Sony Xperia Z3 vs. Samsung Galaxy s5: Which of these two smartphones is getting the Android L release date early on? Sony Mobile announced that it will deliver the said Android 5.0 update to its Xperia Z series phones in early 2015 and among their top priorities is the Z3. What about Galaxy s5? Samsung has not made any announcement. Can this be enough reason to choose Z3 over s5?

It's better to do the head-to-head comparison of the handsets' specs first.

Z3 is bigger than s5 (5.75 x 2.83 x 0.29 inches vs. 5.59 x 2.85 x 0.32 inches). Because of this, it is not surprising that it comes heavier by 7g (152g vs. 145g). Both are water and dust resistant, with s5 IP67 certified and Z3 IP68 certified. Certainly, the water level protection is higher with the Sony phone.

Sony Xperia Z3 vs. Samsung Galaxy s5: Z3's screen size is 5.2 inches while s5's screen measures 5.1 inches. Basing on the number, Z3 got bigger screen but users may not notice the difference. Both displays have full HD resolutions (1080 x 1920 pixels). Galaxy s5, however, has higher pixel density - 432ppi - as opposed to Z3's 424ppi. This translates to s5 having sharper display. The Samsung Galaxy phone display boasts of its scratch-resistant (Corning Gorilla Glass 3) feature. This means that the s5 phone is protected from possible scratch.

Z3 takes pride in its rear camera as it is packed with 20.7 megapixels, compared with s5's 16 megapixels. Z3's front-facing camera is only 2.2 megapixels while it is only 2.1 megapixels for s5. They carry almost the same camera features.

Both Z3 and s5 are powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 801. They also have the same processor - Quad core, 2500 MHz, Krait 400 - and graphics processor - Adreno 330. However, s5 has twice the built-in storage of Z3 - 32GB vs. 16GB.

Sony Xperia Z3 vs. Samsung Galaxy s5: Which smartphone stands out over the other? Is the Sony Xperia phone better than the Samsung Galaxy handset?