Which is the best Apple iPhone 5 or Samsung Galaxy S3? It's a tough question with vocal advocates and detractors on both sides of the Apple/Android devices. The Galaxy S3 and iPhone 5 were the two most successful phones of 2012 and are still the hottest mobiles in the world, but which should you buy?

Apple doesn't have much to say about the specs of any device they release and this can make comparing them difficult. Apple has said that the iPhone 5 is twice as fast as the iPhone 4S thanks to it having a newer processor, the A6. However it isn't a quad core device.

Dimensions: The Samsung Galaxy S3 measures 136.6×70.6×8.6mm and it weighs 135 grams. The Apple iPhone 5 comes in at 123.8×58.6×7.6mm and it has a weight of 112 grams. The iPhone is lighter and thinner and this means that it takes the win.

Screen: The Apple iPhone 5 comes in with a screen of 4 inches and this has the resolution of 1136 x 640. The Samsung Galaxy S3 has a display of 4.8 inches and offers a resolution of 1280 x 720. When tests were made by Displaymate it showed that the Samsung Galaxy S3 offered the full gamut for NTSC, while the Apple iPhone 5 came in at 72%. So this goes to show that the Samsung Galaxy S3 has more than just a size advantage.

Connectivity: Both of the handsets have Bluetooth, LTE and Wi-Fi and the Samsung Galaxy S3 also comes with support for microUSB, DLNA and NFC. The Apple iPhone 5 has the Lightning connector and therefore you would have to purchase an adapter if you want to use your older accessories. The Samsung Galaxy S3 is the winner here.

Storage: The iPhone 5 storage options are 16GB, 32GB and 64GB. The Samsung Galaxy S3 has a 16GB and 32GB version but can be further expanded by an additional 64GB via microSD, making it the winner.

Camera: Both handsets have a camera of 8 megapixels and they come with support for autofocus, LED flash and HD video. The Samsung Galaxy S3 has a great camera but it doesn't beat the BSI sensor of the iPhone 5 that provides excellent low light shots and makes the Apple iPhone 5 the winner.

Processor: The Apple iPhone 5 has the A6 processor and this has the ARMv7 cores, which run at 1.3GHz. This is backed up with the triple core PowerVR SGX 543MP23. The international version of the Samsung Galaxy S3 has the Exynos 1.4GHz processor and this is quad core complete with four Cortex A9 cores and the Mali 400 GPU. The US version is a dual-core Snapdragon coupled with 2GB RAM. Benchmarks put both Samsung Galaxy S3 models ahead of the iPhone 5.

Choosing between an iPhone 5 and Samsung Galaxy S3 is a tough decision and - unlike some of the comparisons we do - there's no clear overall winner. For those less interested in the tech, the iPhone 5 is much easier to use, easier to hold and is more robust. However, tech fans may well find the Samsung Galaxy S3 easier, thanks to its relative open-ness, micro-SD card slot and lack of restrictions.