iPhone 4S vs HTC Rezound

It seems that the plot thickens in the race for smartphone superiority with the entrance of a new challenger, the HTC Rezound. With some pretty stiff competition in the marketplace, the Rezound boasts some pretty cool capabilities and specs, but how does it measure up amongst Apple’s still popular iPhone 4S, who entered the market strong with its release last month, but still disappointed many when it wasn’t the highly anticipated (and rumored) iPhone 5? Here’s how these smartphone titans size up amongst each other!

Size

The iPhone is the smaller and lighter of the two, weighing in at 140 grams and measuring 115.2 mm x 58.6 mm x 9.3 mm (h x w x d), while the Rezound is 164 grams and 129 mm x 65.5 mm 13.65 mm (h x w x d). However, keep in mind that the Rezound boasts a bigger screen, which means a larger overall form factor and generally speaking more weight. But since this category largely relates to portability, the iPhone wins without question.

Winner: The iPhone is tiny and fits easier into pockets, purses and tight places. It’s also thinner and lighter.

Appearance

The iPhone 4S is practically a split-image of the iPhone 4S, with its black and white color options and sleek, glossy exterior. The iPhone is looking as sophisticated as always with its minimalist exterior. The Rezound seems to share this with the iPhone, supporting minimal button/port placement and a black exterior. However, where the iPhone is sleek on both sides, the Rezound features a sleek top and some soft-touch plastic on the battery cover. While soft to the touch, it does make one worry less about scratches to both sides and makes it more grippable. But some can also see this as cheap, preferring the exterior of the iPhone 4S because of its sleekness.

Winner: It really comes down to personal preference on this one, so it’s a tie. Having a sleek exterior like the iPhone 4S has both good and bad traits. Sure it looks great, but it’s easier to scratch and the appearance of fingerprints can by annoying without a cover. The Rezound sports a soft-touch plastic back, which eliminates the aforementioned nuisances.  But they both are sleek and let’s be honest, you know you’re going to probably get a cover for either, so really, does it matter?

Display

Given that the Rezound is larger than the iPhone 4S it might be bad in the size department, but it’s a major plus in terms of display. The iPhone 4S has a 3.5-inch 640×960 Retina display, while the Rezound has a 4.3-inch 1280×720 Super LCD HD screen. Where the iPhone boasts that it features the highest pixel density and resolution despite having a small display, the Rezound can now take that claim away since it beats the iPhone 4S with a 12-point difference with its 342 ppi against the iPhone’s 330 ppi, so the Rezound has a higher pixel density.

Winner: The Rezound’s 342 ppi knocks out the iPhone’s 330 ppi and does so with a larger display, making for a quite amazing viewing.

Operating System

It’s another Android vs OS challenge. The Rezound sports Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread with an HTC Sense 3.5 skin (but can upgrade to 4.0).  The iPhone runs iOS 5.0, Apple’s latest and greatest operating system. The HTC Sense 3.5 has come along way and features stuff you won’t find anywhere else on Android-based phones. When Ice Cream Sandwich becomes available next year, expect a significant upgrade to the Android platform in terms of features. But many find apple’s iOS to be easier to use and its 5.0 version is definitely the most advanced yet. And let’s not forget that iOS 5 includes 5GB of free cloud storage allowing you to sync your photos, contacts and more.

Winner: Since the iPhone 4S’ iOS 5.0 is easier to use and includes 5GB of free iCloud storage, Apple takes this one.

Processor

Both feature a dual-core processor but the Rezound’s 1.5 GHz Qualcomm MSM8660 processor beats the iPhone’s 4S by 0.5 GHz. The Rezound also has more 1 GB of RAM besting the iPhone 4S’ by 512 MB.

Winner: Ummmm, the numbers don’t lie.  The Reszound’s chip is 50% faster, thus providing faster browsing speeds and multitasking compared to what the iPhone 4S offers.

Storage

The iPhone 4S comes in three options: 16 GB, 32 GB and 64 GB with no extra SD cards allowing you more. So as you go up in storage, you go up in price, too. For the Rezound, it comes with 16 GB of internal memory, but you can get a microSD card to provide you up to 32 GB of additional space.

