Gadgetory

by now it might just seem like the age-old battle of metal versus plastic but does the new crop of flagships from Samsung and HTC have even more to offer than just their materials well let's find out because it's Josh regard from Android 30 what's going on everybody and you're looking at the vs. between the Samsung Galaxy s5 and the HTC One m8 this should be the most obvious comparison to make at first glance as I already alluded to this being an age-old battle of plastic versus metal one thing we can say right away is that both of these phones simply continue the tradition of their predecessors the Samsung Galaxy s5 comes with a signature plastic build that users either believe is very familiar or very played out form-factor is largely the same with the rounded corners keeping together a pretty flat device all around and much of what you expect from Samsung returns here with the button layout this time replacing menu with recent apps and the same layout found on the sides the sides are of a more rigid design but for the most part it's still flat and that's the experience is very much the same as you remember the main changes in the material of the back which is still plastic but this time has a perforated design it's probably the most polarizing aspect of the design as many people seem to find it a regression from even the textured plastic found from the note line move over to the HTC One m8 and you'll find subtle but significant changes to the aluminum build of the original in this gray model it is a hairline brushed feel on the back that does scream good build quality it's just going to turn heads with the metal build that manages to look very executive another change on the back is the second camera unit up top the dual camera that helps with capturing depth data the big change with the aluminum is that it now wraps around the sides of the phone eliminating the polycarbonate that used to be there and providing a very smooth and rounded feel that personally I felt was better than the rigid feel of the original having the power button up top might not be welcomed by all Android users but nonetheless that aspect returns here and finally up front to the HTC One jumps into the 5-inch screen game but also retains the great performing boomsound speakers at the top and bottom making for a taller device all around now while the HTC one is definitely the taller device it is a small margin narrower than the Galaxy s5 the result is a good handling experience from left to right in either device the five inch form factor alone makes it difficult to reach the top easily in one hand but at least with the galaxy s5 it does get the nod for being just a little bit easier than on the HTC One m8 so with a good handling experience possible on either device it really comes down to what material you prefer for your phone and I know a lot of people out there do prefer the metal over the plastic but I do have to say that the Galaxy s5 does get some credit for being a very familiar handling device display technology has come a long way in our smartphones and we see just how far it has come in both of these devices while in the Samsung Galaxy s5 you get the classic Super AMOLED display at 5.1 inches the Super LCD 3 display of the HTC One is now 5 inches as well Super AMOLED brings the signature high saturation with colors that basically pop out of the screen and punch you in the face you'll get some of the most vivid experiences from the s5 hands-down however the Super LCD 3 screen of the HTC One was never a slouch and now it is even better at a 5-inch size it also presents great colors especially with the new motifs found in sense if we were being nitpicky we would say that the HTC one seems to show a little better contrast between colors upon closer inspection but there is no doubt in our minds that you will have a good time in either display so just go ahead and fire up some games and videos and have fun performance is another instance where either device will really give you a great experience because both of them come with the same required processing package the Snapdragon 801 clocked in at 2.5 gigahertz for the Galaxy s5 and 2.3 for the western version of the HTC One m8 both backed by the audrina 330 and two gigabytes of RAM you'll have no problem getting just about anything done in either phone as it's just a matter of which Avenue you want to tackle while we might always hear that TouchWiz has some lag issues or stutter the level of such things seem to be at their lowest in this new version found in the galaxy s5 it also comes with so many extra tools to help you get more done sometimes all at once meanwhile the HTC One works with a version of sense that has been REME lines but doesn't provide as many tools but it's an example of how when you keep it simple you keep it fast something that is readily apparent in this snappy and smooth version of HTC Sense certain key elements that users usually want in their smartphones are consistently making it to flagship devices now and it's a trend that actually helps put these two phones a bit more even on the scale in the Samsung Galaxy s5 the removable cover allows you access to a removable battery and the micro SD card slot allowing for extra power and also expandable storage over the amount already built in in the name of durability Samsung also put ip67 certification onto this phone meaning that you'll have to make sure that that back cover is secured for water and dust resistance sensors throughout the phone allow you to perform certain tasks with this phone like making a pedometer move across elements using air gestures or even control your TV using a Smart Remote application but the newest additions and the hardware department are definitely the heart rate monitor and finger scanner now while the heart rate monitor is able to give you a quick snapshot of your health it's far from a proper fitness companion and in the finger scanner you'll be able to add a layer of security to your phone so while it is a nice addition it is far from a game-changer and finally in battery life I found the phone capable of handling heavy usage for an easy 12 hour period of time especially with power saving features you'll be able to get through over a day's worth of work and play with this and then you can replace the battery on the fly if you need to the HTC One does not come with a removable back but thankfully there is a micro SD card slot found on the right side next to the volume rockers HTC put their own spin on the sensor game actually making the phone able to recognize when you bring the phone up for usage and then register touches or swipes to activate the phone it's an elegant way of getting into the phone without having to reach that power button up top you are also able to control your television and set-top boxes with HTC one's own built-in remote app now you might notice that I didn't even mention the speaker of the galaxy s5 the one unit found on the back of the phone that provides a pretty one-dimensional and very familiar sound that's because it just pales in comparison to the enhanced boomsound speakers that get even louder than before and provide a wider and ultimately very pleasing soundstage and finally in battery you'll find a smaller 2600 milliamp hour unit in the HTC one