How do the S6 and One M9 compare?
Samsung and HTC have officially unveiled the successor to the One M8 and the Samsung Galaxy S5, two of the best flagship phones from last year. Now it's time for the next instalments.
In one corner, there's the all-metal HTC One M9. In the other, is the metal and glass Samsung Galaxy S6, which now also comes with a curvy edged compatriot in the shape of the Galaxy S6 Edge.
Now we know the official specs, we can see how Samsung and HTC's 2015 flagships measure up in the battle of the specs
Samsung Galaxy S6 vs HTC One M9: Design
Samsung Galaxy S6: 6.9mm thick, aluminium unibody and glass panel
HTC One M9: 9.5mm thick, aluminium casing
We were expecting big things from both manufacturers and while HTC takes an evolutionary approach, Samsung makes the kind of changes it has needed for some time.
Samsung has hopefully left behind its plastic days for good with its decision to embrace a sleek-looking aluminium metal trim. It’s more fitting for a £500 smartphone. It's also packing Gorilla Glass 4 on the back and the front, so you'll get that extra layer of durability without having the slipping problems Sony's phones exhibit.
HTC, meanwhile, is sticking with its all-metal design from the One M8, which we loved. The curved back softens the shape and makes it great to grip. Up front the One M9 still has the dual speaker grilles – above and below the screen and a new two-tone metal finish to add a little more variety that distinguishes it from its predecessor.
The S6 does not have a removable back, so there's no getting to the battery. There's no microSD card slot on the S6, either, unlike the One M9, which has a pop-out tray slot.
The S6 doesn't have the front-firing speakers but it does feature a fingerprint scanner baked into the physical home button. This time though, it works more like Apple's Touch ID where you tap and hold, rather than swiping.
Samsung Galaxy S6 vs HTC One M9: Screen
Samsung Galaxy S6: 5.1-inch, QHD '2K' AMOLED screen
HTC One M9: 5-inch, 1,920 x 1080 Super LCD 3 screen
Samsung arguably initiated the birth of big screened phones and 5-inches is now firmly established as the standard size for flagships. The S6 and the One M9 don't budge from the screen sizes on the previous flagships and we think that's a good thing.
Resolution and screen technology are the big differences between the two here. HTC has stuck with the same Full HD, LCD screen as the One M8, while the S6 joins the likes of the Note 4 with a 2,560 x 1,440 resolution Super AMOLED display.
The big benefits of Samsung's AMOLED screen over the HTC's LCD panel is the extra vibrancy, darker blacks and greater contrast. Samsung's Note 4 is arguably the best example of the screen technology and it's more of the same with the S6. This is a very good thing.
In truth, a full HD screen is more than acceptable on a 5-inch screen and both displays are fantastic for everyday tasks. Whether you are tucking in a session of House of Cards or reading TrustedReviews, these are two of the best smartphone screens in the business.
Related: Samsung Galaxy S6 vs S6 Edge: What's different?
Samsung Galaxy S6 vs HTC One M9: Storage
Samsung Galaxy S6: 32GB, 64GB and 128GB, no micro SD card support
HTC One M9: 32GB, micro SD card support
The reports were true. Samsung has ditched its microSD card support and now follows the Apple model by offering 32GB, 64GB and 128GB models. The One M9 still offers microSD card support, which is an interesting trading of places given the original HTC One (M7) was criticised for not having it.
Both HTC and Samsung give you around 100GB of free Dropbox cloud storage for free for two years to back up videos, photos and documents. Plus you have Google's own Drive service, which will give you a decent amount of room in their cloud locker as well.
Samsung Galaxy S6 vs HTC One M9: Power
Samsung Galaxy S6: Exynos 7420 octo-core with 3GB RAM, Mali T760 GPU
HTC One M9: 64-bit Snapdragon 810 octo-core with 3GB RAM, Adreno 430 GPU
So here's where things get interesting. Last year, both Samsung and HTC used Snapdragon SoC for their flagships, but this time Samsung has quite publicly shunned Qualcomm's new 64-bit Snapdragon 810 for its own custom-built chipset.
HTC is going with the 810 that uses four 2GHz Cortex-A57 power cores and four 1.5GHz Cortex-A53 efficiency cores. Samsung's Exynos setup packs four 1.3GHZ Cortex-A53 poet cores and four 1.9GHz Cortex-A57 efficiency cores.
We've not had a chance to run any benchmarks, but we'd expect both two offer speedy performance. Where the Samsung phone could gain an advantage is power efficiency. While the 810 is built on previous generation 20nm manufacturing process, the Samsung setup is based on a 14nm process.
