Better Android Smartphone: Samsung Galaxy S5 or Sony Xperia Z2?

Without a doubt, Samsung Galaxy S5 and Sony Xperia Z2 are two of the most talked about Android smartphones this year 2014. Even more exciting is both of them are pulsing with quad-core processor. The blogosphere has been abuzzed with the two as both of these smartphones simultaneously flaunt their impeccable specs to show us who is better, and who deserves the limelight. But, which phone is really the one for you? Which phone would and should really win your heart? Let’s have an overview with their specs to know which phone excels in which areas, shall we?

At first glance…

Design and display always have the biggest impact. If it can’t catch your attention, then you’ll never know if it really is more than meets the eye. And so, at first glance, which one caught your eye now that both these phones are water and dust resistant? Starting with the Samsung Galaxy S5, its design somehow resembles to its predecessor Galaxy S4 together with Note 3. If you’ve been satisfied with the designs of the aforementioned phones, then perhaps you’ll get the hang of the S5’s design, iterative as it may seem minus the dimpled touch. Yes, it claims to be a waterproof phone, but only the bottom of the device is covered, in which the microSIM and microSD slots are hidden. Yet this removable panel makes it feel solid enough despite the heavy reliance on polycarbonate plastic. And it actually protects better against dust since it comes in IP67 rating compared to the IP58 of Z2.

Talk about the build and design of Sony Xperia Z2; glass and metal match up together, giving you that seamless block feeling. Now, you might think this gives it an edge against the S5, but wait till you get your hands on it. With a 5.78 x 2.89 x 0.32 dimension in inches, you’ll notice that this handset device is not that handy at all—rendering S5 more comfortable to hold than the Z2. Yet, the aesthetic appeal of Z2 beats that of S5; not to mention the premium, non-plastic feel it offers.

Which phone’s screen will get your eyes spoiled?

The Samsung Galaxy S5 is equipped with a 5.1inch screen, while Sony Xperia Z2 offers a 5.2-inch. Yet both have significantly different underlying technology. Samsung has 1080p Super AMOLED employed, while Sony Xperia Z2 has 1080p Live Colour LED tech. And for pixel density, they have 432ppi and 424ppi respectively. Yet despite the lower pixel density of S5, its screen still delivers brilliant brightness and vivid colours. And Sony doesn’t what to get left behind, so it focused more on punchy contrast and refinement of detail for great viewing angles even with off-axis viewing.

Which camera specs could capture your attention?

Samsung Galaxy S5 sports a 16MP shooter at the back, while Sony Xperia Z2 wants you to be impressed with its 20.7MP shooter.  S5 gives you a remarkable swift autofocus that helps to produce accurate colour and punchy contrast in good lighting. But the Z2 focused more at speed and producing stills with more detail. It even works better in low light conditions as it has more accurate exposure and punchier contrast. That being said, the score would likely be chalked up to that of Z2.

Which phone performs well?
The first specs mentioned are just the icing on the cake. But one of main selling points of these smartphone devices actually boils down to their performance. As mentioned earlier, both are equipped with quad-core processor. Only, Z2’s clocked at 2.3GHz, and S5’s at 2.5GHz. But as for the RAM, S5 is 1GB short compared to Z2’s 3GB RAM. Both exhibits blazingly fast performance, but still both have flaws. S5 occasionally stutters a bit while the Z2 gets warm quicker. As for the storage, Sony Xperia Z2 sports 16GB internal memory, while Samsung Galaxy S5 has either 16GB or 32GB. Both are also expandable to 128GB as they support microSD cards. So, which one is it?

And the Verdict is…

Both phones are inarguably impressive and have an edge over the other. Depending on what area, both phones excel as they are able to pull it off. Yet, this time Samsung gets the crown. Yes, Z2 may have all those ah-mazing specs, but a lot of people would actually find S5 easier to use because of its hand-friendlier design. But if you have bigger hands to hold Z2, then you might as well enjoy all the specs it offers. But don’t just dwindle your choices down to these two as there are still lots of choices out in the market.

Want to Lose Weight? Texting May Help

Every commitment of any kind is downright hard to see through. Chances are, we just might engage in something that can completely capsize what we have chosen to live our lives for. And where does that leave us? Of course, it leaves us in shambles—in the realm of defeat. One of the scenarios that we often fail to keep our commitment to is with our weight loss programs. We tend to fall short with the commitment and with ourselves ultimately, which brings us to the fact that losing weight is so darn taxing.

Over the years, it has been established that technology in the form of our smartphones is one reason for the increasing incidence of obesity. Prior research shows that spending too much time fiddling over your handheld device is bad for your fitness. However, one study shows that this is not always the case; there is an aspect with technology that isn’t at all counterproductive to fitness programs. And this comes by means of texting. According to the VCU School of Nursing research team headed by Claudia Bouhaidar, “The ubiquitous spread of mobile phone short message systems (SMS) appears to offer an effective alternative to face-to-face approach when delivering behavioral weight management interventions.”

The study participants in the experiment received a text message biweekly which often involves an interactive component, such as responding ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to whether the participant followed the a healthy diet advice or not. In the beginning of the 12-week diet program study, 66 percent of the experimental group responded to the text messages. But that number gradually narrowed down to 52 percent until the end of the study. Be that as it may, the researchers deemed that as acceptable. Ultimately, they found out that 72 percent of the respondents considered the text messages “somewhat” to “very motivational” to reach their goal.

The results of the aforementioned study confirm that dieters who opted to receive motivational and reinforceable text messages lost around 4.5 pounds or 2 kilograms more in a 12-week period than those who did not receive any texts at all. Text messaging showed promise for increasing motivation for increasing exercise and promoting other healthy behaviors.

So you see, besides pushing you to shed off those extra pounds, text messaging also helps improve our eating behaviors, exercise and nutrition self-efficacy, and our attitude towards mobile technology. It serves as a medium to establish a social support system in keeping ourselves in good shape. As of this moment, the findings are but limited, but the researchers are hopeful that the practice of text messages will be adopted in a large-scale and long-term intervention studies to further strengthen the effect it proves. If this happens, the presence of tailored text messages might one day appear in weight loss management programs among peers or in programs for a healthier community.