iPhone 4S vs. Galaxy S3 vs. Galaxy Nexus vs. One X: Apple, Samsung, HTC Smartphones Head-to-Head

Samsung's Galaxy S III has arrived, and pundits are, as always, wondering if this one is an "iPhone killer." Though the GS3 would certainly beat the iPhone in a fight (it has a huge size advantage!), we're not so sure about the sales numbers -- a huge Cult of iPhone probably guarantees the continued dominance of Apple's signature smartphone as the best-selling single device, at least in America.

But which phone should you opt for? If you're looking to buy a phone in the next month or so, and you want a high-powered smartphone with impressive specs -- which one should you go for? We're lining up four of the most robust smartphones available -- the iPhone 4S, the Galaxy S III, HTC's One X, and the Google-Samsung collabo Galaxy Nexus -- against each other in a battle of the specs to give you a clearer picture.

	Apple iPhone 4S	Samsung Galaxy S III	Google Galaxy Nexus	HTC One X
Network	3G (HSPA+)	4G LTE	4G LTE	4G LTE
Display	3.5 inch Retina display, 960-by-640 pixels	4.8 inch HD Super AMOLED, 1280x720	4.65-inch Super AMOLED, 1280x720	4.7 inch, Super LCD2, 1280x720
Weight	140 grams	133 grams	135 grams	130 grams
Operating System	iOS 5	Android 4.0 with TouchWiz	Android 4.0	Android 4.0 with HTC Sense
Front Camera	VGA (less than 1 megapixel)	2 megapixels	1.3 megapixels	1.3 megapixels
Rear Camera	8 megapixels with LED flash	8 megapixels with LED flash	5 megapixels, LED flash	8 megapixels, LED Flash
Camera Features	Touch-to-focus, geo-tagging, face detection, HDR	Touch-to-focus, geo-tagging, face and smile detection, burst photography with best photo selection, share with friends via face recognition	Touch-to-focus-geo-tagging, face detection, zero shutter lag	Simultaneous video and still, geo-tagging, face and smile detection, burst photography with best photo selection
Storage/Memory	16/32/64GB, 512MB RAM	16/32/62GB, 1GB RAM	16/32GB, 1GB RAM	16GB, 1GB RAM
Talk Time*	7 hours, 41 minutes	Unknown	8 hours, 23 minutes	9 hours, 57 minutes
Web Browsing Time*	6 hours, 56 minutes	Unknown	3 hours, 1 minute	4 hours, 18 minutes
SD Card Slot	No	Yes (up to 64GB)	No	No
Killer Feature	Siri, natural language voice assistant	S Voice voice commands, eye recognition	Face Unlock	Beats Audio integration
Price	$199 on contract (16GB storage)	Unknown	$199 on contract (16GB)	$199 on contract (16GB)
Carriers	AT&T, Verizon, Sprint	Unknown (rumored Verizon, Sprint)	Verizon/Sprint	AT&T

A couple footnotes:
- Talk time and web browsing time are both taken from tests conduced by mobile website gsmarena. You can view those results here.
- We didn't include processors, as we're still not sure what kind of processor the American version of the Galaxy S III will have. The iPhone 4S, Galaxy Nexus, and HTC One X (AT&T version) all pack dual-core processors; the international version of the Galaxy S III has a quad-core processor, though it's been rumored that the American version will be dual-core. You can see how the Galaxy Nexus, HTC One X and iPhone 4S match up against one another here. The quad-core version of Galaxy S III has been tested here.

Also on HuffPost:

Check out the coolest new features of the Galaxy S III.

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• 4.8-Inch Super AMOLED Display

  The screen is huge, up from 4.3 inches on the Galaxy S II. A 4.8 inch screen makes it one of the largest displays on a flagship phone there is. Compare with HTC's One X (4.7 inches), the Motorola's Droid Razr Maxx (4.3 inches), and Apple's iPhone 4S (3.5 inches). The resolution is 1280x720.

• S Voice

  Samsung introduces 'S Voice' on the Galaxy S III. To wake the phone up and activate the voice sensor, you simply say "Hi Galaxy!" and the phone wakes up; no need to push a button. Other voice commands, in addition to the stock ones in the Google Voice Actions catalogue: Using your voice, you can launch the camera and take a photo, turn the volume up and down, snooze the alarm (say "Snooze" as your alarm is going off -- dangerous!), and send texts and emails.

• Motion Detection

  If you're writing a text to someone, and then you raise the phone to your ear, the GS3 launches the telephone app and automatically calls the person you were texting.

• S Beam

  The Galaxy S III comes with an NFC chip that allows you to "bump" information like photos or video to other Galaxy S III owners by touching phones together, using a combination of the NFC technology and Wi-Fi Direct. With All-Share Cast, you can beam your screen to any DLNA-compatible television; All-Share Cast also allows you to share your screen onto anyone else's smartphone for document collaboration.

• Pop Up Play

  "Pop up play" will allow you to play a video anywhere on the screen while also performing other tasks, like checking your email or responding to texts. You can make the video window as large or small as you want. Here, you can see a YouTube video playing toward the bottom of the screen while a demonstrator prepares to search Google.

• Burst Shot

  The Galaxy S III's 8 megapixel camera comes with burst photography: Holding down the shutter will take twenty photos in a row; you can then choose the best photo and the phone will automatically erase the other 19. A similar function exists on the HTC One line of phones. An alternate function: The Burst camera can take 8 photos in a row and then automatically choose the best one, if you're too indecisive to choose on your own.

• Buddy Photo Share

  The photography software comes with smart facial recognition: When you take a picture of a friend, it can recognize their face and will prompt you to send that photo to that person's phone or email address.

