Well, Happy New Year to us tech-heads – LG has officially announced the LG G Flex 2 – it was speculated and rumored about, but we had no idea how it would look. Well – it's gorgeous!

The successor to the curved, flexible G Flex from 2013 brings a smaller, yet – finer display – with a 5.5" diagonal, housing a 1080 x 1920 resolution (400 PPI), and boasts Qualcomm's latest flagship SoC – the 64-bit, octa-core Snapdragon 810 in strides to successfully carry the baton throughout 2015.

Of course, after such an announcement, we are itching to compare its specs to some of its competitors. Unfortunately, 64-bit capable flagships are yet to come out en masse, so we're forced to look back on some of the better performers from last year.

Well, let's grab one from the first half and one from the second half of 2014. The former device is going to be – you guessed it – the Samsung Galaxy S5 – an all-rounder, brim-packed with features and powerful hardware. The second contestant is going to be Sony's beautiful Xperia Z3 – released just 3 months ago, this flagship impressed us with an excellent battery life, and its snappy performance is no doubt assisted by its respectable specs.

So, let's check them out side by side!

Design
OS	Android (5.1, 5.0)	Android (6.0, 5.1, 5.0, 4.4.4)	Android (6.0, 5.1, 5.0, 4.4.4, 4.4.2), TouchWiz UI
Dimensions	5.87 x 2.96 x 0.37 inches (149.1 x 75.3 x 9.4 mm)	5.75 x 2.83 x 0.29 inches (146 x 72 x 7.3 mm)	5.59 x 2.85 x 0.32 inches (142 x 72.5 x 8.1 mm)
Weight	5.36 oz (152 g) the average is 5.4 oz (153 g)	5.36 oz (152 g) the average is 5.4 oz (153 g)	5.11 oz (145 g) the average is 5.4 oz (153 g)
Materials	Main body: Plastic	Main body: Glass; Accents: Metal	Main body: Plastic
Features			Fingerprint (swipe), Touch sensitive control keys, Interchangeable covers
Rugged		Water, Dust resistant	Water, Dust resistant
IP certified IP certified - The IP code indicates the degree of protection against dust and water. The first number represents dust protection, while the second represents water protection. In IP67, for example, 6 means a completely dust-tight device, while 7 means the device can stay immersed in up to 1 meter of water for up to 30 minutes. In IP68, a higher level of water protection is expected, but exact numbers aren't specified: both depth and continuance are specified by the manufacturer on per device basis.		IP 68	IP 67

Display
Physical size	5.5 inches	5.2 inches	5.1 inches
Resolution	1080 x 1920 pixels	1080 x 1920 pixels	1080 x 1920 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.	403 ppi	424 ppi	432 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.	P-OLED	IPS LCD	Super AMOLED
Screen-to-body ratio Screen-to-body ratio - Shows what part of the frontal area of a phone its screen occupies.	74.39 %	71.00 %	69.76 %
Colors	16 777 216	16 777 216	16 777 216

Camera
Camera	13 megapixels	20.7 megapixels	16 megapixels
Flash	Dual LED	LED	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	F2.2
Focal length (35mm equivalent)		25 mm	31 mm
Camera sensor size Camera sensor size - A bigger camera sensor is able to capture more light, and thus produce better photos.		1/2.3"	1/2.6"
Pixel size Pixel size - The size of an individual pixel on a camera's sensor. The bigger, the better.		1.12 μm	1.12 μm
Hardware Features	Optical image stabilization, Autofocus	Autofocus, CMOS image sensor	Autofocus, Back-illuminated sensor (BSI)
Software Features	Face detection, Smile detection, Digital zoom, Voice activation, Self-timer, Touch to focus, Geo tagging	Face detection, Smile detection, Digital zoom, Self-timer, Digital image stabilization, Touch to focus, Geo tagging	Digital image stabilization, Touch to focus, Smile detection, Face detection, Voice activation, Self-timer, Digital zoom, Geo tagging
Camcorder	3840x2160 (4K) (30 fps), 1920x1080 (1080p HD) (60 fps)	3840x2160 (4K) (30 fps), 1920x1080 (1080p HD) (60 fps)	3840x2160 (4K) (30 fps), 1920x1080 (1080p HD) (60 fps)
Recording format		MPEG4, H.264	MPEG4, H.264
Features	High Dynamic Range mode (HDR), Continuous autofocus, Picture-taking during video recording, Video calling	High Dynamic Range mode (HDR), Continuous autofocus, Picture-taking during video recording, Digital image stabilization, Video calling	High Dynamic Range mode (HDR), Continuous autofocus, Digital image stabilization, Video calling, Video sharing
Front-facing camera	2.1 megapixels	2.2 megapixels	2.1 megapixels
Video capture	1920x1080 (1080p HD) (30 fps)	1920x1080 (1080p HD)	1920x1080 (1080p 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 810 MSM8994	Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 8974-AC	Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 MSM8974-AC
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.	Octa-core, 2000 MHz, Cortex-A57 and Cortex-A53, 64-bit	Quad-core, 2500 MHz, Krait 400	Quad-core, 2500 MHz, Krait 400
Graphics processor Graphics processor - The graphics processor is important for the smooth operation of the system and especially in games and other applications that may involve complex graphics and animations.	Adreno 430	Adreno 330	Adreno 330
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.	3 GB RAM (Dual-channel) / LPDDR4	3 GB RAM (Dual-channel, 933 MHz) / LPDDR3	2 GB RAM (Dual-channel) / LPDDR3
Built-in storage Built-in storage - Bigger storage capacity allows you to keep more content saved onto your device, such as more applications, photos or video. Games and video content typically take up the biggest amount of storage space.	32 GB	16 GB	32 GB
Storage expansion Storage expansion - Some handsets allow you to expand their storage capacity by using a memory expansion card – most often microSD. Expansion memory is mostly suitable for media storage, such as photo, video or music content.	microSD, microSDHC, microSDXC	microSD, microSDHC, microSDXC	microSD, microSDHC, microSDXC

