Earlier this year, HTC announced that the HTC One will be its main and only high-end smartphone to be released this year. Whether or not that’s going to be the case remains to be seen, as certain rumors are hinting at the existence of a Butterfly 2 / Droid DNA 2.
At any rate, the point is that the Taiwanese manufacturer put a lot of time and effort into making the One a successful device. By the looks of it, the process paid off and the HTC One is one of the most sought-after smartphones of the year. Some might argue that it even overtakes the Samsung Galaxy S4 which is part of a successful and already established series of smartphones.
Comparisons between these two Android flagship devices are inevitable, but interestingly enough, the One shares a lot of similarities with the Apple iPhone 5, more so than with the Android-powered Galaxy S4.
With the above in mind, we think it’s high-time to take a look at what the HTC One and the iPhone 5 have to offer, and how they compare to one another.
iPhone 5 vs. HTC One – Design
The iPhone, in general, always had one strong ace up its sleeve, premium build quality and materials. However, these characteristics make little-to-no difference whenever the iPhone 5 is compared with the HTC One. The reason for this is because the Taiwanese manufacturer has built an outstanding device, featuring an all-aluminum unibody design that would make any other smartphone manufacturer jealous. This may be a new thing for the Android market, but at least in terms of build quality, the HTC One is right up there with Apple’s finest.
iPhone 5 vs. HTC One – Hardware Specs
If iPhone 5′s build quality isn’t going to make a difference in this comparison, Apple’s device needs to showcase more than just a pretty face. It needs some serious hardware firepower. Does it deliver? Well, there’s only one way to find out.
The HTC One packs a 4.7 inch Super LCD3 display supporting a resolution of 1080 x 1920 and a pixel density of 469 pixels per inch, a Snapdragon 600 quad-core processor clocked at 1.7 GHz, an Adreno 320 GPU, 2 GB of RAM, 32 / 64 GB of storage and a 4 MP Ultrapixel camera boasting optical image stabilization, LED flash and simultaneous HD video and image recording, just to name a few. There’s also a 2.1 MP front-facing camera with HDR capabilities, a 2,300 mAh battery under the hood and Android 4.1.2 featuring HTC’s latest Sense 5 user interface.
On the other hand, the iPhone 5 delivers a 4 inch LED-backlit IPS LCD display with a resolution of 640 x 1136 and a pixel density of 326 ppi, a dual-core Apple A6 processor running at 1.2 GHz, a PowerVR SGX 543MP3 graphics chip and 1 GB of RAM. In addition, the handset arrives with 16, 32 or 64 GB of internal storage, an 8 MP main camera boasting HDR and simultaneous HD video and image recording, and a complementary 1.2 MP front-facing sensor. The gadget is backed up by a 1,440 mAh battery and iOS 6 (upgradable to iOS 6.1.3).
Clearly, there are some similarities between these two smartphones. Both of them feature non-removable batteries and both lack a miroSD card slot. Nevertheless, beyond these similarities, the HTC One takes the lead. The aforementioned device features more processing power with double the CPU cores, double the RAM and a display resolution that is two generations ahead (non-HD versus Full HD). The main camera is also quite impressive, so don’t let the lower amount of 4 megapixels fool you.
iPhone 5 vs HTC One – Conclusion
In the end, the iPhone 5 is the best iOS smartphone to date, while the HTC One is arguably the best Android device currently on the market. They’re part of different platforms and ecosystems, but despite all that it’s not difficult to realize that the HTC One reigns supreme. The smartphone in question delivers better overall specs, premium build quality and an outstanding design.
The iPhone 5 still has its appeal and if you’re an Apple fan or have already invested heavily in Apple’s ecosystem, buying or holding on to the handset still makes a certain amount of sense, though not for long. However, if you’re looking for a fresh start and a change of scenery, the HTC One is clearly the better handset.
What do you think? Which one of these smartphones would you rather buy or already own? Feel free to share your point of view in the comments section and don’t hesitate to specify the reasons behind your choice.
Vlad Andrici is editor for gforgames.com and writes about technology issues.