[Comparison] Samsung Galaxy S5 vs HTC One (M8)

Earlier Samsung unveiled the Galaxy S5 at MWC 2014 and last week, HTC has announced the HTC One (M8). Comparing two smartphones is always a tough task, Samsung Galaxy S5 features a bigger screen & bigger battery when compared with HTC One (M8). The Samsung Galaxy S5 features a 1080p display and 16/32GB internal storage options and has 16-megapixels camera whereas the HTC One (M8) has exterior design and amount of metal used increased to 90 percent. In previous post we compared Samsung Galaxy S5 with Samsung Galaxy S4, Samsung Galaxy Note 3, Samsung Galaxy S4 & Samsung Galaxy Note 3, Samsung Galaxy S4, Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and Apple iPhone 5S, Apple iPhone 5S and now in this post we are comparing Samsung Galaxy S5 and HTC One (M8) along with discounted pricing.

Discounted Pricing Of Samsung Galaxy S5 and HTC One (M8)

Design and build

The Samsung Galaxy S5 is little bit squarer at the corners while the back panel now has a matte finish and a texture for improved grip. The Silver surround is a plastic with a metallic finish and features a ridged design to make things even gripper. The Galaxy S5 features a IP67 water and dust resistance and the microUSB port at the base of the phone has a port cover as a result.

The HTC One (M8) features end cap design with HTC’s front-facing BoomSound stereo speakers and their punched grilles. The phone is pretty thin, sports a dual-camera port arrangement on the rear and generally HTC has used 90 percent metal. It has aluminium glad-design and the corners are rounded which makes the overall handset slightly bigger and slightly heavier.

With dimensions of 146.4 x 70.6 x 9.4 mm, the HTC One M8 is the larger of the devices, but is notably thinner whereas the Samsung incorporate its usual polycarbonate exterior on the Galaxy S5 and it has dimensions of 142 x 72.5 x 8.1mm. The HTC One M8 is a bit hefty weighs 160 grams whereas the Samsung Galaxy S5 weighs 145 gram.

Display

The Samsung Galaxy S5 has the Super AMOLED tech seen in its other devices. It’s a 5.1-inch panel rather than the rumoured 5.25-inches, with a full HD 1080p resolution at 430 pixels-per-inch (ppi). The HTC One (M8) has a full HD 1080p resolution at 441 pixels-per-inch (ppi). The screen is incredibly clear with vivid colours, excellent brightness and nice, punchy contrast.

Processor

The HTC One M8 and Samsung Galaxy S5 are quite similar under the hood. Both devices feature a Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor, 2GB RAM and 16GB and 32GB internal storage options with micro SD support up to 128GB. Despite running the same series of chipset, the Galaxy S5 gets a little bit of an advantage in that it features the MSM8974AC chip, which clocks in at 2.5GHz; the MSM8974AB chip in the HTC One M8 clocks in at 2.3GHz.

Camera

The Samsung Galaxy S5 features 16-megapixel rear-camera with ISOCELL sensor and it includes fast autofocus tech, Selective Focus and HDR rich-tone and has 0.3-shot speed. It also features a Phase Detection Auto Focus which improves response time and the photography experience. Selective Focus, allows users to control what is in focus in a shot, HDR rich-tone, captures images just as they appear in preview. The Samsung Galaxy S5 rear-facing camera can capture 4K video.

The HTC One (M8) main camera is actually a “Duo Camera” configuration with a 4-megapixel lens and a 2-megapixel depth of field sensor. The primary camera offers a backside-illuminated sensor for capturing photos in low-light scenarios while the second sensor collects accurate depth information about photos and uses that information to apply effects and filters. Both lens in the duo camera as well as the 5-megapixel front camera on the HTC One (M8) “UltraPixel” sensors, which offer pixels 2.0 µm in size. After taking a photo, you can use “UFocus”, which provides detail to certain aspects of a photo while blurring out other aspects and ‘foregrounder’ which enhances the background of a photo with various artistic effect while leaving the front of a photo unchanged. Other effects include ‘seasons’, which makes rain, snow or leaves fall along an imagine, dimensions plus, which created a fun house mirror effect by tilting and panning and images, and ‘touch up’ which allows users to make edits to faces in an image.

Software

Both devices runs on latest Android 4.4.2 KitKat but each devices has it’s own user interface, Samsung TouchWiz and HTC Sense 6.0.

Samsung TouchWiz has been updated to favor Google’s stock Android system and it includes apps like S-Note, Watch On, S-Health and S Translator and also includes manager apps for Samsung’s Gear 2 and Gear Fit companion devices. In addition to this, the Samsung Galaxy S5 has a new Finger Scanner, allow users to make online payments through PayPal and has Kids Mode too.

HTC Sense 6 has been nicknamed “sixth Sense” and it includes new functions such as “Motion Launch”, which allows users to turn on the display by double-tapping the screen, users can slide the lock screen to unlock directly into BlinkFeed, the home screen, or voice-dialing mode. In addition to BlinkFeed, HTC Sense apps such as Gallery, TV, and Zoe are also now available on the Google Play Store.

Battery

The Samsung Galaxy S5 packs a 2,800mAh Li-ion battery which lasts up to 390 hours on standby and 21 hours of talktime whereas the HTC One (M8) packs 2,600mAh Non-removable Li-ion battery which lasts up to 496 hours of power on standby with 3G enabled and talktime of 20 hours.

GadgetGuide4U Opinion

According to specifications and basic features, it’s difficult to determine which device is better, the Samsung Galaxy S5 has quicker processor, 4K video recording capabilities, waterproof encasing whereas the HTC One (M8) has attractive and durable build, better audio performance, dual-lens camera. It’s on consumer what they like and what specific features they want in their smartphone.

Comparing Samsung Galaxy S5 and HTC One (M8)