The Samsung Galaxy Note III

[Zoo]

OK, so I love my iPhone, but MAN. The specs on this Goliath are amazing. Like seriously, it's mid-range laptop specs. And the screen is awesome.

3GB DDR3 RAM
5.75" touch screen (Which has a higher ppi than the iPhone 5S, despite being larger, it's like 1920x1080 or something.)
Quad core 1.7 GHz Snapdragon processor
Android (WHICH IS AWESOME by the way, because emulators.)

And finally, the major important thing: it's basically a tablet, and has a stylus meant for drawing. I don't know if you guys have ever used a Wacom Graphics tablet, but they're basically the best thing ever if you're a graphic designer. The way they work is that they can sense where the stylus is above the screen so you can move the mouse without drawing. It's hard to describe, but it's basically just as easy as drawing with a pen. The Note III has a stylus (which even has some fancy thing that will notify you if you forget it somewhere). And despite being a capacitive touch screen (like the iPhone), the stylus works INSANELY well for drawing.

Also, it's the same price as a 5S and much more powerful.

I think i'll be getting one when my contract runs out. I had the opportunity to try my friend's, and it's literally the greatest phone I've ever used. It is a bit big, but that's not a problem. Think of the iPad Mini, but a bit smaller.

[Gan]

And somehow it still manages to lag on the home screen.

(1) iPhone 5s has craptons more GPU power. Especially for them games.
(2) iPhone 5s CPU (I would venture to say) is easily comparable to snapdragon.
(3) Jailbreaking(which is actually less complicated than using Android in general) opens up many emulation options.
(4) The iPhone 5S has the highest touch response time, android devices are known to have the worst.

I'd say go for it, diversity and new experiences are good. Just be ready to be stung, punched in the face, trampled and left for dead on the side of the street with no good samaritan to cover your back.

[Connors]

Well, is it more powerful or not? I have 2 different opinions here (although I tend to believe Gan).

Also touch response time sounds important for gaming.

[Zoo]

The 5S is 64-bit, which is cool. The display of the Note III is a considerably higher resolution, as I mentioned before, despite the larger screen, it has a higher pixel density. The camera on the Note III is 13 MP, vs. the 8 MP iPhone. Their video call cameras are about the same, 2 MP on the Note, 1.2 on the iPhone. Siri is about the same as S voice, except Siri knows all about Pokemon, and that's awesome. The iPhone and Note both have sensors for anything you can think of: motion, angle, radiation, etc. The Note runs Android, which is frequently updated and has better support for apps, due to the lower levels of processing uploaded apps. The Note comes with Chrome, which is very nice. The iPhone can get chrome. The Note, however, cannot get Siri.

I've been on Apple's site, and they don't provide any legitimate information about the A7 chip, which is worrying. They say it has a motion coprocessor, which means nothing to me, but I couldn't care less about unless it's used for calculating physics in games.

The Note has expandable storage and replaceable batteries, whereas the iPhone is outrageously priced based on storage. I don't care what type of storage it is, 8 extra GB is definitely not $100.

The Note has a quad-core processor, which is highly respectable. It runs at 1.7 GHz, which isn't too shabby for a phone. It also has 3GB of RAM, which is incredible. The Snapdragons have really nice integrated graphics, as do the iPhone processors. They both have shared memory, which is a good idea.

Now here's the problem: Apple's "tech-specs" are nothing but garbage. I'm sure the hardware is nice, but they don't tell you anything. Seriously: here is the information about the processor on their site (this is seriously all they have): A7 Chip with 64-Bit Architecture.

Things that tells you:

• It's 64-Bit
• It's got a name that makes it sound like a reject AMD APU

Things it doesn't:

• Speed
• Number of cores
• Any actual information besides the fact that it's 64-bit.

I just think Apple is a bit more concerned with the way they market their products vs. actually giving me reason to believe that they would outperform the competition. I realize that I could find this information somewhere else, but they should be forthcoming about what they're putting into their electronics.

In short, iPhones are nice, but more locked down than a high-security prison. The Note III is nice, and I don't think there's a reason to automatically say it will be a broken, useless thing just because it's not made by Apple.

Honestly, Apple hasn't been doing a whole lot of good lately (besides Mavericks, that's awesome). I liked Apple back in the days of colorful laptops with handles and Steve Jobs. Maybe there was just something magical about the way he could sell you things, but it just doesn't feel like Apple is special anymore. Their operating system is great, and their computers are nice, but in the end, are they anything more than a computer company? No. Just think about what happened when Steve Jobs left the company in the 90s.

I don't know whether I still even like Apple.

Oh, and jail-breaking? It voids the warranty, and the company doesn't want you to do it, so it's not a legitimate argument. Plus there's no way you're going to be able to think of a way to draw on an iPhone like that. For the sheer artistic use of it, there's definitely a solid place for the Note in the cell phone market.

Connors: I don't know. Based entirely on specs, one would assume that the Note would be the more efficient machine, but Android is weighted down with features, and I wouldn't be surprised if the iPhone is better in practice because of it's proprietary operating system. I think that's why Apple's computers are so good in the first place. Because Windows has to work with every machine, it's not designed to work a specific piece of hardware it's used on, but Macs are designed for Mac OS and vice versa.

[Gan]

http://www.idigitaltimes.com/articles/20378/20131016/samsung-galaxy-note-3-vs-iphone-5s.htm

This article covers must of it. On the camera note, in comparison photos- the iPhone 5s takes sharper photos despite less megapixels.

The motion processor handles phone physical movement. It makes for very precise movement, good for GPS, pedometer, ect.

You can make a high precision pen for the iPhone using a normal pen, scissors, paper clip and sponge. Or buy one online(my mom got a nice one online).

I guess the largest thing is that the note will have a much lesser build quality. (I don't take the fake leather backing as a plus)


Edit: What would kick both Apple's and Samsungs butts: http://phandroid.com/2013/10/29/motorola-project-ara/
I'd really go for that.

[Zoo]

Apple is all about proprietary components, but a smartphone with all replaceable and customizable parts would be awesome.

I think what it boils down to is this: the Note III is technically more powerful, but real world performance is probably about the same. One main thing I like about it is its applications for art, which couldn't possibly be done with a 5S. When you're drawing, the extra screen real-estate and custom stylus are absolutely necessary. I was explaining before how a Wacom tablet works. The device can sense when the pen is nearly touching the screen to move the cursor and such. It's hard to put into words, but it's something you can't get out of an improvised pen-tapping device on an iPhone.

I'd say it's all preference. I like how Android is entirely custom as well. It has a lot of things that iOS doesn't do. I can see why Apple reviews their apps, and I think for the average user, that means a better experience. But if you love retro games, and also love not having to pay $700 not to replace their phone if it breaks, Android is ideal.

Oh, and one more thing: https://www.humblebundle.com/

There are humble bundles for android...

[Connors]

I wish I could remember where that article was on how pen tablets really work, it was very interesting. I got a Wacom Bamboo tablet at the Apple store ($75). It's more than worth the price.

I'm always surprised at how expensive drawing tablets with their own screens seem to cost, so this sounds like a cool thing to have... If you can scan a hand-made drawing and ink it with the tablet, you're all set.