Samsung Galaxy S5 vs HTC One (M8): preliminary comparison

If we had to make a list of the most highly anticipated smartphones right now, then the Samsung Galaxy S5 would probably stand right at the very top of it. The handset is expected to sell by the boatloads once it is released in April, landing in the pockets of both loyal Samsung followers and anyone looking for a capable high-end Android device. But the competition is definitely not going to just stand and watch. Samsung's latest and greatest Android phone will have to face a number of tough opponents on its way to commercial success, and one of the toughest among them will be the HTC One (M8).

Design

Truth to be told, Samsung's last few Galaxy S flagships didn't really stand out much with their design particularities. Sure, they were remarkably thin and light, but overall, their glossy plasticky construction couldn't wow us. This time around, Samsung's designers have taken a slightly different approach by treating the Galaxy S5's back plate to a perforated dot pattern and a shimmering matte finish. As a result, the phone looks far more sophisticated than its predecessors despite its plastic build. Its surface feels nice to the touch without being too rough or too slippery. The HTC One (M8), however, is likely to score higher than the S5 in the design department. That's because HTC's new flagship adopts the critically acclaimed, all-metal construction of its predecessor, complemented by a brushed finish.

On the downside, the new HTC One will be slightly thicker and heavier than the Samsung Galaxy S5. The former has a thickness of 0.37 inches (9.35 millimeters) and weight of 5.64 oz (160 grams), while the latter is 0.32 inches (8.1 millimeters) thick and weighs 5.11 oz (145 grams).

Looks and proportions aside, the Samsung Galaxy S5 has a few tricks up its sleeve – tricks that the new HTC One won't have to offer, as far as we know. These include the S5's fingerprint sensor, which is embedded in its home key, and the heart rate sensor placed on the device's back. The former is used for unlocking the phone, as well as for restricting access to certain files stores on it, while the latter works in conjunction with the S Health app to monitor the user's activity during exercise. No less important is the fact that the Galaxy S5 is a water-resistant phone. Of course, the absence of these three perks in the new HTC flagship won't render it not worth buying, but they do add to the already long list of features that make the Galaxy S5 such an exceptional device.

On the other hand, the front of the HTC One (M8) will be graced by a pair of BoomSound speakers, which will deliver high-quality stereo sound. The Samsung Galaxy S5 has just one loudspeaker, which is placed on its back. This could potentially make the new HTC One more desired by those who often listen to music from their smartphone, as well as those who enjoy watching videos and playing games on their handset.

Display

From the looks of it, smartphones sporting QHD displays are bound to go on sale before 2014 is out. In case you're wondering, 1440 by 2560 is the jaw-dropping pixel count behind this acronym. Both the Samsung Galaxy S5 and the new HTC One, however, come with 1080 by 1920-pixel displays. Should that bother anyone? Nope, absolutely not, since a 1080p smartphone screen is already detailed enough to produce more detail than our eyes can detect under normal usage conditions. Also, a higher-resolution display would have put more strain on these phones' hardware, which could potentially result in poorer performance and/or increased power consumption. That's why we're perfectly fine with Samsung and HTC launching flagships touting 1080p screens.

As far as size goes, the screens on the Samsung Galaxy S5 and the new HTC One (M8) should be almost equally large. For the record, the former has a slight advantage with its 5.1-inch display, even though the latter lags behind only by a hair, offering a screen of 5 inches. Pixel density figures are 432 and 441 ppi, respectively.

Now that we've gone over the similarities, it is time to highlight what could set the two screens apart. True to its traditions, Samsung has equipped the Galaxy S5 with a Super AMOLED display, which isn't that bad of a choice. People tend to like them for their vibrant colors and excellent viewing angles. HTC, on the other hand, is using a Super LCD 3 screen for its new One. The screen on last year's HTC One looked outstandingly, and guess what - we've already measured the One (M8)'s display, and it proved to be even better and more accurate! Overall, users will have to make a decision: whether to go for the more visually-stimulating colors of the Galaxy S5, or the punchy, but still true-to-life visuals of the One (M8).

