Each year we see many flagship devices being released by the top manufacturers on the market and 2014 won’t be any different. So far we have access to the HTC One M8, Samsung galaxy S5 and the Sony Xperia Z2 which are definitely the main candidates for the ‘Phone of the Year’ award. These devices are equipped with the latest hardware and the engineers responsible for them have made sure that they won’t lack performance, durability or functionality. If you are having a hard time deciding which of these products to purchase, then we’ll try to help you by comparing the main specifications of each one of these devices. Keep on reading to see a head-to-head comparison of the HTC One M8, Sony Xperia Z2 and the Samsung Galaxy S5. Let’s start.
Design, Build & Display
The most popular smartphone manufacturers already know that they need to use premium materials in order to provide their customers with high end devices that won’t lack elegance, style, performance and comfort. Each entry on our comparison list is made of the best materials available and you can rest assure that you won’t be disappointed regardless of your choice.
The Sony Xperia Z2 is based on a one-piece Aluminum frame whose style is further enhanced by glass panels on each side. This gives the device a more premium look & feel as well as IP55/57 dust-proof and water-proof certification. This means that the Xperia Z2 can easily stay intact if it spends 30 minutes 5 feet under water. The display on Sony’s device is a 5.2” IPS LCD screen with a resolution of 1920x1080px which translates to 424ppi. Thanks to Sony’s X-Reality and TRILUMINOS the display produces excellent colors.
The HTC One was one of the most attractive devices of 2013 and its successor won’t be any different. The HTC One M8 will also feature a uni-body design, but this time we won’t have to look at the ugly gaps that eventually lead to many problems in the HTC One from last year. The gapless design is made with the help of well-crafted all-metal that was used for 90% of the body’s structure. The HTC One M8 will also feature a 5” Super LCD3 screen with a pixel density of 440ppi (1920x1080px resolution).
The biggest progress seems to come from the factories of Samsung. The Samsung Galaxy S5 will be much different from its predecessors thanks to the polycarbonate-based body and the significantly improved quality of the device’s body. This model will also have IP67 certifications for dust and water resistance. The final addition to the S5’s body is the perforated back that strives to give the user a better grip. As for the display, the Samsung engineers have installed a 5.1” Super AMOLED screen with 432ppi density and a full HD 1920x1080px resolution.
Storage, Processor & RAM
None of these devices will disappoint you in terms of performance. The Sony Xperia Z2 and the HTC One M8 are both equipped with a Snapdragon 801 System on Chip, but there is a slight difference in the clock speed of both processors. The exact model of the Z2’s processor is Snapdragon 801 MSM8974AB and its maximum running speed is 2.3GHz. In the meantime the HTC One M8 is geared up with a Snapdragon 801 MSM8974AC processor with a speed of 2.5GHz.
In terms of RAM, Sony have the advantage, because their flagship device is equipped with 3GB of RAM compared to the 2GB DDR3 RAM on the HTC One M8. The Sony Xperia Z2 comes with an integrated storage of 16GB which can easily be expanded with up to 128GB thanks to the microSD card slot. The same goes for the HTC One M8 – 16GB of storage that can be expanded up to 128GB.
Meanwhile the Samsung Galaxy S5 comes with an Adinos Prime 2 Octa-core processor – four cores at 1.9GHz, 4 cores at 1.3GHz and an XMM6360. All this is supported by 2GB of RAM and 16GB of integrated storage that can be expanded to 128GB with the use of a microSD card.
Operating System & Interface
All three devices have Android 4.4 KitKat installed on them, but they differ in terms of custom user interface. The Samsung Galaxy S5 comes with the traditional TouchWiz while the HTC One M8 will welcome you with the HTC Sense v6.0 UI. In the meantime the Xperia Z2 uses the not so popular Xperia Themes interface.
Camera
The camera is one of the most interesting things to read about while reviewing smartphones and we assure you that this time it won’t be any different, because we can definitely say some nice things about the cameras of all three devices. The first device we’ll take a look at is the Sony Xperia Z2. It is geared with a 20.7-megapixel camera on the back which is equipped with Sony’s unique BIONZ image-processing engine, Sony’s G-Lens, LED Flash, HDR, Exmor RS sensor and an image stabilizer. This amazing camera unit is also capable of recording 4K Ultra HD video recording – one of the first mobile devices capable of that.
The Samsung Galaxy S5 boasts a 16-megapixel camera sensor which is capable of auto-focusing in just 0.3 seconds. According to the company, this is the fastest auto-focus in the world of smartphones. The S5’s camera can also record 4K video and use advanced HDR features.
In 2013 we saw the introduction of an entirely new camera technology – UltraPixel. It was featured in the HTC One and many people were looking forward to testing the capabilities of this system. However, the results were rather disappointing and most people anticipated that the HTC One M8 will be significantly improved in the camera department and that we’ll be able to take full advantage of the UltraPixel technology. Unfortunately, the HTC engineers didn’t think that way and the HTC One M8 once again features a 4-megapixel (2-UltraPixel) camera that isn’t as good as we’d want it to be. However, it compensates the lack of performance with excellent features such as a dual-color LED flash, 1/3” sensor size, HTC ImageChip 2, 2µm pixel size, simultaneous image & video capture, smile & face detection, geo-tagging, advanced HDR functions, panorama and a load of other interesting functions.
Finally, we should also add that each one of the devices features a reasonably good second camera that is excellent for taking selfies and is capable of recording full HD video.
Price
The Samsung Galaxy S5 has been on the Indian market for a while and its initial price of ₹51,500 has been significantly reduced. Nowadays, you can find the device for less money, so make sure that you check the offers of all nearby stores. In the meantime, the HTC One M8 is more recent and its original price of ₹49,900 hasn‘t been reduced yet. The same goes for the Sony Xperia Z2 which will be available on the 12th of May and will cost around ₹49,990. By purchasing Sony’s device you’ll also get a free back-cover and SmartBrand SWR10 which would otherwise cost you ₹2,990 and ₹5990 respectively.
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