Galaxy S5 vs. Moto X: A comparison

New Delhi: Samsung's recently launched Galaxy S5 smartphone keeps Samsung's legacy of high-end Samsung smartphones strong and has bloated the new device with lots of novelty features. An improvement in build quality, a built- in fingerprint sensor, a 5.1-inch screen, an improved camera and a super-fast quad-core Snapdragon 801 processor, pushes the boundaries of what you think a smartphone can do but in a refined manner. All in all, it's a solid update from the Galaxy S4.On the other hand, Moto X is a superbly compact and well designed smartphone that offers advanced voice controls, quick-launch camera and highly customizable design, giving users an overall satisfying Android experience. Though the device's 10-MP camera is sharp enough to get the job done, it's still overshadowed by the cameras offered on higher-end devices. Also, the Moto X may lack a 1080p screen, but its rich and bright AMOLED display rendered more captivating colors than some big names in this category. On the processing front too, Moto X still manages to outperform allegedly faster phones, in everyday use.Take a look at how these two phones stack up against each other: Size and WeightThe GS5 is 10 per cent longer and 12 per cent wider. The Moto X is, however, 28 per cent thicker. The GS5 is also 12 per cent heavier than the Moto X.Design and BuildThe Moto X looks similar to the Moto G. It features a curved back, which Motorola said it selected because "your palm is not flat.” Motorola even created a custom-shaped battery to fill the space under the curve that adds an extra 31 percent capacity, according to the company. The phone is predominantly made of plastic which has definitely not a cheap feel to it. It also incorporates Gorilla Glass protection. From the design perspective, the thickness of the Moto X, could be too much, in comparison to most smartphones today. The buttons and ports are logically placed in the device with the power button on the right hand side. On the left hand side you have the SIM card tray and directly centred at the bottom of the device you have your MicroUSB connection with the 3.5mm headphone jack centred at the top of the Moto X. The front facing camera is located just right of the speaker. On the rear you'll find the camera lens centred towards the top with a very discreet looking speaker and the LED flash centred below the lens. Just like the Moto X, the SGS5 is still good old plastic. This time the back has a texture of little dimples to give it a bit of extra grip, and a different look from the previous Galaxy S phones, and comes in four shades – blue, gold, white and black. The design, shape, weight of the SGS5 is similar to the S4. This time around, the central select button in S5 houses one of the Galaxy S5's most intriguing features – a fingerprint sensor. The S5 is certified to the IP67 standard, meaning it can be submerged in water and is completely dust-proof. As ever with mobile phone water-resistance, this relies on the seals being in place. The phone also has a a USB 3.0 port, which offers faster data transfer, and faster charging when used with a computer's USB 3.0 socket. However, it's also a good deal bigger than normal microUSB. In addition, there is one more standout hardware addition on the Galaxy S5, and it's the heart rate sensor, which can monitor your heart rate when you place a finger on the back of the phone. It's only really of use within the pre-installed fitness app at the moment.Display The Moto X is rocking a 4.7″ AMOLED screen with a resolution of 1280 x 720 and a pixel density of 312PPI. In simple terms, it will give you the same quality of the iPhone 5′s retina display (326PPI). Anything above 300ppi is said to be sufficient. As expected the screen is made of the ever so dependable Gorilla Glass whilst there's a nanotechnological waterproof coating both inside and out of the Moto X, making it water repellent in theory. One of the Moto X's most unique features is called Active Display. Whenever your screen is turned off, it pulses your notifications on the otherwise black screen. If you want to see a little more, just hold your finger on the notification icon.A comprehensive report by player DisplayMate Technologies has declared that the new Samsung Galaxy S5 has "the best performing smartphone display that we have ever tested" based on its extensive lab tests. Notably the Galaxy S5 features a 5.1-inch Super AMOLED display with a 1080x1920 pixel full-HD resolution. DisplayMate has detailed the long list of new records which includes "highest brightness, lowest reflectance, highest colour accuracy, infinite contrast ratio, highest contrast rating in ambient light, and smallest brightness variation with viewing angle." DisplayMate says the AMOLED display on the Galaxy S5 performs better in outdoor lighting than any device it has yet tested. The Galaxy S5's display is said to be brighter than its predecessor the Galaxy S4's (by 22 percent) display. It is the most accurate display ever tested on a smartphone or tablet when in Cinema mode, the report said.Processor The Moto X comes with a 1.7-GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 CPU augmented by an Adreno 320 GPU. Though it is not the quad-core powerhouse, Motorola attempts to make up for this with its X8 Mobile Computing System. This architecture boasts additional processors for contextual computing and natural language. The device is superfast when it comes switching between apps and launching apps.Samsung Galaxy S5 comes with a quad core krait 400 processor clocked at 2.5 GHz and a Qualcomm named MSM8974AC Snapdragon 801 chipset. The S5 is astonishingly fast. The S5 completed the Sunspider JavaScript benchmark in just 408ms, which makes the S5 one of the fastest Android phone around. The S5 also delivers complicated web pages with ease.CameraThe S5 has amazing 16 MP ( megapixel) having better autofocus feature along with a 2MP front camera. The camera even records 4K UHD video, and comes equipped with high dynamic range shooting and an LED flash. The results on the S5 are pleasing with its sharpness, color, and level of detail. In addition to the Galaxy S5's optical performance, Samsung's native camera app gets an update with some significant changes. An HDR toggle (representing new processing powers) now pops up on the screen, which makes it easier to select. The S5's camera app consolidates a whole mess of apps into a single view called Shot & More. This includes modes like Best Photo, Best Face, Eraser, Drama, and the Panning mode we just talked about. The S5 also lets you capture a video in slow-motion.The Moto X has a 10-megapixel sensor. The sensor is the OmniVision OV10820. It's a 1/2.6-inch sensor, much larger than the 1/3.2 sensors you get in most phones. It uses an RGBC pixel array, featuring an additional clear subpixel in its colour filter to provide better low-light performance. The launch time and shooting speed of the camera app is good. Shot-to-shot speed including focusing in normal shooting is about one second, but you can burst shoot by holding a finger on the screen. The camera app offers the following options:HDR on/off/autoFlash on/off/autoFocus full auto/subject selectSlo-mo video on/offPanoramaGeotagging on/offSound on/offCamera app gesture on/offBatteryThere's a 2200mAh battery in the Motorola Moto X, and it's designed to fit the phone's curved rear. That's just a little below the 2300mAh of the HTC One.Samsung Galaxy S5 sports a more powerful battery life.