Samsung Galaxy Alpha vs. HTC One mini 2: Metal mania

Displays

Both phones prioritize compact size over screen size and their parent companies settled on a 4.5-4.7" diagonal, 720p resolution giving them virtually equal pixel density.

The Samsung Galaxy Alpha has the raw screen size advantage and it doesn't have to reserve an area for on-screen buttons like the HTC. That said, we've seen some excellent screens from HTC and the One mini 2 is another success.

While pixel density is about the same, sharpness is slightly more complicated. The Super LCD2 has a standard RGB matrix while the Samsung Super AMOLED screen has a diamond pattern PenTile arrangement. Differences are slight but people with good eyesight can notice a crosshatch pattern up close. Nothing to worry about for normal day-to-day usage though.

More important are things like brightness and contrast and as far as the first of those is concerned are virtually matched - 450nits for the Galaxy Alpha and 500nits for the One mini 2. The HTC even has a solid answer to Super AMOLED's theoretically infinite contrast and even black levels stay relatively low.

Sunlight legibility goes in favor of the Samsung in large part thanks to the low reflectivity of the Super AMOLED assembly. The HTC One mini 2 screen is fairly average in this respect.

Sunlight contrast ratio

• Nokia 808 PureView
  4.698
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  3.997
• Apple iPhone 5
  3.997
• Samsung Galaxy K zoom
  3.675
• Nokia Lumia 930
  3.567
• Apple iPhone 5s
  3.565
• Samsung Galaxy S5
  3.549
• Alcatel Idol X+
  3.527
• Apple iPhone 5c
  3.512
• Samsung Galaxy Alpha
  3.509
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo
  3.487
• Motorola RAZR MAXX
  3.42
• Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III
  3.419
• Nokia Lumia 925
  3.402
• Gionee Elife S5.5
  3.386
• Samsung I9505 Galaxy S4
  3.352
• Samsung Omnia W
  3.301
• Samsung Galaxy S5 mini
  3.174
• Samsung I9000 Galaxy S
  3.155
• Samsung Ativ S
  3.129
• Samsung I9190 Galaxy S4 mini
  3.127
• Samsung Galaxy S4 zoom
  3.118
• Nokia N9
  3.069
• Samsung Galaxy Note
  2.97
• Samsung Galaxy Premier
  2.958
• Sony Xperia Z1
  2.95
• HTC One S
  2.901
• Samsung I8730 Galaxy Express
  2.861
• BlackBerry Q10
  2.856
• Samsung I9100 Galaxy S II
  2.832
• Samsung Galaxy S II Plus
  2.801
• BlackBerry Z30
  2.79
• Sony Xperia ZR
  2.672
• Huawei Ascend P1
  2.655
• Sony Xperia Z3 Compact
  2.616
• Sony Xperia T3
  2.609
• Nokia Lumia 900
  2.562
• Motorola Moto G 4G
  2.546
• HTC One Max
  2.537
• Nokia Lumia 720
  2.512
• HTC One
  2.504
• Motorola Moto G
  2.477
• Sony Xperia Z
  2.462
• Xiaomi Mi 4
  2.424
• Samsung Galaxy S III mini
  2.422
• LG G Flex
  2.407
• HTC One (M8)
  2.371
• Motorola RAZR i
  2.366
• Sony Xperia ZL
  2.352
• Samsung Galaxy Note II
  2.307
• Oppo Find 7a
  2.279
• Alcatel One Touch Hero
  2.272
• Apple iPhone 4S
  2.269
• HTC Desire 600 dual sim
  2.262
• Nokia Asha 311
  2.25
• LG Nexus 5
  2.228
• Nokia Lumia 820
  2.193
• HTC One (E8)
  2.185
• Nokia Lumia 920
  2.17
• HTC One X
  2.158
• Nokia N8
  2.144
• Nokia Lumia 620
  2.142
• Nokia 515
  2.134
• HTC Desire 500
  2.129
• Sony Xperia acro S
  2.119
• Nokia Lumia 1020
  2.103
• Oppo Find 5
  2.088
• Sony Xperia SL
  2.078
• Nokia Lumia 630
  2.056
• BlackBerry Z10
  2.051
• Samsung I9295 Galaxy S4 Active
  2.022
• Apple iPhone 4
  2.016
• HTC One mini
  2.003
• Xiaomi Mi 3
  2.001
• Huawei Ascend P7
  1.992
• LG G2
  1.976
• OnePlus One
  1.961
• Oppo R819
  1.957
• Sony Ericsson Xperia ray
  1.955
• Sony Xperia Z2
  1.944
• Nokia Lumia 1320
  1.941
• HTC One mini 2
  1.94
• Samsung Galaxy Camera
  1.938
• Sony Xperia J
  1.932
• Acer CloudMobile S500
  1.931
• LG Nexus 4
  1.926
• LG G Pro 2
  1.922
• Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3
  1.913
• Nokia Asha 308
  1.911
• Sony Xperia T
  1.894
• HTC Desire X
  1.878
• HTC Butterfly
  1.873
• HTC Windows Phone 8X
  1.873
• HTC Butterfly S
  1.867
• Huawei Ascend P6
  1.865
• Huawei Ascend Mate
  1.845
• LG G2 mini
  1.838
• LG G3
  1.82
• Nokia Lumia 1520
  1.813
• HTC Desire 616 dual sim
  1.797
• Sony Xperia V
  1.792
• HTC Desire 816
  1.783
• Sony Xperia Z1 Compact
  1.772
• HTC Desire 700 dual sim
  1.769
• Sony Xperia U
  1.758
• Meizu MX3
  1.754
• LG Optimus G
  1.753
• Sony Xperia T2 Ultra
  1.74
• Sony Xperia SP
  1.733
• LG Optimus 4X HD
  1.691
• Oppo Find 7
  1.691
• HTC One V
  1.685
• BlackBerry Q5
  1.682
• LG Optimus Vu
  1.68
• Xiaomi Mi Pad 7.9
  1.672
• LG Optimus GJ
  1.666
• LG Optimus 3D Max
  1.658
• HTC Desire V
  1.646
• Samsung Galaxy Xcover 2
  1.632
• Samsung Galaxy Ace 3
  1.622
• Jolla Jolla
  1.605
• Sony Xperia Z Ultra
  1.578
• Sony Xperia go
  1.577
• Samsung Galaxy Ace 2 I8160
  1.566
• Samsung Galaxy Core
  1.563
• LG Optimus G Pro
  1.552
• Motorola Moto E
  1.545
• LG Optimus 3D
  1.542
• Nokia Asha 302
  1.537
• BlackBerry Curve 9320
  1.488
• Sony Xperia M
  1.473
• Oppo N1
  1.47
• Meizu MX 4-core
  1.462
• Nokia Lumia 610
  1.432
• Samsung Galaxy S Duos
  1.4
• Samsung Galaxy Grand Neo
  1.393
• Sony Xperia M2
  1.393
• Samsung Galaxy Grand 2
  1.38
• Sony Xperia E1
  1.372
• Nokia Lumia 625
  1.371
• Gigabyte GSmart G1355
  1.361
• Sony Xperia L
  1.351
• Samsung Galaxy Mega 5.8
  1.35
• Sony Xperia M2 Aqua
  1.331
• Sony Xperia miro
  1.324
• Samsung I9082 Galaxy Grand
  1.321
• Samsung I8530 Galaxy Beam
  1.315
• HTC Desire C
  1.3
• Nokia X
  1.291
• Sony Xperia C
  1.283
• Nokia Asha 503
  1.281
• Nokia Asha 501
  1.27
• LG Optimus L7
  1.269
• Nokia Lumia 510
  1.268
• Samsung Galaxy Fame
  1.245
• LG Optimus L9
  1.227
• Meizu MX
  1.221
• Samsung Galaxy Young
  1.22
• Sony Xperia E
  1.215
• Nokia XL
  1.204
• Sony Xperia E dual
  1.203
• Samsung Galaxy Pocket
  1.18
• Nokia Asha 305
  1.178
• Nokia Asha 306
  1.175
• Sony Xperia neo L
  1.169
• Sony Xperia tipo
  1.166
• Nokia Lumia 520
  1.161
• Samsung S6802 Galaxy Ace Duos
  1.148
• Samsung Galaxy mini 2
  1.114