that is non removable but does the job as far as getting you from waking up to bed with no trouble at all power saving features like HTC's own version of the ultra power saving mode are available as well to help you out so really when it comes to hardware the lines are starting to get a little bit blurred between these two devices we now have expandable storage in one but we still have the removable battery in the other as well as ip67 certification but in the end what you have here is a very good slew of features in either phone that will help you out depending on what style is better for you HTC and Samsung go head-to-head with their own versions and philosophies of the camera experience Samsung's new 16 megapixel ISO cell camera hopes to use updated tech to make picture taking better than ever the result is a camera experience that yields high quality vivid photos with pretty good levels of detail in the app samsung did away with the sheer amount of modes and put in a couple key new ones live HDR and selective focus while live HDR is a good feature to have so you can see how well HDR will enhance your photo the selective focus requires the taking of multiple pictures which will then be processed together to give you a customizable level of focus it works well when executed properly which definitely doesn't happen in every instance unfortunately the camera app allows you quite a bit of freedom to tweak your smartphone camera experience while bringing you a pretty consistent level of quality to your pictures HTC decided to keep the four ultra pixel camera that was included in the original but this time gave it a little friend the dual camera is the obvious addition and it allows for the capturing of depth information in every shot that is taken while it eliminates the amount of processing time found in the galaxy s5 implementation it's just as much a hit or miss situation as well plenty of pictures will have an obvious area of blur that the software just wasn't able to correctly process making the line between foreground and background fuzzy to say the least other modes include the zoe's which are still pretty fun to use and are available for anyone that wants to take nice memories while taking this camera out unfortunately there are limitations to a low megapixel camera and it shows when you zoom inside pretty much any photo taking with the HTC One m8 as a level of grain is high in detail can be rather low not to mention pictures tended to be washed out and lacked a dynamic range in my testing it pretty much comes down to this if you fancy yourself even a somewhat serious photographer then the sheer power and also the more consistent performance of the ISO cell camera in the Galaxy s5 is probably better for you however the HTC One is also for those people general users most likely that just want to set it and forget it and the picture that comes out will already look pretty good and go straight onto your social media networks and finally we make it to software now this is an interesting part of the comparison because while one tries to always add to the formula it seems that the other just wants to continue optimizing what it already has so which philosophy is better we'll start with the Samsung Galaxy s5 which you probably already pegged as the first one TouchWiz does add to the general experience but that experience is already pretty saturated with features we already covered the heart rate monitor and the finger scanner so let's go to some new features the recent apps screen is likely what you would expect but that's why I like it a more classic multitasking experience tucked into all the other tools that Samsung makes available a couple additions like the toolbox or examples of these extra tools and it is accessible from a newly redesigned to power toggle that is the same as the newly redesigned settings screen both of which utilize circles throughout now the biggest change is probably the my magazine Samsung's answer to blinkfeed essentially while it does bring a colorful and neatly presented news aggregation experience to TouchWiz it's unfortunately not a very robust system at all and piggy backs on Flipboard which is itself powerful but only pulls from a very limited list of topics making it much weaker than the program it tries to derive from and after that TouchWiz is pretty much what we remember uber colorful though maybe not as bloated as before with so many features you may or may not use we do like the optimization however as this is probably the smoothest iteration of the UI yet meanwhile in HTC's camp it's a matter of building upon sense with sense 6 of course that means some subtle changes like adding colors to what was once a very monochromatic interface though you can always go back to that original look if you wanted to blinkfeed has also been changed a bit opting for a perfect scroll it's tiles as well as a much larger library of sources to pull from definitely much larger than the one found in the my magazine after that however it's a pretty familiar sense experience that has been optimized and thus provides a very smooth experience one that we found very little to complain about in terms of performance in the end it comes down to a number of different aspects those who really like multitasking will enjoy the multi-window the toolbox and even the newly added recent apps screen in the Samsung Galaxy s5 but those who are looking for maybe just a little bit more style and a little bit more simplicity can look to the HTC One especially for it's much better implemented second screen experience found in blinkfeed so it really comes down to the fact that you users out there really need to know what it is exactly that you want out of your smartphone experience the Samsung Galaxy s5 and the HTC One m8 will be available on all the major carriers in the States for the premium price on two-year contracts normally around $1.99 and so there you have it the samsung galaxy s5 and the HTC One m8 there's no doubt to that both of these phones appeal to very specific users and what it is that you will really want will dictate which phone is better for you do you want an eye-catching phone well the HTC One will probably have the better you factor do you want a powerful camera experience well then in that case the ISO cell camera is a proper upgrade in the optics department if you're a multitasker then Samsung and its large bag of tricks are ready for you if you want performance and the ability to fly through your tasks well either phone will work very well though I will give the HTC One the nod for a better media experience due to its far and away speaker experience what kind of category do you fall in and how is it going to influence your choice between these two phones let us know in the comments below which one you'll be choosing and make sure you stay tuned to android authority for all of the best coverage on the samsung galaxy s5 the HTC One m8 and also all of the current flagship devices that are coming out in the coming weeks so keep it tuned here drop us some likes on our videos because we love to see those thumbs up and subscribe to our channel if you haven't already and then after that head on over to android authority comm for even more in-depth coverage because we are your source for all things Android