Google Nexus S vs Apple iPhone 4
Nexus S
Google Nexus S and Apple iPhone 4 are two smartphones having their own unique features and offer two good choices to buyers. The Nexus S is the newest smartphone to be introduced by Google in December 2010. The device was co-developed by Google and Samsung to run latest Android platform Android 2.3 (Gingerbread). The phone is expected to be available in the US market from December 16, 2010.
Apple created hype in the mobile industry with its introduction of iPhone, which set the standard for Smartphones. iPhone 4 still maintains its leadership in smartphone market. We are yet to see whether Nexus S will break the iPhone market.
Nexus S was designed to take the full advantage of Google’s latest mobile operating system Android 2.3 and comes with a high speed processor; 1 GHz Hummingbird processor and 16GB memory. Apple also has the same speed Apple A4 processor, but iPhone has the user option of 16GB or 32GB flash memory, of course 32 GB at an added cost. But Nexus S comes with only 16GB memory included.
What is going to be different in Nexus S?
One of the differentiating features of the Nexus S comes with Android 2.3, Android 2.3 supports Near Field Communications (NFC). Gingerbread has integrated NFC in its system, which can read information from “smart” tags, or everyday objects that have NFC chips in them. These can be anything from stickers and movie posters to credit cards and air tickets. (NFC is a simplified data transfer technology to transfer data quickly between devices). This will be a useful feature in future for MCommerce.
Apple has patented NFC and was widely expected to add NFC technology to its iPhone 4 but it has reserved the feature for its next model iPhone 5 which is expected in June 2011.
The other noticeable feature is VoIP/SIP call support. iPhone 4 also support VoIP/SIP calls. In Nexus S, Gingerbread allows you to place the VoIP/SIP call directly from your contacts.
Portable Wi-Fi hotspot: Wi-Fi hotspots feature enables the phone to function as router for other devices such as laptop computer, tablets or any other Wi-Fi enabled devices. Once connected, these devices will have access to the Internet with no additional carrier fees. Nexus S supports connection for up to six portable devices.
Voice actions work amazingly better with Gingerbread. Marvellous voice actions; just speak and get things done; from call by business name, alarm setting to navigation.
Another good feature of Nexus S is its integration to Google’s noise cancellation software, which tremendously improves the call quality.
Apart from these, Nexus S is unlocked by default, so it will work with any GSM carrier.
Now we will compare and contrast the technical specifications:
Design:
Nexus S has got a sleek design, slightly thicker, taller and wider than the iPhone 4, and with a larger screen, still light weight. But with iPhone you feel a more solid and slim device with a better look.
Dimension:
Nexus S – 123.9mm x 63.0mm x 10.88mm and 129.0 grams
iPhone 4 115.2mm x 58.6mm x 9.3 mm and 137.0 grams
Display
Nexus S has 4″ super AMOLED touch screeen with 880 x 480 WVGA resolution. It boasts as the first smartphone to launch with a Contour Display. Though the contour is not very visible, you may be able to get the feel when you hold it in hand. The curved glass screen is comfortable to hold in your hand and keep it against your face.
Samsung claims that the brightness of Nexus S display is up to 1.5x higher than conventional LCD displays and the super AMOLED screen gives a better outdoor viewing. It claims that when you take Nexus S outside, there’s 75% less glare than on other smartphone displays. And the videos, pictures and games won’t be washed-out in the sun.
However, Apple iPhone 4 displays (3.5” Retina display) are still retaining its top place with its sharp and crisp text and graphics. Though the screen size of the iPhone is slightly small (3.5″), due to the highest ever resolution (960 x 640) and retina display the iPhone screen is stunningly beautiful and attractive. (The iPhone 4 Retina display uses IPS (in-plane switching) technology to achieve a wider viewing angle than on typical LCDs.).
Processor & Memory:
The processor speed and RAM size are same in Nexus S and iPhone 4 (Nexus S – 1GHz Hummingbird, 512 MB RAM; iPhone 4 – 1GHz Apple A4, 512MB RAM). However, iPhone 4 has got the user option of 16 or 32 GB flash memory, Nexus S has only 16 GB memory included.
Nexus S also supports instant file transfers through Bluetooth and USB mass storage, which is not supported in iPhone 4. All other internal features are mostly similar. The battery life time also nearly same for both.
