Quick comparison: Samsung Galaxy S6 vs HTC One (M9)
While, Samsung hogged all the limelight at Mobile World Congress on
Sunday, there was also a rather conspicuous rival that launched its
flagship smartphone at the world's largest cellular trade show. It was,
of course, Taiwanese brand HTC. In the last few years, it has launched
impressive phones like the One (M7) and One (M8), which have
overshadowed Samsung's offerings. This year, only hours before Samsung's
event, it launched its One (M9), which like its predecessor sports a
premium metal design and some impressive hardware specs. However, things
are going to be difficult for HTC as Samsung has impressed with the
Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge. We take a closer look at both.
Design
Design
has been HTC's strongest suit in the last few years. Universally, its
M7 and M9 have proven to be the prettiest Android phones around.
Samsung's offerings, unfortunately, haven't been loved on the flipside.
This year, things could change as the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge bring
impressive industrial design stories to the table. Both phones have a
sturdy metal frame backed up with Gorilla Glass on both sides. And they
look impressive.
HTC decided to stick with its tried and tested
metal design, which it heralded in the M7 back in 2013 and refined it in
the M8 in 2014. The M9 looks very similar to the M8, and that is not a
bad thing. It looks handsome, no doubt, but it no longer is a no-brainer
if you are a stickler for aesthetics. Samsung's offering is equally
compelling and it will be a subjective choice at the end of the day.
Samsung
also does some things better than HTC's flagship. Its S6 and S6 Edge
are significantly slimmer at 6.8mm and 7mm respectively. The M9, by
modern standards, is rather chubby at 9.6mm. It is also heavier than the
two Galaxy S6 models at 157 grams. The Galaxy S6 weighs 138 grams while
the Galaxy S6 edge is lighter at 132 grams.
If you'd be
critical, then as the M9 looks similar to its predecessor, it can be
argued it brings nothing new to the table in terms of design. It perhaps
lacks an X-factor, which Samsung nails with the curved screen on the
Galaxy S6 edge.
Display
While Samsung's phones have
always possessed beautiful eye catching Super AMOLED screens, they
often don't have colours that appear true to life. HTC's screens often
do well in this regard with the use of LCD technology. The M9 continues
to use a 5-inch 1080p LCD screen, which should be good going by history.
However, on paper, it is no match for Samsung's Super AMOLED quad-HD
panel on the Galaxy S6. The M9 is super sharp at 441 pixels per inch,
but the Galaxy S6 has an almost absurd 577 ppi density. The Galaxy S6
Edge even adds curves on the sides of the screen, which makes it the
more innovative one of the lot. HTC's LCD screen will probably fare
better under direct sunlight, but Samsung's screen will likely have
deeper blacks and will be more battery efficient.
Camera
For
the last few years, HTC has attempted to innovate on the camera front.
However, it has failed to provide its users with a dependable camera.
Compared to phones from Sony, Samsung and Apple, HTC's One line of
phones have had inferior cameras. Its UltraPixel technology has also
copped a lot of flak and this has resulted in HTC adopting a traditional
20.7-megapixel camera on the back. This is a good move of course, but
the 16-megapixel camera on the Galaxy S6 according to Samsung is better
than even the iPhone 6 Plus. Even in our hands-on we found that the
camera on the Galaxy S6 was very impressive. So, beating the Galaxy S6
camera will be a hard act.
The rear camera also misses out on
optical image stabilisation something which the Galaxy S6 has, so it is
likely its low-light performance will be inferior.
On the front,
however, things could be very tight between the Galaxy S6 and the One
(M9). HTC has not completely abandoned its UltraPixel technology as now
it makes an appearance on the front. UltraPixel technology basically
allows the camera sensor to absorb more light as the pixel size is
significantly larger. This improves performance in low-light but it
sacrifices resolution, which results in softness and less detail. This
results in inferior image quality for a rear camera, but as people
mostly take selfies from the front camera, it can turn out to be a boon.
HTC has also thrown in a flash for the front camera. Samsung has also
added a 5-megapixel camera on the front, which has a wide f/1.9
aperture, however, it missed out on a flash.
