If you’re an avid fan of SiliconANGLE’s comparison pieces, you’ve probably been waiting for this for a long time.  With Samsung’s official launch of the Galaxy S IV last night, we were too giddy preparing the following “versus” piece for you all.

This isn’t our usual comparison piece since the iPhone 5 will not be included.  Why?  Because we’ve decided to compare the Galaxy SIV to other smartphones that came out or will come out this year.  Also, it’s not fair to compare new products to old ones.

Enough with the boring intro, let’s move on to specs!

Design

Samsung Galaxy SIV: Special polycarbonate body, slim bezel, wide display, unique textured design

HTC One: Sleek aluminum body, live home screen, dual front stereo speakers
LG Optimus G Pro: Smooth metallic highlights done with Laser Cut Contour and a unibody with a clean finish

Sony Xperia Z: Slim body, reflective durable front and back glass, glass fibre polyamide frame, OmniBalance design, dust and water resistant

Nokia Lumia 720: Slimlight unibody, bright covers, vibrant screen

BlackBerry Z10:  Though it looks a lot like the iPhone 5, it’s sleek and simple design claimed the Red Dot Award for Product Design 2013.

Dimensions

Galaxy SIV: Height 136.6 x Width 69.8 x Depth 7.9 mm, Weight 130g

One: 137.4mm  x 68.2 mm x  9.3mm, 143 g

Optimus G Pro: 150.2 x 76.1 x 9.4 mm, 172 g

Xperia Z: 139 x 71 x 7.9 mm, 146 g

Lumia 720: 127.9 x 67.5 x 9 mm, 128 g

Z10: 130 x 65.6 x 9 mm, 137.5 g

Display

Galaxy SIV:  5-inch Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, 1080 x 1920 pixels, ~441 ppi pixel density, topped with Corning Gorilla Glass 3. multitouch

One: 4.7 inch  Super LCD 3 display, Full HD 1080p, 468 PPI, Gorilla Glass 2, multitouch

Optimus G Pro: True Full HD IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors, 1080 x 1920 pixels, 5.5 inches (~401 ppi pixel density), multitouch

Xperia Z: 5-inch shatter-proof and scratch resistant tempered glass, Sony Mobile BRAVIA Engine 2, TFT capacitive touchscreen, 1080 x 1920 pixels, ~441 ppi pixel density, multitouch, OptiContrast™ panel

Lumia 720: 4.3” IPS, ClearBlack touchscreen technology, super sensitive touch, Corning Gorillas Glass 2

Z10: 4.1” 1280 x 768 resolution, 356ppi, IPS LCD, All-touch screen, with intuitive gesture based navigation

Operating System

Galaxy SIV: Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean

One: Android with HTC Sense

Optimus G Pro: Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean

Xperia Z: Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean

Lumia 720: Windows Phone 8

Z10: BlackBerry 10

Processor

Galaxy SIV: Exynos 5 Octa 5410, 1.9GHz quad-core or 1.6GHz octa-core processor, depending on what region you’re from, 2GB RAM

One: Qualcomm Snapdragon 600, quad-core, 1.7GHz, 2GB of RAM

Optimus G Pro: Qualcomm APQ8064T Snapdragon 600, Quad-core 1.7 GHz Krait 300, 2GB RAM

Xperia Z: Qualcomm S4 Pro Quad-core 1.5 GHz Krait, 2GB RAM

Lumia 720: Snapdragon™ S4, Dual-core 1 GHz, 2GB RAM

Z10: Qualcomm Snapdragon Dual Core 1.5 GHz, 2GB RAM

Battery/battery life

Galaxy SIV: 2600 mAh Li-Ion removable battery

One: 2300 mAh embedded rechargeable Li-polymer battery

Optimus G Pro: Li-Po 3140 mAh battery

Xperia Z: Non-removable Li-Ion 2330 mAh battery, Battery STAMINA mode for longer battery life, Up to 550 h (2G) / Up to 530 h (3G) on standby, Up to 11 h (2G) / Up to 14 h (3G) talk time, Up to 40 h music play

