Flagships of 2014 — what's special about them?

Apple iPhone 5S 16 GB

Apple smartphones are no longer just gadgets. This is a separate religion. The first flagship in our review stands apart, from whatever position you look at it. Unlike the others, he has a different operating system (iOS), a different hardware (dual-core 64-bit Apple A7, 1 GB of RAM), a different ideology. The diagonal of the screen is some 4", which is quite a bit against the background of the "five plus" of the other models. The resolution is only 1136x640 pixels, which is not impressive against the background of FullHD competitors! Nevertheless, the picture is beautiful and smooth, and the hardware demonstrates excellent performance, close to the LG G2.

What's good about a small screen? And the fact that the smartphone turned out to be compact, and will look good in elegant female pens. Especially in combination with a metal case. What's wrong? First of all, the inconvenience of surfing the Internet, watching movies and videos. By the way, the iPhone supports very few different media formats for video and music files, and everything needs to be downloaded through iTunes, which creates an additional inconvenience.

But there are significantly more high-quality and interesting applications for iOS than for Android. And although it is generally believed that "everything is paid for Apple," but in fact many freely distributed programs have been created for the system.

The camera in the iPhone 5s has eight megapixels, just like its two predecessors. This is less than the competitors, except for the NTS. Nevertheless, the smartphone takes great pictures worthy of the flagship model.

Someone will buy an iPhone 5s for the camera and iOS, and someone will buy it simply because it's an iPhone. Perhaps the iPhone is the leader among purchases for prestige or design, spontaneous purchases and gift purchases.

Samsung Galaxy S5 16 GB / без LTE

The manufacturer did not equip the replenishment in the famous S-family with a metal case, although numerous fans hoped for it. But the cover is removable, which allows you to replace the battery yourself. And also, obeying the fashion started by others, a fingerprint scanner was built into the Home button. And only someone who has never used it can say that it does not reduce the unlocking time or does not increase the convenience of shopping in online stores. Why invent a password, and then remember this tricky combination of numbers and letters every time, when you can just put your finger on it — and that's it.

The case complies with the IP67 protection standard. And this means that with a smartphone you can safely walk during a snowfall or rain, simultaneously taking wonderful pictures, without any fear of losing the device dear to your heart and wallet.

At the same time, the camera is one of the best on the market, if not the best. A 16-megapixel sensor with a sufficiently large dot size ensures good photo quality even in difficult shooting conditions. Processing algorithms have become noticeably faster than last year's Galaxy S4, which is especially noticeable when shooting in HDR mode. The speed of autofocus operation is amazing at all — 0.3 seconds. No other smartphone today can do this.

The newest version of Android 4.4.2 KitKat has a Vibrant UX shell, and a number of chips have been added to it. For example, Ultra Saving Mode is very useful: if you turn it on, the interface turns black and white, which significantly saves battery power. So, on a battery charged at 10%, the smartphone should live for about a day. But in fact, the Galaxy S5 is still not the most "tenacious".

There is only one thing to say about performance: there is no such task for a smartphone that could put the Galaxy S5 on the shoulder blades.

HTC One M8 16 GB

In terms of performance, the model is one of the first on the modern market. A powerful processor will allow you to play any games: both those that have already been released on Google Play, and those that are still under development.

True aesthetes will appreciate the chic aluminium case. The smartphone turned out to be rather big, it even surpasses the Galaxy S5 in size, but the screen is smaller — 5" versus 5.1. It's hard to say which of the flagships has a better screen, but in HTC it definitely does not graze the rear ones: a pleasant picture, the absence of an air layer, maximum viewing angles.

What he is certainly the first in is the sound. HTC's proprietary BoomSound technology, along with a pair of stereo speakers, a special amplifier and an audio chip, allow you to produce sound that other smartphones have never dreamed of. Even in comparison with the HTC One model, the sound has become more detailed, deeper, bassier and 25% louder. Music lovers will not be able to ignore this fact.

Experts consider the four-megapixel (!) camera to be the weakest point. A set of very interesting functions is designed to help out the situation with a small number of pixels. So, uFocus allows you to change the focus of the image after the picture is taken, Foregrounder allows you to change the background, and Dimension Plus will show the pictures from a different angle. Among other things, the device is initially equipped with two cameras — the second is designed to capture data about the depth of the scene.

