Apple released its latest iPhone, the iPhone 4S, just last week. If you aren't one of the four million to have already picked one up, you may be wondering how it stacks up to the rest of the smartphone competition.
We've already benchmarked the 4S and found that it's the fastest iPhone so far, and the fastest smartphone in general for Web browsing when using the default browser. That may change when Google introduces the latest version of Android, "Ice Cream Sandwich," later this week. The browser in "Gingerbread," the current version of Android for smartphones, doesn't make good use of dual-core capability, which is something Apple has done with iOS 5. Ice Cream Sandwich may change that, but the iPhone 4S is currently the leader when it comes to Web performance.
But how does the 4S compare on a hardware level? We've compiled specs for the iPhone 4S, along with other leading smartphones on AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon, in the table below.
The iPhone 4S is powered by Apple's new dual-core A5 chip, which Apple claims can deliver up to two times more power and seven times faster graphics performance than the iPhone 4. In addition, the iPhone 4S is a world phone, meaning it supports both CDMA and GSM networks.
Improvements have been made to the phone's camera, which can now take 8-megapixel photos and record video at 1080p. And the 4S supports HSPA 14.4 on AT&T, which can deliver theoretical speeds up to 14.4 Mbps.
These are definite improvements over the previous iPhone 4, but compared to most current high-end Android devices, they actually aren't all that different. The Motorola Droid Bionic, Motorola Photon 4G, and the Samsung Galaxy S II are all powered by dual-core processors, just like the iPhone 4S. And they all have 8-megapixel rear cameras that can capture 1080p video.
And while the 4S supports HSPA 14.4 on AT&T, the other three phones feature support for even faster data networks, most notably the Droid Bionic, which runs on Verizon's blazing fast 4G LTE network.
Still, real-world testing and usage should also be taken into consideration. While other phones feature an 8-megapixel camera, for instance, in his review of the iPhone 4S, PCMag lead analyst Sascha Segan noted the device is "sharper than any cameraphone in the U.S., with 2000 lines of resolution on our chart." Of the Droid Bionic, on the other hand, Segan said, "I was disappointed by the Droid Bionic's 8-megapixel still camera, which has a very slow autofocus—up to 2 seconds."
So while you can look at the specs here and begin to make comparisons, they only tell half of the story. It's best to read the reviews of each phone, see which one has what you're looking for, and then go from there.
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