Lumia 720: Non-removable Li-Ion 2000 mAh battery (BP-4GW), 2G) / Up to 520 h (3G) standby time, Up to 23 h 20 min (2G) / Up to 13 h 20 min (3G) talk time, Up to 79 h music play

Z10: 1800mAH removable battery, Up to 10 hours talk time (3G), Up to 13 days standby time
*Note: Battery life claims are for Model STL100-3

Capacity and Price

Galaxy SIV: 16/32/64 GB storage, can be upgraded with up to 64GB of storage via microSD, about US$725 or £480 or AUD$695 without a contract. Coming April 26, 2013

One: 32GB and 64GB, no price yet

Optimus G Pro: 32 GB, upgradable with 64GB microSD, no price yet

Xperia Z: 16 GB, upgradable with 64GB microSD,  £450, AU$749, Coming to Telstra on March 26, no news for US release yet

Lumia 720:  8GB, upgradable with 64GB microSD

Z10: 16GB, can be upgraded to up to 64GB via microSD, $149 with a 3-year plan, coming on March 22

Cellular and Wireless

Galaxy SIV: 2G GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900, 3G HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100, 4G LTE, GPRS, EDGE, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, DLNA, Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi hotspot, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC, Infrared port

One: HSPA/WCDMA – Europe/Asia: 850/900/1900/2100 MHz; GSM/GPRS/EDGE – 850/900/1800/1900 MHz; NFC capable, Bluetooth 4.0 with aptX enabled, Wi-Fi: IEEE 802.11 a/ac/b/g/n, DLNA for wirelessly streaming media from the phone to a compatible TV or computer, Support consumer infrared remote control, Internal GPS antenna + GLONASS, digital compass

Optimus G Pro: 2G GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900, 3G HSDPA 900 / 2100, 4G LTE, GPRS, EDGE, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, DLNA, Wi-Fi hotspot, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC, Infrared port,

Xperia Z: 2G GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 – C6602, C6603, 3G HSDPA 850 / 900 / 2100 – C6603 HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1700 / 1900 / 2100 – C6602, 4G LTE 800 / 850 / 900 / 1800 / 2100 / 2600 – C6603, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Wi-Fi Direct, DLNA, Wi-Fi hotspot, Bluetooth 4.0, GPRS, EDGE, NFC

Lumia 720: 2G GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900, HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, dual-band, GPRS, EDGE, Bluetooth 3.0, NFC

Z10: 3G, 4G LTE, 21Mbps HSPA+, Quad band HSPA+ 1, 2, 5/6, 8 (850/900/1900/2100 MHz), Quad band EDGE (850/900/1800/1900 MHz), WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n, 2.4 GHz / 5 GHz, Mobile Hotspot, Bluetooth 4.0 Low Energy (LE), Assisted, Autonomous and Simultaneous GPS, Preloaded with BlackBerry Maps application, BlackBerry Tag with NFC technology enables communication between BlackBerry smartphones and other NFC-enabled devices with a tap

Camera

Galaxy SIV: rear camera – 13MP, 4128 x 3096 pixels, autofocus, LED flash, front camera – 2 MP, 1080p@30fps, dual video call, Dual Shot, Simultaneous HD video and image recording, geo-tagging, touch focus, face and smile detection, image stabilization, HDR

One: HTC UltraPixel Camera, BSI sensor, Pixel size 2.0 µm, Sensor size 1/3′, Dedicated HTC ImageChip 2, F2.0 aperture and 28 mm lens, Optical Image Stabilization (OIS), Smart Flash: Five levels of flash automatically set by distance to subject, Front Camera –  2.1 MP, 880 wide angle lens with HDR capability, 1080p Full HD video recording for both front and back cameras, HDR Video, Continuous shooting and VideoPic, Slow motion video recording with variable speed playback, HTC Zoe with HTC Zoe Highlights and HTC Zoe Share, Retouch with Object Removal, Group Retouch, and Sequence Shot

