OnePlus 3 vs HTC 10 vs Galaxy S7 Edge vs LG G5 vs Huawei P9

Battle of the 2016 Android smartphones

The OnePlus 3 has been grandly dubbed the "flagship killer". We've learned to give such flowery marketing spiel a wide berth, but on this occasion it's heartening to discover that there may be some truth to such an outlandish claim. Read our initial thoughts on the OnePlus 3.

It's been a big year already for Samsung, HTC, LG and Huawei, so it will be interesting to see whether the new OnePlus can do enough to scare its closest competition. With that said, how does it stack up against its 2016 Android rivals?

DESIGN

OnePlus 3: 152.7x74.7x7.4mm, 158g
HTC 10: 145.9x71.9x9.0mm, 161g
Galaxy S7: 142.4x69.6x7.9mm, 152g
LG G5: 149.4x73.9x7.7mm, 159g
Huawei P9: 145x70.9x6.95mm, 144g

You can't mistake any of our line-up as each looks and feels like a top-end smartphone through and through. There's no cheap plastic, and it's all impressive metal and glass.

The Galaxy S7 offers pleasingly smooth curves and a shimmering build, the HTC 10 and OnePlus 3 exude an icy-cool utilitarian vibe, and the P9 represents the pinnacle of Huawei's design work so far.

The G5 stands out if only for its experiments in modular design. In our original review we praised LG for innovating, but were worried that we'd look back in a few years' time and remember it as the phone with the removable bits. Suffice to say, we still feel this way. The LG Friends website still appears worryingly empty, and availability of the additional modules is scant.

DISPLAY

OnePlus 3: 5.5in AMOLED, 1,920x1,080 pixels at 401ppi
HTC 10: 5.2in Super LCD, 2,560x1,440 pixels at 564ppi
Galaxy S7: 5.1in Super AMOLED, 2,560x1,440 pixels at 577ppi
LG G5: 5.3in IPS LCD QHD screen, 2,560x1,440 pixels at 554ppi
Huawei P9: 5.2in IPS LCD, 1920x1080 pixels at 424ppi

The current crop of 2016 Android handsets caters for everyone in terms of screen size. There's also a mixture of display technologies (AMOLED, Super LCD and IPS LCD), and screen resolutions from Full HD to Quad HD.

Unsurprisingly the two most affordable handsets in our feature have the lowliest screen specifications (the OnePlus and Huawei respectively). There's nothing inherently bad with Full HD, but we'd naturally expect QHD as part of the parcel as the extra bump in pixels affords the screen more detail.

AMOLED produces the most pleasing results in our experience. Colours pop, blacks are inky, whites are clean, and the vibrancy allows colours to jump off the screen.

By contrast the Super LCD panel on the HTC 10 is perhaps one of the most natural-looking displays we've seen, and the colours appear almost restrained.

There's been a rush of phones with always-on displays, and the Galaxy S7, LG G5 and OnePlus 3 all have the ability to keep a tiny area of the screen lit to display date, time, notifications and such.

The OnePlus 3 introduces a Dark Mode that cleverly increases the warmth of the colour temperature (a bit like Apple's iOS Night Shift mode).

OnePlus 3 vs HTC 10 vs Galaxy S7 Edge vs LG G5 vs Huawei P9

Battle of the 2016 Android smartphones

PERFORMANCE AND HARDWARE

OnePlus 3: Snapdragon 820, dual-core 2.15GHz Kryo and dual-core 1.6GHz Kryo, 6GB of RAM, 64GB of storage
HTC 10: Snapdragon 820, dual-core 2.15GHz Kryo and dual-core 1.6GHz Kryo, 4GB of RAM, 32GB/64GB of storage
Galaxy S7: Samsung Exynos 8890, quad-core 2.6GHz and quad-core 1.59GHz, 4GB of RAM, 32GB of storage
LG G5: Snapdragon 820, dual-core 2.15GHz Kryo and dual-core 1.6GHz Kryo, 4GB of RAM, 32GB of storage
Huawei P9: Kirin 955 chipset, quad-core 2.5Ghz Cortex-A72 and quad-core 1.8Ghz Cortex A-53, 3GB of RAM, 32GB of storage

It's a veritable Snapdragon soirée and you'd be hard pressed to spot any significant performance differences (the US version of the S7 uses the Snapdragon chip).

The Snapdragon 820 has a good pedigree, and will make light work of anything you throw at it. Elsewhere, even the Huawei P9 with its Kirin chipset manages to creep dangerously close to the top of our benchmarking charts.

Sticking with the P9, we noted previously that it uses the Mali-T880 for graphics (the same GPU that Samsung used this year). But sadly Huawei chose to nobble performance by limiting it to just four cores, whereas the S7 and its ilk go for 12.

We can't ignore the OnePlus 3's stupendous 6GB of RAM seeing as it's the only handset with more than the expected 3GB/4GB. How well it translates into benchmark scores remains to be seen, but if nothing else it should usher in a new generation of smartphones with pumped-up specs.

We must also give special mention to the HTC 10's wildly impressive audio prowess. The BoomSound speakers are aided by a dedicated tweeter and amp, there's support for Hi-Res audio, and the bundled earbuds are some of the best we've tried in a long time.

