My my my, what an interesting year this has been for phones.
This year, Apple really does have its work cut out for it when it comes to making a product that can beat what’s out this year. But what if you want something from the slate of Android phones out now: what’s the best Android for your money?
We’ve reviewed them all, and then some, spending time with them in our lives and used them as a real phone, so let’s see just which is better from our point of view, working this out not just in different areas, but really getting down to the nitty gritty for those of you who just aren’t sure yet.
Design and build
We’ll start with the most obvious one for all these handsets: the look, and then the feel, and they all have something different to offer here.
Samsung, for instance, has taken an approach closer to what it offers in its tablets, with a plastic body, shiny faux metal trim, and a dimpled back to give the feeling that you’re holding a fabric or leather-bound handset that won’t slip out of the hands.
It’s comfortable, that’s for sure, but well built it isn’t, feeling more like plastic and less like a strengthened material like metal or aluminium.
LG has taken a similar approach, adopting plastic in the design but painting it to look metal. That’s a slightly better approach, and the G3 feels a touch stronger than the S5 and just as comfortable, but it’s still plastic.
HTC and Sony are thinking along the same lines, however, making their phones out of premium materials.
In the case of HTC’s One M8, it’s mostly made out of aluminium, and we’re not kidding on that, with a brushed aluminium making up around 90 percent of the handset’s design, with glass the rest thanks to the screen. It’s certainly schmick, and it feels fantastic and solid in the hands, too.
Sony’s Xperia Z2 has a similar approach, taking aluminium for the sides and encasing the rest of the handset in glass, making it feel very premium, similar to what Apple did with the iPhone 4 and LG with its Optimus G, the first in the G series handset.
Our only quibble with the Xperia Z2 design is that it’s so angular that it can ruin pants and jeans, as we found out when we carried it around for an extended amount of time.
Ruggedisation
Making a phone water and dust proof is now a thing, because you’re going to take it out of the office, so why not make it as durable as humanly possible?
In this year’s four flagship fighters, only two are slightly ruggedised, with water and dust resistance applied to the Sony Xperia Z2 and Samsung’s Galaxy S5. You can probably get the HTC One and LG G3 a little bit wet, but don’t expect them to perform like what Sony and Samsung have provided.
Both have protection against water and dust, but to different limits, and keep in mind, if you want these to keep resisting these elements and not succumb to a watery grave or die a dusty death, you need to leave their little plug ports closed when the particles or droplets hit.
For those unaware of IP ratings, it stands for “Ingress Protection” and is an international rating to determine levels of resistance to elements that don’t normally agree with electrical components. We’ve seen it in devices before, but up until 2013, they were generally very bulky, so its introduction in slim-line phones is a pretty serious development.
In IP ratings, the first number relates to dust or “solid particle” protection, while the second is about liquids.
Samsung’s S5 relies on an IP67 rating, and when you break that down, that means it is protected against all dust (6) making it dust tight, while the 7 means the Galaxy S5 can survive contact with water for an immersion of up to a metre.
Sony’s Z2 has an IP58 rating, which cuts back on the dust protection a bit, bringing it to mostly dust protected though some might get in, while the 8 in the IP rating means the Xperia Z2 can go beyond one metre in depth, though usually only to a maximum of three metres.
The time you spend with that phone under water will probably be small-ish, with around 15 to 30 minutes the most you’ll want to use it for at one time, but it’s still a pretty decent amount of time with a phone underwater, so that’s something.
A couple of items that are very important and worthy but not in this review, were the overall design aestethic including removing buttons for a clean design, reducing weight and edge to edge screen real estate. There really only is one that his all those marks out of the phones – the g3. Furthermore, an untarnished version of Android is also important. The battery life in the g3 lasts me two full days which was surprising with that excellent display.
It’s a hands down winner for me.
Not sure if I’d say clean design is something the LG only has. Sony’s Z2 hits that mark for us, as well, though can see what you’re getting at there.
