Sony, LG, HTC flagships incoming: Why Samsung should be wary of Galaxy S5 rivals

This year’s high-end smartphone battle is something of an anomaly because Samsung doesn’t have the clearest upper hand. Unlike other years, this year Samsung faces great competition from the likes of HTC, Sony and even LG, something which has not happened in the Android segment.   It’s not the case right now, but within the next month, there will be a **slew of high-end rivals vying for your money** . Ominously for Samsung, each of them has something that **the Galaxy S5** does not.   This year Samsung has got out of the gate faster than any other manufacturer, hoping to sweep the shrinking high-end smartphone market. According to the company **it has done really well** , and **other sales figures** corroborate this claim. However, this time around the S5 will not have such an easy time in the market, because the competition has caught on in terms of specs, and worryingly for Samsung, most of the competition has surpassed the company in terms of design and user experience.   Sony is yet to launch its new flagship for 2014 in many markets, but the **Xperia Z2** has some of the best hardware and Sony’s premium build going for it. Sony has also largely corrected the one big glaring disadvantage in its phones, with a new display technology. It’s supposed to rival the HTC’s SLCD3 in terms of clarity and colour reproduction, so Sony really is bringing the best hardware. It’s also got Sony’s now-standard water-proof body, which has proved a big hit among buyers and other manufacturers too. Finally, it’s got a 20.7MP camera, that’s already shown its prowess in the Z1 and Z1 compact.   Sony has traditionally priced its phones lower than Samsung, so this time around too, we expect the Z2 to be slightly under the launch price of the S5. The **Z2 will be launched in India later this month** , according to Sony.   LG **recently launched the G Pro 2 in India** for a similar price as the Galaxy S5. It’s larger display might be a pull, but the S5 has far too much going for it to worry about the G Pro 2 . We can’t say the same about the LG G3, which is expected to be unveiled later this month. It’s one of the most anticipated phones of the year, not just because the G2 was a big success. Thanks to the ultra high-res **2K display** and **LG’s new UI along with hardware upgrades** , the G3 will replace the LG G2. The G2 is in fact, **even now a worthy contender in the high-end segment** , competing with the best, with great hardware and software.   LG has tried to differentiate itself from a design point-of-view also, with the much talked about back buttons and compact build thanks to its display technology. LG is often touted as the closest in terms of look and feel to Samsung. But the company has gone to great lengths to refine the user experience with each year. LG’s new phones offer similar amount of software add-ons as Samsung’s, but the UI has changed with each new flagship, something we can’t say of Samsung. TouchWiz is largely the same as it was on the Galaxy S3. So LG has stolen the march on its Korean rivals in terms of design as well as specs.   Samsung’s traditional rival around this time of the year is HTC and this time around the Taiwanese company has managed a coup **in terms of pricing of the One M8,** undercutting the S5 in India. The metal body is a big draw, but the camera department might pull **the HTC One M8** down. There’s no question about it though. The M8 is hands down the much better looking phone.   And finally, there’s Samsung’s biggest rival in the global market, Apple. Apple’s iPhone 5s has a far better fingerprint scanner in TouchID, superb hardware, typically great build quality and equally good camera features. Add to that the fact that **Samsung’s flagship is priced much closer to the 5s this year** and iPhone becomes a huge factor in this battle. If you are on the fence as to which smartphone platform to go with, then the S5 and the 5s are both good options at the price range.   So Samsung may have had great luck with the S5 in the early days of its stay in the market, but the competition is truly about to heat up in the next month as equally large and powerful rivals step up to the plate.