There have many great releases to the phablet market this year. The newest from Samsung has been dubbed the Beast of the East. So we figured we should compare the Galaxy Note 4 to their little brother the Galaxy S5, and against the Sony Xperia Z3 and the HTC One M8.
Sizes and Displays
Samsung is known for their big display, and the Note 4 is a prime example of having a large 5.7 inch display with one of the best resolutions with 1440 x 2560 and 515 ppi pixel density. The display is protected by Super AMOLED technology, much like most Samsung devices. Looking at the Galaxy S5, it has a lower resolution of 1080 x 1920 pixels on their 5.1 inch screen and 432 ppm pixel density. Looking at Xperia Z3 their IPS LCD 5.2 inch display has a similar resolution with 424 ppi pixel density. Looking at One M8, their Super LCD3 5 inch display has a lower pixel density of 441 ppi. Each device uses Corning Gorilla Glass 3, with the Xperia Z3 being shatterproof, and also along with the Galaxy S5 water and dust resistant. The Galaxy S5 and the Note 4 is the only one with a fingerprint sensor, and also the Note 4 features the S Pen Stylus.
The Note 4 is the heaviest and tallest of all the devices. However, the One M8 is the thickest with 9.4mm, and the slimmest at only 7.3mm is the Xperia Z3.
Hardware
The winner of this battle belongs to the Note 4, having the most powerful available in two variants that are powerful by the octa-core Exynos 5433 CPU, and a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 processor that has speeds of 2.7GHz. It also uses a Mali-T760 and an Adreno 420, which is good for viewing graphics, but bad for the battery. The S5 is also powerful with a quad-core Qualcomm MSM8974AC Snapdragon 801 and a Krait 400 processor with speeds of 2.5GHz. The Xperia Z3 offers the same components of the S5. The One M8 provides a good performance with a quad-core Qualcomm MSM8974AB Snapdragon 801 with speeds of 2.5GHz and 2.3Ghz. Additionally the One M8 uses an Adreno 330 GPU like their predecessors.
You have the option of expandable memory for all devices for up to 128GB. However, the Note 4 two variants come with both 16GB and 32GB internal storage. The Xperia Z3 and the Note 4 operate on Android KitKat v4.4.4. with a RAM capacity of 3GB. While the other smartphones have a RAM capacity of 2GB, and run on Android V4.4.2. The One M8 and the Xperia Z3 can be upgraded to Android Lollipop 5.0.
Camera
The Xperia Z3 wins this batter as it offers a back 20.7MP camera that uses an Exmor RS sensor. However, the Galaxy S5 and the Note 4 come with back 16MP cameras. The Note 4 uses optical image stabilization that is integrated and reduces shaky video recording. The One M8 uses a front 5MP camera, and a back 5MP shooter that is Ultrapixel and good in low light. The Xperia Z3 comes with a 2.2MP front camera, and the Galaxy S5 comes with a 2MP front camera.
Battery
The biggest phone uses the biggest battery at 3220 mAH; that is bigger than the Note 3. It also has Ultra Power Saving and Power Saving modes that extend the lifetime of your battery for up to eight days. On 3G network, you can also have up to 20 hours of talk time. The Galaxy S5 uses a 2800mAH battery, while the HTC One M8 and the Xperia Z3 use a non-removable battery of 2600 mAh and 3100mAh respectively. The One M8 also uses an Extreme Power Saving mode that greatly extends their battery.
Price
You can purchase each of the devices on Amazon.com with the Note 4 at $800, the S5 for $650, the Xperia Z3 for $630, and the One M8 for $568.