Apple iPhone 5s vs HTC One

Introduction

Crazy to believe that the HTC One has been making the rounds since the early portion of this year, which seems oh so long ago in the smartphone universe. In that time alone, it has seen many rivals and flagships test it to its limits, some better than others of course, but for the most part, it continues to be one of the darlings in the Android sphere. Well folks, it’s up for yet another challenge, as the newly launched iPhone 5s is aiming to put the aging smartphone in its place. Or will HTC’s gem continue to be a formidable competitor?

Design

When we think about timeless designs, these two smartphone are no doubt the epitome of them, mainly because they exhibit all the quality elements we want to find in a flagship device. Obviously, we all know by now that the iPhone 5s recycles its design from its predecessor, so it’s nothing particularly new in the landscape, but regardless of that, it still has a solid build quality and employs premium cut materials to make it a standout contender. As for the HTC One, we also know it’s one of the best looking Android smartphone in recent memory, thanks to its unibody aluminum construction and sturdiness.

Even though they share designs that are industrial and meticulous, the size difference between the two is apparent, as the iPhone 5s is far more compact to hold in the hand – then again, the curved rear casing of the HTC One makes it feel a teeny bit more natural to grasp. Honestly, it’s hard to say which one we actually prefer, but one thing’s certain, they’re utterly gorgeous in every way imaginable!

Mainly because they’re just more pronounced and responsive, we prefer the physical power and volume buttons on the iPhone 5s – it’s just too indistinct with the HTC One’s set of buttons. So what are some other notable aspects with their designs? For starters, the HTC One wields dual front-firing speakers with HTC BoomSound, an IR blaster is incorporated into its power button to turn it into a universal remote, and it features Beats Audio support. As for its rival in the iPhone 5s, its home button incorporates a biometric Touch ID finger print sensor that adds yet another level of security for users.

Display

It’s only natural to find yet another size disparity with their screens, right? On one side, we have the larger 4.7-inch 1080p S-LCD 3 display of the HTC One, which shows its detail superiority when we view its screen up close and personal. And on the other, a smaller 4-inch 640 x 1136 IPS-LCD based Retina Display on the iPhone 5s, which interestingly enough, is the same identical screen on the iPhone 5 before it.They’re among the best out there for outdoor visibility, but our eyes visibly makes out the brighter display of the Apple iPhone 5s – making it far easier to view outdoors with the sun present. Seriously though, it’s still pretty darn good on the HTC One, but its display is a little dimmer than its rival, plus, it’s a bit more reflective too. In terms of color reproduction, we really can’t complain about the two, as they’re comparable to one another with their near-perfect color accuracy, but if you are color purist, you will notice that the iPhone 5s has the more accurate color reproduction. Still, the larger and higher resolution display of the HTC One seems to be more appealing in this day and age when bigger screens rule the atmosphere.

Interface and Functionality

We know, we know, it’s yet another battle between iOS and Android. With the recent introduction of iOS 7, however, it’s been updated with some flare to rival the modern presentation style of HTC’s Sense 5 UI. Visually, the two are simply oozing with kicking animations and they pay close attention to small details that help to accentuate their meticulous designs. From what we can gather, iOS 7’s “flatter” and layered design has its pleasing moments, like how there’s a softening effect to things in the background as we pull down to access the notification center. However, Sense 5 has a unique look of its own, especially with its social networking driven HTC BlinkFeed homescreen.


Multi-tasking and notifications are handled in the same manner with the two, but being Android and all, the HTC One benefits by providing us with a few more functions directly from the notifications panel –like being able to archive emails and share screen shots via social networking.

At the same time, we’ve come to enjoy the wealth and diversity that Android has to offer with its set of organizer apps. For example, Google Now has far greater reach in keeping us to date with certain things that Siri just can’t quite compete with.


Seeing that it has the bigger screen, we naturally get a more spacious keyboard layout with the HTC One’s Sense keyboard. Streamlining the process, it even includes various numbers and punctuations all from the main layout to lessen our need to jump to its secondary layout. Well, it’s still pretty darn good on the iPhone 5s thanks to its simple layout, responsive performance, and killer auto-correct feature.

Both platform experiences have their pros and con, so it eventually depends on what the user wants and needs. For those who yearn for personalization and expansive integration with Google’s service, the Sense 5 running HTC One is going to be the ideal device for you – plus, it’s still one of the cooler looking Android experiences out there. Conversely, if you want a dab of visual flare combined with a simple experience, the iPhone 5s will fit the bill with its new iOS 7 experience.

Processor and Memory

When you’re so damn fine, it’s only fitting to be graced with some spiffy internals – and that’s exactly what we get here! Specifically, the iPhone 5s jumps the trend by offering us with a one-of-a-kind dual-core 1.3GHz Apple A7 processor that’s based on 64-bit architecture, which is something we haven’t seen before in the mobile space. Meanwhile, even though it’s considered aged nowadays, the quad-core 1.7GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 SoC with 2GB of RAM in the HTC One continues to be a formidable contender. Overall, we can’t complain about the performances, seeing that they’re responsive and quick with all operations, but we find the iPhone 5s to be snappier. It’s still pretty good with the HTC One, but it’s more prone to the occasional stutter every now and then.

