2012 has seen a number of hot handsets hit the market. With Apple’s next iPhone rumoured to be coming to our shelves around October 2012, handset manufacturers appear to have chosen not to directly compete with the iPhone in terms of release date, but have preferred to bring out their aces at different times of the year. We’ll take a look at the latest phones to be making big waves in the mobile phone market.
Samsung Galaxy S3
When Samsung launched the latest offering in their Galaxy range, the S3, they boasted that it had been ‘designed for humans’. Although this received sniggers from many observers for its somewhat plain and obvious message, it seeks to persuade those who see the Android handsets as being more complicated than their Apple counterpart. Its price point is similar, but with the Galaxy S3’s quad-core processor technology, consumers are facing a real dilemma when it comes to choosing between the latest, high-end handsets. Android on the Samsung Galaxy S3 is smooth and slick, and the Galaxy S3 is certainly powerful enough to handle all the Android apps from the Play Store that you can throw at it. With its 4.8″ screen, the Galaxy S3 is definitely one of the hottest phones on the market right now. You would be mad not to consider it.
HTC One X
The HTC One X stirred a lot of excitement when it was announced at the MWC 2012, and rightly so. It oozes a high-end feel, thanks to its polycarbonate material, and the smooth lines and curves would make most purr at its beauty. The One X is not just a pretty face though: rivalling the Samsung Galaxy S3 with a quad-core processor, the HTC also has the advantage of HTC Sense. Sense is HTC’s modification of the Android software, offering the trademark HTC ‘feel’ to the phone’s software, as well as integrated technology such as Beats Audio for the music lovers. There is not really much between the Samsung Galaxy S3 and the HTC One X, and people might well be swayed by Sense and the simply beautiful design of the HTC.
Apple iPhone 4S
The iPhone still remains the benchmark, hence its inclusion on this list. It might not offer the ground-breaking hardware that the aforementioned HTC and Samsung offer, but Apple’s iOS on their iPhone means that it simply does not need it. Unlike Android, iOS is only available on the iPhone, meaning it is a much more focussed experience. Apps are designed specifically for one phone, often resulting in better quality (although, not always). The simplicity, combined with its positive brand image, means the iPhone attracts users both young and old. On the downside, users often feel restricted by having to use iTunes and generally feel closed off in Apple’s ecosystem. However, if you can live with this, it remains hard to look past the iPhone.