The No.1 phone in the market
The contenders are
1. Samsung Galaxy S4
2. Sony Xperia Z
3. HTC One
4. iPhone 5
5. Nokia Lumia 920
6. BlackBerry Z10
2. Sony Xperia Z
3. HTC One
4. iPhone 5
5. Nokia Lumia 920
6. BlackBerry Z10
Looks:
Mirror, Mirror on the wall
Not chugging along: The Sony Xperia Z runs on Quad Core
processors
Yes, looks matter. You can’t afford
to be seen with an ugly phone anymore and no company should even attempt to
have a design that isn’t jaw-dropping at first glance. The S4 gets badly
bludgeoned here as it carries on with plastic casing and a design that hasn’t
changed in generations. The HTC One, with a unibody aluminium chassis, is super
premium. The minimalist metal engineered look of the iPhone is amazing but
still reminds of you of the iPhone 4 (just stretched out a bit). The Lumia 920
still gets second glances with its slick polycarbonate look and shine (the red
is exceptional). The Sony Xperia Z is elegance understated, and the BB Z10
pulls off a totally new BB look, which is industrial but classy.
Screen space: One up on size
Design and style are one thing; ergonomics, size and form factor are what you deal with when you use your phone every day. So how light, how thin and what it feels in your hands on a daily basis make a huge difference. The S4 is thin at .31 inches and light at 130g. The iPhone is thinner at .30 inches and lighter at 112g. The Xperia Z is almost as thin but slightly heavier. The Z10 is .35. The HTC One at .37 and the Lumia 920 at .42 touch the other side of the tape.
Design and style are one thing; ergonomics, size and form factor are what you deal with when you use your phone every day. So how light, how thin and what it feels in your hands on a daily basis make a huge difference. The S4 is thin at .31 inches and light at 130g. The iPhone is thinner at .30 inches and lighter at 112g. The Xperia Z is almost as thin but slightly heavier. The Z10 is .35. The HTC One at .37 and the Lumia 920 at .42 touch the other side of the tape.
Display: Stare meisters
The display and screen on a modern smartphone is now the Holy Grail feature, as this is what you’re going to stare and touch and feel all day. But the specs, PPI and resolutions only tell half the story. Colour reproduction, brightness, sharpness and viewing angles make a dramatic difference. The S4 has a full 1920x1080 HD 4.99-inch screen with 441 pixels per inch. More importantly, for a Super AMOLED screen, they’ve managed very natural colours plus deep blacks and fantastic contrast. Sony’s Xperia Z is almost identical with a 5-inch screen and a similar PPI as well as colour range. The HTC One has the highest pixel density at 446 PPI and a very dynamic pop of colour as all that pixel density is crammed into a 4.7 inch screen. The iPhone 5 screen still remains the brightest, but the lower resolution becomes obvious when you set it out in front of the others. The BB Z10 and the Lumia 920 have lower resolution but still seem to have screens that look awesome in daily use.
The display and screen on a modern smartphone is now the Holy Grail feature, as this is what you’re going to stare and touch and feel all day. But the specs, PPI and resolutions only tell half the story. Colour reproduction, brightness, sharpness and viewing angles make a dramatic difference. The S4 has a full 1920x1080 HD 4.99-inch screen with 441 pixels per inch. More importantly, for a Super AMOLED screen, they’ve managed very natural colours plus deep blacks and fantastic contrast. Sony’s Xperia Z is almost identical with a 5-inch screen and a similar PPI as well as colour range. The HTC One has the highest pixel density at 446 PPI and a very dynamic pop of colour as all that pixel density is crammed into a 4.7 inch screen. The iPhone 5 screen still remains the brightest, but the lower resolution becomes obvious when you set it out in front of the others. The BB Z10 and the Lumia 920 have lower resolution but still seem to have screens that look awesome in daily use.
Processor: The heart of it
This could be a category where I could reel off simple statistics and specifications and give the crown to the phone with most whiz-bang processor. That would be a grave injustice, as a processor and its speed and cores involved aren’t always telling the whole story. For instance, the Android OS requires more horsepower to run and even a quad core processor can be sluggish at certain tasks. Surprisingly the Windows OS chugs along like a bullet train even with a mediocre processor while iOS and BB10 seem to whiz along blazingly fast with what the manufacturer has bundled in. The everyday user couldn’t care less about what’s ticking inside as long as the apps open fast, multi-tasking is a breeze and there’s no lag or screen freeze, ever. Thus let’s do this section differently by mating the processor to the OS and then give away the medals.
