Samsung Galaxy S6 vs. HTC One M9: Dressed to kill

Display comparison

Samsung kept the 5.1" screen diagonal from the previous Galaxy S, but stepped up the resolution to QHD (that's 1,440 x 2,560px). HTC kept the same IPS LCD - 5 inch in diagonal with 1080p resolution. Both displays are protected by Gorilla Glass 4.

You may think that QHD is excessive, but Samsung's Super AMOLED has a PenTile matrix - that's two sub-pixels instead of three. This means the sub-pixel count is now roughly equal to a 1080p LCD so it does improve sharpness.

The company has done more to improve the display quality. Since the Galaxy S5 it perfected color rendering (with minimal color shift due to viewing angle) and on the Galaxy S6 it pushed the brightness way up. AMOLEDs used to be dark, but the Galaxy S6 display can reach 750nits - higher than the LCD of the HTC One M9.

Note that this is on Auto brightness, when you set the brightness manually you can only push it up to 470nits. That's pretty close to the One M9's maximum of 530nits.

The HTC One M9 screen has vivid colors too and minimal color shifting when viewed at an angle. The contrast is excellent too, 1,200:1 across the brightness range and the blacks are pleasingly deep. The brightness slider is not linear though, the screen only puts out a third of its top brightness when the slider is in the middle.

The screen is pretty reflective though, which keeps the sunlight legibility down to One (M8) levels. The Samsung Galaxy S6 on the other hand has one of the best displays in that respect. And this was with brightness set manually, the auto brightness has potential to offer even better legibility.

Sunlight contrast ratio

• Nokia 808 PureView
  4.698
• Samsung Galaxy A3
  4.241
• Samsung Galaxy S6
  4.124
• Samsung Galaxy Note 4
  4.033
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  3.997
• Apple iPhone 5
  3.997
• Samsung Galaxy A5
  3.895
• Apple iPhone 6
  3.838
• Motorola Moto X (2014)
  3.816
• Samsung Galaxy Note Edge
  3.799
• Samsung Galaxy A7
  3.679
• Oppo R5
  3.678
• Samsung Galaxy K zoom
  3.675
• Nokia Lumia 930
  3.567
• Apple iPhone 5s
  3.565
• Samsung Galaxy S5
  3.549
• Nokia Lumia 735
  3.547
• Motorola Nexus 6
  3.543
• Alcatel Idol X+
  3.527
• Apple iPhone 5c
  3.512
• Samsung Galaxy Alpha
  3.509
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo
  3.487
• LG G Flex2
  3.465
• YotaPhone 2
  3.453
• Motorola RAZR MAXX
  3.42
• Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III
  3.419
• Samsung Galaxy S5 Active
  3.406
• 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
• Apple iPhone 6 Plus
  3.023
• Samsung Galaxy Note
  2.97
• Samsung Galaxy Premier
  2.958
• Sony Xperia Z1
  2.95
• HTC One S
  2.901
• Lenovo S90 Sisley
  2.892
• Samsung I8730 Galaxy Express
  2.861
• BlackBerry Q10
  2.856
• Samsung I9100 Galaxy S II
  2.832
• HTC Desire Eye
  2.815
• Gionee Elife S5.1
  2.812
• Samsung Galaxy S II Plus
  2.801
• BlackBerry Z30
  2.79
• Meizu MX4 Pro
  2.765
• Sony Xperia ZR
  2.672
• Huawei Ascend P1
  2.655
• Sony Xperia Z3
  2.618
• Sony Xperia Z3 Compact
  2.616
• Sony Xperia T3
  2.609
• BlackBerry Passport
  2.595
• 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
• Lenovo Vibe Z2 Pro
  2.416
• LG G Flex
  2.407
• HTC Desire 820
  2.372
• HTC One (M8)
  2.371
• Meizu MX4
  2.366
• Motorola RAZR i
  2.366
• Meizu m1 note
  2.362
• Sony Xperia ZL
  2.352
• HTC One M9
  2.334
• HTC One (M8) for Windows
  2.291
• 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
• Xiaomi Mi Note
  2.234
• Motorola Moto G (2014)
  2.233
• LG Nexus 5
  2.228
• Nokia Lumia 820
  2.193
• HTC One (E8)
  2.185
• Oppo N3
  2.181
• Nokia Lumia 920
  2.17
• Huawei Honor 6
  2.169
• 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 C3 Dual
  2.12
• Xiaomi Redmi Note
  2.119
• 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
• Huawei Ascend Mate7
  2.024
• 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
• Lenovo Vibe X2
  1.952
• Sony Xperia Z2
  1.944
• Sony Xperia E3
  1.943
• Nokia Lumia 1320
  1.941
• HTC One mini 2
  1.94
• Samsung Galaxy Camera
  1.938
• Samsung Galaxy Grand Prime
  1.935
• Sony Xperia J
  1.932
• Acer CloudMobile S500
  1.931
• ZTE Blade S6
  1.927
• LG Nexus 4
  1.926
• LG G Pro 2
  1.922
• Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3
  1.913
• Nokia Asha 308
  1.911
• HTC Butterfly 2
  1.905
• Sony Xperia T
  1.894
• Nokia Lumia 830
  1.887
• 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 Z3 Tablet Compact
  1.735
• Acer Liquid Jade S
  1.734
• Sony Xperia SP
  1.733
• Oppo Find 7
  1.691
• LG Optimus 4X HD
  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
• Samsung Galaxy Core Prime
  1.507
• BlackBerry Curve 9320
  1.488
• Sony Xperia M
  1.473
• Oppo N1
  1.47
• Sony Xperia E4
  1.467
• Meizu MX 4-core
  1.462
• Nokia Lumia 610
  1.432
• Samsung Galaxy S Duos
  1.4
• Microsoft Lumia 535
  1.393
• 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
• Xiaomi Redmi 1S
  1.35
• Samsung Galaxy Mega 5.8
  1.35
• HTC Desire 510
  1.34
• Sony Xperia M2 Aqua
  1.331
• Sony Xperia miro
  1.324
• Samsung I9082 Galaxy Grand
  1.321
• Samsung I8530 Galaxy Beam
  1.315
• Xiaomi Redmi 2
  1.311
• 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
• Asus Memo Pad 7 ME176C
  1.198
• 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

