Apple iPhone 5 vs Samsung Galaxy S3: Specs Comparison, Which Wins on Real 'User Needs'?

Apple and Samsung continue to battle for the top spot on the smartphone market with the iPhone 5 and Galaxy S3.

While Apple fans will continue to flock to the latest gadgets from the tech giant, Samsung has created a massive following for the beloved Galaxy S3.

Both devices have very different operating systems, but nevertheless in some ways both handsets have some attributes in common.

The iPhone 5 is lighter than previous iPhones at 112g and has a four-inch screen. It comes in white as well as black, both of which have a two-tone effect on the backplate. The iPhone 5 has a more advanced form of antenna, meaning it should be nearly impossible to lose a signal. It generally increases the power of GPS lock-on and also improves the call connection.

Apple's iPhone 5 changed the location of the headphone jack which is now located on the bottom of the phone. There is also a new Lightning port has been added, plus the phone is thinner and more compact than its predecessors. The iPhone functions over 2G, 3G and 4G networks and has Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and USB capability. The primary camera is 8MP and the secondary 1.2MP, and the phone can record video and images simultaneously.

The Samsung Galaxy S3 got the jump on the iPhone 5's September launch with a release in May and quickly became one of the top selling smartphones. The device is lightweight at 131g, but still bigger than the iPhone 5. The SGS3 has a larger screen than the iPhone at 4.8 inches. It comes in either grey or black and supports SD cards; users can output HD content to a television set via an HDMI cable.

Samsung Galaxy S3 functions over 2G, 3G and 4G networks and has Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and NFC and USB capability. The primary camera is 8MP and the secondary 1.9MP, and the phone can record video and images simultaneously.

Another important feature is battery life, with iPhone 5 lasting only with a talk time for up to 8 hours on 3G. Internet usage works for up to 8 hours on LTE and up to 10 hours on Wi-Fi. The Samsung Galaxy S3's battery is able to hold up to 12 hours of talk time that vary on the networks available. The Note 2 is equipped with a 3,100 mAh battery with a talk time of up to 16 hours with 3G usage.

Both phones have natural language commands and dictation, active noise cancellation with a dedicated microphone, TV-out capacity, voice memo/dial/commands and a good selection of apps.

Samsung Galaxy S3 may be particularly suitable for work use as it features Dropbox with 50 GB storage, Document viewer (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF), Calendar plus Google Search, Maps and Gmail.

The Apple iPhone 5 may be a better bet for social networking as it has Twitter and Facebook integration and gives access to the storage capabilities via the iCloud cloud service.