iphone 5 vs. galaxy s3: which smartphone performs better?

The Samsung Galaxy S3 and the Apple iPhone 5 look, feel and operate differently. The Galaxy S3 runs on Android operating system, Jellybean 4.2 while the iPhone 5 runs on Apple's iOS 6.0.1.

The Samsung Galaxy S3, the biggest smart phone on the market has a 4.8-inch (diagonally), plastic screen that makes the phone feel like some luxurious tablet/phone hybrid. The iPhone screen is made of aluminum glass and is only 4 inches diagonally.

The iPhone 5 is a little lighter at 116 g while the S3 is 133g. The S3 boasts a quadcore processor while the iPhone 5 only a dualcore. Theoretically the S3 can process twice as smoothly as the iPhone 5.

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Siri, introduced in the iPhone 4, has been one of the most visible additions to the smart phone market. The Galaxy S3 has a feature called "Smart Stay," but nowhere near matches Siri.

The iOS has been the industry standard since it came out, but Androids are adding some features that could really shake things up. Google's Direct Call is an attractive feature that allows the user to call someone just from lifting the phone up to his/her ear if already on the contact's details page.

The Galaxy S3 includes common Google features such as GMail, YouTube, Google Maps and Google Now, which will attempt searching new topics you haven't even searched for based on past queries. Apple and the iPhone prefer third party developers exploring the app frontier.

The Android's aesthetic and layout enables the user to fully customize their screen display of apps and widgets. Some have criticized the iPhone's familiar app grid for not giving the user enough ways to personalize the way they navigate their phone.

Both record HD videos and both have many of the same apps, with the iPhone's App Store nudging in the lead with a bigger selection.

Apple iPhone 5 SIM: Nano-SIM
Dimensions:123.8 x 58.6 x 7.6 mm 
Weight:112 g 
Screen:640 x 1136 pixels, 4.0 inches (~326 ppi pixel density)
SD Card slot: No
Memory: 16/32/64 GB storage, 1 GB RAM
Camera: 8 MP/1080p@30fps;1.2 MP/720p@30fps
CPU: Dual-core 1.2 GHz

Samsung Galaxy S3 SIM: Micro-SIM
Dimensions: 136.6 x 70.6 x 8.6 mm 
Weight: 133 g 
Screen: 720 x 1280 pixels, 4.8 inches (~306 ppi pixel density)
SD Card slot: microSD, up to 64 GB
Memory: 16/32/64 GB storage, 1 GB RAM
Camera: 8 MP/1080p@30fps; 1.9 MP/720p@30fps
CPU: Quad-core 1.4 GHz Cortex-A9