Left: Samsung Galaxy S4. Right: Apple’s iPhone 5S. Courtesy Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co.
Every year, Apple releases a new iPhone.  And nearly every year, I have purchased each new rendition.  There was the original iPhone, which I did not purchase, it was priced at $499/$599 for AT&T only.  At the time I was an AT&T customer, and already had a much cheaper phone.  The original iPhone certainly a groundbreaking mobile device, it was a phone, an iPod, and an internet communications device.  But a year later, Apple truly revolutionized the mobile device market with the App Store.  Now the iPhone wasn’t only a phone, iPod, and internet device, now it was anything that anyone really wanted it to be.  I could be a mobile gaming device, a word processor, a photo editing suite, you name it.  Today there are nearly one million Apps in the App Store that can transform your device into another device.  Need a level?  Download an App.  Need a flashlight?  Download an app.  Need a fun game to play?  Download an App.  Another thing to note is that not all of these new functions that users download today without even thinking of their implicit implications are something that the end user necessarily pays for.  Most apps out there are free.  Apple’s App Store allowed you to transform your device into something more useful to you, most of the time free of charge.  But enough with the App Store.
If we look to the next phone, the iPhone 3G, the essential upgrade is the processor, camera, and data speed.  The price also dropped to $199 with a two year agreement with AT&T.  This phone at that price point allowed more and more people to invest in an iPhone.  From there until now, Apple will release a new design change at the whole numbers, 3G, 4, and 5, and marginal under the hood tweaks with the 3GS, 4S, and 5S.  Of course some of the S models do have fantastic features.  The iPhone 4S’ camera was truly outstanding compared to prior iPhone cameras.  And the iPhone 5S has extremely powerful processor and a new fingerprint sensor.  But the main updates are in the whole numbers as I said.  3G brings the App Store, low price point, and a just better phone all around.  The 4 brings a very sleek and iconic design, a groundbreaking retina display with a pixel density that was really unheard of, and a new front facing camera for video calling or just taking pictures of yourself.  The 5 came with a new iconic design, taller screen, and introduced LTE (long term evolution) which is an extremely fast cellular data transmission standard that is from my experience as fast as most digital wired internet.
If you are going to buy an iPhone, the most eye catching and exciting phones will be the whole numbered devices, as their external bodies will differ from previous models, and according to history they will market a new fairly killer feature.
I have owned the 3G, 4, 4S, and the iPhone 5. Â I believe that these phones have been the most important models of the iPhone to date. Â All of these phones except the 4S were $199 w/2 year agreement with AT&T, and I loved every device. Â But sometimes Apple bets on keeping things a bit to similar, a bit to methodical.
I knew that Apple would announce a new iPhone this fall, and I knew it would be better than the iPhone 5.  I had seen photos of it online and rumors of it’s touch sensor.  I knew that I could get these features if I wanted them for maybe a hundred dollars or so if I sold my iPhone 5 prior to the iPhone 5S launch.  I sold my phone, and two days later Apple announced the iPhone 5S which looked nearly the same as the iPhone 5 minus a new champagne color.  Again with the S models, Apple updates interior features.  They doubled the graphics and processing power.  Added a new motion tracking chip and an improved camera that preforms with the best in the cellphone market.  And of course the iPhone 5S has a fingerprint scanner.  After assessing the iPhone 5S, I wasn’t very impressed because it was everything I had expected.  So I said, why don’t I try Android?  If I don’t like it I can return it and buy the 5S.  So I ordered a Samsung Galaxy S4 from Amazon, and two days later it’s 5 inch full HD screen was in my hands.
Long story short, I loved the Galaxy S4′s display, but couldn’t deal with the wonky Samsung Touchwiz/Android user interface.  I really did try though.  I spent two weeks trying to dive into the S4.  I loved having valuable information such as my calendar events and weather displayed on my home screen, but it was nothing revolutionary as I have had these features on my iPhones via jailbreaking at times.  The main reasons why I decided to return the device were, extremely disjointed user interface, bad integration with my current Apple products, and no landmark benefits other than the screen that preformed better than the iPhone counterpart.  The Samsung Galaxy S4 has tons more features than the iPhone 5 or iPhone 5s, but what it doesn’t have more benefits.  The S4 has motion gestures, IR remote support, and even more features I fully didn’t understand, but none of them really benefited me more than showing them off to someone that had never seen the feature.  I would take Apple’s iCloud, iTunes, and iWork any day over any Android competitor software.
The killer iPhone features are not necessarily in the device, but in the operating system.  Killer property software made for specific hardware.  Android is a mobile operating system that runs on literally hundreds of different lines of mobile devices.  iOS is another mobile operating system that runs on two lines of mobile devices.  Another key is that Apple makes the phone and operating system.  So the software will be specifically made for the hardware and vice versa.  On Android, Google makes the operating system, manufacturers make various phones and put Google’s operating system on their devices with their own tweaks on top of it.  It is a very fragmented system, but allows for differentiation.
I am returning my Samsung Galaxy S4 simply because the iPhone 5 is already a fantastic smartphone, and the 5S is the iPhone 5 but even better.  I’d rather have a great customer experience than just have all the bells and whistles of the S4 that don’t really improve my experience.
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