Samsung Galaxy S6 vs HTC One M9 – which is better?
So the two biggest Android phones of 2015 are finally official – and now we know all about them. But which is better?
Body
For the Galaxy, the S6 marks a fairly major design change. The S6 is now based on a full metal unibody design rather than the plastic we saw used on the S5. Essentially, it really, really looks like the iPhone 6.
For the M9 on the other hand, it is basically business as usual – which has had a metal case for some time. What is vaguely interesting is that this time around HTC’s phones are going to be dual coloured – offering, say, silver on one side and gold on the other, and HTC is very keen to point out just how much hassle it is to create such a case.
Screen
The S6 screen is a 5.1″ Quad HD(2560×1440) Super AMOLED display – that’s 4x720p HD, at 577ppi. HTC has given less details on its screen, merely saying that it is a 5″ full 1080p HD display.
This means the S6 is ever so slightly larger – and also runs at a slightly larger resolution.
Specs
The innards of both phones are nearly identical. Both are running a quad 2ghz and a quad 1.5ghz Snapdragon 810 processor. Both have 3GB of RAM.
In terms of storage, there’s more variety with the S6, coming in 32GB, 64GB and 128GB variants, whereas the M9 will only come with 32GB of on-board memory. That said – in a change from previous Samsung phones, the S6 doesn’t have a Micro-SD slot for expansion, whereas the M9 does, and will take Micro-SD cards up to 128GB.
Cameras
On the rear, the M9 wins – with a 20MP camera vs a 16MP on the S6.
On the front, the S6 wins – with a 5MP camera vs 4MP on the M9.
On features of the cameras, things are a little fuzzier. The S6 rear camera has optical-image-stabilisation. The M9 rear camera can apparently shoot video in 4K.
Battery
Battery life is important, especially as both have a non-removable battery.
The S6 has a 2,550mAh battery, and the M9 has a 2840mAh by comparison.
What’s tricky at this stage is drawing any conclusions: Whilst the HTC battery is slightly larger, the software on both may perform differently, meaning the M9 could potentially eat battery quicker. So it is hard to call.
Extras
Samsung is well known for packing its devices with basically everything but the kitchen sink, which is why the S6 retains the fingerprint sensor from the S5, and comes with new support for wireless charging – on both major wireless charging standards.
The company has also announced its own payment service called “Samsung Pay” – which will apparently work anywhere credit cards are accepted, even if the merchant only takes magnetic stripes cards, like many places still do in America.
HTC on the other hand keeps things simpler, but is keen to emphasise the latest version of the HTC Sense interface, which this time will change your home screen depending on where you are – display different apps when you at home, and at work, and so on.
Conclusion
So which is best? Essentially, it is hard to draw any definite conclusions as both phones are very similar. Let’s face it, you’ll probably be happy with whatever you pick up. So go for whichever is cheaper. (Pricing hasn’t been announced yet).
Let us know what you’d choose in the comments.
