Samsung Galaxy Alpha vs iPhone 5S comparison review

Samsung Galaxy Alpha vs iPhone 5S: Price
The Galaxy Alpha comes it at around £500
(which is more than the Galaxy S5 despite
mostly downgraded specs). Nevertheless,
that means it's cheaper than the iPhone 5S
which hasn't got any cheaper since
launching. It will set you back at least £549
for the most affordable model but goes up
to £709.

Samsung Galaxy Alpha vs iPhone 5S:
Design
One of the key reasons why we're
comparing the Galaxy Alpha with the
flagship iPhone is that Samsung has finally
used some, and we quote, “real metal” in a
smartphone design. Of course, any Galaxy S
device will be an iPhone rival but the
Galaxy Alpha is even more so because of
this.
The Galaxy Alpha actually looks quote
similar to the iPhone 5S in terms of its
metal frame which runs around the edge. It
has a similarly flat surface with a shiny
bevelled edge. However, the rear cover of
the Alpha remains plastic. That might not
look or feel as premium but it may be an
advantage to some as the iPhone really
requires a case as it is delicate.

Samsung Galaxy Alpha vs iPhone 5S:
Screen
Despite having a smaller screen than the
Galaxy S5, the Galaxy Alpha has a
significantly larger screen than the iPhone
5S. It's 4.7in compared to 4in and
coincidentally one of the sizes rumoured for
the up coming iPhone 6 .
They may be more real estate on the
Samsung side of the fence but since the
firm has opted for a fairly mid-range 720p
resolution, the display has a lower pixel
density than the iPhone 5S. Apple still uses
its 'Retina' quality of 326ppi while the
Galaxy Alpha offers 312ppi. These may be
premiumly priced smartphones but those
figures are quite low in today's standards
with Full HD or even Quad HD screens
available.
The main difference, then, is the size and
while both use an IPS panel for good
viewing angles, it's worth noting that the
screens do look different since Samsung
uses eye popping AMOLED technology but
Apple doesn't. AMOLED is necessarily
better as it comes down to taste.

Samsung Galaxy Alpha vs iPhone 5S:
Processor and memory
These pair are well equipped in the engine
room so if you are trying to decide between
them then it's best to do it elsewhere. The
iPhone 5S has Apple's own A7 processor
with the M7 co-processor. It's a dual-core
ARM processor clocked at 1.3GHz with 1GB
of RAM and while that might not sound like
much, iOS is optimised for the chip.
Samsung has also got its own processor in
the form of the Exynos 5 5430 which is an
Octa-core chip with four 1.8GHz Cortex-
A15 cores and four 1.3GHz Cortex-A7
cores. The Galaxy Alpha runs on 2GB of
RAM.

Samsung Galaxy Alpha vs iPhone 5S:
Storage
there's just one model of the Galaxy Alpha
so you'll have to be happy with 32GB or
look elsewhere. You might assume that
being a Samsung phone it has a microSD
card slot but it strangely doesn't.
As usual, the iPhone 5S is available in
three different storage capacities: 16-, 32-
and 64GB so there is plenty of choice
depending on how you plan to use it. Apple
still doesn't offer expandable storage but
could well do with the iPhone 6.

Samsung Galaxy Alpha vs iPhone 5S:
Cameras

Although the iPhone 5S' camera is lower
resolution at 8Mp compared to 12Mp, that
doesn't automatically make it worse.
Apple's smartphones have produces better
results than rivals in the past. We've not
seen the Galaxy Alpha in the flesh yet so
can't give you a full lowdown but there are
some differences to point out.
The iPhone 5S uses 1.5 µm pixels and has
a dual-tone LED flash but the Galaxy Alpha
can record video in 4K quality (2160p)
compared to Full HD (1080p).

Samsung Galaxy Alpha vs iPhone 5S:
Software
Of course, software is a big difference
because you're choosing between iOS and
Android. The iPhone 5S comes with iOS 7
and will soon be updated to iOS 8 while the
Galaxy Alpha comes pre-loaded with
Android 4.4 KitKat and Samsung's
TouchWiz user interface. We assume that it
will be upgrade to Android L at some stage.
We won't go into all the differences now
but if you are unfamiliar with either, we
suggest trying them out before you make a
purchase.