Aside from Apple, Inc.’s new iPhone 6, a number of flagship smartphones have been released since the start of 2014, from top manufacturers including Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and HTC Corp. Some of this year’s handsets are quite impressive, others met with much deserved hype, while others launched with little fanfare.

Among the most notable launches of 2014 is Apple’s two new iPhones the 6 and 6 Plus, which will start pre-selling on September 16 and officially go on sale on the 19th, with the iOS 8 update coming on the 17th for those who do not wish to upgrade their iDevice yet.

So how does this new iPhone compare to the other smartphones released this year? Do the features of the new iPhone 6 stack up to that of Samsung’s Galaxy S5, HTC’s One M8, Motorola Inc.’s Moto X, or Amazon.com Inc.’s Fire Phone?

iPhone 6 vs other 2014 flagship smartphones

 

Design and dimension

Apple iPhone 6: It an ion-strengthened cover glass that is rounded on the edges and curves to seamlessly connect with the anodized aluminum enclosure at the back. Available in gold, silver and space gray, measuring 138.1mm x 67mm x 6.9mm and weighing 129g.

Samsung Galaxy S5: Has a more rectangular shape than predecessors. The back panel features a more grippable, dimpled design with a matte finish, and is available in Electric Blue, Charcoal Black and Copper Gold. It measures Height 142mm in height, a width of 72.5mm, 8.1mm thick,  and weighs 145g.

HTC One M8: Brushed metal unibody frame, Corning Gorilla Glass 3, measures 146.36 x 70.6 x 9.35 mm and weighs 160 g,

Motorola Moto X: It features a curved metal body that can be customized to your liking with 25 back finishes to choose from, measure 140.8mm x 72.4mm, curve is at 3.8mm- 9.9mm and weighs 144g,

Amazon Fire Phone:  The device measures 139.2mm x 66.5mm x 8.9mm, weighs 160g

 

Display

Apple iPhone 6: 4.7-inch LED-backlit widescreen Multi‑Touch display with IPS technology, 1334-by-750-pixel resolution at 326 ppi or Retina HD display, with fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating on the screen

Samsung Galaxy S5: 5.1” 1920 x 1080 full HD Super AMOLED touchscreen

HTC One M8: 5” Super LCD3, 1080 x 1920 pixels, capacitive touchscreen display

Motorola Moto X: 5.2” (423 ppi) 1080p OLED display, Corning Gorilla Glass 3

Amazon Fire Phone: 4.7″ HD LCD display, with 1280 x 720 resolution at 315 ppi, 590 cd/m2 brightness (typical), 1000:1 contrast ratio (typical) features dynamic image contrast, a wide viewing angle, circular polarizer, and an industry-leading ultra-bright display at 590 nits

 

Internal components

Apple iPhone 6: A8 chip with 64-bit architecture, M8 motion coprocessor, runs iOS 8, built-in rechargeable lithium-ion battery with a standby time of 250 hours, 16/32/128GB

Samsung Galaxy S5: 2.5GHz quad-core Qualcomm Krait,  16/32GB, with a microSD slot up to 128GB, 2GB RAM, 2800mAh battery with a standby time of up to 390 hours and talk time of up to 21 hours with Ultra Power Saving Mode, runs Android 4.4.2 KitKat, WiFi: 802.11a/b/g/n/ac HT80, MIMO(2×2), Bluetooth 4.0 BLE / ANT+, USB 3.0, NFC, IR Remote, LTE Cat.4 (150/50Mbps)

HTC One M8: Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 2.3GHz quad-core processor, 16GB or 32GB storage options, microSDXC support for up to an additional 128GB of storage, 2GB of DDR2 RAM, Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.0 with aptX, and runs Android 4.4 KitKat with Sense 6 – HTC’s redesigned user interface, 2600 mAh rechargeable Li-polymer battery with a standby time of 496 hours on 3G.

Motorola Moto X: MSM8974-AC 2.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 with quad-core CPU, 2GB RAM, runs Android 4.4.4 KitKat,  available in 16GB and 32GB versions, WiFi 802.11a/g/b/n/ac (dual band capable), mobile hotspot support, BT 4.0LE, 2300 mAh battery that lasts up to 24 hours with mixed usage,

Amazon Fire Phone: 2.2GHz Quad-core Snapdragon 800 CPU, with Adreno 330 GPU and 2GB of RAM, runs Fire OS 3.5, available in 32GB or 64GB with free cloud storage for all Amazon content and photos taken with Fire phone, 2400mAh battery that lasts up to 285 hours on standby.

