Motorola, Samsung, HTC, and Sony: Comparing Android Flagships

This year's top-tier Android lineup may be the best yet.

With yesterday's announcement of the Moto X, the four biggest Android smartphone manufacturers have now all revealed their flagship devices of 2013. Between the Samsung Galaxy S4, HTC's One, the Sony Xperia Z, and Motorola's latest, there is no shortage of powerful and feature-rich Android smartphones to choose from.
Let's take a look at the titans of the Android army and see how they compare.

(L to R) Sony Xperia Z, HTC One, Motorola Moto X, Samsung Galaxy S4

Display

The 5-inch Galaxy S4 and Xperia Z, as well as the 4.7-inch One, all sport 1920 x 1080 displays, with Samsung utilizing Super AMOLED technology over the LCD screens of the other two. All three pixel-dense displays rate well over 400 ppi, which, is to say, they all are incredibly detailed and the real-world differences are minimal. The Moto X, on the other hand, uses a 4.7-inch 720p screen that pushes a lower pixel density of about 315 ppi. But keep in mind, this is only slightly lower than the iPhone 5, so it's far from a terrible resolution for a smartphone.
Choice of display technology could factor in for those who really — and we mean really — concentrate on their screens, but in reality you likely can't go wrong with any of these well-constructed devices.

Performance

All four of the smartphones ship with 2GB of RAM, although the CPUs vary slightly. Both the Galaxy S4 and One feature quad-core Snapdragon 600 series processors, but Samsung's offering is clocked a bit higher at 1.9GHz, compared to HTC's 1.7GHz CPU. The Xperia Z, equipped with a Snapdragon S4 Pro processor, comes in at 1.5GHz. Motorola's new X8 architecture sounds promising, which makes use of Qualcomm CPU cores and Adreno GPU cores, but real-world testing is required to really see how the new mobile computing system works in the wild.
The version of Android used can also make a difference with performance. In our review, the Galaxy S4 experienced more lag and stuttering than the One, even though it has a faster processor. The difference was likely due to Samsung's heavy TouchWiz modifications to the operating system.

Camera

Cameras are a bit trickier to compare, since, as we all know, megapixel count isn't everything. However, on paper, the Galaxy S4's 13-megapixel camera and the Xperia Z's 13.1-megapixel shooter take the top two spots. The cameras on Samsung's high-end devices have performed very well over the last few generations, and pictures taken with Sony's smartphone sensors have a reputation of being some of the best around (hello, iPhone).
HTC's UltraPixel camera technology is generally a hit-or-miss, and its 4-megapixel limitation could be a major drawback for anyone who might want to share or print larger, high-resolution photos. Motorola's camera found on its new Droid line and the Moto X packs a notable 10-megapixels, and has potential to work well in the real world once the devices hit the market.

Design

Great hardware design is much up to the eye of the beholder. We were not fond of Samsung's generous use of plastic on the Galaxy S4, unlike the impressive aluminum body of the HTC One. Sony has recently been constructing well-built hardware — the ultra-slim Xperia Tablet Z comes to mind — and the curved rear casing of the Moto X looks like it can be extremely comfortable to hold in one's hand.
If standing out from the crowd is important to you, the color customization options for the Moto X will likely tickle your fancy. With plenty of color variations available (to AT&T customers only at launch), it'll be easy to own a phone that looks different than all the other black, white, or silver slabs out there.
Sony and Samsung's flagship Android smartphones are equipped with slightly larger screens, which may be a turn off for those who would rather not have to reposition their hand when trying to reach far areas of the screen with their thumb.

Software

Although all four devices use the same operating system, each manufacturer has made tweaks to the user interface and experience in order to differentiate from their competitors. While the phones are nearly identical in terms of base functionality, they each offer unique features such as new homescreen options with Blinkfeed on the HTC One, HDR video recording with the Xperia Z, the intruiging Active Display of the Moto X, or the lengthly list of quirky software options included with the Galaxy S4.
If you'd rather not mess around with manufacturer skins, the Galaxy S4 and HTC One are both available directly through Google with stock Android, and a similar version of the Moto X will eventually be offered as well.

2013 has been jam-packed with great, high-end Android devices from a number of manufacturers. Even with Samsung reigning over the smartphone industry as a whole, Sony and HTC both launched attention-worthy devices earlier this year, and Motorola and Google's new Moto X could be just as impressive.
Picking one device over another is likely a low-risk decision, considering the caliber of these flagship Android handsets. Fortunately, at least for those with deep pockets, some carriers are doing everything they can to help you get brand new smartphones far more often than you probably should.