Neither offers expandable storage, so we’re left to carefully make use of their internal capacities. With the iPhone 5s, it’s available in 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB capacities – while the HTC One if offered in 32GB and 64GB.

Internet and Connectivity

Giving us all the necessary amenities with the web browsing experience, like speedy 4G LTE speeds and buttery smooth navigational controls, we can’t complain about the experience offered by both. However, with its larger and higher resolution display, the HTC One just seems more ideal for the occasion.
Being flagships and all, these two giants are made available in a variety of options – CDMA and GSM flavors with LTE support to be exact. Additionally, they’re outfitted with all the usual suspect of connectivity features. They include aGPS, Bluetooth 4.0, and dual-band 802.11 a/b/g/n Wi-Fi. Nevertheless, the HTC One packs on other things, like NFC and an IR blaster, that extends its features set.

Camera

The iPhone 5s packs along an updated 8-megapixel iSight camera that features a backside illuminated sensor, f2.2 aperture lens, 1.5µm sized pixels, dual-LED flash, and 1080p video recording. Meanwhile, the HTC One comes with fancy termed 4.3-megapixel “Ultrapixel” camera, that has f2.0 aperture lens, 2.0µm sized pixels and optical image stabilization.

Do you like having manual controls and a wealth of shooting modes at your disposal? Well then, if you do, then you’re going to like what the HTC One has to offer with its camera app – whereas with the iPhone 5s, it’s slim on the features and more concerned about just taking photos easy.



And now comes the time to dissect their respective cameras! The suspense, it’s killer for some, but there’s a clear victor here in this particular department. Technically, some people will have a difficult time judging the quality when they’re transferred to 4” x 6” printouts, but when we preview them on a computer, it’s clear that the iPhone 5s’ camera is superior. As a whole, its shots deliver a lot more fine details – allowing us to crop images without much degradation to quality.

Furthermore, the low lighting performance of the iPhone 5s is excellent too, as it’s able to maintain a good balance between details and exposure. As for the HTC One’s Ultrapixel camera, its low lighting shots appear a tad bit over-exposed, which doesn’t help when details are a few notches softer in tone than its rival.


Checking out their 1080p video recording quality, we’ll mention that the two are able to capture some pleasing visuals when lighting is ample, but again we’re astounded by the iPhone 5s’ superior low lighting quality. For starters, the iPhone 5s maintains a smooth recording speed of 29 frames per second – whereas the HTC One dips to a choppy 18 frames per second rate.

Multimedia

On the surface, the two handsets feature very similar looking music players, but the Sense music player draws us in more because of its cool visualizer and the option of having lyrics show up as songs are played. Thanks in part to its dual front-firing speakers with HTC BoomSound, audio quality is more potent and punchy with the HTC One.



High definition videos pose no problems for either device, but seeing that the HTC One has a larger and higher resolution display than the iPhone 5s, it’s simply more ideal for us to use it for watching lengthy movies.

Call Quality

Listening to their earpieces, they produce voices that are clear and distinct for us to audibly hear out – plus, it helps that their volumes are powerful as well. Rounding things out, their noise cancellation features work exquisitely to mute out any unwanted background noises from muddying our conversations.

Battery

Between the two, we don’t notice one that’s considerably better in the battery life department, seeing that we’re getting the usual one day of normal usage out of them.

Conclusion

Having been on the scene for a long time now, you’re more than likely to pick up the HTC One for far less than its typical $200 on-contract price point – probably around the sub $100 area if you look hard enough. And just to think, the base version of the HTC One carries along 32GB of storage. With that in mind, there’s no arguing that it packs a whole lot of value, as the HTC One has a balanced set of features to continue making it a noteworthy option. Rather amazing to say the least, it continues to be one of the best designed smartphones around, which says a lot about the handset. In addition, HTC Sense 5 has a very different look compared to other Android smartphones.

Being Apple’s latest flagship, the base $200 price point of the iPhone 5s is going to stick around for the next year – with maybe a few sales every now and then. Regardless of that, it shows its superiority in key categories like taking photos/videos and processor performance. Physically, the look and design of the phone hasn’t changed whatsoever (color options aside), but we’re greeted with a refreshing new experience with iOS 7. Indeed, the platform’s functionality might not be as diverse as the Android driven HTC One, but it continues to deliver us with a simple, intuitive, and straightforward experience.

So which one should you pick up? Well, if you’re looking to save some money, the HTC One is undoubtedly the device you should look at, since it has that perfect blend of value, performance, and good looks. It might not rival the iPhone 5s’ camera performance, but it’s still pretty good to accept. On the flip side, the iPhone 5s continues the legacy – it’s a solidly constructed smartphone, packs a snappy performance, and shoots some stunning looking photos and videos.