The Apple iPod Touch vs. The Samsung Galaxy 5 Player. The winner is....

“Let’s get ready to rumble.”

In this corner of the ambidextrous matchup is the ever popular iPod Touch 4th generation. (less than a year old) Weighing in at a mere 3.5 oz. with a (roughly) 3.5” screen, it is dwarfed in size by the larger challenger, the Samsung Galaxy 5 player (new in the box). With its 5” screen and its almost 6.5 oz. weight, it appears to want to pursue the smaller champion into oblivion.

Testing was fair and across the board. It included;

• Viewing pleasure
• Sound quality (with and without head phones)
• App availability
• Customizability
• Expandability
• Ease of Use
• WiFi sensitivity
• Battery life

Apple boasts a retina screen on the 4th gen iTouch. Admittedly, it appears just a touch sharper than that of the Galaxy Player. However, for over all viewing pleasure, including glare resistance, the Galaxy Player with its larger screen is easier to see. The extra 1.5 inches also makes it easier to get around, even without reading glasses. The app icons appear larger as well.

Sound quality was an equal match. Whether you are using the OEM ear buds, external speakers (Bluetooth or corded), or the aux jack in a car, the sound quality and volume controls are alike. There was no distortion, nor difference in the highs, lows or sound at all.

As for app availability, the iTunes store, boasts over 500,000 apps, with over 140,000 just for the iPad, compared with just under 400,000 in the android market place. There is a difference though. While you have to jailbreak your iPod Touch to get cool tweaks, etc., that are not available in the app store, you can choose between many different android app repositories in addition to the Android Marketplace. They include Slideme, GetJar and AppBrain. They give you access to many additional apps, including those not authorized by the android market. To download and use them, you simply check off the option for “unknown sources” in your settings application menu. The Galaxy takes the prize here as well.

Both have customizable screens, app settings and orientation. The Galaxy however allows for more vibrant animation with certain apps, such as “Beautiful Widgets” in the Android Market Place (free on www.getjar.com). There are also more “pimping out” apps that are free for android, where there is a cost on most for the iPod Touch (or add supported for free).

The Samsung Galaxy is far more expandable than the iPod Touch. Why ? The micro-sd slot is the key. If you want a 32 gig iPod Touch, you need to buy a 32 gig iPod Touch. There is no memory expansion slot. If you have an 8 gig Galaxy Player, you can expand it up to 40 gigs with the addition of upto a 32 gig microsd card.

They both are equal on the ease of use factor. Touch and play is the name of the game. Screens are easily navigated through. Again, depending on your personal preference, size may matter. Due to its task manager, the Galaxy is also giving you the ability to multi task, where Apple fails to do that.

Battery life is substantially better. Upon removing the iPod Touch from its dock where it showed a 100% charge, it lost 2% almost immediately. Playing of games decreased it even quicker. If left undocked/uncharged, the battery would go red w/i 12-15 hours. The Galaxy is just the opposite. After being unplugged for over 6 hours, it appears to still have 90% of its battery charge, despite several rounds of Angry Birds and Words with friends.

In hours of testing, downloading and playing, there was one “con” to the Samsung Galaxy Player. It appears that its WiFi sensitivity is not as powerful as the iPod Touch. It has never lost a connection, however, it was noticed that when placed side by side in a remote location of my home (2nd floor through two walls of horse hair plaster), the iPod Touch edged out the Galaxy Player with an additional WiFi bar or two.

All that being said, I am a fan of Apple, as I started out in 1985 with a Mac 512k. Despite my conversion to a dual boot system of Windows and Linux, I have always thought of getting back to the “Mac”. However, to the victor, go the spoils. The Samsung Galaxy Player is definitely the choice here. You can learn more at www.samsung.com.