Two new phones have been trapezing the net – the just revealed Nexus 5 smartphone and the iPhone 5S which has just been released in India.
Both the phones are blessed with great hardware and software. While the iPhone 5S is the more premium of both, Nexus too is blessed with high-end specs. So, how do these two match up when pitted against each other? Lets see.
Design
The iPhone 5S is crafted out of Aluminum and glass. Instead of the home button, Apple iPhone 5S now has the touch ID button at the bottom. It looks premium but, the body will be easily scratched. Unlike the previous iPhone, it comes in a range of colors such as Champagne, gold and space grey. It weighs 112 gms and comes in pretty thin at 7.6mm. It is light but also seems sturdy since it doesn’t have too much plastic.
The Google Nexus 5 on the other hand, is unapologetically plastic. It weighs 130 gms and comes in at 8.6mm. It has the usual Google stuff, such as the capacitive onscreen buttons.
When it comes to the form factor and design, the iPhone 5S being the premium handset, has the edge over the Google Nexus 5.
Winner: Apple iPhone 5S
Display: Retina display V/s Full HD
Apple has put in a 4-inch Retina display, same as the iPhone 5 in the iPhone 5S. It has a resolution of 1136 x 640 and a pixel density of 326ppi. The screen is sharp, but not something out-of-the-world.
The Google Nexus 5 comes in a full resolution of 1080 x 1920p resolution and a screen resolution of a mighty 495ppi, on a 5-inch screen. In terms of the display, the Google Nexus 5 beats the pants out of the Apple iPhone 5S.
Winner: Google Nexus 5
Processor: A7 V/S Snapdragon 800
While Apple has endowed the iPhone 5S with the A7 chip, while Google has chosen a Snapdragon 800 processor. Both are top-of-the-line processors with their own qualities.
The new thing with the A7 processor is its 64-Bit architecture. It is a dual-core 1.4 GHz CPU. While the idea has picked up by the likes of Samsung, the fact cannot be denied that developers currently haven’t come out with too many 64-bit apps, which makes it useless as of now, but what works here is that Apple’s OS and other features are generally tied in amazingly with processor.
On the other hand, the Google Nexus 5 comes with a 2.3-GHz Quad-core Snapdragon 800 processor, which should pull the load of everything you put on it pretty easily.
Winner: Draw
Software: iOS 7 v/s Android 4.4 – Kitkat OS
Both Apple and Google are in line with tradition and released the new iterations of their OS,
Both iOS 7 and Android 4.4 have their own merits, the iOS software is calibrated to make the best of the screen. The iOS 7 is bright, clean and sleek and has flat icons which seem amazing. Along with that, every app from the Safari and photo apps to the iTunes app has been refreshed. The new menu UI is translucent and looks pretty good.
Android 4.4, meanwhile is an incremental update and while it brings along new features like OK Google, there is not too much to look forward to.
Winner: Apple iPhone 5S
Camera
Both the iPhone 5S come with 8-megapixel snappers. The iPhone 5S definitely has an edge in terms of the camera, it has been repeatedly proving itself as better owing to an f 2/2 aperture and better focus. The Nexus 5 meanwhile comes with Optical Image stabilization and even though the iOS camera app is generally crappy compared to Android we would still give the edge to Apple here.
Winner: Apple iPhone 5S
Verdict
While the Nexus 5 has the edge here and there, the crown goes to the iPhone 5S.
Parting thoughts
While these are phones from two totally different domains and generally not considered comparable, they share some similarities too. Both are the latest flagship devices from the maker of the OS and both come with the native branding and without OEM hassles. While Google relies on hardware partners such as Asus, Samsung and LG for designing the Nexus hardware, Apple assembles the iPhone 5S itself, although depending on the likes of LG and Samsung for the internals. Both Apple and Google release the new version of their OS with the refreshed version of their Flagship devices, mostly during fall.
Both phones work great on their merits, and both pick up on each other’s weaknesses. While the iPhone 5S gives the premium feel that is lacking in the Nexus 5, the latter is a more value-for-money handset.