The OnePlus and HTC 10 spoil us with 64GB of storage (although you might have to hunt for that particular HTC variant). If you need more space a number of our handsets offer support for microSD expansion. The LG G5 and HTC 10 max out at a colossal 2TB. The OnePlus 3 lacks this support, which is a shame.

What about virtual reality (VR) capabilities? Well, all of our line-up here are either already compatible with their VR headsets, or approaching ready status. Suffice to say, if VR is your thing you won't miss out by going with any of these phones.

OnePlus 3 vs HTC 10 vs Galaxy S7 Edge vs LG G5 vs Huawei P9

Battle of the 2016 Android smartphones

CAMERAS

OnePlus 3: Rear 16MP, f/2.0, OIS, EIS. Front 8MP, f/2.0, EIS
HTC 10: Rear 12MP UltraPixel with OIS f/1.8. Front 5MP UltraSelfie with OIS, f/1.8
Galaxy S7: Rear 12MP, f/1.7, OIS. Front 5MP, f/1.7
LG G5: Rear 16MP f/1.8 and 8MP f/2.4 with OIS. Front 8MP f/2.0
Huawei P9: Rear dual 12MP f/2.2, one monochrome sensor, one RGB. Front 8MP

Three of the phones in our line-up lean heavily on camera technology to enhance their appeal. We found nothing extraordinary about the HTC 10 or LG G5, as both featured very capable snappers and produced generally pleasing results. But it was the Huawei P9 that really stood out.

No company has ever attempted to put a monochrome lens into a phone before, let alone a Leica one. Plus, when it's not being called on to capture action in gorgeous monochrome, it can be used in tandem with the RGB lens to let in more light. Read more about Leica's camera technology.

For all of the Huawei P9's dual-camera wizardry, it lacks optical image stabilisation. But the sensor technology is so impressive, and the camera such a joy to use, that we didn't notice the omission.

Top of the pile, however, is the Galaxy S7 which bowled us over with its almost instant shooting ability and success in low light where others struggled.

SOFTWARE

OnePlus 3: Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow, Oxygen OS
HTC 10: Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow
Galaxy S7: Android 6.0 Marshmallow, TouchWiz UI
LG G5: Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow, LG UX 5.0
Huawei P9: Android 6.0 Marshmallow, Huawei Emotion UI

HTC worked closely with Google to deliver a more streamlined experience, and it really shows when put side-by-side with its Android brothers (bar the OnePlus). So it shouldn't surprise you to learn that, apart from the OnePlus 3 and HTC 10, all phones come with the usual amount of bloatware.

We're not usually big supporters of custom UIs and skins (just look to the P9 for evidence of this) and the Huawei Emotion UI is overly gimmicky. However, it appears that LG has taken design cues from Google, as the UX 5.0 UI is imbued with Android Material DNA, and Samsung's dreaded TouchWiz UI happens to be in the best shape of its life.

Be wary of the Huawei and LG if you don't like to deviate from the norm, as both phones have done away with the traditional App Drawer and instead rely on a folder-based structure.

OnePlus 3 vs HTC 10 vs Galaxy S7 Edge vs LG G5 vs Huawei P9

Battle of the 2016 Android smartphones

BATTERY

OnePlus 3: 3,000mAh
HTC 10: 3,000mAh
Galaxy S7: 3,000mAh
LG G5: 2,800mAh
Huawei P9: 3,000mAh

With the exception of the Huawei, all of our line-up include support for Quick Charge 3.0 (the OnePlus 3 uses its own proprietary Dash Charge). This means you can go from empty to 50-60 per cent in just half an hour.

The OnePlus, S7 and HTC have the potential to enter a second day of use on one charge. The P9 gave us a full day's worth, but the G5 lagged a little behind and gave up before bedtime.

Support for wireless charging can be found in the Galaxy S7 and LG G5, which is a nice-to-have feature but not a deal breaker by any means.

The LG G5's modular design means that the 2,800mAh battery is removable, a rarity these days. A standard spare battery can be picked up for around £40, but snap in the LG Cam Plus (£80) and you'll gain a further 1,100mAh boost.

PRICE

OnePlus 3: £309 for 64GB
HTC 10: £519 for 32GB
Galaxy S7: £549 for 32GB
LG G5: £490 for 32GB
Huawei P9: £449.99 for 32GB

There's no two ways about it: the OnePlus 3 is a steal at £309. Somehow OnePlus has managed to create a top-end phone at a price more suited to a mid-tier device.

Understandably there are a few cut corners (the 1080p screen is just adequate and there's no microSD support) but that's about as serious as it gets.

This is OnePlus' bread and butter, though. The Chinese smartphone maker has carved out a niche making competitive devices, while Huawei (a fellow Chinese challenger brand) follows a few steps behind and attempts to woo with a more attractive price. Huawei must be doing something right, as global sales of the P9 and P9 Plus reached 2.6 million in the six weeks following launch.

SUMMARY

The conflict becomes even more confusing with the OnePlus 3 wading into the battle of the 2016 Android handsets.

The Samsung Galaxy S7 (along with the S7 Edge) sat atop the Android tree for a long time, but it's becoming increasingly crowded down below.

You can't deny the hard work that HTC, Huawei and OnePlus have put in and, while we feel that the LG G5 lags a little behind, it really is anyone's game as we march into the second half of the year.