Sony Xperia Z2 16 GB / 3 GB

Sony Z1, in fact, is last year's flagship, but its descendant Z2 is just starting its journey, so let's consider both smartphones together. Samsung has somewhat leveled the huge advantage of the Z1 by releasing a model in a protected case. However, Sony's protection is more interesting, since it complies with the military standard ip58. Speaking humanly, the Samsung flagship feels more confident in a dusty environment, but in water the advantage is on the Z1 side (it can withstand immersion to a depth of one metre for half an hour). The same can be said about the Z2, since the "armor" was inherited by him.

The new smartphone has become thinner, slightly longer and generally more compact, if the epithet "compact" can generally be attributed to a smartphone with a screen size of 5.2. The case is covered with glass on both sides, it is attractive, but very branded.

The weak point of the Z1 is the display, which was criticized by all reviewers. It's not that bad, it can be called good, but only if you forget about the class and cost of the smartphone. The five-inch Z1 screen with FullHD resolution has a good colour reproduction, but the viewing angles are pumped up. In the case of Sony Xperia Z2, this problem is no longer there, the grown-up 5.2-inch screen, made using the new Live Colour LED technology, can be viewed from any angle without observing changes in the picture.

The camera boasts a resolution of 20.7 MP and the presence of branded G-lenses. At the same time, the Z2 allows you to record video in cutting-edge 4K resolution, supports augmented reality in video mode and slow-motion video shooting (120 fps). Other competitors have a smaller number of megapixels (Samsung has 16 MP, LG has 13, iPhone 5s has 8, and HTC has 4 at all), and the sensor in Z1/Z2 uses 1/2.3-inch. According to the characteristics, the smartphone's camera is the best, and even shoots underwater without any problems. Sony did not skimp on the hardware camera call button, which is especially important for extreme shooting.

The performance of the Z1/Z2 is also excellent: Like most flagships, they run on the Qualcomm Snapdragon platform. Unlike other top solutions, the Z2 received as much as 3 GB of RAM. Smartphones also got capacious batteries: 3000 and 3200 mAh for the Z1 and Z2, respectively.

LG G2 16 GB

The same capacity as the Sony Xperia Z1, but taking into account the availability of a performant processor and a FullHD screen with a diagonal of 5.2", this is not so much. In fact, the LG G2, like almost any other Android smartphone, is better to charge daily.

In size, the smartphone is about the same as other flagships, that is, the "shoulder blade". The most remarkable detail of the case is the screen lock button (located under the camera eye behind) and the volume control, which is located there. It's inconvenient at first, but when you get used to it, this arrangement seems logical. Accidental clicks are very rare. But the case itself is glossy, and is quickly covered with fingerprints.

What everyone likes, without exception, is the KnockON function: a double tap on the screen brings the smartphone out of sleep mode. Another plus is the very thin frames around the screen. This is beautiful, although a mobile gamer may experience certain inconveniences from this, as well as from the specific location of the speaker: during the game it is easy to block it with your hands.

The screen is very colorful and high-quality, it has a warmer colour transfer, even better than that of the Samsung Galaxy S5. Only the brightness is lower and there are no additional settings. The 13-megapixel camera of the smartphone is not as outstanding as that of the SGS 5, iPhone 5s and Sony Xperia Z1/Z2, but it is inferior to them less than you might expect. We must admit that LG turned out to have a decent camera phone.

In general, taking into account the performant modern platform and reasonable price, this smartphone is one of the most profitable purchases among the top models.

Nokia Lumia 930 32 GB / 2 GB

Nokia Lumia 930 Nokia Lumia 930 is the direct successor of the Lumia 925 and a more compact version of the "lampshade" or "phablet" Nokia Lumia 1520. It cannot be said that the smartphone is small, it is simply smaller than the model with the number 1520: the diagonal of the screen is 5", which has already become a sign of good taste in this category of devices. The screen itself is made using AMOLED technology and has a FullHD resolution. Over the past two years, Nokia Lumia smartphones have repeatedly pleased users with a high-quality contrast picture. This applies even to state employees, what can we say about flagships.

The filling is also good, especially for a Windows device: Snapdragon 800 processor, Adreno 320 graphics, 2 gigabytes of RAM. The volume of the built-in drive is 32 GB. This is by no means a lot, considering that the slot for the memory card is not provided.

One of the weakest points of the model, most technologists recognize the platform itself: the set of available applications for Windows 8.1 is much more modest than for other mobile OS. Nevertheless, the situation is gradually improving.

The camera is also of interest: PureView with 20.7 MP and ZEISS optics. But the launch and filming speed is still lower than that of Android flagships. The quality of the images is at a high level, but far from perfect.

The battery capacity is 2420 mAh, which is also a bit for such a "filling". The case has a metal frame, and the main surface is made of polycarbonate. Many people will like the removable "back" and its many colorful variations.