iPhone 5 Vs. Samsung Galaxy S3: The Galaxy S3 Is Faster Than The iPhone 5

If you're deciding between an Apple iPhone 5 or a Samsung Galaxy S3, here's another tidbit that might help you decide: it looks like the Galaxy S3 is a little bit faster than the iPhone 5. 

Benchmark tests released by Geekbench over the weekend show that the iPhone 5 scored 27 points lower in Geekbench's system than the Galaxy S3.

The iPhone 5 scored 1601, more than twice the average score of the iPhone 4S, 632. This falls right in line with Apple's claim that the iPhone 5 has double the speed of its predecessor. The Samsung Galaxy S3, meanwhile, has a score of 1628 - the fastest Android phone listed. 

This isn't a huge difference, but keep in mind that the Galaxy S3 was released back in June, three months ago. The iPhone 5 is set to be in consumers' hands on September 21.

Either way, it's not likely that consumers will flock to the Galaxy S3 over the iPhone 5 over such a small difference in such early benchmark tests - but it is important to recognize that a newer device is not necessarily more powerful. 

The iPhone 5 comes with a 4-inch Retina screen with 326 pixels per inch (ppi) and will be the lightest, thinnest iPhone yet. It will also have 4G LTE and run Apple's new iOS 6, which will have an improved Siri, and introduce the new Apple Maps.
The iPhone 5 also sports an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera and 1.2-megapixel front-facing camera.

The U.S. Galaxy S3 comes with a 4.8-inch Super AMOLED display at 306 ppi, and is slightly heavier and thicker than the iPhone 5. It currently runs Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, but will be receiving an upgrade to Android 4.1 Jelly Bean soon. Jelly Bean will introduce Google Now, Google's own Siri-like voice assistant, and a smoother interface among other features.

The Galaxy S3 is listed as having an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera and a 1.9-megapixel front-facing camera.

The iPhone 5 will be available through AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint on September 21, with an unlocked version following several weeks later. The Galaxy S3 is currently available through all four major U.S. carriers AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile.

If you are deciding between the two smartphones - which features are most important to you?