All the Titans have unveiled their flagship devices in the recent few days. Highly anticipated devices Samsung’s Galaxy S5 and Sony’s Xperia Z2 came out at MWC 2014 while HTC was left behind and kept the rumors mills running for a few days and just today it pulled the curtains off from it’s new One named as HTC M8. All these giants will release these devices in the markets starting from the month of April as Samsung told the users that about availability of Samsung Galaxy S5 in 150 countries by April 11 and Sony shown its plans to make the device available by 14th of April, 2014 whereas, HTC announced that the device will available shortly after it’s official unveiling. LG has also unveiled it’s G Pro 2 but that does not really stand in competition because of it’s phablet nature.
Now that the Taiwanese manufacturer has brought up it’s device, a set of thoughts will definitely take birth when you’ll have to decide on what smartphone you’re going to spend your hard earned bucks. The problem actually spreads, when you know all the manufacturers have produced the smartphones equivalent to beasts and none of these is less then each other. But still, there is a number of factors to keep in view when you’re going to buy a smartphone and these factors help you to decide the best product. To overcome this complexity, we’re going through a detailed comparison of the three Giant smartphones including Samsung Galaxy S5, Xperia Z2 and recently launched HTC’s M8. Let’s move forward and pick up the smartphone that suites you the best.
Xperia Z2 – Galaxy S5 – HTC M8 | Body, Design & Build Quality:
Xperia Z2:
Sony has adapted a very nice design and build quality for it’s Xperia lineup. Specially, last year when Sony unveiled Xperia Z1, it impressed its users with a flat-design glass body surrounded by a solid and graceful aluminium ring having a power button and volume keys on sides while the ports are covered with flaps in order to keep the phone a water-proof and dust-proof device. The same design goes for Xperia Z2, it’s quite similar to it’s predecessor in terms of design and build quality. Dimensions of Xperia Z2 are 146.8 x 73.3 x 8.2 mm (5.78 x 2.89 x 0.32 in) while it weighs at 163g.
Galaxy S5:
It looks like Samsung is not in a mood to change its device’s design, neither the build quality. We can’t say why Samsung is doing so, as it might be the reason for Samsung to keep it’s devices cheap as compared to the other manufacturers. Samsung used the same design for Galaxy S5 as compared to that of it’s predecessor, the Galaxy S4. While the phone once again is built with plastic material and couldn’t catch the users’s eye for that good. In addition to this, Samsung has used a dotted back for the device and it’s a water and dust proof phone as well. Galaxy S4 was able to hit the charts because of it’s features, but Samsung Galaxy S5 might face some problems as it’s upgraded camera, and a few sensors aren’t enough to maintain Samsung’s position. Galaxy S5’s dimensions are 142 x 72.5 x 8.1 mm (5.59 x 2.85 x 0.32 in) and it weighs at 145g, that is a little heaver as compared to the Galaxy S4.
HTC M8:
Now this is where HTC wins the ground. Similar to HTC One M7, HTC has used premium design and build quality for HTC One M8. This phone sports a Metal Body, that is a little curved this time, in addition to this, HTC has also used Metal in phone’s sides, which were of plastic for HTC One M7. The dimensions of HTC M8 are 146.4 x 70.6 x 9.4 mm (5.76 x 2.78 x 0.37 in) while the devices weighs at 160g that makes it a little heavier then it’s predecessor.
Xperia Z2 – Galaxy S5 – HTC M8 | Display:
Xperia Z2:
Xperia Z2 sports a 5.2 inches IPS display with a Full HD resolution having 424 ppi. Sony has been lacking in the display department in it’s past flagship devices, but this time Sony has changed and improved its display to a much good extent. Display viewing angles are much better as compared to the previous Sony devices while the X-Reality feature makes its display even more magnificent.
Galaxy S5:
There was a number of rumors streaming around before the release of Samsung Galaxy S5 that the device will sport a QHD display. But all the rumors suddenly went dull with the release of the device as it sported a Full HD display with a ppi of 432 and sized at 5.1 inches, that is just an inch bigger then it’s predecessor. Similarly, the display of Samsung Galaxy S5 is Super AMOLED that is quite useful and popular because of it’s viewing angles and colors.
HTC M8:
HTC M8 sports a 5 inches Full HD screen with 441 ppi. HTC has used Super LCD 3 display in it’s devices that is quite efficient and better colors as compared to the above two, but still all the phones have to offer their very own exclusive display features and stand in the competition.
Xperia Z2 – Galaxy S5 – HTC M8 | Hardware
Xperia Z2:
Xperia Z2 is powered up with Qualcomm’s latest and greatest Snapdragon 801 chipset clocked at 2.3 GHz accompanied by Adreno 330 GPU and a DDR3 RAM of 3 GBs is plugged inside the device. Sony has used a 20.7 MP camera sensor at the back of the device while a 2.2 MP on the front. Internal storage is ranged at 16 GB while the device also supports microSD cards of up to 128 GB. Sony hasn’t compromised in the battery department as well and has inserted a massive 3200 mAh battery to give life to the Xperia Z2.
