Samsung Galaxy Note 5 vs HTC One A9 – Vote best smartphone – Mobile Madness 2016

Let’s get to the next voting round of this year’s Mobile Madness, up now we have theSamsung Galaxy Note 5 versus the HTC One A9.

The Note has been a favorite for phablet users, though it is getting harder to separate “normal” versus large-screen phones as every new iteration of a phone brings on larger displays. The Note 5 has a lot to love, big, bright beautiful display, speedy processor, great camera, and if you’re into the stylus, we’ve got that in the Note 5. But there was the whole disaster with the pen being inserted incorrectly, rending one of the more compelling reasons for the S Pen useless. But is is an incredible device, with a whole lot to love.

But what about the HTC One A9? Where does that lie in our hearts, but more importantly in our pockets.  The HTC One A9 is kind of a different beast, it doesn’t aim to be a flagship in the traditional sense, but it still will wear the crown for HTC. The One A9 was priced $399.99-$499.99, in an era where flagship phones can easily cost double that. As far as looks are concerned, you’d probably take a double-take and notice, that’s not aniPhone. That’s not a knock or complement, it just is. It runs Marshmallow out of the box, has a serviceable camera, and a battery that will get you through at least an entire day. Some may argue the Snapdragon 617 is just now powerful enough to be future proof. It may just be good enough for now, but not good enough a year or two later.

Which phone would you select if you had the option of these two phones. Check out our reviews below and vote.  Remember, you can vote as many times as you wish.  Have fun!

Galaxy Note 5

Samsung’s Galaxy Note 5 has been on my radar for a few months now. It was leaked several times, sure, but I’m always curious with what Samsung has planned for its GalaxyNote smartphones.

The Note series usually pushes the boundaries in a lot of ways, whether it’s new screentechnology, incredible camera sensors, fingerprint readers, virtual reality (last year, with the Note 4, for example), or new S Pen technology. It is, typically, an example of Samsung’s best foot forward in the mobile space.

This year we were introduced to the Galaxy Note 5. Jon Rettinger and I have been using it for the past couple of weeks, and there’s a lot to love. In fact, I think this is the Samsung flagship you should buy right now, even though it does have a few shortcomings.

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HTC One A9

When the One A9 was announced, it looked like a compelling addition to the top end of that market. It promised Android 6.0 Marshmallow, an aluminum body, a 13MP camera, expandable storage, 3GB of RAM and a Snapdragon 617 processor, all for $399.99.

During our review period, however, we learned that the One A9’s initial “limited time” offer was indeed very limited, and soon after this review runs it will jump to $499.99, $100 more than devices like the Moto X Pure and in a whole new category of premium smartphones. On a two-year contract with AT&T, it will cost just $30 less than the GalaxyS6.

So where does the HTC One A9 fit, exactly, and how well does it perform in that market segment? It’s a tough question to answer, and one I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about.

Let’s dive in.

		Samsung Galaxy Note 5		HTC One A9
DISPLAY SIZE		5.7-inch, 2560 x 1440 pixel display (515 ppi)		5-inch, 1920 x 1080 pixel display (441 ppi)
DISPLAY TYPE		Super AMOLED		Full HD
OPERATING SYSTEM		Android 5.1 (at launch)		Android 6.0 (at launch)
PROCESSOR		Exynos 7420 Octa-core		1.5GHz Octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 617
RAM		4GB		2GB (16GB Model) or 3GB (32GB Model)
STORAGE		32GB 64GB		16GB 32GB
EXTERNAL STORAGE		No		Yes
EXTERNAL STORAGE SPECS		N/A		MicroSD up to 2TB
MAIN CAMERA (BACK)		16MP		13MP
SECONDARY CAMERA (FRONT)		5MP		HTC 4MP UltraPixel
NETWORKS		N/A		GSM/GPRS/EDGE: 850/900/1800/1900 LTE FDD: 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 20, 28 LTE TDD: 38, 40, 41 LTE VoLTE: 2, 3, 4, 5,7, 12, 13, 17, 29 UMTS: 850/900/AWS/1900/2100
WI-FI		802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (2.4/5GHz), MIMO (2×2)		802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (2.4 & 5 GHz)
BLUETOOTH		Bluetooth 4.2 LE		Bluetooth 4.1
BATTERY		3000mAh		2150mAh
NFC		Yes		Yes (for payments only)
CONNECTIVITY		3.5mm Headphone jack MicroUSB		3.5mm Headphone jack Micro USB
SENSORS		Accelerometer Ambient light Barometer Fingerprint Geo-magnetic Gyro Hall HRM Proximity		Accelerometer Ambient light Fingerprint Gyro Magnetic Motion G Proximity
GPS		Beidou GLONASS GPS		Digital compass GLONASS GPS
HEIGHT		153.2 mm (6.03 inches)		145.75 mm (5.74 inches)
WIDTH		76.1 mm (3.00 inches)		70.8 mm (2.79 inches)
DEPTH		7.6 mm (0.30 inches)		7.26 mm (0.29 inches)
WEIGHT		171 g (6.03 oz)		143 g (5.04 oz)
COLORS		Black, White		Gold, Gray, Red, Silver
SUPPORTED AUDIO FORMATS		MP3, M4A, 3GA, AAC, OGG, OGA, WAV, WMA, AMR, AWB, FLAC, MID, MIDI, XMF, MXMF, IMY, RTTTL, RTX, OTA		.aac, .amr, .ogg, .m4a, .mid, .mp3, .wav, .flac, ac3, ec3, eac3
SUPPORTED VIDEO FORMATS		MP4, M4V, 3GP, 3G2, WMV, ASF, AVI, FLV, MKV, WEBM		.3gp, .3g2, .mp4, .avi, .mkv

This poll closes within 24 hours (2:00 PM PT, the following day).

Play-In

Round 2 – Quarterfinals

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