iPhone 5 versus Samsung Hercules: All muscle, no brain?

Samsung Hercules, the new rumored smartphone “beast” that will allegedly steal Apple iPhone 5’s thunder this Fall, is flexing its muscles, much like the Greek demigod whose name it bears, but can it really wean away iPhone fans?

Hercules is said to be the next flagship smartphone of T-Mobile and it boasts of beefy features.

The device is rumored to be equipped with a super-powerful 1.5 GHz Dual-Core Qualcomm Snapdragon APQ8060 processor, which will make Hercules the fastest smartphone available in the market.

The smartphone is also expected to have category 24 HSDPA capability with maximum speed of 42Mbps downstream. Most other smartphones in the market have 14-21 Mbps.

Hercules is said to have 4.5-inch 480x800 Super AMOLED Plus touch screen display, and its 8-megapixel 3264x2448 camera is said to shoot 1080p full HD video.

On top of all that, there will be 1GB RAM, 16GB of internal storage, microSD card slot, microUSB, and it will support near field communication (NFC) technology.

Indeed, the supposed spec of Hercules is more than impressive, deserving to be named after the famous demigod known for his unmatched strength in the Greek mythology.

However, is it good enough to put iPhone 5 to shame this Fall when the two potentially clashes in the market?

There are mountains of rumors regarding the next generation of Apple iPhone, many times conflicting each other. But at best, iPhone 5 will not be a match against Samsung Hercules in terms of hardware specs.

Apple iPhone 5 is rumored to have sleek curved glass case, dual-core 1.2 GHz A5 processor, 1GB of RAM, 8-megapixel camera with dual-LED flash, edge-to-edge 3.7-inch screen, and SIM-less design. 4G LTE network support is not likely.

Despite the iPhone 5 falling behind in spec, there is a good reason for iPhone to retain its smartphone throne.

Apple’s strategy had been focusing on usability and user experience rather than sheer specs on the paper. For instance, you would have difficulty finding out how many megapixels are in iPad 2’s cameras, but you would hear much about what you can do with them, such as Face Time.

A lot of Apple’s success as far as mobile devices are concerned can be attributed to its operating system, and the new iOS 5, which is expected to power iPhone 5 is said to be a revolutionary OS.

Apple gave a spectacular presentation of iOS 5 2011 Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), with Steve Jobs making the rare appearance and introducing it personally. The new operating system for iPhone 5 will have more than 200 new features, including improved notifications system, messaging, email, and PC-free connectivity (meaning you no longer need to connect your phone to the computer for updates and uploads).

Available apps for iOS based devices are also a big plus for the iPhone.

Samsung Hercules, on the other hand, is said to be equipped with Android Gingerbread, or possibly the upcoming Ice Cream Sandwich, as its OS.

While Android has its advantages, it is no match for Apple’s iOS in terms of user-friendliness and availability of apps.

There certainly will be a group of people, the early adopters, who would go after Hercules, lured by its amazing specs, but when the real fight begins, many Apple fans will remain loyal and will make their choice based on the brain (OS) rather than the muscles (specs) the smartphone will boast of. Why? Because if smartphones were all about hardware, it wouldn’t be called ‘smart’ phone, it would be called ‘muscle’ phone.

What do you think? Given a choice, what would you buy – Samsung Hercules or iPhone 5? Leave your comments below.