Just before the Samsung Galaxy S5 was set to drop, HTC came out of left field with its brand new phone -- the One M8 -- and the tech-norati are now speculating: could this phone knock out the sales of the Samsung Galaxy S5?

Let's start by comparing some specs:

  • The HTC One "M8" was unveiled in a press conference on March 25, 2014, and released across multiple North American carriers the same day as the successor to the previous HTC One released in 2013. The M8 retains a similar design to its predecessor, but upgraded with a larger, 5-inch 1080p display, a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor, expandable storage, new gesture functionality, and a camera featuring an updated version of the One's UltraPixel image sensor-which is now accompanied by a second depth of field sensor which can be used to individually refocus and apply various effects to the foreground and background elements of a photo. The M8's overall design closely resembles the previous One, with a unibody aluminium frame and dual front-facing speakers. Unlike the previous model, the M8's frame does not incorporate polycarbonate, electing for a fully metal construction with a more curved shape. While the M8 is the same thickness as the One, it is slightly heavier due to the differences in its construction. The rear of the phone is brushed to ensure a more premium appearance, and the M8 will be made available in silver, grey, and champagne gold color finishes at launch.
  • On the other hand, the Samsung Galaxy S5 ships with Android 4.4.2 KitKat and Samsung's TouchWiz software. Unlike TouchWiz on the S4, the S5's TouchWiz has been given a more refined interface, although certain aspects of the changes were influenced by a recent patent licensing deal with Google, which requires that Samsung's TouchWiz interface follow the design of "stock" Android closer. The S5 adds the Galaxy Note 3's My Magazine feature to the leftmost page on the home screen, the Settings menu was updated with a new grid-based layout, a Kids' Mode was added, the Download Booster tool allows large downloads to be split across LTE and Wi-Fi to improve speed, while the S Health app was given expanded functionality, integrating with the new heart rate sensor on the device, along with the new Gear 2 smartwatch and Gear Fit activity tracker.