Key Difference: Samsung announced that it has added a new phone to its lineup that combines the ruggedness of the older Samsung Xcover with the features and oomph of the new Galaxy S4. S4 Active is dust and water-proof. The phone comes with a 5-inch Full HD TFT capacitive touchscreen that differs from the AMOLED used in the S4. HTC has launched its flagship phone HTC One with a brand new Qualcomm quad-core processor which sports a 4.7 inch Super LCD3 screen, with Full HD1080p, 468 PPI and corning gorilla glass 2.

Samsung announced that it has added a new phone to its lineup that combines the ruggedness of the older Samsung Xcover with the features and oomph of the new Galaxy S4. S4 Active is dust and water-proof and aims to provide direct competition to the Sony Xperia Z. The phone is aimed at the users that require their phone to be durable as well as provide extra features. According to the CEO and President of IT & Mobile Communications Division at Samsung Electronics, JK Shin, the phone is designed for the people who love the outdoors.

Samsung Galaxy S4 Active shares many features with the S4, but differs in terms of design and aesthetics. The S4 Active is thicker and heavier at 151 grams; the weight is mostly because of the added water and dust proof. The phone has a diamond-pattern textured back that makes it easier to hold the device. The company has also removed the capacitive buttons and replaced them with hardware buttons. The top of the phone houses the 3.5mm headphone jack and has the words waterproof etched next to it. The top also houses the secondary mic and the IR emitter. The volume rocker is on the left side of the phone, while the right side has the power/lock key. The bottom of the phone has the microUSB / MHL 2.0 port that is sealed with a plastic flap. The proximity sensor, light sensor and the IR motion detector are placed on the front above the screen near the speaker. The back of the screen houses the camera and the LED flash.

The phone comes with a 5-inch Full HD TFT capacitive touchscreen that differs from the AMOLED used in the S4. It has ~441 ppi pixel density and is protected by corning gorilla glass 3. The phone is powered by 1.9 GHz Krait 300 Quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 600, has Adreno 320 GPU and 2GB RAM. The phone comes with Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean. The TouchWiz UI changes certain Jelly Bean features offering users with more options. The lockscreen features new widgets such as displaying personal messages overlaid on photos from the TripAdvisor. The water ripples effect has been replaced by the lens flare effect, but can be switched or disabled completely. The lockscreen also offers multiple screen on which users can add widget. Another cool feature is the Quick Glance feature that uses a proximity sensor to detect nearby movement and automatically lights up to display time and notifications.

The company has replaced the 13 MP camera with an 8MP rear camera that as a capability to work underwater. The volume rocker can be changed into a temporary camera shutter button that allows users to click photos and record videos underwater. The hardware buttons are also provided for the same purpose. The phone offers 16 GB internal storage capacity of which around 11 GB is available to the user. However, the storage can be expanded by 64 GB using a microSD card.

The same amazing features that were offered in Galaxy S4 is available in the S4 Active; including gestures, hovering, air wave, smart play, smart scroll and many other fun features. The phone also comes with an Aqua Mode that can be applied to increase visual quality and clarity for enhanced underwater images. The company has also added certain helpful Samsung Apps including Samsung Hub, S Travel (Trip Advisor), S Health and S Translator that can translate as well as pronounce many different kinds of language. The camera also comes with many different features such as Drama Shot, Sound&Shot, Story Album and Group Play. However, it is unsure if the phone offers Dual Shot or Dual recording. The phone also comes with a IR blaster that can covert the phone into a remote.

HTC One was originally launched as the brand name for a series of Android phones by the company. These included HTC One X, HTC One X+, HTC One V, etc. Now, the company launched a new phone with the name HTC One. The HTC One X was launched in May 2012. This often causes confusion as this phone is expected to be a successor to the One X. HTC One is expected to be superior compared to the One X in hardware design and software design. It also includes a unique camera implementation.

In terms of hardware and software, HTC One sports a 4.7 inch Super LCD3, with Full HD1080p, 468 PPI and corning gorilla glass 2. The HTC One comes with Android v4.1.2 Jelly Bean that is upgradable to v4.2.2. The case is an all-aluminum frame with an antenna built into its backing. It includes a 1.7 GHz quad-core Snapdragon 600 processor, Adreno 320 GPU and 2 GB DDR2. The phone is available with non-expandable, 32 or 64GB internal capacity. It offers a 4 megapixel 2688 x 1520 pixels primary camera with autofocus, LED flash and BSI sensor, along with a 2.1 MP, 1080p@30fps, HDR secondary camera.

The main feature is the new pixilation system that is opted in the primary camera of the phone, which provides each pixel size of 2.0 µm and sensor size of 1/3'. The One also includes a new camera app known as ‘Zoe’, which records a short video alongside every photo taken and allows the resulting photos and videos to be automatically combined and synchronized with music to produce a multimedia presentation known as a Zoe. The One also offers a new feature on the home screen known as the BlinkFeed. This is a newsfeed that automatically upgrades every two hours if connected with a mobile service or more frequently when connected via WiFi. The BlinkFeed takes up the main home screen and cannot be removed, resulting in the home screen as not being as customizable as in the previous phones. The price of the phone has not yet been released.

The information for the detailed table about the two phones has been taken from Samsung Press website, HTC website and GSMArena.com.

Image Courtesy: samsung.com, anandtech.com