Overall, things should be close when it comes down to the front camera.
Performance
The
HTC One (M9) is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 octa-core
processor, which also has support for 64-bit apps. This is probably
going to be the processor that is used in most Android flagships in the
first half of the year. Already, LG has announced the G-Flex 2, which
uses the same chip. It is a fast chip and performance should be very
very good.
However, if Samsung is believed then the Galaxy S6
could one-up the One (M9). Unlike most manufacturers, Samsung even makes
its own Exynos line of processors. In previous years, its Exynos
variants were reserved for markets like India where there was no 4G
connectivity. It used Qualcomm's silicon for developed markets like the
US as its own processors lacked 4G support. With the new Exynos 7420,
that limitation no longer exists.
Moreover, in terms of pure
performance too, Samsung believes it has a better SoC as it is based on a
14nm process, which is an industry first. It claims that the Exynos
7420 octa-core processor is 35 per cent faster than the Qualcomm
Snapdragon 805, which used in the Galaxy Note 4 and is more frugal.
This
could be the case as Qualcomm's chips normally have an advantage over
rivals like Samsung and MediaTek because of their custom Krait cores.
The Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 uses standard ARM Cortex A53 and A57 cores,
just like the Exynos 7420, but is manufactured on an inferior 20nm
process. While both phones have 3GB RAM, the Galaxy S6 also uses faster
DDR4 RAM.
In recent weeks, leaked benchmarks of the Galaxy S6
have also revealed that the phone benchmarks higher than any Android
smartphone we have seen to-date.
Software
Both the
phones run on Android 5.0 Lollipop. Samsung has vastly improved its much
maligned TouchWiz UI by adopting a less intrusive UI and Google's
material design principles. It also is the one that is heavier on
feature with cool multitasking functions like multi-window. That said,
we expect the HTC One (M9) to provide the better UI as it has the
cleaner and prettier Sense UI. HTC also allows the user to theme the
interface, a feature the Galaxy S6 lacks.
One area, where the Galaxy S6 could have an edge is in terms of professional use as it incorporates the Knox security package.
Battery
The
HTC One (M9) has the bigger 2,880mAh battery. The Galaxy S6 has a
smaller 2,550mAh battery, while the 'edge' model has a 2,600mAh battery.
However, things are little more complicated. As the Galaxy S6 uses the
more frugal display technology, things could even out. That said, things
could also get reversed as Samsung's phones have incredible quad-HD
screens as opposed to a standard 1080p resolution on the M9.
Samsung's
phones also have more tricks. The South Korean company claims that its
phone can offer 4 hours of battery life with just 10 minutes of
charging, and goes on to say that its batteries are the fastest charging
modules currently on a phone. HTC does not make any such claims,
however, it leverages Qualcomm's Quick Charge technology, which too
ensures faster charging.
Memory
Samsung's new
Galaxy smartphones uncharacteristically eschew a microSD card slot. To
make up for that, Samsung offers generous SKUs which start at 32GB and
go up to 128GB. HTC's One (M9) is only offered in one model. A 32GB
model, but it also has a microSD card slot that supports up to 128GB of
expansion.
Miscellaneous
In typical Samsung
fashion, the Galaxy S6 comes with a bag full of tricks. It has an iPhone
like fingerprint scanner, and also has a heart rate monitor on the
back. These are certainly nice additions. HTC's One M9 provides neither,
however, it does come with new BoomSound speakers, which in the past
have proven to be the best speakers on a smartphone. They also use
Dolby's audio technology, which is always a good thing. Considering the
single speaker and slim design of the S6, it is likely that the One (M9)
will have an edge in terms of audio and loudspeaker quality.
Wrap Up
The
Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge seem like a drastic overhaul of Samsung's
flagship smartphone, while the HTC One (M9) feels more like an
evolutionary step. Both offer a lot in their own right, but purely based
on the specs, the Galaxy S6 could have a slight edge in core
functionality and certainly packs an X-factor with its 'edge' model that
adds the innovative curved display. The One (M9) is expected earlier in
March, while the Galaxy S6 and S6 edge will be launched in April.
