Is Samsung Hercules iPhone 5’s Worst Nightmare?

It looks like rumors about Samsung Hercules may turn out to be true as Engadget has provided an Oct. 26 release date for both Hercules and HTC Ruby.

The Samsung Hercules, which is rumored to be priced around $350, can prove to be a real headache for other upcoming smartphones, and especially the iPhone 5.

If all the speculated rumors are true then the new smartphone will come with a 4.5-inch 800 x 480 Super AMOLED Plus display similar to AT&T’s Samsung Infuse 4G.

The Motorola Droid Bionic is the other smartphone rumored to feature a 4.3-inch qHD display screen but with a better resolution of 540 x 960 pixels. The previously announced HTC Eternity is expected to come with a 4.7-inch display, which is a bit big for a smartphone. The iPhone 5, on the other hand, is expected to feature a display screen between 3.7-inch or 4-inch.

Hercules will be powered by a 1.5 GHz dual core Qualcomm APQ8060 processor, making it the fastest smartphone in the market. The other smartphones in the same class that are expected to feature a 1.5 GHz dual core processor are the iPhone 5 and Google’s forthcoming, Nexus 4G (now known as Samsung Nexus Prime). The Galaxy S2, however, is powered by Samsung’s Exynos CPU which is Samsung’s dual core processor. Hercules, most probably, will not have it.

Much like the rumored specifications of the iPhone 5, the Hercules will also arrive with an 8 MP 3264 x 2448 pixel camera. This is similar to what is found in most of the smartphones these days. Hercules, however, will be able to shoot 1080p 1920 x 1080 pixel full HD video which is uncommon with most of the smartphones in the same class. Apple's upcoming smartphone will come with a dual-LED flash compared to Hercules’ single LED support.

Hercules’ biggest strength is that the device will arrive with category 24 HSDPA capability to exceed the max speeds of 42Mbps downstream. This will make the Hercules the fastest HSDPA plus smartphone in the market. A hidden radio for the AT&T HSDPA plus and MHL port (combination of both microUSB and HDMI port) is also expected.

As far as the rumors have suggested, the iPhone 5, unlike the other upcoming Android-based smartphones, will not have NFC support. The smartphones supporting this feature include the Samsung Hercules, the Galaxy S2, the Samsung Wave 578, Nokia’s N9 and the BlackBerry Bold.