Samsung Galaxy S5 vs. HTC One M8 vs. Sony Xperia Z2: Specifications Comparison

On Thursday (8 May), Sony India launched the company's 2014 flagship smartphone Xperia Z2 in to the subcontinent.

With the release of Xperia Z2, Sony joins the rivals Samsung and HTC to offer the top-end Android smartphones in India for the current year.

All the newly launched smartphones Galaxy S5, HTC One M8 and Xperia Z2 are priced in same range. Lot of consumers will be having hard time in picking the best between the lots. To give a clear perspective on the devices, we compiled a list of stand-out features between these three smartphones.

Here is brief description of features of Samsung Galaxy S5, HTC One (M8) and Sony Xperia Z2:

Design and Display:

On the outlook, Sony's new Xperia Z2 sports an identical design language seen in its predecessor sans a slimmer body with a little bump in the display foot-print. It flaunts Omni-Balance design language which fuses one-piece Aluminum frame (8.2 mm) with glass panels giving premium look to the phone and features standard IP55/57 water and dust-proof certifications which enables the phone to survive five feet under water for close to 30 minutes.

In terms of display specification, Xperia Z2 houses 5.2-inch full HD (1920x1080p) IPS LCD screen with 424 ppi (pixels per inch) resolution and also boasting Sony's proprietary TRILUMINOS and X-Reality for mobile picture engine technology.

2013's HTC One model won lot of accolades for its smooth zero-gap uni-body design language, now its successor has got huge upgrade in terms of size and infusion of more metal. It flaunts a well-crafted all-metal (90-percent, to be precise) uni-body. It is aesthetically bigger and curvier than its predecessor. It features 5.0-inch Super LCD 3 display with full HD resolution having pixel density of around 440 ppi.

On the other hand, Galaxy S5, despite featuring polycarbonate based body, does come with a discernible change in terms of build quality compared to its yesteryear models. The fifth generation model now features dust and water-resistant IP67 certifications (can survive only up to three feet under water for half an hour) and perforated back-cover which adds value by giving a good grip for the hand to hold the phone.

Moreover, Galaxy S5 flaunts energy efficient 5.1-inch Super AMOLED full HD (1920x1080p) display with rich display contrast having pixel density of close to 432 ppi.

Processor, RAM & Storage:

Sony and HTC smartphones houses same Snapdragon 801 series based SoC (System on Chip), but varies in CPU speed.

Xperia Z2 features Snapdragon 801 MSM8974AB chipset which can top CPU speed up to 2.3GHz, whereas HTC One M8 packs MSM8974AC with a maximum clock rate of 2.5GHz.

However, Sony compensates the smartphone's CPU speed with the sumptuous 3GB RAM and 16GB GB (expandable up 128GB) storage space enough to run power guzzling 3D motion games with less lag. HTC One M8 features 2GB DDR3 RAM and 16GB storage space (expandable up to 128GB).

On the other hand, Samsung's India based Galaxy S5 houses a Adinos Prime 2 Octa-core processor (1.9GHz quad-cores + 1.3GHz quad-cores+ XMM6360) backed by 2GB RAM and 16GB inbuilt memory with options for expansion up to 128GB.

Mobile Operating System and Interface:

In this aspect, Samsung, Sony and HTC smartphones stand even as all the three devices run on same Android OS platform (v4.4 KitKat), but differ in terms of different custom UIs (TouchWiz: Galaxy S5; Xperia Themes: Xperia Z2; One M8; HTC Sense v6.0 UI)

Camera:

Like all its high-end predecessors, Xperia Z2 comes with top-notch camera features. It's 20.7-megapixel main camera boasts of Sony's proprietary G Lens and the intelligent BIONZ image-processing engine, Exmor RS sensor, LED flash, HDR (picture/video), image stabilizer and is also capable of recording 4K Ultra HD video recording (twice the vertical and horizontal resolution of 1080p full HD format).

Samsung comes loaded with a 16.0-megapixel main camera with auto-focus speed of 0.3 second (world's fastest as claimed by the company), 4K resolution video recording ability and advanced HDR (High Dynamic Range) features.

In 2013, HTC One M7 got launched with over-glorified UltraPixel camera, but failed to live up to the expectations of critics. Again this year the company has stick with the same Ultra-Pixel camera sensor technology, but this time company has incorporated a complementary second camera on the top of the main camera module to extract more in-depth information of the scene, so that the user can re-focus multiple objects in the photo.

HTC One M8 features a 2-UltraPixel (equivalent to 4.0-megapixel) main camera backed by dual-color LED flash (True Tone), 1/3'' sensor size, 2µm pixel size, HTC ImageChip 2, automatic simultaneous video and image recording, geo-tagging, face and smile detection, HDR, panorama and many more tools.

All three phones house a pretty decent front-camera capable of snapping good quality 'Selfies' and full HD 1080p video recording ability.

Price:

In India, Samsung Galaxy S5 costs ₹51,500 (MRP), but since the official release on 11 April, the phone has seen lot of price-cuts. Online sellers are selling the device at much lesser price with discounts to consumers buying via select bank card holders.

HTC One M8 has been priced ₹49,900 in India, whereas Sony Xperia Z2 will hit stores on 12 May for ₹49,990 with free SmartBand SWR10 and back-cover worth ₹5990 and ₹2990 respectively free with the phone.

Value Added Features:

Samsung Galaxy S5:

-      Finger print sensor

-      Inbuilt hear-rate sensor

-      Kids mode, private mode, Download booster, S Health v3.0 apps

-      IP67 water and dust-resistant certifications (can survive only up to three feet under water for half an hour)

-      2800 mAh battery with Ultra Power Saving Mode can run smartphone up to 390 hours under standby mode.

-      LTE Category-4 (150/50Mbps) network support and fifth generation Wi-Fi (MIMO) for faster wireless data transfer

Sony Xperia Z2:

-      Good build quality with Aluminum chassis and shatter proof and scratch resistant shield on the display.

-      IP55/57certifications (the phone to survive water jets and function five feet under water for close to 30 minutes).

-      Camera comes with Sony's patented G Lens and BIONZ image-processing engine which are usually found in expensive DSLR cameras.

-      3200 mAh battery with STAMINA mode can power the device for 740 hours in idle state.

-      xLoud Experience (exclusive Sony audio technology) and also phone is compatible with PlayStation console just like Windows Phone OS powered devices are compatible with Xbox.

HTC One M8:

-      True premium Android smartphone with stunning curved body having 90 percent metal usage.

-      Duo-cameras with UltraPixel technology perform under all-light condition and the additional camera lens on the primary camera gives detailed depth information from a scene.

-      LTE Cat.4 (category-4) for 150/50 mbps speed and also compatible with Indian LTE bandwidth.

-      Extreme Power Saving Mode enables the smartphone to run close to 496 hours (14 days) under standby mode (3G).

-      BoomSound dual frontal stereo speakers with built-in amplifiers with Sense Voice.

Key Specifications of Samsung Galaxy S5, HTC One M8 and Sony Xperia Z2:

(Ed:AJ)