Mobile World Congress 2014 Breakdown

The 2014 Mobile World Congress has come and gone. Expectations were in some cases met, exceeded and in some cases not met. Various OEMs unveiled there new products, both hardware and software. A noticeable absentee was Apple which is normally absent for this occasion anyway. For this breakdown, we shall be concentrating on the major players as balance of power seems to be shifting this time round.



For the first time since the invention of sliced bread, we have high end smart devices that are all at par with each other. Samsung has always been light years away from the competition since the Galaxy S. This trend was emphasized with the Galaxy SII. From the SIII, things started to slow down. And now with the unveiling of the S5, you can say that many were not so impressed. There wasn't much improvement from its predecessor. and as a result the competition , most notably Sony has caught up and probably even surpassed Samsung. Nokia unveiled the Lumia ICON about a week before MWC and LG has always had the G2 which is still up there with the newly unveiled flagships. HTC was around for the mid range smartphones so we can safely put it at the side.

Lumia Icon vs Samsung Galaxy SV vs Sony Xperia Z2 vs LG G2

We are going to compare the new and not so new flagships from the different OEMS and see which smartphone is the right bet for your bucks. We shall not be talking about specs to much since all four of these devices are almost identical. All four smartphones are powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 / 801 SOC. The 801 chipset powering the Xperia Z2 is just a turd faster than the 800 powering the G2 and ICON. All are 5 inch 1080p displays with similar pixel density. Three of out four of them are running Android. The stage is set fro a very confusing race.

Lumia Icon.

The Icon is powered by Windows Phone 8.0 (Upgradable to 8.1 ). Features Microsoft's extremely optimized and responsive live tile interface. It features a 20 MP PureView camera with Optical Image stabilization. However this model is only available on Verizon as we await the international version. Lumia 930 that should have similar specs. Fingers crossed. It is available in black and White. Only downside here is the App store which is still growing and does offer as much as the Android Market. However most common apps are available

Galaxy SV. 

The Galaxy S5 is a waterproof version of the S4 with a faster chipset. It is very identical to the Note III. It has slightly larger bezels. We could blame water proofing for the increased size and weight. It however has an improved 16 MP camera that isn't optically stabilised. It is capable of 4K video capture and may be playback. It features a new finger print reader on the home button and can also monitor your heart rate with a piece of hardware near the camera's flash. The back has been redesigned and now has a kind of ached design which gives it a better look. It is available in black, white, blue and gold colors.

Xperia Z2

The Xperia Z2 is arguably the most powerful phone of 2014 as of now. It features a slightly faster snap dragon 801 SOC, has a 1/2.3-inch, 20.7MP camera sensor. 4k Video capture at 30 fps. It can let you shot slow motion video at 120 fps and do all sorts of things with the videos and photos. It is dust and water proof as usual and ships with Sony premium headphones that have digital noise cancellation.  

LG G2

The G2 has been around for a while but don't get me wrong. It is still very much at par with the newly unveiled smartphones. The G2 is has very slim bezels. The entire phone is almost a display. Has a magnificent display and can play back 24 bit lossless Audio. It features a 13MP camera with optical image stabilisation.

Verdict:

So at the end of the day, it si still confusing. Nokia has a good camera, runs Windows Phone so it's the only choice for Windows Phone lovers. Samsung has a finger print scanner and a heart rate monitor making it the only option for those who are so much into security and like to keep an eye on their heart rate. You can take it for a swim. Sony has a good camera that you can use for an underwater photo shoot. (I am not responsible for any dead Z2s as a result of drowning). The G2 has extra thin bezels and supports 24bit lossless audio. A I said earlier the hardware specs are identical for these devices.

At the end of the day, choice is up to you. Although I can't help but to get this feeling that the Galaxy S5 is going to retail at pea nut price. This is where Samsung is gonna have the edge. It may as well be half the price of the rest.

Which one of the four smartphones would be more likely to grab? Tell us why you think its the best option for you?