iPhone 4 vs. Google Nexus S
Since Apple released their inaugural handset, other smartphone manufacturers have struggled to keep up with its innovation. However, we're entering a new era for the smartphone and when Steve Wozniak admits that the Android platform will be superior to Apple's iOS, you sit up and listen. We decided to put Woz's wise words to the test and compare the newest Apple release, the iPhone 4 with the latest super smartphone from Samsung and Google, the Nexus S.
Screen
There's a lot of hype surrounding the screen on the Nexus S as it has been billed as the world's first curved touchscreen. As well as being a beautiful Super AMOLED, it's designed to fit to the face for a more ergonomic calling experience. Whilst a nice feature, it doesn't really measure up to the Retina display on the iPhone.
The 3.5-inch screen boasts 326ppi along with an 800:1 contrast ratio, which is totally unparalleled in any other device. Despite Google's innovation, we feel that the iPhone is head and shoulders above in the war of the screens.
Winner: iPhone 4
Operating System
The battle between iOS and Android is a very closely fought one. For every Apple enthusiast there is an equally ardent Android fan, and each OS has its advantages. Both are user friendly, pleasing to the eye and easy to modify to your own requirements. On this occasion though, we have to take into account ease of modification and open source ethos, so the Nexus S clinches it.
Winner: Nexus S
Future Proofing
When you're splashing out on a premium handset future proofing has to be a concern, and it's not an easy thing to cover in such a rapidly evolving, fluid market. Google has gone to great lengths to achieve it though. As well as being the first to receive Androids newest OS, version 2.3, known as Gingerbread, the Nexus S boasts impressive hardware, such as an ARM Cortex A8 1GHz processor, dedicated GPU and a three-axis gyro sensor, setting the Nexus S up for a future in gaming. The iPhone has its own future proofing in place though with plenty of sensors of its own and a meaty 1GHz A4 CPU.
Winner: iPhone 4
Camera
As we mentioned, Apple have upped their game, especially in the camera department and the iPhone 4 features a stunning 5-megapixel snapper with an LED flash, capable of capturing 720P video. It also offers a front-facing camera to make use of the Facetime software for video calling via Wi-Fi (and only Wi-Fi!). Similarly The Nexus S has a 5 mega-pixel camera with LED flash, but for some unknown reason Samsung and Google opted to omit the 720P video capture, offering only WVGA instead, practically handing this round to Apple's finest.
Winner: iPhone 4
Apps store
Both Apple and Android are famous for their apps though Apple's App Store has the lead in terms of quantity with a staggering 300,000 third party apps available. Though Apple has opened itself up to criticism with a discriminative screening process for software, which has been labelled as biased by some users. By contrast, Android is gaining huge popularity for the amount of free apps available and with around 100,000 titles available, is catching up with Apple fast. To top that off development is an altogether more open affair and you aren't likely to see your favourite app banished from the Android Market for the inclusion of colourful language!
Winner: iPhone 4