Sony Xperia Z2 vs Samsung Galaxy S5: Which Is The Better Android Phone?

The flagship Android segment has always been a battlefield but you wouldn't want to be around when these two are in their most violent mood. The Samsung Galaxy S5 and Sony Xperia Z2 are two of the most advanced smartphones to ever sit on a store shelf. Both make big claims regarding screens and cameras (staples for both companies) and brag about practically each of their features. And to say that it's a long list would be a massive understatement.

Samsung is in its prime, in large part due to the enormous commercial success of its phones. Sony is ailing and cutting off businesses to focus more tightly on its core competencies, especially smartphones. The outcome of this matchup will have a great impact on the fates of the two tech giants.

Here's a quick blow by blow of where each phone bests its opponent. Keep in mind those differences are on paper only and the advantage might shift from one side to the other in the actual tests.

Galaxy S5 over Xperia Z2

• Screen with great color accuracy, better sunlight legibility
• Higher CPU clockspeed - 2.5GHz vs. 2.3GHz
• More compact, lighter
• Faster phase-detection autofocus (just 0.3s to lock)
• Fingerprint scanner, PayPal certified
• Heart rate sensor
• IR blaster
• Better ingress protection - IP67, dust tight
• Faster USB - v3.0 vs. v2.0
• 32GB of built-in storage is an option

Xperia Z2 over Galaxy S5

• Bigger, higher resolution camera sensor - 1/2.3" 20.7MP vs. 1/2.6" 16MP
• Higher water resistance level - IP58, immersion beyond 1m
• More RAM - 3GB vs. 2GB
• Stereo speakers
• Slightly bigger screen - 5.2" vs. 5.1"
• Bigger battery - 3,200mAh vs. 2,800mAh
• Newer MHL version - 3.0 vs. 2.1

Sony and Samsung are competing in the camera market - from point-and-shoot through mirrorless to DSLR - so of course they put their own sensors in their flagship phones. Smartphones have been outselling traditional cameras for years now.

The two companies are also among the biggest TV makers and some of the biggest display makers for screens big and small. You can bet your bottom dollar their flagship phones are going to serve as a promotion of the two respective screen business.

Sony made water resistance a trademark for the flagship Xperia devices, but this year Samsung jumped on it too after dabbling with Xcover and Active devices.

One way or another, flagship smartphones have become the calling cards, pocket-sized posters of the companies that make them. With good reason too, no other digital segment sells in the hundreds of millions units and keeps growing year after year. In fact, cameras, TVs even computers are in decline.

So it should come as no surprise that the two tech giants are putting on their Sunday best for the two flagships - that means the best screen, camera, chipset and other goodies they could get their hands on, plus the best design they could dream up.

Battery life

The Xperia Z2 sits near the top of our battery life table with a massive 89 hours of endurance rating. That's nearly four full days on a single charge. In comparison, the Galaxy S5 "only" lasts three days, with a 72 hour rating.

Displays

Both phones represent each company's screen-making expertise. Samsung put a Super AMOLED on the Galaxy S5, while Sony packed the Triluminos and X-Reality trademark features on the Xperia Z2.

The Galaxy S5 has a 5.1" screen of 1080p resolution and 432ppi. The diamond-pattern PenTile matrix, however, means the actual sharpness is lower than that of Sony's LCD screen. Not that you can tell even looking at them side by side, other things like color rendering, contrast and viewing angles stand out more.

Samsung took several years to perfect Super AMOLED for it to finally offer the most accurate colors in the market. Using the display mode settings you can tweak that to a more saturated look if you prefer. It has excellent viewing angles and practically infinite contrast too.

Sony has fixed the viewing angle issues plaguing its screens and the Triluminos display on the Xperia Z2 looks great. The X-Reality engine (successor to the Bravia engine) lets you tweak contrast, saturation and sharpness of images.

Contrast is excellent though the maximum brightness is actually lower than that of the Super AMOLED (typically the roles are reversed).

Display test	50% brightness			100% brightness
	Black, cd/m2	White, cd/m2	Contrast ratio	Black, cd/m2	White, cd/m2	Contrast ratio
Sony Xperia Z2	-	-	-	0.41	488	1195
Sony Xperia Z1	-	-	-	0.38	580	1513
Sony Xperia Z	-	-	-	0.70	492	705
Oppo Find 7a	0.33	280	842	0.68	580	852
Samsung Galaxy S5	0	274	∞	0	529	∞
Samsung Galaxy S4	0	201	∞	0	404	∞
HTC One (M8)	0.20	245	1219	0.46	577	1256
LG G2	0.10	149	1522	0.45	667	1495
HTC Butterfly S	0.15	165	1117	0.43	451	1044
Apple iPhone 5	0.13	200	1490	0.48	640	1320

While both screens offer great image quality indoors, the Samsung Galaxy S5 screen does noticeably better outside. The LCD on the Sony Xperia Z2 is on the reflective side, which affects legibility in direct sunlight.

User interface

The Samsung Galaxy S5 and Sony Xperia Z2 both launch with Android 4.4.2 KitKat out of the box with a number of software tweaks by each parent company. As usual, Sony's skin is lighter while Samsung is typically modding stock Android head to toe.

Samsung is into biometric sensors this generation and the fingerprint sensor on the Home key is a highlight. This enables a secure lockscreen that isn't based on passwords or patterns, instead you swipe a finger down the key. In case it fails (it happens when your fingers are wet, for example), then it falls back to a passcode so there's no danger of getting locked out.

Conclusion

If Sony and Samsung were schools, the Xperia Z2 and Galaxy S5 would be their top achievers. They will be the ones starring in a video telling you how much they've learned about design, photography and music. In short, they stand for the best of what both companies can do and implicitly promote their broader product lines

Sony has always been a hardware company first and a software company by necessity. The Xperia Z2 design certainly makes it one of the most attractive handsets on the market, even if the bezels around its 5.2" screen could use some slimming.

Speaking of the screen, Sony finally found the right formula for a beautiful display, but the company - inexplicably - continues to struggle with the camera. This is the third phone with Sony's whopping 1/2.3" sensor yet there are still issues with image quality.

The move to front-facing stereo speakers help steal some music cred from the HTC Ones, while the battery life is another vote in Sony's favor.

On the software side, the Xperia Z2 keeps things relatively light. The UI is touched-up stock Android and the major app contributions come from Sony's staple businesses - camera, music and gaming.

In broader terms, Samsung has never had the premium image of the Japanese, positioning itself firmly in the mass market. This reflects in the Galaxy S5 - if you had to pick one word to describe it, it would be "utilitarian" rather than "trend-setter". Admittedly, the Koreans are learning good design too.

Plus, the giant screen manufacturing plants for screens and camera sensors came through in a big way this year.

The mass market soul of the Galaxy S5 shows through in TouchWiz, there's a feature for everyone. The Xperia Z2 has all the features you would expect of a 2014 flagship, but the Samsung Galaxy S5 expertly backs apps with hardware features - the fingerprint and heart rate scanners enable functionality outside the reach of even the Apple iPhone 5s (where fingerprint reader is exclusive to native services).

In the end there's no need for a sign pointing glass design fans one way and camera buffs the other. The Sony Xperia Z2 and Samsung Galaxy S5 have more in common than their predecessors ever did. We know how that battle went on a market level, but this year, on a personal level, the choice between the two comes down to the most subtle of personal preferences and taste.