• Smart Stay

  Essentially an eye recognition technology, the GS3 can sense when you are and are not looking it: When you are looking at your screen, the display will stay illuminated; when you stop looking at your phone, the display goes dark to save power. The feature can be toggled on and off, if you prefer to just let your screen time out.

• This Commercial

  Here's the first commercial for the Galaxy S III. At least, we think it's advertising the Galaxy S III. It might also be advertising a soap opera or Zach Braff film of some kind.

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Comments

[Paulgarcia]

02:08 PM on 04/10/2013

I love my Galays S3 but I prefer http://www.comparateur-des-prix.com

[MichaelB1965]

11:37 PM on 07/25/2012

I owned the galaxy nexus for 7 months....still had a year and 5 months on my contract...i went today and sold it for 127 bucks just to get rid of it and buy the iphone 4s..im tickled to death already!!!!

[Steven Kippel]

05:04 PM on 07/16/2012

The Samsung Galaxy Nexus has the new Jelly Bean operating system, with Google's new voice search which defeats Siri in every test.

That's the iPhone's listed "killer feature" but not under the Nexus.

http://youtu.be/kDsOtdRtG0Q

[7xovr]

10:23 AM on 07/12/2012

I am dropping my iPhone for the Google Nexus direct from Google (no Bloatware). I have an iMAC and an iPAD as well as an appletv and Roku box. I love this competition we the consumers win when companies compete, plus it's great for us tech junkies. For me the andriod platform, is simply better than the iOS platform. There are pros and cons to both, but I perfer the open expandible enviornment of the andriod platform for my mobile phone, not so much for my home network, which I perfer to be a bit more closed so I run Apple. At home im music, movies and photo editting, Apple does this very well within it's own ecosystem. Out and about, I need a bit of everything and this is where Andriod shines.

[sanndy]

02:20 AM on 06/13/2012

I have read an artical about HTC One X vs. Samsung Galaxy S3 vs. iPhone 4S on Enolsoft's blog,I think own iPhone 4S is necessary.In the meantime,I also looking forward to iPhone 5.

[Molan James]

04:06 AM on 08/07/2012

I bought my SG3 two days ago, and I really regret I did it so late. The device is the best one I ever touched and used.Its quality is excellent, and I still wonder why some people keep telling iPhones are better.Check 7 Unique Features of the Samsung Galaxy S III.
http://www.careace.net/2012/08/03/top-1-unique-features-samsung-galaxy-s-iii/

[jo smith456]

09:30 AM on 05/27/2012

real competition from such awesome device makers/designers. Consumers benefit!!!

...unlike the oligopolistic "telecom providers" that rely more on "paying off (e.g. lobbying, etc.) politicians" to maintain their market hold and price manipulations...

[Hassan Salam]

08:18 PM on 05/23/2012

Brand new Unlocked Samsung Galaxy S3 cost $400usd

SKYPE Call & Chat : hassan.inc1

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BBM CHAT 24HRS: 275DD6E1

call Hotlink 24hours : [phone]

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Shipping Method: DHL & FedEX and UPS
Delivery Time: 2-3days delievr to your doorstep.

[razorbackndc]

10:58 AM on 05/07/2012

I love my Samsung Galaxy S II and my Sprint unlimited plan. And Android has everything I want in an O/S. My wife has an i-Phone (AT&T) and she likes my phone better than hers. Bigger screen, better camera, etc.

That being said, I own Apple stock and plan to hold on to it for a while because the "Cult of Apple" is a real phenomenon. And the i-Pad will be very hard to unseat as the king of tablets.

[William1969]

09:25 PM on 05/06/2012

iPhone killer, oh who cares

[Thalin Lea]

02:37 PM on 05/06/2012

I know plenty of people that with a 2 month new Samsung & HTC crab it gets broken and to replace it when having singed a 3 years contract you need to be lucky enough. Iphone all the way.

[DrNasrad]

01:12 PM on 05/06/2012

This tired comparison is literally comparing Apple to oranges. When Samsung and HTC make their OWN operating system, then we'll talk.
Apple makes both....very well.
When Android makes their own phones, then maybe we can compare evenly.

Just like the Mac vs PC battle.....microsoft doesn't make the hardware too, so the comparison is not valid. You can compare the OS, but not the entire package that Apple provides.

[morefromLA]

05:59 PM on 05/06/2012

Taking no prisoners and doing it very well. Fanned.

[johnr49]

06:13 PM on 05/06/2012

Actually Samsung make 26% of the iPhone's components - they do NOT make the actual iPhones.

http://www.phonearena.com/news/Samsung-makes-26-of-the-iPhone-4s-components-says-infographic_id21206

[Michael Johnson 1]

10:39 PM on 05/06/2012

Apple doesn't "make" any hardware......they are an OEM just like everyone else. The difference is that they put their own OS on it.

[MagicAnt]

09:12 AM on 05/06/2012

I love the Samsung Galaxy S2. I'd grab the S3 in a heartbeat if I was ready for a new phone yet. The biggest selling point for me is the MicroSD slot (selling point vs. an iPhone, that is).

[RegMac]

08:58 AM on 05/06/2012

Just replaced my HTC Google nexus one (loved it) with the Samsung Google galaxy nexus (purchased through Google, no contract). One week into using the new phone and I'm impressed. Hopefully Google will support the new nexus like they do the older versions. The nexus one came with Eclair OS upgraded to froyo, then gingerbread. With a gmail account all my apps, contacts, etc. we're loaded onto new phone in minutes.
As I type this on my iPad (love it too). My point is, we are lucky to have such great products.

[Norma Desmond]

01:56 AM on 05/06/2012

I'm sick with apple - as soon my contract ends I'll switch to the new Samsung...

[Jill from NYC]

12:54 AM on 05/06/2012

I love my iPad and I also love my HTC Sensation. When I upgrade I'm sticking with Android.