Viewing angles for both screens are excellent, on the HTC thanks to its IPS tech, on the Samsung thanks to AMOLED's inherent properties.

Now we get to the can of worms that is color rendering. Some people just don't like the oversaturated colors typical of AMOLED screens and for them Samsung has included a choice of four screen modes that make sure you get a choice between punchiness and perfectly accurate colors - as well as steps in-between.

The HTC One mini does not have color options but the default is good with beautiful (and not oversaturated) colors.

Winner: Samsung Galaxy Alpha. The screen offers more real estate and handles sunlight much better, plus it gives you the choice between oversaturated punchiness and accurate colors.

The HTC One mini 2 has an excellent screen but it's slightly cramped for the size of the device and has no definitive advantages over the Alpha.

Connectivity

Both the Samsung Galaxy Alpha and the HTC One (M8) are LTE-enabled phones but the Galaxy can be up to twice as fast at downloading data. LTE Cat. 6 promises up to 300Mbps downlink speeds, up from 150Mbps for Cat. 4.

That's for the Snapdragon 801-based Galaxy Alpha, the one with Exynos is at Cat. 4 150Mbps just like the One mini 2. That matters only if your carrier supports such speeds, of course, most are still at 100Mbps. Both categories of LTE upload at 50Mbps.

LTE aside, both phones use nano-SIM cards and have quad-band 2G. The Samsung also has quad-band 3G, while the One mini 2 offers tri- or quad-band 3G depending on region. Outside of LTE coverage both phones will do up to 42Mbps on an HSPA+ network.

Locally, the Galaxy Alpha wins out with 802.11ac, while the HTC only handles the previous standards - a/b/g/n. Both support dual-band Wi-Fi, DLNA and Wi-Fi hotspots. Bluetooth connectivity is on par with v4.0 support and both have NFC built-in.

Surprisingly Samsung didn't include MHL support for its Alpha flagship, while the HTC One mini 2 has it. MHL allows the phone to mirror its screen on a TV via an HDMI adapter, so Galaxy Alpha owners will have just wireless screen mirroring to rely on.

The Galaxy Alpha wins one back with ANT+ connectivity - sport sensors (an important part of Samsung's strategy) work either via Bluetooth 4.0 or ANT+, both low-power wireless standards.

Positioning is handled by the industry standard combo of A-GPS and GLONASS, but Samsung also supports the Chinese Beidou system. That one is yet to achieve worldwide coverage.

Neither phone has an IR blaster even though their bigger counterparts do.

Winner: Tie. Lack of MHL is certainly a negative for the Alpha but it is future-proof when it comes to LTE, Wi-Fi and positioning, plus it adds ANT+.

The HTC One mini 2 will perform slightly better in the short run but if you upgrade your Wi-Fi router before you upgrade your phone, you'll miss out on the new tech.