Many industries experience rivalries that become generational battles: Coke vs Pepsi, Nike vs Adidas, McDonald’s vs Burger King and DC vs Marvel to name a few. This day in age, it’s all about the technology as the debate iPhone or Samsung phones are in a tight battle to claim the name of top smartphone brand. Technology for travelers is particularly important to make your journey as simple as possible – but which is the best phone for travelers?
The Debate Over The Best Phone for Travelers: iPhone or Samsung
The iPhone or Samsung debate is of particular importance for travelers since it provides both communication and a sense of security while abroad. The majority of people consider the following four mobile features as the most important when they are traveling: staying in touch, picture taking, GPS capability, and real-time translation apps. So which phone comes out on top when it comes to these features?
iPhone or Samsung | The Best Phone for Travelers in Terms of Staying in Touch
How to stay in touch with the people you want to keep in contact with while you are traveling is a major consideration. The biggest advantage the iPhone has over Android devices is its ability to use its interconnected Apple services like iMessage.
iPhone users can make phone calls, send text messages and video call anyone in the world with an Apple device through Wi-Fi.
The Android Galaxy S7 has the ability to switch the SIM card for an international SIM, as long as the phone is unlocked; however, this isn’t quite as convenient as the apple messaging services. Regardless of the brand, there are a few other options you can choose while traveling in order to stay connected. We recommend downloading some form of international texting app when going abroad, such as WhatsApp – a free service that can use Wi-Fi to send text messages, voice messages, and videos to anyone.
iPhone: 1 Android: 0
iPhone or Samsung | The Best Phone for Travelers in Terms of Picture Taking
The memories you make while traveling are memories you will keep for a lifetime, which makes the camera on your phone an important tool. To say the least, both the Galaxy and the iPhone offer the most impressive smartphone cameras of anything on the market. The Galaxy S7 and the iPhone 6S boast 12-megapixel resolution cameras that offer a great dynamic range for all types of photos.
The one downside of the iPhone is that it has a limited internal memory that cannot be expanded, while the Galaxy offers the same internal memory with expandable memory up to 200GB.
Additionally, the Galaxy S7 is advantageous in that it gives ample memory storage for when you are traveling and not connected to the internet. Looks like Android is taking this one!
iPhone: 1 Android: 1
iPhone or Samsung | The Best Phone for Travelers in Terms of GPS Capability
The GPS capabilities of the iPhone and Galaxy are identical, so let’s concentrate on the best way to utilize these apps. Google Maps, the most popular GPS app, works in more than 40 countries. It is great for adventurous travelers because it allows you to download and use the maps offline. This is especially helpful if you know you will be disconnected from the internet for a prolonged period of time while exploring new areas.
Google Maps is available in 29 world languages, including Chinese, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, and Spanish.
iPhone: 2 Android: 2
iPhone or Samsung | The Best Phone for Travelers in Terms of Translation Support
As experienced providers of translation services, we tend to stay away from translation apps. However, there’s no denying how helpful they can be when you can’t afford to hire an interpreting services provider during your trip abroad.
Luckily, most translation apps available today are supported on both the Android and the iPhone – leaving the real debate centered on which phone has the most memory for all the apps you may want. To help make your selection process easier, we’ve listed some of our top translation app choices below:
Of course, Google Translate is an option on either mobile device, and despite its limitations, it can at least provide some insight into what a street sign or menu says. I can even help provide translation services for simple sentences or help you compose a question. It supports more than 90 languages and more are being added with each update. Keep in mind that this will be a direct translation and may not always be accurate.
Among the most prominent languages supported by this app are English, Spanish, German, French, Hindi, Arabic, Russian and Chinese. Google Translate’s best feature is the camera translation which allows you to use your camera to take a picture and immediately translate a word or a sentence from one language into the language of your choosing on the spot.
Speak and Translate, one of the few only available only on iPhones, has one important feature: advanced voice recognition. The biggest advantage with this is that you can speak directly into the phone and it will translate your words into the language of your choice – the app supports 100 languages. Another advantage is that it allows you to switch from your phone to your iPad easily.
Not to be outdone by Speak and Translate’s exclusivity, Android users can enjoy Voice Translator (only available on Android phones) which also uses voice recognition. It supports over 21 languages, including German, Spanish, Italian, Chinese, Arabic, French, Dutch, Malay, Korean, Russian, Portuguese, Japanese, Turkish, Afrikaans, and Czech. One big advantage of this app is that it allows you to also translate simultaneously into multiple languages, an option that is not available on most other apps.
iPhone: 3 Android: 3
There are of course several other options that are not listed here and more that are being developed currently, to allow travelers to translate something in a pinch. Keep in mind that these apps have their own limitations when it comes to translation accuracy and cultural sensitivity.
So which is the best phone for travelers? The debate over which mobile device provides better support services in the areas listed above, in reality, is dependent on the needs and preferences of each individual – as evident by the fact that they tied in terms of offerings. While the debate between the best phone for travelers may never be settled, wanderlusts everywhere can rest assured that they’re covered by either option no matter where they go.
About Language Connections:
Language Connections is one of the top language service companies in the US. Over the last 30 years, we’ve focused on providing the best business translation services, interpreting services, as well as interpreter training and customized language training programs. In addition to top-tier corporate language training, we offer certified corporate interpreters and professional business translation services in 200+ languages. Our network includes linguists with backgrounds in all major industries. They’re ready to meet your needs, whether they’re for technical translation services, legal translation, government translation services, international development translation services, education translation services, life sciences translation, or something else. Reach out to us today for a free quote on our cost-efficient and timely translation services, interpreters, or other linguistic services.
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