This could be a category where I could reel off simple statistics and specifications and give the crown to the phone with most whiz-bang processor. That would be a grave injustice, as a processor and its speed and cores involved aren’t always telling the whole story. For instance, the Android OS requires more horsepower to run and even a quad core processor can be sluggish at certain tasks. Surprisingly the Windows OS chugs along like a bullet train even with a mediocre processor while iOS and BB10 seem to whiz along blazingly fast with what the manufacturer has bundled in. The everyday user couldn’t care less about what’s ticking inside as long as the apps open fast, multi-tasking is a breeze and there’s no lag or screen freeze, ever. Thus let’s do this section differently by mating the processor to the OS and then give away the medals.
Looking Good? The HTC One beats the Samsung Galaxy S4’s old
look with its unibody aluminium chassis
The S4 has created quite a stir in
the tech world with its Octa (8) core 1.6 GHz processor, but do remember that
it uses only 4 cores at a time. For light tasks, the power-efficient A7 cores
come into play and for more demanding stuff, the A15 cores rush in while
switching off the A7s. To those that think this is just total tech
gobbledygook, you’re right. Suffice to say that this switching just gives you
serious power when you need it and battery efficiency when you don’t. The HTC
One and Xperia Z run on quad core processors but can’t switch on and off. The
BB Z10, iPhone 5 and Lumia 920 are on dual core processors. But do remember
that they run OSes that just aren’t so processor hungry.
This shootout continues next week.
Battery life, camera used in actual shoot conditions, video, additional
usability features, add-ons, price and a whole lot more shall be compared.
There’s plenty to be tried, tested and thoroughly examined before one phone can
be crowned ‘The Best Phone in the World’. But that shouldn’t stop you from
reacting to what has already been compared. I’ve already stripped down to my
bare essentials. Let the flogging begin!
Rajiv Makhni is managing editor, Technology, NDTV, and the anchor of Gadget Guru, Cell Guru and Newsnet 3
Rajiv Makhni is managing editor, Technology, NDTV, and the anchor of Gadget Guru, Cell Guru and Newsnet 3
The contenders,in random order, are
1. Samsung Galaxy S4
2. Sony Xperia Z
3. HTC One
4. iPhone 5
5. Nokia Lumia 920
6. BlackBerry Z10
2. Sony Xperia Z
3. HTC One
4. iPhone 5
5. Nokia Lumia 920
6. BlackBerry Z10
The Winners
Looks
1. HTC One
2. iPhone 5
3. Nokia Lumia 920
Looks
1. HTC One
2. iPhone 5
3. Nokia Lumia 920
Screen space
1. Samsung Galaxy S4 (for pulling off a giant screen into a super thin body)
2. iPhone 5
3. Sony Xperia Z
1. Samsung Galaxy S4 (for pulling off a giant screen into a super thin body)
2. iPhone 5
3. Sony Xperia Z
Display
1. HTC One
2. Samsung Galaxy S4 and Sony Xperia Z
3. iPhone 5 and BlackBerry Z10
1. HTC One
2. Samsung Galaxy S4 and Sony Xperia Z
3. iPhone 5 and BlackBerry Z10
Processor
1. Samsung Galaxy S4
2. iPhone 5 and HTC One
3. Nokia Lumia 920
From HT Brunch, April 7
1. Samsung Galaxy S4
2. iPhone 5 and HTC One
3. Nokia Lumia 920
From HT Brunch, April 7
·
Battery Life
The battery on the S4 has been pumped up to 2600 mAh and the switching Octa Core processor only draws raw power when truly needed. But it does power up a big screen and lots of whiz-bang features. The Xperia Z and the HTC One clock in at 2300 mAh and both do a good job of conserving power; the Lumia 920 at 2000 mAh is also a contender as the OS isn’t a battery hog. The BB Z10 with 1800 mAh and the iPhone 5 with 1660 mAh bring up the rear. In real-life usage, the mAh is just a ballpark estimate of true battery life – other things like the processor, the OS, the size of the screen and how battery hungry some features are – truly matter.
