African smartphone market is bustling with competition due to the
presence of many prominent players, which includes established players like Samsung,
Huawei, Tecno and HTC and newcomers like Oppo, Obi Mobiles and One Plus. Generally,
customers gain from competition, however, in the absence of right information,
the multiplicity of brands and products can also create confusion. Therefore, in this review Brands Dialogue team is focusing on two smartphone models,
including one of the established players, Samsung S5, and one of the new
arrivals, One Plus One.
Design & Viewing Experience
Starting with the physical appearance, we note that One Plus One is clearly a relatively bigger but sleeker looking device with 152.9x75.9x8.9mm dimensions than Samsung S5 that comes with 142x72.5x8.1mm dimensions. This reflects at two levels: firstly, it makes One Plus One (162g) slightly heavier than S5 (145g) and secondly, the display screen size in One Plus One is slightly larger at 5.5 inch than Samsung S5 which has 5.1 inch screen, which is minor difference.
Both smartphones share the same resolution of 1080x1920 pixels. However, Samsung S5 has a Super AMOLED capacitative touchscreen that could make viewing from certain angles a bit tedious. On the other hand, One Plus One sports a LTPS LCD capacitative touchscreen, which supports wide viewing angle and also makes outdoor viewing more comfortable. Essentially, other than screen types that lead to qualitative difference in experience, the difference in overall size, weight and form are only a matter of personal preference.
Starting with the physical appearance, we note that One Plus One is clearly a relatively bigger but sleeker looking device with 152.9x75.9x8.9mm dimensions than Samsung S5 that comes with 142x72.5x8.1mm dimensions. This reflects at two levels: firstly, it makes One Plus One (162g) slightly heavier than S5 (145g) and secondly, the display screen size in One Plus One is slightly larger at 5.5 inch than Samsung S5 which has 5.1 inch screen, which is minor difference.
Both smartphones share the same resolution of 1080x1920 pixels. However, Samsung S5 has a Super AMOLED capacitative touchscreen that could make viewing from certain angles a bit tedious. On the other hand, One Plus One sports a LTPS LCD capacitative touchscreen, which supports wide viewing angle and also makes outdoor viewing more comfortable. Essentially, other than screen types that lead to qualitative difference in experience, the difference in overall size, weight and form are only a matter of personal preference.
Processing Power
To fire the performance, both Samsung S5 and One Plus One devices are supported by Qualcomm MSM8974AC Snapdragon 801 processor. If One Plus One devices are available with 16GB or 64GB internal memory, S5 devices are available with 16GB or 32GB internal memory. However, while Samsung S5 provides for an expandable memory of 128 GB through microSD, One Plus One does not. In terms of RAM, Samsung S5 has a 2GB RAM compared to One Plus One that has relatively larger 3GB RAM, which essentially means One Plus device could withstand higher activity than S5. Both the devices run on Android 4.4.2 Kitkat, however, key differentiator is that while Samsung S5 can be upgraded to Android 5.0 Lollipop, One Plus One can only be upgraded to Android 4.4.4 Kitkat, something that could influence the customer choice.
To fire the performance, both Samsung S5 and One Plus One devices are supported by Qualcomm MSM8974AC Snapdragon 801 processor. If One Plus One devices are available with 16GB or 64GB internal memory, S5 devices are available with 16GB or 32GB internal memory. However, while Samsung S5 provides for an expandable memory of 128 GB through microSD, One Plus One does not. In terms of RAM, Samsung S5 has a 2GB RAM compared to One Plus One that has relatively larger 3GB RAM, which essentially means One Plus device could withstand higher activity than S5. Both the devices run on Android 4.4.2 Kitkat, however, key differentiator is that while Samsung S5 can be upgraded to Android 5.0 Lollipop, One Plus One can only be upgraded to Android 4.4.4 Kitkat, something that could influence the customer choice.
Additional Features
The Price Tag
Finally, we look at the price in the Kenyan market. One Plus One 16GB
is priced at around KSh31,000 and 64GB is at around KSh37,000. In comparison,
Samsung S5 16GB is costing around KSh44,000, where as 64GB option is currently
not available in Kenya. However, considering that even One Plus One with 64GB
costs lesser than Samsung S5 16GB, there seems a clear price advantage One Plus
One.
Concluding Remarks
While both the devices have superior features, there are obvious
differences in strategic take of the two companies. One Plus has put together a
device that has larger screen size and comes with better display to enhance the
viewing experience at angles and outdoors, larger RAM, longer battery life,
better front camera for selfies and, apparently, a better price too. On the
other hand, Samsung has paid more attention to allow for upgrading the device
to an even more superior level to enhance performance, along with expandable
memory and a superior rear camera. However, it seems while Samsung S5 remains a
great device, One Plus One has all that it needs to attract the youth
attention.
i agree completely with this review..one plus one is one to look out for..in kenya but more people buying S5
ReplyDeleteSamsung has its mark everywhere but these new players with great design and bankable specs shall also not lag behind
Delete