 

Camera

Apple iPhone 6: New 8-megapixel iSight camera with 1.5µ pixels, Autofocus with Focus Pixels, True Tone flash,Five-element lens, Sapphire crystal lens cover, Auto image stabilization, burst mode, Slo-mo video; 1.2MP FaceTime camera, Burst Selfie

Samsung Galaxy S5: 2MP front camera, 16MP rear camera that can focus in as fast as 0.3 second and capable of 4K video recording.  The rear camera features HDR (Rich tone), Selective Focus, Virtual Tour Shot, and more.

HTC One M8: 5MP front facing camera with a 4MP Duo Camera at the back.  The M8 has two cameras at the back, with the top most camera recording depth information while the main camera takes the photos.  The addition of the second lens allows for the creation of more interesting photos, such as those with 3D effects.  New camera effects and features were also introduced that greatly utilize the depth-sensing camera, such as UFocus, Foregrounder, Seasons, Dimensions Plus, stickers, and copy & paste.

Motorola Moto X: 13MP rear camera with Quick Capture , LED flash, 4K UHD video capture,  4X digital zoom, Slow motion video, Burst mode, Auto HDR, Panorama, 2MP front camera

Amazon Fire Phone: 13 MP rear-facing camera, multi-frame HDR, auto focus, optical image stabilization, f/2.0 5-element wide aperture lens, LED flash, 2.1 MP front-facing camera

 

Sensors

Apple iPhone 6: Barometer, three-axis gyro, accelerometer, proximity sensor, ambient light sensor

Samsung Galaxy S5: Accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass, barometer, Hall, RGB ambient light, Gesture(IR), Finger Scanner, Heart rate sensor

HTC One M8: Accelerometer, Proximity sensor, Ambient light sensor, Gyro sensor, Barometer sensor

Motorola Moto X: Proximity sensor, accelerometer, ambient light sensor, gyroscope, barometer, temperature sensor

Amazon Fire Phone: Dynamic Perspective sensor system with invisible infrared illumination, gyroscope, accelerometer, magnetometer, barometer, proximity sensor, ambient light sensor

 

Standout Security features

Apple iPhone 6: Fingerprint identity sensor built into the Home button; Pay with your iPhone using Touch ID in stores and in apps

Samsung Galaxy S5: Has fingerprint scanner which can be used to secure your phone as well as to authorize PayPal Inc. payments

HTC One M8: No standout security feature.

Motorola Moto X: No standout security feature.

Amazon Fire Phone: No standout security feature.

 

Health and fitness features

Apple iPhone 6: The Health app was co-developed with the Mayo Clinic and it makes sense of all the health and fitness data gathered by other apps and devices. All the data will be easily accessible in a single app, and if a wearer has some serious food or medication allergies, or life threatening conditions that people should know about in case of emergencies, that information can be made available on the iDevices’ lock screens.

Samsung Galaxy S5: It features a heart rate sensor and an enhanced S Health app that helps people track health goals via the device’s pedometer and the app’s constant tracking of the user’s conditions, distance, calories, speed, duration and other activities. The device is IP67 certified making it resistant to sweat, rain, liquids, sand and dust.

HTC One M8: No standout health feature.

Motorola Moto X: No standout health feature.

Amazon Fire Phone: No native health app or standout health features.

 

The verdict

 

It can’t be denied that the iPhone 6 looks impressive, but aside from the roundedness of the design, the lining on the back seems an afterthought compared to the glass-aluminum combination of the iPhone 5 and 5s.

The iPhone 6 features a bigger display but still smaller than Android phablets in the market, but that’s okay as the iPhone 6 Plus’ display competes with the growing phablet market. Regarding integrated health features, no heart rate sensors were put on the iPhone 6 like many expected, but at least it now has an NFC chip to facilitate touchless payments.

Other improvements for the iPhone include a landscape view for the Home screen and improved landscape view for native apps, and you can now add voice, video and location to any message. Also, a predictive keyboard has finally been added.

Looking at these improvements to the new iPhone, it’s increasingly resembling Android phones as far as integrated software services are concerned.

So, has the iPhone improved enough to continue its reign as the standard for smartphones? While Android handsets have managed to catch up to the aesthetic appeal of the iPhone, Apple is now catching up with extra software perks. The playing field is leveling for smartphones, but the new iPhone 6 has delivered enough features to match, and in many instances exceed its rivals.

 

Images courtesy Apple, Inc. and Codexian via photopin cc