When companies come out with their flagship devices, they claim it carries the best available specs in the world. HTC, Sony, BlackBerry and Nokia have endeavored to influence their target segments with their recently released Flagships. But when comparing these Smartphones, there seems to be flaws in one while the other is a winner.
If you are looking out to buy one of these, take a look at how each fare in front of their rivals, compiled by TOI.
If you are looking out to buy one of these, take a look at how each fare in front of their rivals, compiled by TOI.
Pricing
HTC Butterfly is the costliest phone that is available in the market right now at
45,500. Black Berry Z10 is a little lesser at 43,990. Sony Xperia Z is available for 37,990 and Lumia 920 is cheaper than the rest of them at 34.698.
The final verdictGoing by looks, Sony Xperia Z seems to be the winner, but if you leave the price behind, HTC Butterfly may also take this position. BlackBerry Z10 becomes the best communications device but for striking looks and a refreshing Windows 8 platform, Nokia Lumia 920 seems to take the place.
Between Nokia Lumia 920 and HTC Butterfly, the latter looks more elegant than other devices. Water resistance is an added value, besides a host of apps that come along. Nokia Lumia 920 may also be a good option as it has a powerful camera, a vibrant screen and a refreshed operating system.
Between Nokia Lumia 920 and HTC Butterfly, the latter looks more elegant than other devices. Water resistance is an added value, besides a host of apps that come along. Nokia Lumia 920 may also be a good option as it has a powerful camera, a vibrant screen and a refreshed operating system.
BatteryHTC Butterfly has a 2020 mAh battery that delivers around 12 to 14 hours on a single charge. But Sony Xperia Z poses with a better battery performance at 2330 mAh. The Smartphone lasts for about 15 hours. It also features Stamina mode where it can last even for a day.
BlackBerry has given its Z10 a 1800 mAh battery that is said to last 16 to 18 hours with regular usage pattern. But compared to all three phones, Nokia Lumia 920 seems to be a problem as the phone as its 2000 mAh battery may function for only half a day, under extreme usage.
Video Playback and gamingHTC’s screen resolution gives great experience to users for video and gaming. Users can get clear graphical display of what they are viewing. Sony’s screen contrast is too low. So as compared to HTC, it does not do a great job of display with video playback and gaming. BlackBerry Z10 however, is not a Smartphone for gamers. The graphics are not as vibrant as HTC Butterfly and Xperia Z. Video playback is good with real colours and pixilation is not a trouble here. Lumia 920 features Microsoft Xbox live. Here one can play interactive games and the beautiful display adds to the user’s delight for media playback.
CommunicationsHTC integrates with various social networking services giving users collective updates about their friends. The connectivity features of this phone are 2G, 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0 and microUSB 2.0. It does not feature NFC while all its rivals do.
Sony Xperia Z has something different here. It features SocialLife. This has three panels. First is to view updates and posts, second is to discover new sources of information and third is to bookmark what one likes. The connectivity features consist of the same as HTC Butterfly and also includes 4G.
BlackBerry Z10 has something different here with the Blackberry Hub. It combines user’s inboxes and allows them to se new messages.
Nokia Lumia 920 is quite easy and its overall messaging is fine. Its connectivity features are the same as Xperia Z. The phone also boasts of wireless charging, unlike other rivals where it is kept on a pad for charging.
Sony Xperia Z has something different here. It features SocialLife. This has three panels. First is to view updates and posts, second is to discover new sources of information and third is to bookmark what one likes. The connectivity features consist of the same as HTC Butterfly and also includes 4G.
BlackBerry Z10 has something different here with the Blackberry Hub. It combines user’s inboxes and allows them to se new messages.
Nokia Lumia 920 is quite easy and its overall messaging is fine. Its connectivity features are the same as Xperia Z. The phone also boasts of wireless charging, unlike other rivals where it is kept on a pad for charging.
Operating systemHTC Butterfly runs on Operating System Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and comes with Sense 4+ UI. This however adds a lot to the user experience. The OS allows users giving them one touch widgets on the notifications bar and home screen. Users can also make a lot of tweaks to the phones software.
Sony’s flagship Xperia Z runs on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and has a similar user interface like Butterfly. Users can get small apps here. These could be miniature versions of calculator, Notes, Voice Recorder and Timer that do not take up the whole screen space. They can also be resized and moved around the screen. Due to Project Butter optimizations, everything runs smooth here.
BlackBerry Z10 runs its brand new operating system. This is known for multitasking without consuming too much battery. Though transition animations seem pleasing to the eye, they would not seem too outstanding for corporate users. Users who do not want to switch between various apps to check their emails and more can day with BlackBerry Hub that seems quite appealing.
Users looking out for Google services cannot expect it all here. The security features of this phone are also strong enough and Balance can enable users to keep two separate user profiles in the same phone.
Nokia Lumia 920 comes with Windows Phone 8, which is based on tiles rather than icons. By scrolling down users can access the app menu and home screen instead of swiping sideways. The OS helps users to multitask as well. But WP8’s notification system does not seem that good as one could miss few important tweets or updates if not constantly watched over.
