In case you somehow missed the news flood, the long-awaited HTC One 2014 just got official.

A rite of passage ritual is, then, in order. Instead of lighting incense, however, we usually like to celebrate new flagship announcements by ruthlessly pitting companies' new star pupils against the toughest out there. The subsequent smoke clears out in a day or two, by which time we usually have a fairly good idea of the device's odds of survival.

With the first round over, it's time to look at exactly what the new One has to offer when compared with relatively older models on the market. That's important, as a sizable portion of the consumer base will need to be lured over to HTC's camp, and for that to happen, it needs to offer something truly compelling. If you ask HTC's PR, the Duo Camera on the One 2014 is just that ace up its sleeve, but it would be presumptuous to call it at just that. Sure, the LG G2, for example, is the less impressive powerhouse of the two, but it's also cheaper, and the iPhone 5s, as always, still offers plenty of reasons to pick it up. Apple's compact phone is considerably more expensive than LG's aging flagship these days, but it still puts that excellent build to the table, and it's often one of very few choices on the market for those looking for a truly pocket-friendly device.

So, put side-by-side, how do these three stack against each other? The answer awaits right below.

Design
OS	Android (6.0, 5.0, 4.4.3, 4.4), HTC Sense 6 UI	Android (5.0, 4.4.2, 4.2.2)	iOS (10.x, 9.x, 8.x, 7.x)
Dimensions	5.76 x 2.78 x 0.37 inches (146.36 x 70.6 x 9.35 mm)	5.45 x 2.79 x 0.35 inches (138.5 x 70.9 x 8.9 mm)	4.87 x 2.31 x 0.30 inches (123.8 x 58.6 x 7.6 mm)
Weight	5.64 oz (160 g) the average is 5.4 oz (154 g)	5.04 oz (143 g) the average is 5.4 oz (154 g)	3.95 oz (112 g) the average is 5.4 oz (154 g)
Materials	Main body: Aluminum		Main body: Aluminum
Features			Fingerprint (touch)
Rugged	Splash resistant
IP certified	IP X3

Display
Physical size	5.0 inches	5.2 inches	4.0 inches
Resolution	1080 x 1920 pixels	1080 x 1920 pixels	640 x 1136 pixels
Pixel density Pixel density - The pixel density of a display represents the number of pixels over an area of one inch. It’s measured in “pixels per inch”, or ppi. The higher the number, the more detailed and good-looking the display is.	441 ppi	423 ppi	326 ppi
Technology Technology - There are two main screen technologies currently used in phones and tablets: LCD and AMOLED. The former usually features a light source and liquid crystals, while the latter is based on organic light-emitting diodes. Newer LCD variations like IPS-LCD and Super-LCD allow for very accurate color reproduction and very wide viewing angles, where no significant image quality loss is observed. Current AMOLED screens differ in such a way that they can exhibit much more saturated colors (sometimes too much) and incredibly high contrast levels, which is due to black color being completely black in AMOLED displays.	S-LCD 3	IPS LCD	IPS LCD
Screen-to-body ratio	66.71 %	76.28 %	60.82 %
Colors	16 777 216	16 777 216	16 777 216
Peak brightness		450 cd/m2 (nit)	500 cd/m2 (nit)

Camera
Camera	4 megapixels	13 megapixels	8 megapixels
Flash	Dual LED	LED	Dual LED
Aperture size Aperture size - The aperture of a camera is the opening through which light travels before it reaches the camera sensor. The smaller the number is, the bigger this opening is, allowing for more light to pass.	F2.0	F2.4	F2.2
Focal length (35mm equivalent)	28 mm	29 mm	29 mm
Camera sensor size	1/3"	1/3.06"	1/3"
Pixel size	2 μm	1.12 μm	1.5 μm
Hardware Features	Dual-camera, Autofocus	Sapphire crystal lens cover, Optical image stabilization, Autofocus, Back-illuminated sensor (BSI)	Sapphire crystal lens cover, Autofocus, Back-illuminated sensor (BSI)
Software Features	Manual focus, Digital image stabilization, Face detection, Geo tagging	Touch to focus, Face detection, Voice activation, Self-timer, Digital zoom, Geo tagging	Digital image stabilization, Touch to focus, Face detection, Self-timer, Digital zoom, Geo tagging
Camcorder	1920x1080 (1080p HD) (60 fps), 1280x720 (720p HD)	1920x1080 (1080p HD) (60 fps)	1920x1080 (1080p HD) (30 fps), 1280x720 (720p HD) (120 fps)
Recording format	MPEG4		H.264, MOV
Features	High Dynamic Range mode (HDR), Video light, Video sharing	Optical image stabilization	Time-lapse video, Picture-taking during video recording, Digital image stabilization
Front-facing camera	5 megapixels	2.1 megapixels	1.2 megapixels
Video capture	1920x1080 (1080p HD)	1920x1080 (1080p HD) (30 fps)	1280x720 (720p HD)

Hardware
System chip System chip - Most modern handsets use an advanced chip that includes many of the device’s hardware modules like the processor, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and sometimes even the wireless radio. This field shows what particular system chip (or System-on-a-Chip) is used in the phone.	Qualcomm Snapdragon 801	Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 MSM8974	Apple A7
Processor Processor - The processor is the main computing component of a phone and is a major factor when it comes to the overall speed of the device. Some more powerful smartphones use dual-core and quad-core processors designed to deliver greater performance.	Quad-core, 2300 MHz, Krait 400	Quad-core, 2260 MHz, Krait 400	Dual-core, 1300 MHz, Cyclone ARMv8, 64-bit
Graphics processor	Adreno 330	Adreno 330	PowerVR G6430
System memory System memory - System memory, or RAM memory is the type of memory that the device uses to temporarily store data from the OS or currently-running apps. The more RAM available to the device, the better the performance will be when multiple or heavier programs are running.	2 GB RAM / LPDDR3	2 GB RAM (Dual-channel, 800 MHz) / LPDDR3	1 GB RAM (1600 MHz) / LPDDR3
Built-in storage	32 GB	32 GB	64 GB
Storage expansion	microSD, microSDHC, microSDXC

Battery
Capacity	2600 mAh	3000 mAh	1570 mAh
Fast Charge	Yes
Talk time		34.30 hours the average is 26 h (1581 min)
Stand-by time		34.2 days (821 hours) the average is 20 days (476 h)	10.4 days (250 hours) the average is 20 days (476 h)
Talk time (3G)	20.00 hours the average is 44 h (2632 min)	21.30 hours the average is 44 h (2632 min)	10.00 hours the average is 44 h (2632 min)
Stand-by time (3G)	20.7 days (496 hours) the average is 25 days (589 h)	34.4 days (826 hours) the average is 25 days (589 h)
Music playback			40.00 hours
Video playback			10.00 hours

Multimedia
Mirroring	DLNA, Wireless screen share, MHL, MirrorLink	DLNA, Wireless screen share, MirrorLink, SlimPort	TV-out

Cellular
GSM	850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz	850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz	850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz
UMTS		850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz	850, 900, 1700/2100, 1900, 2100 MHz
LTE (FDD)	Bands 3, 7, 8, 20	Bands 1, 3, 7, 8, 20	Bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 13, 17, 18, 19, 20, 25
Data	LTE, HSDPA+ (4G) 42.2 Mbit/s	LTE Cat 4 (150/50 Mbit/s), HSDPA+ (4G) 42.2 Mbit/s, HSDPA+ (4G) 21.1 Mbit/s, HSUPA 5.76 Mbit/s	LTE, HSDPA+ (4G) 42.2 Mbit/s, HSUPA 5.76 Mbit/s, UMTS