Optimus G Pro: rear camera – 13 MP, autofocus, LED flash, front camera –  2.1 MP, 1080p@30fps, geo-tagging, face detection, image stabilization, Smart Shutter, Time Catch Shot, Cheese Shutter

Xperia Z: Exmor RS rear camera – 13.1 MP, 4128×3096 pixels, autofocus, LED flash, front camera – 2.2 MP, 1080p@30fps, sweep panorama, geo-tagging, touch focus, HDR, face detection

Lumia 720: rear camera – 6.7 MP, 2848 x 2144 pixels, Carl Zeiss optics, autofocus, LED flash, front camera –  1.3 MP, 720p@30fps, 1/3.6” sensor size, geo-tagging

Z10: Rear camera – 8MP auto-focus camera, Back Side Illumination for better low-light performance, 5-element F2.2 lens, flash, continuous and touch to focus, image stabilization, 5 x digital zoom, 1080p HD video recording, Time Shift mode for pinpointing and adjusting individual elements of your picture; Front camera – 2 megapixel fixed-focus camera, Image and video stabilization, 3x digital zoom, 720p HD video recording.

Sensors

Galaxy SIV: Accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass, barometer, temperature, humidity, gesture

One:  Gyro sensor, Accelerometer, Proximity sensor, Ambient light sensor

Optimus G Pro: Accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass

Xperia Z: Accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass

Lumia 720: Accelerometer, proximity, compass

Z10: Accelerometer, Magnetometer, Proximity sensor, Gyroscope, Ambient light sensor

SIM

Galaxy SIV: Micro SIM

One: Micro SIM

Optimus G Pro: Micro SIM

Xperia Z: Micro SIM

Lumia 720: Micro SIM

Z10: Micro SIM

Special features

Galaxy SIV: Smart Screen – Smart Stay, Smart Pause, Smart Rotation, Smart Scroll; Air Gesture, WatchOn, ChatOn, AirView, Group Play, S Health, wireless charging cover, S Translator, Sound and Shot, Dual Shot, Cinema Photo, Drama Shot

One: BlinkFeed, HTC Zoe, HTC UltraPixel Camera, HTC BoomSound with Beats Audio integration, HTC Sense TV

Optimus G Pro: Quick Memo, Live Zooming, Screen Zooming, Message Wallpaper, Icon personalizer, Application Link, Dual Screen, QSLIDE

Xperia Z: Water resistant – one meter, 30 minutes; dust-resistant, PlayStation Mobile, PlayMemories, Xperia Care, Battery STAMINA Mode, One-touch mirroring with NFC technology

Lumia 720: HERE Maps, Nokia Mix Radio, Live Tiles, Smart Shoot, wide-angle lens, wireless charging cover, colorful covers

Z10: BlackBerry Balance, BlackBerry Magnify,  Teletypewriter (TTY) Support, micro HDMI, BlackBerry Flow, BlackBerry Hub, BlackBerry Keyboard, BBM Video with Share Screen, Camera with Time Shift

Best of the best

.

The Galaxy SIV has a lot of great features.  Though a lot of the features aren’t original, because they’re all found in one device, it makes the SIV stand out in this round.

The removable battery is both a blessing and a curse.  A blessing, since you can always change the drained battery for a fully charged one, provided you have a spare.  A curse because we all know how easily phones with removable back cover get damaged.  Better get a really durable phone cover to prevent excessive damage if you accidentally drop it.

But the most interesting feature comes from Sony’s Xperia Z.  Some of us have the misfortune of dropping our phone in toilet, getting thrown in a pool with your phone in your pocket, so being water resistant, even for just a meter and 30 minutes, could save you some serious cash.

Overall, the features of the Galaxy SIV makes it the best phone in this round of comparison.  It would’ve been the ultimate phone if it added a water-resistant feature.