Initial benchmarks suggest Samsung's processor will deliver 30 to 35% more power efficiency. Whether you'll notice it in day-to-day use, we are not sure, and that 2K screen is sure to be more power hungry, but Samsung may have the edge in this department.
Samsung Galaxy S6 vs HTC One M9: Camera
Samsung Galaxy S6: 16-megapixel rear camera, 5-megapixel front camera, single LED flash, OIS
HTC One M9: 20-megapixel rear camera, 4-megapixel front camera, dual LED flash
The S5's camera was one of the best all-round shooters from the flagship phones last year. HTC's One M8, however, was a little more underwhelming. The UltraPixel main sensor, while good in low light, struggled in other day-to-day situations.
Thankfully HTC has addressed this by moving the UltraPixel sensor to the front for selfie duty, and adding a 20-megapixel for main shooting. Samsung only has a single LED flash against the HTC's dual LED flash, but the S6 has built-in image stabilisation – more on which in a moment.
For video, you can shoot up to a maximum 4K resolution and you have the same limitations shooting a short amount of video as was the case with Sony's Xperia Z3 and the LG G Flex 2.
The most interesting new feature addition definitely lands with the S6. Following the Note 4, Samsung has now added optical image stabilization (OIS) to aid low-light shooting. If it's as impressive as it is with Samsung's phablet, then the S6 could be a big winner here.
If you value selfies more, then HTC's UltraPixel camera looks a perfect fit with its larger pixels to grab more light and produce more vibrant photos. But we suspect HTC will regret not adding OIS to the One M9.
Samsung Galaxy S6 vs HTC One M9: Software
Samsung Galaxy S6: Android Lollipop with TouchWiz UI
HTC One M9: Android Lollipop with Sense 7.0 UI
The good news is that both flagships will run on the latest version of Android Lollipop with the S6 getting the Touchwiz treatment and the One M9 overlaid with the new Sense 7.0 UI.
Those familiar with either Android approaches will find that things are going to be very similar. HTC gives you things like Blinkfeed to get a feed of all the information that's really important to you, plus all the usual benefits of Android like Google Now and the suite of Google apps already pre-installed.
Samsung's biggest problem with TouchWiz is the bloatware. It just loves to pile it on. Thankfully, the Note 4 showed signs of improvements, scaling back the number of apps and even the options in the camera app. We are happy to see that it's taken things even further with the S6, adding only a handful of Samsung apps to keep clutter down to a minimum. If you want all the extras, you can still download it from the Samsung App Store, but who wants to do that?
The other big software news from Samsung is the announcement of its its own mobile payment system. With Apple Pay set to launch in the UK this year, it's yet another front Samsung is set to wage war with Apple.
Samsung Galaxy S6 vs HTC One M9: Battery Life
Samsung Galaxy S6: 2,550mAh, Ultra power saving mode
HTC One M9: 2,840mAh, Extreme power saver mode
The M8 and S5 both had very good battery life, and that's before even tapping into the useful power saving modes, which limits features like internet access but does give you more time to make calls.
Despite both phones getting a little slimmer, both have capacities below the 3,000mAh mark, which should get you two days use and maybe more a little more depending on how much you use it. The S6's battery capacity has dropped considerably compared to the S5, but Samsung hopes to soften the blow by adding the ability to charge the phone up to four hours in ten minutes. That means you can get to 100% in around 80 minutes. Impressive stuff.
If you want to get to the battery on either, then you are out of luck. Samsung has joined HTC by sealing up the back, which might upset some loyal Samsung users, who like the option to replace it. To soften the blow, the S6 supports wireless charging and it supports both major standards, so it will work with the large majority of charging plates.
Early Verdict
We're not making any final judgements here as we haven't spent enough time with either phone to draw serious conclusions. That said, comparing their features alone draws out some obvious narratives and points of difference.
There's no doubt the Galaxy S6's design is a big step forward for Samsung, and it's much slimmer than the HTC, but we suspect many will still prefer the M9's design. It hasn't changed much since last year, but that's because it didn't have to. The fact it has a microSD card slot will be a big tick in its favour now that Samsung has abandoned that feature, too.
Samsung's effort scores points in some important areas, though. Regardless of resolution, its Super AMOLED screen remains a big advantage, but the fact its camera has optical image stabilisation could be more significant. We're glad to see HTC has demoted the 'UltraPixel' sensor to the front, but it's in danger of being out-gunned in the photo department again. Testing might prove otherwise here, but Samsung's track record on cameras is strong.
In contrast, we wonder if the smaller battery may come back to hurt the Samsung, particularly with that high resolution screen. Fast charging sounds great, but is that better than not having to charge?
Let us know what you think in the comments.