Head-to-Head: Apple iPhone 6 vs. HTC One M8

Apple's 6 vs. HTC's One

The HTC One M8 is among the more capable high-end Android smartphones to come along this year. And in our quest to compare everything with everything else, the CRN Test Center took a look the HTC One vs. iPhone 6 Plus.

CPU, GPU and Memory

The iPhone 6 has Apple's A8 custom SoC, a 2 GHz dual-core application processor that uses the ARMv8-A 64-bit instruction set. The HTC One is built around Qualcomm's new Snapdragon 801 SoC, 32-bit quad-core processor running at 2.3 GHz with 2 GB of RAM. Also inside is an Adreno 330 GPU, which doubles performance of its Adreno 320 predecessor. HTC includes a microSD card slot for file I/O and for adding as much as 128 GB of storage. Apple offers no storage expansion.

The Display

The rounded glass edges of the new iPhone 6 meld effortlessly and seamlessly into its all-metal case. The 4.7-inch model displays 1,334 x 750 pixels, or 326 pixels-per-inch, and its IPS panel supports the full sRGB color space.

The HTC One is built around a 5-inch, full HD 1,920 x 1,080 display with a pixel density of 441 ppi that's protected with Gorilla Glass 3.

Cameras

Apple's iSight camera sees the world through a f/2.2, five-element lens and eight million 1.5 micron pixels. HTC's camera has just 4.1 million pixels, but at 2.0 microns, they're 33 percent larger than Apple's. And the HTC One's dual sensors permit it to re-focus an image after it's been captured. Meanwhile, a new Apple feature called Focus Pixels automatically determines the proper focus direction and moves the lens like a DSLR camera does. Apple's front camera has 1.2 million pixels and can capture 720p video; HTC's has 5 million and can capture 1080p with HDR.

Comms, Sensors

Apple and HTC provide the usual battery of sensors for acceleration, ambient light, barometric pressure, global positioning, direction and proximity. Apple adds a fingerprint sensor. Communicators common to both include the high-speed Wi-Fi ac and Bluetooth 4.0.

HTC also supports DLNA wireless streaming and file I/O via a micro-USB 2.0 port that's also MHL compliant for connecting peripherals. Apple's reversible Lightning connector is more durable than Micro-USB and connects to peripherals via proprietary protocol.

Sounds Good

It might seem odd for the company that invented iTunes not to put halfway decent speakers in its own device. But iPhone 6 still suffers from the same audibility challenges of its predecessors. Contrast that with BoomSound, the name HTC gave its front-firing amplified stereo speakers.

Weights, Measures

The iPhone 6 is 5.4 inches long, 2.6 inches wide and 0.27 of an inch thick. The One measures 5.8 inches long (including those speakers), 2.8 inches wide and 0.37 of an inch thick. One tenth of an inch might not seem like much, but it clearly factors into the next stat. The iPhone 6 tips the scales at 4.6 oz. That's one full ounce lighter than the One's 5.6 oz.

Software

The iPhone 6 runs iOS 8, which features tight integration with Apple's new Mac OS X Yosemite desktop operating system. One runs Android 4.4.2 Kit Kat along with HTC Sense 6.0 UI overlay and HTC BlinkFeed, which makes Android look like Windows Phone. Both offer plenty of apps.

The Bottom Line

The iPhone 6 Plus has been shipping since Sep. 19 in 16, 64 and 128 GB models starting at $199 with a contract from AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile or Verizon. The HTC One began shipping in April with 16 or 32 GB starting at $199 with an AT&T or Sprint contract, and for $149 with Verizon. It's also available in unlocked and developer editions for $699 list.