Having mentioned colors, Samsung provides Screen modes that change the white balance and color saturation of the display to match your preference.

Both the Galaxy S6 and the HTC One M9 feature a high-sensitivity mode that lets you operate the phone with gloves (great for winter times).

Connectivity

Both phones can (theoretically) go up to 300Mbps when connected to an LTE network and they also support 42Mbps 3G. Both use a single nano-SIM card, with no official dual-SIM versions announced yet.

Locally, both can hook up to speedy Wi-Fi ac (on 2.4GHz or 5GHz) and both have the latest Bluetooth 4.1 with apt-X for high quality audio streaming. The Galaxy S6 also has ANT+ for use with certain sports sensors.

For positioning the Samsung supports a combination of GPS, GLONASS and Beidou (the Chinese system). The HTC One M9's specs page doesn't list Beidou even though the Snapdragon 810 chipset does support it.

If you still listen to plain old FM radio broadcasts (as opposed to online streaming radio), the One M9 requires you to plug in a pair of headphones, while the Galaxy S6 does not support it at all.

Both phones have IR blasters to control AV equipment at home. Surprisingly, both come with the Smart Peel Remote app, but you can always install a different app.

IR blasters on top of both devices

Finally, for wired connectivity both have a microUSB port with MHL 3.0 for TV out and USB host for connecting peripherals.

Winner: Tie. Unless you still listen to FM radio or have invested in ANT+ equipment there's no clear winner to be had between the two in the connectivity department as both cover the modern-day essentials and then some more.

Battery life

Update, April 3: we received a retail Galaxy S6 unit and re-ran our tests. The battery life improved, pushing it above the One M9 .

HTC managed to fit a slightly bigger battery in its new flagship (2,840mAh vs. 2,600mAh), while Samsung actually went down in battery capacity (2,550mAh vs. 2,800mAh). Yes, Samsung has wireless charging for quick top ups, but as we found in our review the Endurance rating of the phone tumbled down by 10 hours as compared to the Galaxy S5.

This would have been HTC's chance to strike, except the One M9's Endurance rating is down 15 hours compared to its predecessors.

Here's the thing, Samsung used its chip manufacturing prowess to bring the first 14nm mobile chipset to the market, while Qualcomm is still on a 20nm process. This has a noticeable effect in how much waste heat is produced by the chipset (this has implications for performance), but also impacts battery life.

The Super AMOLED screen is also very efficient - despite the move to QHD and the higher brightness, the Galaxy S6 performed better overall. For the battery test we put the brightness slider at 50%, which translates to 208nits for the Galaxy S6 and 175nits for the HTC One M9.

Even so the Samsung Galaxy S6 beats the HTC One M9 by at least three hours in web browsing and by four hours in video playback. It does lose in by an hour in the talk time though. Still, for a battery that's 250mAh smaller, the Samsung result is quite good.

Also, there's a powerful charger in its box and a wireless charging option, while the HTC has none of those.

Winner: Samsung Galaxy S6. Big wins in web browsing and video playback lead to a superior Endurance rating. The smaller talk time is not perfect, but we doubt you'll talk the battery dry. The more convenient charging methods also count for a lot.

Both Samsung and HTC went back with their battery life, but at least the Galaxy has a thinner frame to show for it. The One M9 may be suffering from a sub-par chipset, we'll see in a bit.