Top five iPhone 5 killers
Samsung Galaxy S III 4G
Samsung’s most successful smartphone to date is now available in a 4G version with Virgin Mobile and Optus, and Telstra is expected to launch it in October. It’s essentially the same handset as the original III, with a 4.8” HD Super AMOLED display, 1.5GHz quad-core processor, and an 8-megapixel camera.
The only difference is that the 4G ships with the latest Android 4.1 Jelly Bean operating system out of the box (the 3G version of the phone will be getting this as an over-the-air software update sometime in October). The 4G is also available in different colours – Optus and Virgin Mobile is offering it in ‘onyx black’, while Telstra will be selling it in ‘titanium grey’.
Samsung Galaxy Note II
Another Samsung smartphone you may want to consider is the Galaxy Note II. This big-screened beauty has a whopping 5.5” display, giving you extra space for things like web browsing, watching movies and playing games. It also comes with a stylus so you can write and draw on the screen more precisely than you can with your finger.
The Galaxy Note II is designed for people that want the larger screen of a tablet without having to carry two devices, although the larger footprint means it’ll stretch your pockets a lot more than a typical smartphone. Samsung hasn’t officially announced whether the Galaxy Note II will be launching here, but it’s already been released in other regions like Korea and India, and a US launch is scheduled for 24 October. If it’s anything like Samsung’s previous smartphone launches, we can expect the Note II on Aussie shores sometime over the next few weeks. It’s already available for purchase from grey importers like MobiCity.
Motorola RAZR HD
Tired of your smartphone running out of juice before the end of the day? The Motorola RAZR HD may be more to your liking. Despite having a slim 8.4mm profile, it packs a large 2,500mAh battery that Motorola claims will last for up to 16 hours of talk time. To put that into perspective, the iPhone 5 offers only 8 hours of talk time on 3G (and likely less on a 4G network).
The RAZR HD is an upgrade to the original Android-powered RAZR, with a larger and higher-res 4.7” 720p display, faster 1.5GHz dual-core processor, and running Android 4.0 out of the box (an over-the-air update to Jelly Bean is expected before the end of the year). It carries over the durable qualities of its predecessor, namely the Gorilla Glass screen, splash-guard water-repellant coating and Kevlar fibre backing. The RAZR HD will be exclusive to Telstra’s 4G network, and has launched today.
Nokia Lumia 920
Yet another Telstra exclusive, the Nokia Lumia 920 will be one of the first smartphones out the gate running Microsoft’s new Windows Phone 8 operating system. The official launch date will be announced at the end of October, but it’s likely to go on sale in early November.
There’s a lot to like on this phone besides the fact that it runs the brand-spanking-new Windows Phone 8 operating system. It has the same stylish design of the Lumia 900, only with a larger 4.5” display, uses the same PureView technology found in the Nokia 808, making the camera five times more sensitive to light than rival smartphones (which results in much clearer images in dim lighting), and offers wireless charging. Like many flagship smartphones that are being released now, it’s also compatible with Telstra’s speedy 4G network
HTC Windows Phone 8X
As stylish and feature-packed as the Lumia 920 is, our money would be on the HTC Windows Phone 8X if we had to pick between two, and this choice is based purely on looks. It’s like HTC took Nokia’s Lumia design and improved on it by rounding off the corners, giving it a curvier backside, and offering bolder colours like ‘california blue’, ‘limelight yellow’ and ‘fiesta red’.
Some of the unique features of the Windows Phone 8X include the 8-megapixel camera’s 28mm wide-angle lens and dedicated imaging chip, and Beats Audio integration for improving the sound quality when Beats Audio headphones are connected. If you’re more of a power user, however, the Lumia 920 still beats it with a larger screen, bigger battery, and 4G compatibility. The 8X is expected to launch in November with Telstra and Vodafone
