The Xperia Z is Sony’s best smartphone yet, and it’s one of the first major flagship devices of 2013 to hit the market. But there’s competition coming, and not just from Samsung. HTC will be launching the HTC One in Europe from the end of the month, and the Taiwanese manufacturer’s going all-out with its very best build quality, redesigned software and a new kind of smartphone camera. So how does HTC’s latest hold up against Sony’s glass-clad beast? We’ve got comparisons in video, pictures and words after the break.

Build quality Both the HTC One and Sony Xperia Z are attractive pieces of consumer electronics. The Xperia sports a glass back panel and sealed chassis with a soft-touch plastic “skeleton frame” around the edge. In a world of big black slabs, it is the ultimate big black slab. It’s also water and dust resistant, which is something that’s still rare to find on Western phones. As we discussed in our review, however, the Xperia Z is something of a dust and fingerprint magnet, on account of its glass back and soft-touch trim. Verizon is offering the Pixel 4a for just $10/mo on new Unlimited lines HTC steps things up even further, with a gorgeous aluminum unibody design and a more hand-friendly curved, back. The Xperia Z’s chassis is squared-off around the edges, jarringly so if you’re used to more ergonomic designs. So while Sony manages to execute an attractive design, HTC pulls ahead with superior ergonomics and an even better-looking chassis.

Displays Both the Xperia Z and HTC One sport 1080p screens. In Sony’s case, it’s the “Full HD Reality” display at 5 inches diagonally; for HTC, it’s a 4.7-inch SuperLCD3. In both cases the screens are ridiculously crisp -- the Xperia boasts 440 pixels per inch, the HTC One 468 (that’s not a difference you’re going to notice. Both too are about equal in brightness. But HTC overtakes its rival in viewing angles -- the Xperia Z is prone to washing out colors when viewed from off-center. Bottom line -- the HTC One packs a smaller, but better-looking display. Processors and performance The HTC One is fitted with Qualcomm’s very latest Snapdragon 600 chip, whereas the Xperia Z is running the earlier S4 Pro. Both have quad-core Krait CPUs, so it’s decent silicon we’re talking about in either case. But there’s a small performance and responsiveness delta there, and unsurprisingly its the S600-packing HTC One that ends up on top. Not a big difference, but a noticeable one, if you have both side by side. As we mentioned in our Nexus 4 comparison, the HTC One is about the fastest Android device we’ve used.

Buttons The Sony Xperia Z offers a tried-and-true Android button setup similar to that of Google’s Nexus devices -- back, home and task-switching keys as part of the screen. That gives you single-tap access to multitasking, and means you can quickly activate Google Now via the swipe-up shortcut. The HTC One is limited to just two keys, home and back, with task-switching activated by double-tapping the home key and Google Now launched by long-pressing it. It’s not bothering us all that much in our day-to-day use of the HTC One, but we’d always prefer a multitasking key wherever possible. And as we’ve already mentioned, the ugly on-screen menu bar that appears in certain third-party apps is something that HTC needs to eliminate with urgency. Sense 5 versus Sony’s UI The choice between software on the Xperia Z and HTC One comes down to a decision between a traditional Android experience and brighter, quirkier and a little more unusual. Sony’s never strayed far from the vanilla Android look and feel, keeping things very basic and minimalist, with dark colors and subdued design cues. HTC on the other hand has completely reinvented its Sense UI in the latest version 5. The BlinkFeed page is an integral part of HTC’s home screen plan, incorporating everything from calendar appointments, social updates, news feeds and TV schedules. And speaking of TV, HTC also offers some unique tricks not found on the Xperia Z, including an IR blaster and associated TV control app, with listings provided by Peel. On the entertainment side, Sony’s keen to tie the Xperia Z into its existing properties, like PlayStaiton, Music Unlimited and Video Unlimited. There’s no shortage of entertainment options on Android, but if you’re already living in the Sony ecosystem then this might be something to consider. Ultimately, we’re liking Sense 5 a lot, but a more familiar (though less attractive) Android experience may be had in Sony land, if that's what you prefer.