The world of technology has reached the point where today’s technology becomes instantly inferior to tomorrow’s high tech wonders. It may seem impossible that humanity will ever satiate its hunger for more efficient technology, especially when it comes to smartphones. The race to have the best camera phone has now become a prevalent “necessity” in smart phones. Currently, two smartphones have risen to the hit the market that have the best of everything, the Samsung Galaxy S4 and iPhone 5.  Both were released this year, the Galaxy on March 14th and the iPhone on September 20^th.  They go head to head, with consumers and reviewers hyped for both. But, which is truly the best?

The comparison starts with design. The GS4 has a full five-inch screen with a full 1080p HD resolution screen compared to the iPhone which has a four-inch screen with a 1136x640p resolution screen. Both are perfect for playing games and surfing the web, but the GS4 is easier on the eyes and provides more real estate to see more content. Although the GS4 screen is bigger, the iPhone’s design fits perfectly in the hand and provides easy movement for the user; the GS4 pushes the boundary between comfort and ease with its larger screen and design. However, one new feature of the GS4 screen is that the user is able to control the screen with gloves on.  iPhone users won’t have that ability. If the climate is chilly, the Galaxy users will be able to navigate their phones with no problem at all. For the more tech driven consumers, the GS4 also provides the ability to remove the battery at will as well as a micro SD card that adds to the already 16, 32, or 64 GB phone. Unfortunately, the iPhone does not adapt to this procedure nor can one take its battery out.

The iPhone 5s design did improve by adding a new Touch ID feature which enables its users to use their fingerprint to activate their phones. The GS4 lacks this feature, yet the feature itself only caters to those who really want a secure lock on their phone. As well as a new and improved camera and flash, and a slightly faster processor, the iPhone 5s is exactly the same as its predecessor. The GS4, however, did make big technological jumps with features such as air and touch view.  This feature allows the user to scroll the web by simply waving a hand vertically over the phone to scroll down or to automatically pause a YouTube video by simply looking away.  These huge improvements have left iPhone users envious. On the other hand, the iPhone now works on the new operating system iOS 7, which is a more user-friendly format for the iPhone interface. Nonetheless, the GS4 caters to multiple user-interfaces such as TouchWiz or Nova, with both systems being able to multi-task in one window.  While users scroll down twitter, they can watch a clip on YouTube, or perhaps play a game and send a text at the same time while not having to close one of the two or open a separate application.