The best smartphone? It's everything but the best smartphone. It has still outdated hardware and is way overpriced. 200 dollars to produce and sold for 6 to 800. Low mp camera, can't upgrade memory, no standard connector. Can't believe how easy people are fooled.

@Erik Bosch
Read the whole sentence carefully before you jump to hasty conclusions like that. He said "you'd have to AT LEAST start here...".

Who wastes their money on this crap?.. $800? really? If you want a high def screen get a 42" led!!

How is the hardware outdated? In ALL benchmarks it out performs every other phone on the market. Look it up.
8MP is low??? News to me. MP means nothing in the digital photography world. It's the size of the pixels, low-light resolution, f-stops, and speeds that count. More megapixels DOES NOT mean it takes better photos.

Erik, dude, it's a smartphone. If it's the "best" for the author, who are you to question that? It may not be the best for you - so don't buy one. Your apparent dislike for Apple products doesn't make them bad - only bad for you. Go chill somewhere with your favorite device and be happy.

Erik,
I think you need to put your consumer hat on for a moment.
The hardware specs do not matter to most people. They just want a phone that works and is easy to use. Just because the "specs" are better doesn't mean you should buy it - it should be how it works.
If you are talking about pure speed of the processor again this is becoming less important. Apple is developing their own architecture. This will matter significantly in the future as they will be able to control the power consumption of their products and integrate other processes into it while maintaining the speed needed for their products.
Finally, the pricing for the iPhone is somewhat high without a contract. "200 dollars to produce" is just the parts for assembly. That does not include research and development and the creation of the manufacturing equipment that will ultimately make the device, plus royalties for patent holders, and more. The iPhone costs just as much as the S3 with a new contract. As a designer myself I was blown away by the build quality of the new iPhone. I would suggest you watch the movie on their front screen to better understand the processes that are used to create just the exterior of the iPhone5. Is made from aluminum and glass instead of S3s polycarbonate.
It comes down to preference. I understand your point of view and why you would rather buy an android (for its quasi-"open" stance) or windows phone (I think the Lumia looks interesting)... but your arguments against the iPhone are stale and lack overall understanding of what a "normal" non-tech consumer wants and the processes and economics of product development.

"This iPhone is light – 112 grams to be exact. The iPhone 4 and 4S never felt heavy to me, but they do now." 25 grams or about 0.85 ounces is the difference. About five teaspoons of water.

I think Apple are insulting their loyal customers. They expect their customers to pay $30 for a cable that was originally speculated to be given away free. It's known that there is huge profits in cables are they are produced so cheaply. Apple will make huge profits on the cable alone, let alone the high price on a phone with standard update. Add to that their own obsession with being a single entity and losing the far superior Google maps in favor of their own broken and outdated version. Is all of this putting their loyal customer first? I'm going nowhere near Apple!

Good Apple Ad. No mention of the new Apple maps which I read is not very good at all. No comparison of battery life with new larger screen and faster processor. But none of anything matters, as Apple fans will buy it no matter what it does or doesn't do and Adnroid fans won't.

I find it interesting to read comments from others about how technology isn't something they expected to be. I'm not an apple only person nor any other brand. I choose products that bring the most function or services for the price I'm willing to pay. it's silly to conclude that a manufacture disrespects the consumer by forcing them to purchase an adapter so their legacy products still function. All technology changes over time and for the most part in a positive move forward. Computers are a prime example, used to be huge, only had ps2 ports for keyboards, then ther is the video port that is constantly evolving along with the internal changes in memory dimm and accessory slots. Its enough to make your head spin. Remember what cell phones were just 5 to 10 years ago. WOW, the changes from then to now are amazing. People forget that certain technology isn't available to make the next huge leap forward which will radically change form an function. For example, power cells. Batteries have come a long way but without a radical change in power storage these phones are not going to be able to get thinner an lighter. Same goes for the cable connector. I would prefer absolutely NO cables, no external buttons, a sheet of polymer that has a display on either side that is mere millimeters thick, an when I put it in my pocket the phone syncs up with my sunglasses which has heads up displays with retina tracking so I don't even need to take the phone out of my pocket. Yeah that tech isn't here yet. But the mobile phone wasn't either just a short time ago. I guess what I'm saying is. Change is coming an we need to be a little patient while new technologies are developed and eventually integrated into the products we love so much.
Not sure if I'm getting the 5. I think IOs6 on my 4s will be fine for some time. Or maybe I'll check out the next gen Samsung coming soon.
Peace