Hey guys this is Austin and today I’m here with a comparison between four top tier smartphones
to see which one is the best of the best.
While I can’t compare every good phone that’s out I rounded up a few of the best including
the iPhone 5s, HTC One M8 Google Play Edition, Samsung Galaxy S5 and Moto X.
To kick things off we have the build quality.
The Moto X has some interesting options like wood however it’s mostly made out of plastic.
It doesn’t feel all that bad but there are some very obvious seams and I was able to
break my first Moto X without too much trouble.
The Galaxy S5 takes a step forward with a sturdier build and a ridged band that runs
around the edge holding things together nicely.
Unfortunately it’s also got a little flex but it’s definitely an improvement over
earlier Galaxy S phones.
The HTC One M8 and iPhone 5s are on another level however.
Both are mostly made out of aluminum and feel absolutely rock solid in the hand with no
flex or give anywhere so for the best build quality it’s a tie between the iPhone and
One M8.
Next we have ergonomics to see how each of these phones feel in the hand.
While the all metal build looks great it also makes the HTC One a bit slippery, especially
with the polished gray model.
Put that together with being the biggest and heaviest phone here and it can be a bit unwieldy
to use.
Even though it has a bigger screen the Galaxy S5 is quite a bit lighter which makes it easier
to use with one hand.
The back is also made of a grippy rubber material which feels nice when holding it.
Step over to the iPhone and we’re looking at a much smaller and more manageable device.
You can easily reach the entire screen with one hand and the chamfered edges make sure
you can keep a good grip on it.
Pick up the Moto X though and it’s like you’ve found Goldilocks.
It packs a much larger screen in a frame barely bigger than the iPhone and the back almost
perfectly shaped to fit in your hand giving the Moto X the easy win in the ergonomics
department.
Now let’s take a look at the special features of each phone.
With the One M8 you’ll find a few things like a MicroSD card slot to expand your storage
along with a built-in IR blaster for controlling devices like TVs.
The iPhone 5s is a pretty straightforward phone as the big headlining feature is the
TouchID fingerprint scanner.
It’s not perfect but it works pretty well, just needing you to rest your finger on the
home button to unlock the device.
The Moto X allows you to customize colors and materials using MotoMaker which is an
awesome feature.
Even when the phone’s off you can say Okay Google Now and it will immediately open up
a voice search in Google Now.
You also have the awesome Active Notifications which will light a tiny part of the display
to tell the time and show notifications when you pull it out of your pocket.
Not to be outdone Samsung loaded the Galaxy S5 with features including the MicroSD card
slot and IR blaster like the HTC One along with the fingerprint scanner from the iPhone,
although it’s not quite up to the same level as it can be a bit hit or miss in actually
working.
It’s also packing a heart rate sensor which is a nice feature and water sealing allowing
you to let it take a dip without worrying, making the Galaxy S5 the clear winner when
it comes to features.
Next up we have the specs and responsiveness of each phone.
Jump into the benchmarks with Geekbench 3 and you’ll see the iPhone, Galaxy S5 and
One M8 are all fairly closely matched where the Moto X falls quite a bit behind.
Move over to the graphics side with the Manhattan test in GFXBench and again the results are
fairly close with the Moto X trailing the rest.
While it’s not bad by any stretch the Moto X is let down a bit thanks to the older Snapdragon
S4 Pro dual core CPU.
It’s not a slow phone but the UI can stutter sometimes, especially when multitasking.
While the Galaxy S5 is packing some serious specs it’s also running Android with Samsung’s
TouchWiz UI.
It’s a lot better than it used to be but there are still traces of hesitation here
and there.
On paper the iPhone has a slow dual core CPU and half as much RAM as the others however
the Apple A7 inside is no joke and iOS 7.1 is very smooth and fluid.
With the HTC One M8, especially the Google Play Edition, you’re getting one impressively
fast device no matter what you throw at it.
For this one it’s a tie between the iPhone and HTC One for the most responsive device.
Something that’s easy to overlook is the audio performance.
With one small speaker on back the Galaxy S5 just doesn’t sound impressive, especially
when you consider a single finger can almost entirely drown out the sound.
The iPhone moves the speaker over to the bottom which helps things a bit however we’re still
looking at an only average listening experience.
While the speaker is around back on the Moto X it’s surprisingly decent.
There’s nice volume and an actual bit of dynamic range which makes things pretty solid.
Move up to the HTC One though and it’s no contest.
With a pair of excellent BoomSound speakers up front pointing directly at you the audio
is much clearer and better sounding than any other phone out today making the HTC One M8
the clear winner in the audio department.
Moving on let’s take a look at the screens.
While I like the 4.7” size of the Moto X display the quality is a bit lacking.
