Gadgetory

if you think industrial design and a few megapixels are all that separate the seasons most prominent Android flagships you're in for a big surprise the Samsung Galaxy s5 and HTC One m8 might look vaguely similar at first glance but pick them up plug your life into them and carry them around town for a day side-by-side it doesn't take long to realize that this isn't just about metal versus plastic this is a clash of priorities features and just like last year even philosophy i'm michael fisher with pocket now and if you're shopping for a high-end Android smartphone this season there's no more important comparison than this Samsung Galaxy s5 vs. HTC One m8 the first difference you notice is also one of the biggest feel in hand the 90 percent aluminum wraparound body of the HTC One m8 is almost silky in the palm it's hundred and sixty gram mass giving it a heft that makes it one of the most distinctive smartphones on the market distinctive is not the word that comes to mind when you pull the galaxy s5 from a pocket like the s4 before it the s5 is shoes metal for plastic aesthetics for raw capability at 145 grams the s5 isn't far off from the HTC phones mass but it feels substantially lighter due to its less ambitious chassis materials but the s5s conservative design obscures a few advantages it has over the m8 while the HTC phone has been shown to survive immersion in water it's not specifically designed for that kind of abuse by contrast the Galaxy s5 is rated to ip67 for dust and fresh water immersion up to a metre deep and Samsung didn't have to make a tank of a phone to accomplish that it's actually more than a millimeter thinner than the HTC One and the larger Samsung battery is still removable while the HTC phones is sealed in yes the galaxy is charging and data port needs a door to keep it watertight but its USB 3.0 to the HTC phones 2.0 while we're tossing numbers around let's talk about specs where there's more similarity than you'd expect at first we're focusing on the American versions here so each of these is powered by top-shelf hardware a Snapdragon 801 backed up by two gigs of ram and either 16 or 32 gigs of storage each supports microSD expansion up to a head exploding 128 gigs and each offers an IR port Bluetooth NFC Wi-Fi AC etc but it doesn't take much drilling to get back to the differences each device has an unconventional look to its lens area but HTC's additional eyeball is there to help out the camera while Samsung's port hides a heart rate sensor also hidden on the galaxy s5 a fingerprint reader lurking beneath the home button my most support in the Wi-Fi suite a thermometer in its sensor package but no FM radio if you want to stream the oldies through your headphone wire only the HTC device can do it and speaking of all days the galaxy s5 uses the older micro sim standard well HTC is following the rest of the industry forward into nano Sims with the m8 finally how about those displays they're approximately the same size with the same resolution and very similar pixel density where they differ is in color reproduction and brightness the galaxy's AMOLED screen features blacks that are truly pitch black and it can give you crazy color saturation if you wanted while HTC's SLC d3 is a bit more conservative also the galaxy s5 can ratchet the brightness down to two nits much dimmer than the One m8 16 nits minimum and handy for bedtime reading in the opposite condition direct sunlight the One m8 is the easier phone to read to wake up those displays you'll press a button on the samsung device either the conveniently located side key or the home button down below while HTC's unlock key is inconveniently located way up top that doesn't matter as much because the One m8 also allows you to unlock it with gestures don't let our similar home screen setups fool you while both of these devices are running Android 4.4.2 Samsung and HTC have always been night day with their manufacturer UIs and despite some recent changes that holds true here as well what's important for this comparison is what you value more feature load or day-to-day responsiveness because while these interfaces have actually grown more similar over time there's still a profound disconnect between them if you're the type who worships at the altar of raw capability the galaxy s5 is hands-down the better choice this is especially true given the s-health suite which combined with the heartbeat monitor onboard sensor package the phone's rugged nature and optional accessories like the gear fit is a very powerful offering for fitness buffs and even if you're not an exercise maven there's just a truckload of stuff here multi window for side-by-side multitasking an app toolbox that can hang out over your screen like a chat head air view which lets you hover a finger over the screen to preview content private easy and blocking mode so you can control who has access to what and so much more just exploring all the s5s add-ons takes hours the one I made is no slouch when it comes to features but the focus of HTC Sense is still more on delivering a tight unified responsive experience the extra speed of the m8 on things like jumping into blinkfeed versus jumping into Samsung's my magazine these delays on the Samsung phone are cumulative as they add up they make you feel like you're too often waiting for the phone to catch up and screw-ups like these widgets not working and half-baked features like that useless geo news they're just frustrating meanwhile the One m8 while it does less more often than not does what it's told and does it well the short story and software is this if the galaxy s5 is a phone for the feature obsessed the One m8 is for those who respect attention to detail those same people will be frustrated by the resolution gulf between these heavyweights though Samsung's 16 megapixel camera is four times the resolution of HTC's 4 megapixel ultra pixel camera and HTC's at a depth sensor just doesn't do enough to justify its inclusion because it's faux bouquet effects really aren't all that good especially compared to what Samsung is able to do with its single ISO cell sensor that Samsung sensor is supposed to provide better low-light performance but as you can see from the low-light comparisons it has its limits though HTC's ultra pixel camera does overexpose and washout in some conditions sometimes that's preferable to Samsung's results which have this weird milky blue hue creeping into the frame in very dark conditions even when the cameras software stabilization is turned on even in night mode if you're shooting in low-light all the time well neither of these should be your first choice you should go for a Nokia Lumia device but it's interesting to see the HTC camera often delivering much better results in the dark ultra pixels at work in brighter conditions the results hew closer to what you'd expect the s5 consistently offers more saturation and better contrast and of course the photos it produces are much more zoomable if you're looking for fine detail the s5 also barely edges out the one I made in terms of features though how many you actually use will depend on you and it's tough to overstate the coolness of HTC Zoe those results repeat themselves in video with the s5 delivering more saturation and richer audio at the expense of slightly more visual noise in the shot of course the s5 can also shoot in 4k whereas the One m8 is limited to 1080p we've only been using these devices side by side for three days so we can't yet speak to things like battery life that said using them on AT&T and Greater Boston for that short period has shown us that cellular reception is about the same they lose and regain service about the same time when going underground and re-emerging we weren't able to detect a noticeable difference in Wi-Fi speeds but that's likely due to our older router gaming performance on each is absolutely excellent as you'd expect and through earphones audio is about the same unplug those earphones though and well Samsung's Beats Audio app can't make up for its unimpressive mono speaker around back meanwhile HTC's boomsound speakers are even louder and bass here on the m8 than last year's one the result is a contest that's well not even a contest boom sound beats everyone and it's slaughter Samsung and HTC doesn't stop there even in regular old plain-jane voice calls remember those quality on the One m8 is far superior according to the callers we talked to so what does it all come down to well if you're asking for a clearly defined winner in this contest you're asking the wrong question these smartphones are each exemplary in their own way even when they stumble there's no Universal deal-breaker they're essentially the same price on most carriers in the States - so which one you buy depends on what features you value most that said HTC deserves a nod here for the completeness of the one I made sure it's camera is sometimes disappointing and it's body won't hold up to the abuse the galaxy s5 can handle but from hardware to software it feels like a more finished product while the Samsung device feels like a step on the road to something greater but greatness exists in both of these smartphones so decide where your priorities lie check out our full review of the HTC One m8 from March and our galaxy s5 review coming the week of April 20th buy one of them if you're so inclined and then let us know about your experience leave a comment down below and subscribe to pocket now for much more smartphone and tablet coverage this has been Michael Fisher thank you for watching you