The battery on the S4 has been pumped up to 2600 mAh and the switching Octa Core processor only draws raw power when truly needed. But it does power up a big screen and lots of whiz-bang features. The Xperia Z and the HTC One clock in at 2300 mAh and both do a good job of conserving power; the Lumia 920 at 2000 mAh is also a contender as the OS isn’t a battery hog. The BB Z10 with 1800 mAh and the iPhone 5 with 1660 mAh bring up the rear. In real-life usage, the mAh is just a ballpark estimate of true battery life – other things like the processor, the OS, the size of the screen and how battery hungry some features are – truly matter.
·
Camera
It’s not just about megapixels anymore (it never was), as optics, sensor technology, size of pixels, image processing inside the camera and the software matter. The optic contenders are – UltraPixel vs PureView vs Cybershot vs Apple Optics vs BB Time Shift. The 13.0 megapixel camera on the S4 sounds very cutting-edge and it actually does deliver very well in action shots and very colourful pictures, not so much in low light. The HTC One comes with only 4.0 MP but UltraPixel technology makes it the absolute best in low light, and there’s excellent clarity in action shots. The Lumia 920 may not be as good as the real PureView technology on the 808 phone but it’s still one of the best on a phone (night shots do disappoint a bit though). There is 13.0 MP on Xperia Z too (no colour bleeds, great contrasts, very fast, but does tend to choke a bit on low light images) and iPhone 5 (best software, very easy to use, some artificial enhancements tend to play their role in some shots though) and BB Z10 (surprisingly great camera from BB, excellent Time Shift capabilities) brings it in at 8.0 MP.
It’s not just about megapixels anymore (it never was), as optics, sensor technology, size of pixels, image processing inside the camera and the software matter. The optic contenders are – UltraPixel vs PureView vs Cybershot vs Apple Optics vs BB Time Shift. The 13.0 megapixel camera on the S4 sounds very cutting-edge and it actually does deliver very well in action shots and very colourful pictures, not so much in low light. The HTC One comes with only 4.0 MP but UltraPixel technology makes it the absolute best in low light, and there’s excellent clarity in action shots. The Lumia 920 may not be as good as the real PureView technology on the 808 phone but it’s still one of the best on a phone (night shots do disappoint a bit though). There is 13.0 MP on Xperia Z too (no colour bleeds, great contrasts, very fast, but does tend to choke a bit on low light images) and iPhone 5 (best software, very easy to use, some artificial enhancements tend to play their role in some shots though) and BB Z10 (surprisingly great camera from BB, excellent Time Shift capabilities) brings it in at 8.0 MP.
·
Add Ons
Some people call this gimmicky, but I believe that the time has come when user features are more important than selling purely on hardware specs. And each phone has quite a few tricks up its sleeve. The Galaxy S4 has dual camera shooting, dual video conferencing, Air View, gesture control, smart scroll and quite a bit more. The HTC One comes with the awesome and very useful Blinkfeed user interface, dual amplified speakers and a noise cancellation microphone. The Xperia Z is water- and dust-proof, plus has some serious features in the photo shooting department. The BB Z10 OS, with its all-gesture and thumb control interface, is unique; plus all its new features like BB Hub, video call on BBM, plus Peek and Flow, are all serious innovations. The Lumia 920 brings in the breath of fresh air of Windows, and adds multiple free Nokia benefits like Maps and Music. And of course the iPhone 5 is still one of the easiest-to-use phones and keeps adding fantastic new features that actually matter with every OS update.
Some people call this gimmicky, but I believe that the time has come when user features are more important than selling purely on hardware specs. And each phone has quite a few tricks up its sleeve. The Galaxy S4 has dual camera shooting, dual video conferencing, Air View, gesture control, smart scroll and quite a bit more. The HTC One comes with the awesome and very useful Blinkfeed user interface, dual amplified speakers and a noise cancellation microphone. The Xperia Z is water- and dust-proof, plus has some serious features in the photo shooting department. The BB Z10 OS, with its all-gesture and thumb control interface, is unique; plus all its new features like BB Hub, video call on BBM, plus Peek and Flow, are all serious innovations. The Lumia 920 brings in the breath of fresh air of Windows, and adds multiple free Nokia benefits like Maps and Music. And of course the iPhone 5 is still one of the easiest-to-use phones and keeps adding fantastic new features that actually matter with every OS update.