In fairness, however, none of these handsets have “untarnished” versions of Android, and they’re all modified from what Google makes in the first place.
If you want untarnished, seek out the Nexus 5, which we’ve reviewed here: https://gadgetguy.com.au/product/google-nexus-5/
All of the phones in this test work well as phones, and as that’s pretty hard to screw up in a phone these days, is often something we won’t include in a smartphone feature comparison.
As for the loud speakers, the S5 probably wins here due to its extra loud loudspeaker, but the quality is more or less the same when calling someone on all of these.
Really, though, you can’t compare a 12 year old phone with stuff from today. Completely different.
I will still go for the M8 even if the sense in me says the G3 is best
Me too! M8 is that stunning beautiful girl who woos you all the time, while the G3 is that super intelligent girl who can be more dependable
htc one m8 or lg g3..?
If you’re having troubles picking, put them both in your hands at a phone store and see which you like the feel of most.
yes im really having trouble in picking…. what i like about the htc one m8 is its premium build, and its dual boomsound speakers…. while on the lg g3 is i like its camera, and the rear buttons…
Plastic is fine. Some plastics even go back to their original shapes when bent. Unlike many metals.
Wow,Detailed great comaprision!
Is the moto X that unknown that it is not reviewed, or not up to standard?
The 2013 Moto X came out too late in Australia for it to be considered a flagship, and the 2014 model hasn’t arrived yet. We’re anticipating it this month, and are planning on doing a final version of this article with the Note 4 and Xperia Z3, also.
Didn’t forget. Neither are out in Australia yet. We’ll redo this story once we’ve seen ’em! 🙂
Not all follow-ups are better, but the Z3 Compact impresses us, so we’re expecting good things from the Z3.
i will definitely go for M8.!. if you have problem with the camera go and buy Lumia 1020.!.
One could buy 2 Nexus phones at these prices…
In fairness, you can get that on any phone. Gorilla Glass and mineral-strengthened glass is scratch-resistant, not drop proof.
If you want a phone with less chance of breaking, consider one with a curved screen or a case that protects the sides heavily.
The RAM on the unit? Most flagships tend to hit around the 2GB to 3GB mark, which tends to be the sweet spot for Android at the moment.
That said, even large amounts aren’t necessarily going to indicate core performance, as operating system changes — overlays generally, such as Samsung’s Touchwiz — can get in the way and drag the speed down.
One easy fix for a slow phone — especially an older phone — is a backup and a reset, restoring your information afterwards. Phones are very much like computers, which is hardly surprising since phones are computers these days. As such, just like when you reinstall a computer to factory settings you get more speed, the same basically will happen to a phone.
So if your S3 is struggling, try backing everything up and going from beginning.
Thanks very much for this suggestion. I have already done that twice. There is the problem too of trying not to lose contacts and memos which take up quite a bit of time, especially if memos are locked. But yes I could have another go.
Not sure what the memos or contacts are saved to for your device, but we sync our contacts to Google so that they’re usable on every device we use, and memos we tend to run through Google. You might want to look at Google Keep for that.
you can try using super backup app… it will back up apps, contacts, sms, calender ….its awesome… no need to worry about loosing data…
HTC will be the future of smart phones…i strongly believe HTC will make their own OS and capture the market like blackberry was….
i think xperia phones are best only in terms of music; using their walkman that superb the quality of music, samsung is better in internet access, specuially in busy people, LG wins in durability and i dont know in htc because i didnt use the htc yet
HTC m8 is the best not 100% perfect but its above the competition !
the Sony Z3 also came out 2014. why not include it in the list?
Wasn’t available when we did the round-up. We’re thinking of doing it again in the next week or so ahead of MWC, so we’ll include it then.
I love my LG G3! I would not change it for any other phone!
I think the HTC One M8 is the best!
that would br my prefrence
The Note 4 is a great phone, though we had no problems with email, and yet weak battery life.
Our review is here: https://gadgetguy.com.au/product/samsung-galaxy-note-4-sm-n910g/