Galaxy S5:
Galaxy S5 also uses the same chipset as that of the Xperia Z2, that is Snapdragon 801 Quad Core, but has a little higher clock speed i.e 2.5 GHz. Samsung hasn’t upgraded the RAM in the new device, it’s still 2 GB and the GPU is Adreno 330. Internal storage is 16 GB with the microSD support up to 128 GB. Samsung has done some homework in the camera department this time and has used a 16 MP sensor at the back while a 2 MP remains on the front. There hasn’t been a big upgrade in the battery department, Samsung has just increased it by 200 mAh and is now 2800 mAh.
HTC M8:
There isn’t a big difference in HTC M8’s specs from the above two. HTC has used the same Snapdragon 801 Quad Core CPU to power up the device clocked at 2.3 GHz accompanied by Adreno 330 GPU and a RAM of 2 GBs. Internal storage is 16 GB with a plus point of external storage in the new M8. Storage can be expanded up to 128 GB with the help of a microSD card. There’s a dual 4MP cam on the back and to take the lead, HTC has also upgraded the secondary cam to 5 MP that is of only 2 MP in the flagships of other manufacturers.
Xperia Z2 – Galaxy S5 – HTC M8 | Software
Xperia Z2:
Xperia Z2 runs on Android 4.4.2 KitKat out of the box. The firmware definitely has Sony’s very own UI that Sony has improved enough. Multi-tasking has been improved in Xperia Z2 as well. Similar to the previous Xperia devices, Xperia Z2 also offers a number of themes to chose from in order to change the look and feel of the phone’s UI.
Samsung Galaxy S5:
This is where Samsung stands at top in the list. Samsung has completely changed the interface and TouchWiz has got a whole new shape for the Galaxy S5. Galaxy S5’s UI has been split into different modes, these modes include Kids Mode and Private Mode. New UI is quite cool and impressive as compared to the old fashioned TouchWiz while the device runs on the same Android 4.4.2 KitKat out of the box. Besides all these, Samsung has kept all of it’s gestures in the device’s UI.
HTC M8:
HTC M8 also runs on Android 4.4.2 KitKat but with the all new Sense 6.0 UI. HTC has also updated some apps for the sense 6.0, the new blinkfeed has just got even better now. HTC has also integrated a few gestures in to the phone’s UI. HTC One M8 will also sport on-screen navigation buttons which were the capacitive keys in the old HTC One M7.
Xperia Z2 – Galaxy S5 – HTC M8 | Camera
Xperia Z2:
Xperia Z2’s camera is similar to the Z1. Sony has used a camera sensor of 20.7 MP at the back with a 1/2.3” CMOS sensor with 1.1-micron pixels and Sony G Lens optics. The new camera is also capable of recording 4K quality videos and slow motion videos at 120 fps. Sony has also loaded Z2’s camera with tons of features including Background Defocus and others. Sony has always remained a winner in the camera department, so we can expect the same in Xperia Z2.
Samsung Galaxy S5:
Samsung has upgraded it’s camera in Galaxy S5. It’s a 16 MP shooter now with super fast auto focus and accompanied by a number of new features including real time preview HDR, selective focus and others. Besides this, the camera is also capable of shooting 4K videos.
HTC M8:
HTC M8 comes with a Duo Camera, that sports two different cameras at the back. A 4MP Ultrapixel shooter with a 1/3.0 sensor and f/2.0 aperture is fixed at the back which pairs up 2 micrometers pixels with the secondary camera. This secondary camera allows the users to apply different effects to the pictures, i.e determining focus point of an image. Another plus point for the HTC M8 is it’s front facing camera that is of 5 MP loaded with some high definition features. This surely helps the M8 to take lead over the above 2.
Xperia Z2 – Galaxy S5 – HTC M8 | Special Features
All these smartphones come pre-loaded with their special and exclusive features. These features maybe spread into different parts, including the UI, hardware and the sensors these manufacturers have implemented on their devices. Samsung’s heart rate sensor on the Galaxy S5 surely makes it unique and also helps it to differ from the M8 and Xperia Z2, whereas Z2’s camera offerings are it’s best capabilities and M8’s design makes it stand atop. Stay tuned with us for our detailed special features comparison of these three beasts.
So, what do you think about these devices? Which one of these is the best for you? Let us know through the comment box below.
Actually, all these devices are phablets. The only flagship phone left on the market is the Z1 Compact.
@booJay:disqus Right. Manufacturers are moving towards “big” screens.