Battery life:
Nexus S : 1500 mAH Lithium Ion (Li-Ion); Talktime 6.7 hours on 3G, 14 hours on 2G; Standby time (max) 428 hours
iPhone: 1420mAH lithium-ion , 7.0 hours talk-time on 3G, non-removable
Camera
iPhone & Nexus S – 5 Megapixel front facing camera with Flash front facing VGA camera
When it comes to applications, both Google App and Apple App have thousands of downloadable applications. It depends on what users need.
Comparison of Apple iPhone 4 and Samsung Nexus S
| Specification | Apple iPhone 4 | Nexus S |
| Display Size, Type |
3.5” capacitive Multitouch screen, 16M colour Retina display |
4.0″ capacitive Multitouch, Super AMOLED, 16M colour |
| Resolution | 960 x 640 | 800 x 480 |
| Keyboard | Virtual QWERTY | Virtual QWERTY |
| Dimension | 115.2 x 58.6 x 9.3 mm | 123.9 x 63.0 x 10.88 mm |
| Weight | 137 g | 129 g |
| Operating System | Apple iOS 4.2.1 | Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) |
| Processor | 1 GHz A4 | 1GHz Hummingbird |
| Storage Internal | 16GB/32GB | 16GB |
| External | No card slot | No card slot |
| RAM | 512 MB | 512 MB |
| Camera | 5.0 megapixel with LED flash, Geo-tagging, three axis gyro, 720p HD video recording, double microphones | 5.0 megapixel with LED Flash, 720p/30fps HD video recording, geotagging, infinity and macro modes, exposure metering, three colour modes |
| Front faced Camera | 0.3 megapixels VGA | Yes, VGA |
| Music | 3.5mm Ear Jack & Speaker | Details not available |
| GPS | A-GPS | A-GPS |
| Bluetooth | 2.1 + EDR | 2.1 + EDR |
| Wi-Fi | 802.11b/g/n, n at 2.4GHz only | 802.11b/g/n |
| Multitasking | Yes | Yes |
| Browser | Apple Safari | Full HTML WebKit browser |
| Support Adobe Flash | No | 10.1 |
| Wi-Fi hotspot | Not available | Connects up to six wi-fi devices |
| Battery | 1420mAh Li-ion non-removable battery; Talktime 7 hours on 3G, 14 hours on 2G; Standby time (max) 500 hours | 1500 mAh Li-ion removable battery; Talktime 6.7 hours on 3G, 14 hours on 2G; Standby time (max) 428 hours |
| Messaging | Email, IM, SMS & MMS, | Email, IM, Video Chat, SMS & MMS |
| Colour | Black, White | Black, SIlver |
| Additional Features | AirPrint, AirPlay, Find my iPhone, multiple language support | HDMI TV out, DLNA modem, Gyroscope, Near Field Communications (NFC) |
How about mentioning that the SuperAMOLED display has nearly 180degree viewing angle, or a 100,000:1 contrast ratio with true blacks, or a 5 microsecond refresh rate? Or the fact that Nexus S (as all Android phones) supports Flash while the iPhone does not? Or that with the iPhone you are restricted to getting apps from only a single Apple-censored source instead of wherever you want with Nexus S? Or mention that the Nexus S has a removable battery that can be easily replaced by the user unlike in the iPhone?
But that’s ok, it wouldn’t be as useful as regurgitating Apple marketing: “retina display … is stunningly beautiful and attractive.”
By the way, Nexus S is not intended to “break the iPhone market” since it’s aimed at developers and power users, unlike the 4 other Galaxy S phones available. Altogether, however Android-based phones have already dominated the iPhone in terms of market share.
They also forgot to mention Android’s total integration with Google Services in the cloud for contacts, emails, calendar, google docs etc. Sure this is also possible on iPhone but it’s not as integrated as Android and you need a Synch app, on Android it just works and its always on. Apple still requires a connection to a PC for most synching and relies heavily on iTunes. The main advantage of Android is you don’t have to install iTunes!
The iPHONE 4 actually has the SAME cpu as Nexus S which is the Hummingbird but its GPU is a slower 535 while the Nexus has a 540. Also this artical says they both run at 1ghz, WRONG. The Iphone4 runs at 800mhz.