·
Price
It’s been predicted that starting from August 2013, almost every single flagship smartphone released by every company will be priced above Rs. 50,000. Till that nightmare starts, price is still a huge buying criterion. The iPhone 5 is what started the whole Rs. 40,000 and more price war. BlackBerry made a huge mistake by releasing the Z10 at an astronomical price point. Sony was smart and broke from tradition and released the Xperia Z at a pleasant (if Rs. 37,000 can be called pleasant) price. The Lumia 920 is very well-priced (Rs 35,000) for what it offers, but that’s slowly becoming the Nokia way. HTC shocked everyone by releasing the One for Rs. 42,000 (everybody expected it to be the first phone to be at Rs. 50,000), and the price of the S4 is now being predicted at Rs. 52,000 (don’t do that, Samsung).
It’s been predicted that starting from August 2013, almost every single flagship smartphone released by every company will be priced above Rs. 50,000. Till that nightmare starts, price is still a huge buying criterion. The iPhone 5 is what started the whole Rs. 40,000 and more price war. BlackBerry made a huge mistake by releasing the Z10 at an astronomical price point. Sony was smart and broke from tradition and released the Xperia Z at a pleasant (if Rs. 37,000 can be called pleasant) price. The Lumia 920 is very well-priced (Rs 35,000) for what it offers, but that’s slowly becoming the Nokia way. HTC shocked everyone by releasing the One for Rs. 42,000 (everybody expected it to be the first phone to be at Rs. 50,000), and the price of the S4 is now being predicted at Rs. 52,000 (don’t do that, Samsung).
·
That’s pretty much it. For the last two weeks,
I’ve gone through almost every single thing that a phone can be judged on. All
that’s left is a verdict. It’s a tough one to call as the gap between
companies, feature sets, product line, hardware as well as style are as close
as it’s ever going to be – but I’m going ahead and doing it anyway.
·
The iPhone 5 is an amazing phone but needs a
fresh and totally new exterior as well as an OS that doesn’t still look the way
it did four years ago. The Z10 is an excellent effort from BB, let down by the
price as also the fact that it needs more time to convert non-BB users. The
Xperia Z is also a fantastic phone but needs that one killer feature that makes
it stand tall. The Lumia 920 has it all but its Windows OS still needs to get
to a tipping point for it to get some serious momentum. That leaves the HTC One
and the Samsung S4. I’m going to go with the HTC One as the winner as this is a
phone that takes some serious risks, has a lot of disruptors, has come out with
an aggressive price (relatively speaking) and has great looks to go with all
that. The S4’s biggest weakness is its looks and what is predicted to be a very
high price. If Samsung also takes on the price war – and prices the S4 below Rs. 42,000 – this crown may shift. Till then, the HTC One
rules! There you have it – don’t disappoint me this time and let the real
flogging truly begin!
·
THE WINNERS
·
Battery Life
1. Samsung Galaxy S4
2. HTC One
3. iPhone 5 and Nokia Lumia
920
1. Samsung Galaxy S4
2. HTC One
3. iPhone 5 and Nokia Lumia
920
·
Camera
1. HTC One, Samsung Galaxy S4 and Nokia Lumia
920
2. iPhone 5
3. BlackBerry Z10 and Sony Xperia Z
1. HTC One, Samsung Galaxy S4 and Nokia Lumia
920
2. iPhone 5
3. BlackBerry Z10 and Sony Xperia Z
·
Add Ons
1. Samsung Galaxy S4 and HTC One
2. BlackBerry Z10 and Sony Xperia Z
3. iPhone 5 and Nokia Lumia 920
1. Samsung Galaxy S4 and HTC One
2. BlackBerry Z10 and Sony Xperia Z
3. iPhone 5 and Nokia Lumia 920
·
PRICE
1. HTC One
2. Nokia Lumia 920
3. Sony Xperia Z
1. HTC One
2. Nokia Lumia 920
3. Sony Xperia Z
·
Rajiv Makhni .Managing editor, Technology, NDTV, and the anchor of Gadget Guru, Cell Guru and Newsnet 3From HT Brunch, April 7 AND14
Rajiv Makhni .Managing editor, Technology, NDTV, and the anchor of Gadget Guru, Cell Guru and Newsnet 3From HT Brunch, April 7 AND14
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