With the Samsung Galaxy S5 now official and coming to the US in a matter of weeks, most of our attention has turned to its competition for 2014 with the all new HTC One.
Last month Samsung revealed the new Galaxy S5 and surprised many with a similar design, but still improved multiple areas to make it a quality update. Later this month on March 25th, HTC will do the same and reveal what they’ve been working on for 2014. The All New HTC One. However, we already know everything about the device after countless leaks.
Both the Galaxy S5 and HTC One have a lot to offer, but below we’ll go over what we think needs improving, and why Samsung’s Galaxy S5 will win again in 2014.
The new and upcoming HTC One has plenty of awesome new features going for it. The screen is bigger, the quad-core processor is faster, it has dual cameras on the back, and then finally added a micro-SD slot for expanded storage.
Nearly all the details are readily available ahead of the announcement, and GSMArena shared even more this week. This will be the best HTC smartphone yet, and do extremely well as it continues the efforts from its predecessor, but HTC still has a few things that won’t win out against Samsung.
Table of Contents
Bigger Screen
The Samsung Galaxy S5 will have a bigger, and most likely better display when compared to the HTC One. Increasing the Galaxy S5 screen to 5.1-inches with a 1920 x 1080p full HD AMOLED display. HTC is taking a similar approach and the New HTC One will come in at 5-inches, and still be the same 1080p resolution.
While the small 0.1 size won’t be much of a factor, it is bigger, and Samsung’s screen technology is some of the best in the business. As a result we can expect a slightly larger screen, one that’s brighter, and probably come with better and more accurate colors.
HTC is no slouch though and will offer more pixels per inch, so this could be a closer one than initially thought. Either way, consumers want bigger these days, and Samsung’s S5 offers exactly that.
IP67 Certified Water & Dust Resistant
There’s no arguing the build quality on the HTC One is far superior than the Galaxy S5, but Samsung apparently has its reasons. HTC offers an all aluminum shell and a neat package with front facing speakers, but Samsung wants to attack at a different angle.
The Galaxy S5 is once again built mostly from plastic, but has a nice aluminum ring around the edges for added strength from accidental drops. The rest of the design though, is all about getting the IP67 certification. The Samsung Galaxy S5 is water resistant up to 3ft, as well as dust resistant. This means those drops and spills or a dip in the pool won’t ruin your $600 smartphone. This is a huge feature that isn’t easy to offer, and increases manufacturing costs, but one Samsung thought was important.
It isn’t fully “waterproof” but up to 3ft is certainly a good start and something we can expect other manufacturers to offer later this year. Offering a device with more durability is always welcomed, and this will be one key area the HTC One can’t compete.
16 Megapixel Camera
Samsung is putting a lot of muscle and R&D behind the camera. In fact, the new ISOCELL 16 megapixel lens on the Galaxy S5 aims to be the best on the market. Our initial hands-on time we came away extremely impressed, and HTC could have a tough time competing.
The Galaxy S5 camera has a 0.02 second auto-focus, so you’ll never miss a shot, and it worked wonders. The speed, accuracy, and low-light performance was some of the best I’ve ever used.
Here’s a quick video on why Samsung thinks they’ll beat HTC, Apple and others this year with the S5 camera.
However, don’t think HTC wasn’t prepared for this. The new HTC One will sport what we’re hearing is the same 4 Ultrapixel camera as last year, only they now have a second camera on the back. It’s called the HTC “Duo Camera” according to leaks and offers a host of features.
“Create vivid images even in low light and professionally edit memories after you’ve taken the shot. Choose where to focus, highlight what you love, soften backgrounds and add 3D effects.”
The second sensor should seriously improve low-light photos, but if the main camera isn’t also majorly improved the new Galaxy S5 should edge it out across the board. Not to mention the Galaxy S5 can record video in full 4k resolution.
Fingerprint Scanner
Security is a major aspect of any smartphone, and Apple’s TouchID showed us just how important and popular a fingerprint scanner can be on a smartphone. HTC tried it with the One MAX, but for some reason killed the feature for the new HTC One. Samsung though, did the opposite and integrated a fingerprint sensor right into the Galaxy S5 home button.
Users will able to secure the Galaxy S5 with their own unique fingerprint. This will bring added security and peace of mind, tons of app functionality with an open SDK for developers, and Samsung plans to have certain fingers quick launch often used apps in seconds. One swipe to instantly launch the camera, Facebook, or even your Gmail. The options are endless.
This is a feature many smartphone manufacturers are adding in 2014, but HTC opted to remove this from its flagship this year, and as a result the Galaxy S5 has yet another feature it doesn’t.
Health & Accessories
When it comes to accessories for smartphones and tablets, Apple devices are clearly the number one option. However, Samsung’s Galaxy S4 and Note series have tons of options available, and this will only continue on with the Galaxy S5.
Samsung has a host of S-View flip cases, covers, and other accessories. Many of which play into the “health” aspect of things. Oh, and one other major feature of the Samsung Galaxy S5 is the heart rate monitor built-in. Using the S-Health app users can scan a finger with a heart rate sensor behind the camera flash, which will offer tons of uses.
Whether you want to track your health, calories while jogging, or just check your heart rate, the Galaxy S5 can do it all. That isn’t all either. Samsung has the Galaxy Gear, Gear 2 smartwatch, and a brand new and rather impressive Samsung Gear Fit smartband for all you health nuts.
We’ve heard rumors that HTC will be offering smartwatches later this year, around Christmas, Samsung has a clear lead over the competition. The HTC One doesn’t have any fitness-specific apps or features, and the company rarely offers accessories, even though we’ve seen a few neat cases provided by @evleaks.
Better Battery Life (Bigger & Removable)
A historical weak point for many of HTC’s top smartphones is battery life, but they haven’t changed the approach. The Samsung Galaxy S5 has a decent sized 2,800 mAh battery, and tons of battery-saving features on the software side. And the battery is user-removable so you can get an extended battery, or replace it as most don’t last more than a few years. It could be bigger, but still beats the HTC One.
The new HTC One will only have a 2,600 mAh battery inside. The Galaxy S4 from last year was 2,650, and countless other phones from last year offered 3,000 and above like the LG G2 and DROID Ultra. Both Samsung and could and should have done better here, but Samsung will be the better of the two regarding battery life.
Both of these phones offer 5-inch 1080p displays and a quad-core Snapdragon 801 processor, so there’s plenty of things to drain the battery, but we can expect improved battery life over both manufacturers previous generation.
Other Tidbits
While the things mentioned are features and benefits one has over the other, there’s also tons of other things to take into consideration. For one, from everything we’ve heard thus far the Galaxy S5 will launch around April 11th across all major US carriers, not to mention a slew of regional carriers. HTC’s One could arrive around a similar date, and some leaks suggest that, but most likely the Galaxy S5 will arrive first.
Both phones have the latest Android 4.4.2 KitKat with their manufacturers respective changes and skins, both have plenty to offer, and both should hit the US in April. We’ll know all the details “officially” about the All New HTC One, but if all reports and leaks prove accurate everything we detailed above should remain the same.
We’ll be live in New York City on March 25th to see the new HTC One, so stay tuned!
