Galaxy S3 Vs Galaxy Nexus: Leading Samsung Smartphones Battle for Supremacy

Samsung's Galaxy S3 seems to have renewed new internal rivalry with the company's emerging product line-up, as Nexus poses more than a stiff challenge to the Korean tech giant's flagship phone. Then there is Blaze 4G as well to contend with, as the competition within the Galaxy smartphones hots up.

Galaxy Nexus made its debut last December on Verizon, with an impending Sprint launch proposed for 15 April. On the other hand, the S3 is expected to arrive on 30 March.

The stage is well set for an epic battle between the two leading Android smartphones from the Galaxy series, which promise the power and flexibility of Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0) to boot. The Nexus will continue support on 3G until Sprint gears up to launch its ultra-high-speed LTE data network across designated cities in the near future.

S3 is probably the most-anticipated and hyped gadget ever in the history of Android smartphones, while Nexus has topped the popularity charts ever since its release. Expect a smooth and fluid experience on the S3, thanks to the new TouchWiz skin that blends well with the Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) interface.

In contrast, the Nexus lacks the maker's skin despite flaunting an eye-catchy interface running on ICS. Let us evaluate the two leading smartphones based on their features and specs comparison, to ascertain our favourite.

It is however, viable to consider the S3 comparison with a pinch of salt as the features and specs of the rumoured phone might change in due course of its release.

Display: Rumour mills fuelled by leaked specs and images suggest the phone sports a striking 4.8-inch Super AMOLED Plus (1080p or 720p) display. If the rumours are true, expect S3 to be Samsung's first phone boasting a 3D screen. The S3 is likely to port a revamped light and scratch-resistant ceramic encasing, besides, an edge-to-edge display with a minimal bezel is also on the cards.

In contrast, the Nexus flaunts a Super AMOLED HD 4.65in capacitive touchscreen with 1280 x 720 pixels at 316ppi pixel density. The slight contour display of the Nexus enables better viewing angle with added grip and comfort for handling the phone.

Operating System: Both the devices will feature Ice Cream Sandwich onboard. While the Nexus lacks a native TouchWiz UI, the S3 is likely to harbour an upgraded version of the skin.

The new TouchWiz skin is expected to support Samsung hubs for music, reading, games and apps. An intuitive design and a slick multitasking menu make the Ice Cream Sandwich stand out from the crowd and enhance the overall user experience.

No wonder, ICS is the biggest selling point for both the smartphones. The simple yet appealing OS with new menu button and menu lists, the redesigned notifications pull-down, the highly organised settings menu, and the photo-editing Gallery app have been the crux for the outstanding sales of the Nexus.

Processor: The S3 is expected to pack a powerful quad-core 1.8GHz ARM A9 processor based on Exynos 4212 chipset (that might be toned down to 1.5GHz, according to one BGR report) with 2GB of RAM. The company is likely to offer a hefty speed boost on graphics, besides power-saving features on its latest device.

The Nexus, on the other hand, is powered by a dual-core 1.2 GHz Cortex-A9 processor with TI OMAP 4460 chipset and PowerVR SGX540 GPU. The phone, however, offers just 1GB of RAM.

Camera: Speculations abound that S3 is likely to sport a 12-megapixel rear camera and a 2 megapixel front camera for video calling. In contrast, the galaxy Nexus features a 5 megapixel primary camera and a 1.3 megapixel secondary camera.

Nexus cameras ship with limited focusing and editing options which actually limit its performance with still photography. The basic camera features include digital zoom, face detection, white-balance choices, seven exposure settings, and four "scene" modes (action, night, sunset, and party).

4G LTE and NFC: Both the Android smartphones feature 4G LTE and NFC (Near Field Communication) capabilities giving them an edge in the smartphone market. Although 4G support is yet to debut on the Sprint version, the carrier assures next-gen network upgrade in the near future.

Battery: While the Nexus ships with the standard Li-Ion 1750 mAh battery, S3 is touted to equip a powerful 2250 mAh battery, which may be the best yet. The Nexus battery is rated to deliver standby time of 290 hours (2G) and up to 270 hours (3G) and talk-time of up to 7 h 40 min (2G) and up to 8 h 20 min (3G).

Samsung offers the Extended Battery-Life Bundle Kit free with the Nexus model running on Verizon. Since 4G LTE devices drain huge battery resources, the free battery offer surely gives the Nexus an edge in the market.

Other Features: The other revolutionary features expected on S3 include wireless charging, 3D Lenticular image technology and waterproof casing.

Price: Verizon pits the Galaxy Nexus at $300 on contract, while Sprint is yet to announce its price. Going by the demand, expect S3's prices to be much higher during its release.

Apps: While both the smartphones enjoy the privilege of native Google Play apps, S3 users will get exclusive apps from Samsung.

On the other hand, Galaxy Nexus flaunts great apps like Face Unlock to instantly unlock the phone without password authorization. Android Beam lets you easily share contacts, websites, apps, maps, directions and YouTube videos with your friends and colleagues, while Voice Typing instantly translates speech to text for sending automated e-mails and SMS besides data usage tracking to prevent you from exceeding the limit of your data plan.

In contrast,S3 boasts Kies air app to sync the phone contacts, phone logs and other user data with a laptop, without connecting a USB cable. The phone will also harbour AllShare app for streaming content to an HDTV using DLNA technology.

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