HTC One M9 vs Samsung Galaxy S6

We saw numerous device announcements today, covering everything from fitness bands to phones, but the most high profile were HTC’s One M9 unveiling and Samsung’s official introduction of the Galaxy S6 and the Galaxy S6 Edge. Both the One M9 and the Galaxy S6 represent flagship refreshes for HTC and Samsung, and the Galaxy S6 Edge is Samsung’s second implementation of its “Edge’ secondary screen design. How do these phones differ, though?

It’s worth noting up front that the S6 and the S6 Edge are largely the same device. Under the hood, they’re identical, save for an extra 50mAh of battery in the S6 Edge. On the outside, they both feature a 5.1-inch Super AMOLED display, but the Galaxy S6 Edge’s screen extends to the sides of the device.

We’re not here to compare the S6 and the S6 Edge, though. We want to take a look at how the S6/S6 Edge stack up to HTC’s One M9. The biggest differences here are chipset, camera, battery size, storage and build quality. The screens are more or less the same size (unless we’re about to start counting that 0.1 inch difference) but Samsung has opted for a QHD display. HTC, on the other hand, believes 1080p is more than enough for a smartphone.

HTC joins LG and its G Flex 2 in the Snapdragon 810 clubhouse, the rumours about Samsung were true. The company has opted for it’s own 14nm Exynos 7. Obviously, information on this chip is fairly thin on the ground, so we’re going to have to wait for the phone to see how it performs, but Samsung has promised performance equal to that of the 810.

The cameras are a big difference, even just looking at the physical specifications (as we all know, the hardware is only half the battle with smartphone cameras). The HTC One has a 20MP sensor while the S6 uses a similar 16MP sensor to the S5 and the Note 4 but with an F1.9 lens. The HTC One M9’s lens is F2.2. The HTC One M9 has a 4MP UltraPixel up front (a change from last year, when it was the main camera) while the Galaxy S6 has a 5MP camera for selfies. You can read a little more about the HTC One M9’s camera performance here.

The other huge difference between these two flagships is storage. Samsung is ditching the MicroSD slot for the first time so it’s wary of leaving users hanging in terms of space. To that end, it’s offering three models of the S6 in 32GB, 64GB and 128GB capacities. The HTC One M9, on the other hand, comes in just one 32GB flavour.

For battery life, we’ll have to wait for review units to really decide which of these devices lasts longer, but we can tell you that the HTC One M9 has a bigger battery. It clocks in at 2,840mAh, while the batteries in the S6 and S6 Edge are 2550mAh and 2600mAh, respectively.

Lastly, we have the build. This is the most exciting Galaxy in a while in that regard. The HTC One M9 is features two-tone aluminium while Samsung has opted for an aluminium frame with a glass black. Daniel found the One M9 a bit slippery (not unlike the One M8) when he played with it before the show. The Galaxy S6 may prove to be just as slippery with it’s glass front and back, but we’ll have to wait until we go hands on to know for sure.

Lookswise, if you’ve seen the One M8, you’ve seen the One M9. It’s a little shorter and narrower, and there’s no denying that it is beautiful. The Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge are probably the most beautiful Galaxy phones ever crafted, though. In terms of style, you can’t go wrong with either of these cutting edge designs.

We’ll have a better idea of how these phones compare in real world use when we get our hands on both of them. In the mean time, check the spec sheets below for a by-the-numbers comparison. And don’t forget our HTC One M9 hands on, which went up this morning.

HTC One M9 Specs:

• Android 5.0.2 w/ Sense 7.0
• 5.0-inch 1920×1080 Super LCD 3 display
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 64-bit octa-core processor (4 x 2.0Ghz, 4 x 1.5Ghz)
• 3GB RAM / 32GB internal storage
• 2,840mAh battery
• 20MP rear camera, F2.2 lens / 4K video capture
• 4MP UltraPixel front camera, F2.0 lens
• HTC BoomSound speakers
• 144.6 x 69.7 x 9.61 mm
• 157 grams
• Category 6 LTE

Samsung Galaxy S6 Specs:

• Android 5.0.2 w/TouchWIZ
• Exynos 7 SoC
• 5.1-inch QHD 2560×1440 pixel  Super AMOLED display
• 3GB RAM / 32, 64 and 128GB internal storage
• 2,550mAh battery
• 16MP camera, F1.9 lens
• 5MP front-facing camera
• 143.4 x 70.5 x 6.8 mm
• 138 grams
• Wireless Charging
• Category 6 LTE

Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge Specs:

• Android 5.0.2 w/TouchWIZ
• Exynos 7 SoC
• 5.1-inch QHD (2560×1440 pixel) Super AMOLED display
• 3GB RAM / 32, 64 and 128GB internal storage
• 2,600mAh battery
• 5MP front-facing camera
• 142.1 x 70.1 x 7 mm
• 132 grams
• Wireless Charging
• Category 6 LTE