Galaxy S3 Vs iPhone 4S: Can the Next Galaxy Take Down Apple's Best?

Samsung released the Galaxy S3 on Thursday, 3 May. The device is set to go in sale in the UK at the end of the month and in the US by this summer. The South Korean giants also announced the S3 would go on sale with 296 carriers across 145 countries, according to the Guardian. However Samsung has not yet revealed the retail price of the Galaxy S3.

"Our aim with the Galaxy S3 was to develop the best smartphone ever made, and by focusing on creating a unique user experience through superior hardware and enhanced usability we believe we have done just that. The device has been created by keeping in mind our daily needs and capability as human beings. Simple yet brilliant, the Galaxy S3 is packed with smart features that enables it to understand and respond to our actions providing the most seamless, natural and human-centric mobile experience," said Andy Griffiths, the Managing Director of Samsung UK and Ireland.

Check out how Samsung's new smartphone does against the record-breaking iPhone 4S

Display: Samsung's third generation Galaxy features a 4.8-inch HD Super AMOLED display, with a resolution of 720x1280 pixels. The Galaxy S3, according to Samsung, provides and ergonomic and comfortable user experience, through what the manufacturer calls a human-centric design process.

Meanwhile, the iPhone 4S features a 3.5-inch multi-touch Retina Display with a resolution of 640x960 pixels. The display features fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating and supports multiple languages and characters.

Dimensions: The Galaxy S3 measures 136.6x70.6x8.6mm and weighs a little less than the iPhone 4S at 133g. The iPhone 4S measures 115.2x58.6x9.3mm and weighs 140g.

Operating System: The Galaxy S3 will run on Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich. The iPhone runs on Apple's proprietary iOS software - iOS 5.1.

Processor: Much before the launch of Galaxy S3, Samsung announced the new smartphone would be powered by a 1.4 GHz Exynos 4 quad-core processor with twice the processing capabilities of the 45nm process-based Exynos 4 dual-core processor. A test conducted by Slash Gear suggested that the quad-core Exynos process was powerful and capable enough of taking on its market rivals. The S3 has 1GB of RAM. Apple's iPhone 4S is powered by the Apple A5 chip, with a dual-core 1GHz Cortex A9 processor and 512MB of RAM.

Camera: The Galaxy S3 will sport a primary camera of eight megapixels with auto-focus and LED flash. The camera is has a technology called Zero-Lag Shutter Speed that allows users to capture moving objects. The smartphone also features a 1.9 megapixel front-facing camera which can record HD videos at 30 frames per second. The Galaxy S3 also has a feature called Burst Shot, which allows users to capture 20 continuous frames.

The iPhone 4S has an eight megapixel iSight camera with auto-focus, tap-to-focus, face detection and LED flash. The camera can capture HD videos in 1080p at up to 30 frames per second. The iPhone also features a secondary front-facing VGA-quality camera. The eight megapixel sensor contains 60 percent more pixels which allow users to take high quality photos with more details.

Connectivity: The Galaxy S3 offers Wi-Fi a/b/g/n, Wi-Fi HT40 and Bluetooth version 4.0, as well as Near Field Communication (NFC). The iPhone 4S supports Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n and Bluetooth version 4.0. The handset supports a data speed up to HSDPA 14.4Mbps and HSUPA 5.8 Mbps.

Internal Storage Capacity: The Galaxy S3 offers three internal memory storage options of 16/32/64GB (the latter is not yet available). The iPhone 4S has three similarly-sized models but unlike the S3 does not accept microSD cards.

Power and Battery: The Galaxy S3 is powered by a 2,100mAh battery. The iPhone 4S is powered by a lithium-ion battery which can be either charged via USB or a power adapter. The battery delivers talk time for up to eight hours on 3G and 14 hours on 2G networks.