Should I buy the Samsung Galaxy S4 or stick with the Galaxy S3?

If these two phones look almost exactly the same, should you choose the Samsung Galaxy S4 over the Galaxy S3? Or should you just save your money and hold on to the GS3 until your contract is up? These are fair questions, depending on what you want out of a smartphone.

Samsung has been the dominant force in the Android ecosystem for a while now. Going back as far as the Android 1.5-powered Samsung Moment, the company has spent the last few years spitting out Android phones every few months. With each release Samsung learned more about the ecosystem… then the company released the Galaxy S3 to global acclaim. Some iteration of the phone was available on almost every carrier in the world, and as a result the flagship smartphone smashed records and took over a significant part of Android mind share.

Now that Samsung has released the next generation of Galaxy smartphones — namely the GS4 — Samsung is left with a huge customer base that has to consider whether or not it is worth upgrading to the 2013 model.

Galaxy S4 vs GS3: Pricing

Let’s get the easiest and most obvious point out of the way first — the Galaxy S3 is now significantly cheaper than the Galaxy S4. Much in the same way that the previous generation iPhone is cheaper when the new version comes out, you can now get the Galaxy S3 for either $100 cheaper on a new contract or free if there’s a promotion going on. For most in the US, who have grown accustomed to the $200 (or lower) price point, this winds up being a bigger deal to buyers on a budget.

Taking that thought one step further, you can now get the GS3 for about $250-$300 at secondhand stores that can guarantee a functional device, like Swappa. If you look hard enough, you can probably get one for cheaper via Craigslist. Compared to the Galaxy S4′s $649 price tag, there’s plenty of reason to look at the S3 if you don’t absolutely need the newest phone on the market. On top of this, accessories for the Galaxy S3 are more likely to be on sale or discounted, as retailers make room for new and more popular phones.

If the price is a driving point for you, it’s hard not to go with the S3 over the S4. Unless, of course, the new features in the S4 are must have items for you…

Galaxy S4 vs GS3: Hardware

Looking at them head on, it’s pretty hard for the uninitiated to tell the difference between these two phones. Truth be told, if the phones were in identical cases, even those of us who test smartphones everyday would have trouble telling you which was which if the screens were off. Samsung did a great job making the Galaxy S4 look and feel like it was in the same device family as the S3, so if the average consumer does upgrade they’ll feel right at home. Under the hood, however, these phones couldn’t be more different.

The Galaxy S4 is better than the S3 in every imaginable way under that plastic exterior. Its quad-core Snapdragon 600 processor is significantly better than the dual-core chip, and while both phone offer 2GB of RAM the chips in the S4 are build for higher performance. The S4 also features a noticeably superior camera capable of taking 13MP photos, as well as a superior front facing camera for HD video chats. Samsung also saw fit to include the first 1080p SAMOLED display in the S4, and when you see these two phones displaying the same image side-by-side it is clear which is superior.

What is significant about the superior hardware in the S4 is that it offers much more than what most people need. The S3 takes great photos, is fast enough for every app out today, and with the ability to extend the battery and the storage, there’s no reason a Galaxy S3 couldn’t last for another year without feeling sluggish or bogged down. So while the S4 is a superior phone, it’s also way more than most people need.

Galaxy S4 vs GS3: Features

Samsung included unique hardware on the Galaxy S4 that you can’t get in most other places. While the IR blaster is commonplace in this generation of phones, the S3 lacks this and a number of other hardware components.

The S4 has a second IR sensor on the face of the phone which, in combination with a more sensitive screen, allows the user to do many things without actually touching the phone itself. The IR sensor allows for sweeping hand gestures, which Samsung has used to give users the ability to wake the phone or answer a call just by waving your hand. The sensitive screen allows you to hover your finger just above the LCD when navigating the UI, which allows users to play with the phone even if their hands are dirty or if they want to browse discreetly.

While somewhat less useful to most, the Galaxy S4 also includes a humidity sensor, thermometer, and a barometric pressure sensor. These features allow for a more accurate representation of the current weather, using your phone instead of relying on a weather service. The S4 also packs an improves accelerometer sensor, gyroscope, and geomagnetic sensors that allow it to detect movement and motion better than the S3.

It’s easy to look at these features and wonder why on earth you could possibly need them, but in our app-driven world the reality is that as the S4 increases in popularity, developers will look to those features and make apps that will be more useful to owners. As popular as the S3 is, Samsung is sure to make an even bigger splash with the S4, and developers will most assuredly take notice and write apps to take advantage of that hardware in the future.

Galaxy S4 vs GS3: Software

The Galaxy S4 was launched on the most current version of Android, version 4.2.2. Samsung stands ready to update the Galaxy S3 to the same version, but this process will take time and will need approval from each of the carriers that own the phone. It could be a couple of months before every Galaxy S3 is on the same version as the S4. Meanwhile, Google is always working on the next version of Android. Because Samsung’s TouchWiz takes Android and heavily modifies it to suit their needs, it takes time for Samsung phones to see the next version. As a result, even if the S3 is updated to the next version of Android it is more than likely that will be the last major update the phone sees.

The Galaxy S4 will be Samsung’s flagship for the next year. It will get the bulk of the attention, and that means better support and faster updates than its predecessor. Even if you’re not the type to need the latest features for every phone you release, Samsung will support the Galaxy S4 for longer simply because it is a newer phone.

If you’re the type to mod or hack your phone for third party software, the exact same thing will be true. ROMs like CyanogenMod will support newer hardware for longer, as it is beneficial to them to support the most popular hardware. You’re likely to get more software updates for longer from these third party providers, but eventually support for the S3 will be dropped in favor of the S4 and other newer phones. This could be all the justification you need to keep the S3 until Samsung releases something after the S4, or it could be the reason that pushes you to get an S4 the next chance you get.

You get what you pay for…

Choosing between the Galaxy S3 and the Galaxy S4 is all about personal preference. In a world where smartphones are just as much entertainment devices as they are useful pieces of helpful technology, for most people the decision comes down to cost over benefit.

People who already have the S3 and are on contract don’t really need to break their contract just to upgrade to the next model. If you’re looking for a new phone, however, you’ll get a better phone that lasts longer with the S4.