Galaxy Note 2: Good Enough to Steal iPhone 5's Thunder

By Anu Passary | Aug 11, 2012 09:01 AM EDT

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The clash of the mobile titans is intensifying. Samsung and Apple have locked horns in an ongoing patent lawsuit and the battle is now poised to spill over to the smartphone market. With Samsung's Galaxy Note 2 slated for an Aug. 29 debut, the Korean tech giant is gearing up to compete with Apple's iPhone 5.

According to market researchers, Samsung boasts a smartphone market share of 32.6 percent, whereas Apple enjoys a 16.9 percent piece of the pie.

Earlier this month, Samsung confirmed to Reuters that it would unveil its next-gen phablet, the Galaxy Note 2, on Aug. 29 in Berlin. The Galaxy Note successor will be released two days prior to the IFA 2012 consumer show. Not much is known about the Galaxy Note 2's hardware or features. The only information available must be gleaned from circulating rumors.

Is the Galaxy Note 2 good enough to steal iPhone 5's thunder?

Display
Both the iPhone 5 and Galaxy Note 2 are increasing their screen sizes. The Galaxy Note has a 5.3-inch screen, while the iPhone 4S has 3.5-inch one. Rumors indicate that the Galaxy Note 2 will now sport a 5.5-inch flexible AMOLED HD screen, compared to iPhone 5's 4-inch Retina display with Gorilla Glass. The Note 2's flexible display reduces the device's thickness by 0.4mm and the Unbreakable Plan Technology (UBP) provides added strength. This feature does not imply that the phone will be bendable, but that it could possibly allow for a curved design.

Processor and Operating System
The Note 2 will have a quad-core 1.6GHz Exynos processor. Speculation maintains that the iPhone 5 may pack a variant of the A5X chip, which powers the new iPad.

The Galaxy Note 2 is likely to run on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) out of the box with ith Samsung's TouchWiz UI. Rumors suggest that Samsung may not have had enough time to test the latest Android 4.1 Jelly Bean on the new "phablet"; however, just like other Samsung high-end devices for 2012, the Note 2 may expect an update to Jelly Bean later this year. iOS6 (the latest mobile OS Apple unveiled at the WWDC 2012) is expected to power the iPhone 5.

Internal Storage and Camera

Both devices have 16/32/64GB internal storage options available. Samsung, however, has the clear edge over iPhone 5 with a microSD card option and 1.5GB of RAM compared to the iPhone 5's 1GB.

The iPhone 5 is rumored to have an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera and a 2-megapixel front-facing camera to accommodate video chatting. By contrast, the Note 2 is expected to sport a 12or 13-megapixel camera.

With the release dates of both Galaxy Note 2 and iPhone 5 around the corner, experts and fans alike are eagerly waiting to see which device comes out on top.

J.P. Morgan analyst Mark Moskowitz had stated in an investors' note on June 28 that the iPhone 5 will rule the smartphone market in 2013.

"We think that a combination of revolutionary hardware enhancements and software-driven services (i.e., Passbook, Maps, FaceTime over cellular) stand to reaffirm the iPhone as the leading smartphone in 2013," Moskowitz noted.

For Android lover or iFans, in the Galaxy Note 2 versus iPhone 5 battle, consumer preference will ultimately reign supreme.