I own both an iPod Touch 4th Gen (IT4) as well as the Samsung Galaxy 5.0 (SG5), and wanted to share my impressions/comparisons of both having lived with them for extensive periods of time.
Long story short, you cannot beat the speed/functionality of the IT4. On paper, the SG5 looks to trump the IT4 with a larger screen, GPS, FM Radio and Micro SD Card support, but from a usability perspective, the IT4 wins.
Starting with GPS, I was really excited about this feature, but you need to purchase a separate app for offline maps support. Not a problem and for the most part, they work well. The problem is that GPS sucks battery life at an incredibly fast pace. I've had my battery drain while driving in less than an hour. Of course the remedy is to use a car A/C adapter. I think this is the strongest distinctive features of the SG5 and only wish the IT had that same functionality.
Speaking of battery life, I found that it's hit or miss depending on how well you manager your tasks, which seems like a never ending chore TBH. I've left my SG5 off the charger over night with a full charge only to find it turned off or at a critical battery charge needed status in the morning because I left an app process running. It seems that multitasking and task management is both a blessing and hindrance since you can run things simultaneously, but the speed of the device decreases to a halt if you have too many things running. I find myself constantly killing process or recycling memory whereas I might only have to do this occasionally with my IT4.
Screen wise, while the bigger landscape is appreciated, the retina display of the IT4 compensates for this with it's crisp visuals. Take browsing for example. To me, even with the larger screen size of the SG5, I still had to zoom in most of the time because pixel density is less so it's harder to read. Even with the smaller IT4 screen, I never really had to do this and still could read while zoomed out. Of course the SG5 is a behemoth and is definitely more noticeable in the pocket as well, not that that's a negative since it does have the larger screen size. I've also noticed that general presentation of graphics, text, etc is more pixelated because the resolution is the same as devices with a smaller screen as well.
The camera specs are definitely better. Shots come out a lot better than my IT4 and the LED flash works decent at close ranges. However, it actually takes a few seconds between the time you hit the button to take the picture and when the picture is actually taken. This has lead to more than a few people moving from their pose thinking that I've already taken the picture when in actuality, it's still in the middle of focusing, doing the initial LED light up and then taking the picture. Video is quality is also at a lower resolution than the IT4, especially when lighting isn't at it's prime, it looks like a low quality video that actually seems to studder which I found odd.
In terms of day to day use, even with more limited memory and a slower processor, things just feel faster on the IT4. Even with a fresh reboot of the SG5, it never felt as though it was moving as fast as the IT4.
Overall, the SG5 is nice, but just from a day to day usability stand point, it doesn't work as well for me. I like the device, but have gone back to my IP4 as my main portable. I do think the SG5 and Android in general have their own set of qualities, but all of the main functions just seem to take second chair from my general usability with the IT4 and IOS5.
Sorry, this was a rather long winded comparison. Personally, I took a chance with a new device/OS and came away disappointed over time. I'm probably going to sell my SG5 and look for a new player in the next few months. I'm really curious to see if there will be any Windows 8 player only devices as I'm curious about Windows 8 as well. I've heard good things from some friends that have owned Windows 7 Mobile devices, so I'm curious about the next iteration. In the end, I will probably end up selling both my IT4 and SG5 and getting a new IT5.
Let me know if I can answer any specific questions if you are curious.
Thanks.
