European buyers will have first crack at the Motorola RAZR i, the first phone manufactured by the Google subsidiary to include an Intel chipset inside. In fact, it is the first device to run on an Intel Medfield powertrain, which is believed to be the fastest out there.

Apple, of course, also claims that its bespoke A6 chipset is the fastest; it is supposedly twice as fast as the A5 processor used on the iPhone 4S. Here we compare the RAZR i and the iPhone 5 to see which handset offers the better overall package.

In terms of size and thinness, which is arguably the most important consideration for buyers these days, the iPhone 5 is thinner and lighter, at 7.6 mm and 112 grams. The RAZR i weighs 126 grams and measures 8.3 mm thin.

The iPhone 5 also has the better display, despite being smaller at 4 inches to the RAZR I’s 4.3 inches. Its Retina Display is capable of 1,136 x 640 resolution and a density of 326 ppi, while the RAZR i’s resolution/density stats are 960 x 540 and 256 ppi. Both handsets have 8-megapixel rear cameras, so the choice of which camera is better is mostly relative. For what it’s worth, the iPhone 5’s rear shooter now comes with panoramic mode. And most tests show the A6 besting the competition hands-down, even if the processor is only rated at 1.2 GHz.

The RAZR I’s Medfield chipset is clocked at 2.0 GHz, but hasn’t been benchmarked sufficiently.

If there’s one area where the Motorola RAZR i would succeed, it’s in terms of operating system. Despite shipping with the aging Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich OS, the RAZR i has a tried-and-tested OS with a wide range of useful and functional features. Apple, on the other hand, has received a lot of flak for the lack of a YouTube app on iOS 6, as well as the much-derided Maps application.

Overall, the iPhone 5 looks like a better choice, but things might change soon once the RAZR i is released next month.