Apps PortfolioHTC Butterfly has the full Google Play repository where users have access to as many as 7,00,000 apps on the phone. But what is more appreciating are the custom apps that HTC offers. Those include, personalisation options, a neat gallery, in – built move editor and task manager. Sony Xperia Z also has full access to Google apps. It also features walkman music app that can access lyrics and other information about a song on the internet. Small key apps that provide easy access are also available.
BlackBerry Z10 has around 75,000 apps. Users have access to Twitter, Gaana.com, Joystick Joyride, Angry Birds as some to mention.
Nokia Lumia 920 runs on Windows Phone 8 where user can get access to 1,50,000 apps, including popular ones like Facebook, Angry Birds, Wikipedia and Whats App among many others. Users also have Microsoft Office Suite for mobile devices with this OS. What users may miss is apps like Instagram and Gmap from Google, but Nokia maps is as good as Google maps.
Looks and build qualityBesides the beautiful screen, HTC Butterfly wins when it comes to looks and build quality. It is built with plastic and rubber coating that makes it easier for users to get the grip of the unibody construction. The phone can be used with one hand quite easily and all the ports and openings except for the earphone jack are covered by flaps. The body can even withstand water at low pressure.
Sony Xperia Z highly boasts of its resistance to water as well as dust. It also features a scratch resistant glass on the back. All the ports are covered with flaps and the device gives a great sophisticated look. Despite the 5 inch screen and certification, the greatest comfort enjoyed by a user is the easiness to hold and operate the device with one hand.
BlackBerry Z10 looks quite familiar to iPhone 5 at a distance. But when it comes closer, there is a difference. Its industrial look and design can stand in front of what rivals boast. With its small screen size, it also gives great convenience to user to fit in their palms correctly.
Nokia Lumia 920 is built using polycarbonate and gives an attractive look. It is available in a variety of colors that gives a flashy outstanding look. All the keys help in easy accessibility as well. But there is a negative feature that users may turn their backs on. It is the weight of the phone which is 188 gram. Being one of the heaviest Smartphones and a flagship as well, its weight and bulgy shape is what matters when compared to other three phones.
Sony Xperia Z highly boasts of its resistance to water as well as dust. It also features a scratch resistant glass on the back. All the ports are covered with flaps and the device gives a great sophisticated look. Despite the 5 inch screen and certification, the greatest comfort enjoyed by a user is the easiness to hold and operate the device with one hand.
BlackBerry Z10 looks quite familiar to iPhone 5 at a distance. But when it comes closer, there is a difference. Its industrial look and design can stand in front of what rivals boast. With its small screen size, it also gives great convenience to user to fit in their palms correctly.
Nokia Lumia 920 is built using polycarbonate and gives an attractive look. It is available in a variety of colors that gives a flashy outstanding look. All the keys help in easy accessibility as well. But there is a negative feature that users may turn their backs on. It is the weight of the phone which is 188 gram. Being one of the heaviest Smartphones and a flagship as well, its weight and bulgy shape is what matters when compared to other three phones.
DisplayHTC’s Butterfly comes with a 5 inch Super LCD III touch screen with 441 pixel per density. The crisp, vivid and bright looking display enables users to comfortably watch videos and view just any content. But what seems inconvenient here is that the colors wash out when seen under direct sunlight or full brightness.
The newly launched Sony Xperia Z is a water resistant Smartphone sporting a 5 inch TFT capacitive display, with the keys based on it itself. The screen resolution is 1920 x 1080p with 441 pixels per density, just like HTC Butterfly. Its screen also has poor sunlight legibility. Compared to Butterfly, this screen does not have the same contrast level.
BlackBerry Z10 has a 4.5 inch display with 350 pixels per inch and a resolution of 1280 x 768 ppi. The screen also shows clarity in direct sunlight. But the negatives in this case are the screen’s video playback and High Definition support, when compared to rivals. However, the screen does not pale out as much as the other Smartphone out here.
Nokia Lumia 920 poses with a 4.5 inch IPS panel, with Pure Motion HD+ and ClearBlack display technology. The screen has a pixel density of 332ppi and 1280 x 768p resolution. What proves to be an advantage here over other Smartphones is the best sunlight legibility that it provides with clear and vivid view of content, without losing contrast in bright sunlight as well. But just like BlackBerry Z10, the Smartphone lacks full HD support which may pose a threat for high resolution movies. Lumia 920’s screen can also be operated by wearing gloves if users could just change it to High sensitivity in the settings menu.
Processor and RAMHTC Butterfly is powered by a 1.5 GHz quad core processor with 2GB RAM. The Smartphone enables smooth user experience but and its great processing power had made it the fastest Android phone in the country. But Xperia Z has also proved on this now.
The phone comes with the same chipset as Butterfly with the same amount of RAM. It is a performance power house and is known to perform better than HTC.
BlackBerry Z10’s performance is known to be quite smooth. It is definitely not a trouble maker for users with frequent hanging and automatic on and off. It is powered by a 1.5 GHz dual core processor along with a RAM of 2GB.
Powered by a 1.5 GHz processor and 1GB RAM, Nokia Lumia 920 can handle all apps thrown on it. The browser performance of Internet Explorer for Windows Phone is also great.
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