At Verizon: iPhone 4S vs. Galaxy Nexus, which one should you pick?

The challenge

Verizon Wireless carries two premier phones of the day, the iPhone 4S and Galaxy Nexus. Apple’s latest version of iPhone comes with lots of cutting edge features thanks to iOS 5, the recent update to the mobile OS from the company. Meanwhile, Galaxy Nexus, Google’s third Nexus phone manufactured by Samsung shows off Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS), the latest and the most advanced version of Google Android. It simply means that this battle between iPhone 4S and Galaxy Nexus is also the one between iOS 5 and ICS. New smartphone customers will be a bit confused when asked to go with either iPhone 4S or Galaxy Nexus. But those customary users of iOS and Android won’t have much hesitation to pick up the new upgrade to their platforms because both iOS 5 and Android ICS can provide better experience for their usual users.

iPhone 4S vs Galaxy Nexus

Anyway, here we compare the iPhone 4S and Galaxy Nexus. You may feel that a comparison between the new iPhone and Galaxy Nexus is pointless since both phones belong to different platforms. But comparison between iPhone 4S and Galaxy Nexus becomes meaningful as we have both the phones on a single carrier -- well, the country’s largest service provider.

Comparison attributes

Operating System

Both the iPhone 4S and Galaxy Nexus feature the latest versions of their regular operating systems. The iPhone 4S has iOS 5, which featured on this phone in the second week of October. The iOS 5 is significant for its several revolutionary features starting with the iCloud cloud computing. Further, we have iMessage, Newsstand, Notification Center, a faster Safari browser and many others with the iOS 5.

On the other hand, Android Ice Cream Sandwich is never an underdog to iOS 5. The new upgrade to the Android deserves accolades for its smooth interface – both for tablets and smartphones – advanced cloud computing, voice recognition, better web browser and many other features. So, we will have to admit that iOS 5 is more refined to Android ICS, especially when it runs on the iPhone 4S.

Winner: Apple iPhone 4S.

Performance and Hardware

The iPhone 4S boasts of Apple A5’s chipset inside a dual core 1GHz Cortex-A9 processor and a PowerVR SGX543MP2 GPU. The device has an inferior RAM of 512MB, however. But Galaxy Nexus comes up with a 1.2GHz dual core Cortex A9 processor with TI OMAP 4460 chipset, PowerVR SGX540 GPU and 1GB of RAM.

Winner: Apple iPhone 4S.

Camera and video

When it comes to camera, the iPhone 4S can simply win over its Samsung rival. The new iPhone shows off an 8-megapixel rear camera with 3264 x 2448 pixels, LED flash, autofocus, LED flash and check quality. The camera, that can capture video at 1080p, offers touch focus, geo-tagging, face detection and others. Besides, you have a secondary camera of VGA quality with 480p video capability.

On contrast, Samsung has just implemented a moderate camera on its Galaxy Nexus. The device sports a 5-megapixel camera with 2592 x 1936 pixels, autofocus and LED flash. You have touch focus, geo tagging, face detection and 1080p video recording. For video calls, the camera has a 1.3-megapixel front camera.

Winner: Apple iPhone 4S.

Storage

Galaxy Nexus comes with two built-in memory options: 16GB and 32GB. There is no microSD slot for memory expansion. But Apple has initiated a 64GB model of its iPhone this year. Thus, the iPhone 4S is available in three memory options, 16GB, 32GB and the new 64GB.

Winner: Apple iPhone 4S.

Connectivity

Galaxy Nexus features GPRS, EDGE, 3G, 4G, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Wi-Fi hotspot, Bluetooth and USB 2.0 for connectivity. The iPhone 4S is also rich with connectivity options like GPRS, EDGE, 4G LTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, dual-band, Wi-Fi hotspot, Bluetooth 4.0 and USB 2.0.

Winner: Apple iPhone 4S.

Battery

Thanks to the standard Li-Ion 1750 mAh battery, Galaxy Nexus provides 8 hours and 20 minutes battery life. Meanwhile, the iPhone 4S, that mounts the standard Li-Po 1432 mAh battery, only has eight hour battery life.

Winner: Samsung Galaxy Nexus.

Voice recognition

The iPhone 4S is reputed for its Siri voice recognition feature. Apple has implemented Siri intelligent personal assistant app on the device to help customers just speak to the phone instead of typing contents. Galaxy Nexus also offers an identical voice recognition feature thanks to Ice Cream Sandwich. But it is not as perfect as Siri, indeed.

Winner: Apple iPhone 4S.

Price

Verizon has recently dropped the price of Nexus to $149.99 from around $200. The unlocked version of Galaxy Nexus is priced above $500. Meanwhile, Apple sells iPhone 4S in three different price ranges: $199 for the 16GB model, $299 for 32GB and $399 for 64GB model.

Winner: Samsung Galaxy Nexus.

The verdict

The third Nexus phone from Google is not competent enough to take on the iPhone 4S in hardware aspects. Galaxy Nexus is certainly a runner up in hardware perfection compared to the iPhone 4S. Anyway, the battle between iOS 5 and Android Ice Cream Sandwich will be more intense than the battle between iPhone 4S and Galaxy Nexus. As far as the above parameters are taken into account, the iPhone 4S simply wins over Galaxy Nexus.