Interface

Samsung will be launching the Galaxy S5 with a new and improved version of its custom interface known as TouchWiz, which will run on top of Android 4.4.2 KitKat. Visually, the UI in its latest form has a flatter and simpler design, as is now the trend across the industry. Feature-wise, many of the additional features offered by previous TouchWiz releases are present, including Smart Stay, MultiWindow, and Blocking Mode. But there is a handful of new extras as well. Among them are the My Magazine home screen panel, which curates news and articles from across the internet, Private Mode, which may be used to hide some of the content stored on the device, and the Ultra Power Saving mode, which could extend the battery life of the phone dramatically.

Meanwhile, the new HTC One (M8) ships with Sense 6.0. All in all, the same trends are observed with HTC's latest software as well. Most Sense applications have gotten visibly flatter and lighter, while the news-aggregating BlinkFeed feature has gotten a much needed update, which has made it open for developers. Aside from this, Sense continues to be the cleaner and more streamlined UI of the two, as it lacks many of the software features of the Galaxy S5, some of which are mostly seen as 'gimmicks'. Which approach would appeal to you more, however, would depend on your personal preferences. Go for the feature-packed, but bloated TouchWiz, or the simpler, but more streamlined and polished Sense - the choice is yours!

Processor and memory

Both Samsung's and HTC's upcoming flagship phones are powered by a Snapdragon 801 SoC, which is arguably the most powerful of its kind right now. Yet, at least on paper, the Galaxy S5 has the upper hand, as its CPU will have a slightly higher top clock rate of 2.5GHz. The CPU on the One will max out at 2.3GHz. Nevertheless, despite this theoretical advantage for Samsung's phone, we doubt that we'll encounter any performance issues with either of these devices.

The amount of RAM found on both handsets is 2GB. That is a bit odd since we've already handled phones touting 3GB of RAM for a better multi-tasking experience. Not that 2GB are insufficient, of course. Quite the contrary, two gigs should more than enough for most user's needs, although another gig would have made both phones much more future-proof.

When it comes to raw storage, the Samsung Galaxy S5 will be available with either 16 or 32 gigs, and about 6GB of that space will be occupied by non-removable system files. A microSD card slot for storage expansion will be available, which is a welcome feature. The new HTC One will also be available in 16- and 32-gigabyte varieties, and it'll also have a microSD card slot.

Camera

For the longest time, Samsung's high-end phones have been known for their wonderful cameras, and the Galaxy S5 is likely to be no less impressive in that respect. It sports a 16MP camera with super-fast autofocus, HDR mode with real-time preview, and support for 4K video recording, among other goodies. Of course, we can't label the phone's camera as excellent just yet since we haven't been able to test it thoroughly, but our hopes are pretty high.

The new HTC One will use a non-traditional, Duo Camera setup – there are two cameras on the phone's back. Using them in tandem will enable the application of special effects to the image. In particular, the user will be able to adjust the focus of a photo after it has been taken or to create a shallow depth-of-field effect by blurring out the background. Neat? Definitely! Groundbreaking? Well, not really. The Samsung Galaxy S5 also has such a feature, though it won't be working so seamlessly as on the HTC One (M8).

From a technical perspective, the main camera on the new HTC One's back side is of the UltraPixel variety, with a 1/3.0 sensor size, f/2.0 aperture, and pixel size of 2 micrometers. Exact megapixel count isn't being specified. In the new One, HTC is using a slightly upgraded camera than the one found on the 2013 One model – so it's now a pretty decent, but far from groundbreaking camera. Stay tuned for our detailed camera comparison featuring the HTC One (M8)!

Interestingly, the HTC One (M8) has a 5MP front-facing camera, with a wide-angle lens. This makes the new HTC One an excellent phone to shoot selfies with. Of course, with its 2.1MP camera, the Galaxy S5 should be also highly suitable for the purpose.