if you’ve had an iPhone for as long as smartphones have been out, then the Note 3 is something that you can finally consider.
I usually end off phone matches with saying that whatever phone you pick, is the one best suited for what you’re doing. I don’t need to know what you do to tell you that the Note 3’s 21 hours of talk time are way more worth it than the iPhone 5S’ measly 10 hours.
Do yourself a favor and try out the Note 3 in a store near you before buying a phone.