HTC One v Samsung Galaxy S3 – Which is the better smartphone?

There was a time when HTC was the dominant force in the world of Android phones, but ever since launching the Galaxy S2 Samsung have shot ahead, leaving their rival in the dust. Clearly tired of being left behind, HTC have pulled out all the stops with their new HTC One flagship phone, but have they done enough to top Samsung?

HTC One v Samsung Galaxy S3 – Build quality

While the Samsung Galaxy S3 packs a fairly plain polycarbonate body, which struggles to stand out from the crowd, the HTC One has a premium metal body, making it both look and feel like the flagship handset that it is.

HTC One v Samsung Galaxy S3 – Display

The Samsung Galaxy S3 has a 4.8 inch 720 x 1280 Super AMOLED display, with a 306 PPI pixel density. The HTC One has a marginally smaller 4.7 inch 1080 x 1920 Super LCD3 display, with an insanely crisp 468 PPI pixel density. That means the HTC One has the highest pixel density of any phone on the market, giving it an easy win in this category.

HTC One v Samsung Galaxy S3 – Power

Neither handset is a slouch in the power department, but with a 1.7 GHz quad-core processor and 2 GB of RAM, the HTC One still clearly tops the Samsung Galaxy S3 with its 1.4 GHz quad-core processor and 1 GB of RAM.

HTC One v Samsung Galaxy S3 - Camera

Judging which phone has the best camera is a bit trickier, as while the Galaxy S3 follows the trend of ‘more megapixels is better’ with its 8 megapixel snapper, the HTC One ships with just a 4 megapixel camera. But megapixels aren’t everything, and HTC claim that their camera can capture up to 330% more light than competitors, leading to better pictures. It’s a bold claim, but initial tests suggest the camera performs at least as well as the one on the S3, so we’ll call it a draw.

HTC One v Samsung Galaxy S3 – Battery life, on board memory and connectivity

The Samsung Galaxy S3 has a 2100 mAh battery offering up to 12 hours talk time. The HTC One has a slightly bigger 2300 mAh battery, but the company haven’t released any performance figures for it. However given the similar screen size and slightly higher power of the HTC One we’d wager that the performance would be pretty similar.

Both phones come with up to 64 GB of internal memory, but while that can be expanded via micro SD card on the Galaxy S3, it can’t on the HTC One.

Both phones support 3G and NFC and you can also purchase 4G enabled versions of both on EE or Ultrafast versions of them on Three.

HTC One v Samsung Galaxy S3 - Conclusion

While the Galaxy S3 is certainly still a great phone, the aging handset just can’t compete with the brand new HTC One. It’s a shame that the HTC One doesn’t have a micro SD card slot but in every other area it’s a win or a draw for the Taiwanese firm’s new flagship phone. But with the Samsung Galaxy S4 just around the corner they’ll soon have a much tougher fight on their hands.

Another smartphone battle from 3G very soon.