Winner: Sorry Rezound, but the 64 GB option can’t be beat for many who like to have the biggest storage capacity available for all their apps, games, files and stuff. That built-in storage capacity plus that iCould service provided really can’t be beat.

Wireless Connectivity

So the Rezound is capable of true 4G speeds thanks to its LTE status, where as the iPhone 4S is technically 3G only. They’re both Bluetooth-enabled, though the iPhone boasts version 4.0, and the Rezound V3.0. The iPhone 4S is a world phone so it can work anywhere you go and has Wi-Fi a/b/g/n.  The Rezound isn’t a world phone and is capable of  two frequencies(850/1900 MHz) and single-band LTE (700MHz) with the same Wi-Fi capabilities as the iPhone 4S.

Winner: 4G speeds on the Rezound make it the definite winner.

Camera and Video

So this is a tough one.  Both smartphones include an 8 megapixel camera and can capture 1080p video.  While we have yet to test out the Rezound, we do know that the iPhone 4s takes stunning photos and video for a handset device.  But based on numbers alone, the Rezound does have two up on the iPhone 4s, which is a larger, 2mp front facing camera and a bigger f-stop of 2.2.

Winner: We’re gonna go on numbers alone on this one since we haven’t had a chance to get a hands on with both handsets.  So the Rezound is the winner in this bout.

Battery Life

This bout is moving target since it largely depends on how you use your phone.  Also, keep in mind that 4G is a huge battery suck when compared to 3G, but at the end of the day we have to look purely at specs.  The iPhone 4s claims 8 hours of talk time on 3G or 14 hours on 2G.  They say it will standby for up to 200 hours, will playback video for 10 hours and you can surf the web for up to 6 hours on 3G and 9 on WiFi.  The Rezound however claims a standby time of 261 hours, besting the iPhone 4s by 61 hours and 404 minutes of “usage.”

Winner:  Again, without real world testing we can only gauge this one objectively, and since the Rezound sports a 1620mah battery vs iPhone’s 1432mAh battery, we gotta give it to the Rezound. Furthermore, the Rezound’s battery is user replaceable.

Carriers

The iPhone 4S is available on Sprint, AT&T and Verizon.  The Rezound will be the first smartphone to hit the U.S. market with a true 720ppi screen on Verizon. But since it’s on Verizon, it will compete with not only the iPhone, but with the new Galaxy Nexus and Droid RAZR.

Winner: For those who aren’t part of Verizon can’t get the Rezound unless they break their contract with one of the other carriers or are on a month-to-month plan, making the iPhone 4S the winner here since has more carrier offerings.

Extras

The iPhone 4S come with Siri, which is a pretty advanced and unique voice activated system that’s witty and useful. It’s what’s really making the iPhone 4S as popular as it has become since it first dropped. But the Rezound has some extra goodies, too, boasting some awesome sound quality thanks to optimized hardware that has Beats by Dr. Dre (software AND some expensive ass headphones that are free with the phone). This is great for music lovers who really want to have amazing sound when listening to music from their phone.

Winner: We gotta give it to the Rezound.  Nothing beats (pun not intended) a pair of quality headphones included in the deal and chances are Google will roll out a comparable voice app very soon.

Price

The Rezound will set you back $300 bucks, while the iPhone 4S varies in price, making it a bit more flexible. The 16 GB is $199, the 32 GB is $299 (about the same as the 16 GB Rezound without the extra microSD card) and the 64 GB is $399 (but this all depends on contract status and goes higher when you’re not eligible for an upgrade).

Winner: The iPhone’s price flexibility is still pretty cool, making it available to those at different income levels, while the Rezound is $300 off the bat. This makes the iPhone 4S the winner here.

Overall Winner

Sorry Apple, it seems your iPhone 4S has some stiff competition with the HTC Rezound that boats a number of impressive capabilities like its display, processor, camera and video, price and more. It seems to be the Android that could really cause a dent in Apple’s iPhone 4S sales and popularity. While once a Mac lover always a Mac lover, those who want the latest and greatest will definitely want to top for the Rezound that has a better overall package.