Battery
Capacity Capacity - The bigger, the better! However, battery capacity is not the only factor that has an effect on battery life. Those include the chipset in use, the software running on the device, as well as the consumer's unique usage pattern.	3000 mAh	3100 mAh	2800 mAh
Fast Charge	Yes	Yes
Wireless charging			Optional
Talk time	20.00 hours the average is 19 h (1140 min)	14.00 hours the average is 19 h (1140 min)	21.00 hours the average is 19 h (1140 min)
Stand-by time	21.7 days (520 hours) the average is 19 days (465 h)	37.1 days (890 hours) the average is 19 days (465 h)	16.2 days (390 hours) the average is 19 days (465 h)
Talk time (3G)	18.00 hours the average is 17 h (1043 min)		21.00 hours the average is 17 h (1043 min)
Stand-by time (3G)	18.8 days (450 hours) the average is 24 days (581 h)
Music playback		130.00 hours	67.00 hours
Video playback		10.00 hours	13.00 hours

Multimedia
Screen mirroring	SlimPort	DLNA, Wireless screen share, MHL	MHL

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, 1900, 2100 MHz	850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz
LTE (FDD)	Bands 20, 8, 3, 1, 7	Bands 28, 5, 8, 3, 1, 7	Bands 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 20
LTE (TDD)		Bands 40
Data	LTE Cat 4 (150/50 Mbit/s), HSDPA+ (4G) 42.2 Mbit/s, HSUPA 5.76 Mbit/s	LTE Cat 4 (150/50 Mbit/s), HSDPA+ (4G) 42.2 Mbit/s, HSUPA 5.76 Mbit/s	LTE Cat 4 (150/50 Mbit/s), HSDPA+ (4G) 42.2 Mbit/s, HSUPA 5.76 Mbit/s, UMTS

posted on 05 Jan 2015, 10:37 3

1. Birds (Posts: 1171; Member since: 21 Nov 2011)

It makes you realize that specs kinda don't matter as much as they did 2 years ago... Its why I think there's no point in really buying high end phones when you have more than capable mid rangers out there that are capable of going the mile.

posted on 05 Jan 2015, 11:08 1

2. Altair (Posts: 367; Member since: 02 Feb 2012)

Aye. Snapdragon 810 has specs, that apps dont use at all in 2-3 years. In that time other features and a phone itself is already old. Only thing that might use such specs are hardcore shootem games. The big question is, who in earth plays them with a phone?? If I want to play them, I will grab my desktop and quality keyboard + mouse.

This spec hype these days is total nonsense. The same goes with curved display. Who does such feature in a phone??

posted on 05 Jan 2015, 11:29

4. FoneAddict (Posts: 259; Member since: 05 Jul 2011)

totally agreed. The spec wars have ended. It makes more sense buying last years flagship phone which in a lot of cases is no more than 9 months old and saving yourself lots of money while experiencing hardly any performance hits.

posted on 05 Jan 2015, 11:30

5. mayur007 (Posts: 577; Member since: 10 Apr 2012)

have to agree smartphones games arnt matured yet to be as good as desktop games

posted on 05 Jan 2015, 12:37

6. dimas (Posts: 2513; Member since: 22 Jul 2014)

Same thoughts here. Hardcore gamers will still go for PC or console units. As a consumer and Z3 Compact user, I already reached the threshold for desiring an ultra highly spec'ed phone. I just want phone manufacturers to offer better battery life and removable bloatwares.