Even though it’s 720p compared to 1080p on most flagships the real problem is the
lackluster color from the older AMOLED screen.
The iPhone sports a much nicer looking LCD screen with solid color and brightness however
it’s a comparatively small 4” with a sub 720p resolution.
Take a look at the 1080p displays on the HTC One and Galaxy S5 and you’ll find some of
the best screens on any phone out there.
The Galaxy S5 is slightly bigger at 5.1” vs 5” on the One however they’re both
vibrant, detailed and have fantastic viewing angles.
There are slight differences but both screens look so good this one is going to be a tie
between the One and Galaxy S5.
While this has a lot to do with your preference next we have the software.
While it might be running the latest Android 4.4 KitKat the Galaxy S5 is also saddled with
quite a bit of bloatware.
You’ve got Samsung versions of most Google apps along with plenty of carrier junk too.
TouchWiz is much improved here but I still find stock Android a better experience.
While iOS 7 was a step back in a few areas 7.1 fixes a lot of the minor problems making
it a solid, modern operating system.
There are sore spots and disappointments like Siri but the iPhone 5s is still a very easy
to recommend platform.
The Moto X is running nearly stock Android which has gotten very, very good lately.
There are a few small customizations like the Active Notifications along with Motorola
apps like Assist making it a great place to be overall.
Move to the One M8 Google Play Edition and we have pure, stock Android KitKat.
Paired with the excellent hardware powering it this is the nicest Android experience I’ve
ever used however you can also opt for the traditional HTC One which comes with Sense
and is surprisingly solid.
For this one though the One M8 Google Play Edition is the best of both worlds in the
software department.
Now let’s take a look at the cameras.
With 10 megapixels to work with the Moto X sports a unique sensor which is a bit disappointing.
Get some great light and it can pull off a decent shot but too often it completely misses
the white balance and it can really smudge the details in low light.
The HTC One isn’t much better.
While it’s not bad at all in low light get into normal shots and there’s not a huge
amount of dynamic range and colors tend to be a bit flat.
You can use the depth sensor to get some decent shots sometimes but for the most part it’s
not that useful.
On the other hand the camera on the Galaxy S5 is on an entirely different level.
Having 16 megapixels to work with is a big plus but more important than that is that
the images you can capture are colorful and detailed with impressive depth of field.
Throw in 4K video and it’s a nearly unbeatable package.
Nearly.
On paper the 8 megapixel camera on the iPhone doesn’t seem too impressive but it consistently
pulls in excellent shots.
Color is accurate, things are nice and sharp and even low light isn’t bad.
Something equally important is that it’s incredibly fast at snapping pictures which
has helped me get shots that I otherwise would have missed.
It’s close, but in the camera department the iPhone 5s is the winner.
Moving along to arguably one of the most important smartphone features we have battery life.
While the iPhone is definitely well optimized to get the most out of a charge the simple
issue is that it just has a small battery.
It gets through an average day but for longer days taking an external battery is a must.
The Moto X does a bit better, largely because it just has a much larger battery but here
again it doesn’t have the longevity to get through some longer days.
The Galaxy S5 is outfitted with a removable 2800mAh battery which gives it impressive
stamina, quite a bit more than the Moto X or iPhone.
While it’s incredibly close I’d have to give the slight edge to the HTC One.
Even though it’s sporting a slightly smaller battery the cleaner software of the Google
Play Edition has less bloatware eating up your longevity which gives it the HTC One
M8 the edge in battery.
Last but definitely not least we have price.
Even though this does change sometimes as of May 2014 there’s really not much competition.
The unlocked versions of both the Galaxy S5 and HTC One come in at a hefty $700 US with
the iPhone 5s at a still expensive $650.
Compare that with the fully customizable Moto X which is a much more reasonable $350 off
contract and the Moto X is the clear winner when price is concerned.
So this has been a long video with a lot of info.
What’s the bottom line?
If you’re on a budget and want a solid phone that runs near stock Android with fantastic
ergonomics the Moto X is the clear choice.
If you don’t mind stepping up the price range the Galaxy S5 delivers a solid overall
package with a great screen, lots of features and a really impressive camera.
While the screen is tiny the iPhone 5s is still a rock solid device with tons of power,
a nice compact and lightweight form factor with fantastic build quality and an incredibly
great camera.
Even though each phone has perfectly valid reasons why you might want to pick it over
the others it wouldn’t be a comparison without a winner and for this one it’s going to
be the HTC One M8.
With excellent build quality, a great screen, awesome speakers and one of the best software
experiences out there the One M8 is hard to beat.
The biggest weakness is the only decent camera but when you put it all together the HTC One
M8 is a stellar package.
So what do you guys think, which phone would you go with?
Let me know in the comments below!
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Anyway guys thank you so much for watching and I will catch you in the next one!