HTC Desire 820 vs Samsung Galaxy A8 (2015)
A spec-by-spec comparison of the HTC Desire 820 and the Samsung Galaxy A8 (2015), taken from their full specification sheets. Green marks the better value in each measured row.
Head to head
| HTC Desire 820 | Samsung Galaxy A8 (2015) |
|---|
| Price | $4,823 | $7,567 |
| Our rating | 7/10 | 6/10 |
| Battery | 2,600 mAh | 3,050 mAh |
| RAM (max) | — | 2 GB |
| Storage (max) | 128 GB | 128 GB |
| Screen size | 5.5 in | 5.7 in |
| Main camera | 13 MP | 16 MP |
| Weight (lower is lighter) | 155 g | 151 g |
| Released | Nov 2014 | Jul 2015 |
Summary: HTC Desire 820 is ahead on our rating. Samsung Galaxy A8 (2015) is ahead on battery, screen size, main camera, weight (lower is lighter).
★ Which should you buy? Samsung Galaxy A8 (2015) is the stronger overall pick on the measured specs. If budget matters more than the extra capability, HTC Desire 820 is the cheaper option.
Reviewed by the infozme.com Editorial Team — see how we research & rate phones.
Display
| HTC Desire 820 | Samsung Galaxy A8 (2015) |
|---|
| Type | Super LCD2 capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors | Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors |
| Size | 5.5 inches, 83.4 cm2 (~67.2% screen-to-body ratio) | 5.7 inches, 89.6 cm² (~73.8% screen-to-body ratio) |
| Resolution | 720 x 1280 pixels, 16:9 ratio (~267 ppi density) | 1080 x 1920 pixels, Full HD (386 ppi density) |
| Protection | Corning Gorilla Glass 3 [1, 2, 4, 16, 22, 33, 35] | Corning Gorilla Glass 4 |
Platform
| HTC Desire 820 | Samsung Galaxy A8 (2015) |
|---|
| Chipset | Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 (MSM8939) | Qualcomm MSM8939 Snapdragon 615 (28 nm) or Exynos 5430/5433 |
| CPU | Octa-core (4x1.5 GHz Cortex-A53 & 4x1.0 GHz Cortex-A53) | Octa-core (4x1.8 GHz Cortex-A53 & 4x1.3 GHz Cortex-A53 for Snapdragon 615; various configurations for Exynos) |
| GPU | Adreno 405 [2, 5, 6, 7, 16, 17, 21, 26, 27, 33, 35, 38, 41] | Adreno 405 (for Snapdragon 615) or Mali-T628 MP6/Mali-T760 MP6 (for Exynos) |
Memory
| HTC Desire 820 | Samsung Galaxy A8 (2015) |
|---|
| Internal | 16GB | 32GB 2GB RAM, 16GB 2GB RAM |
| RAM | 2GB | — |
| Card slot | microSDXC (dedicated slot, up to 128GB) [2, 3, 4, 5, 13, 16, 17, 18, 21, 22, 26, 33, 35, 37, 41] | microSDXC (uses SIM 2 slot) up to 128 GB |
Main Camera
| HTC Desire 820 | Samsung Galaxy A8 (2015) |
|---|
| Single | 13 MP, f/2.2, 28mm (wide), AF | 16 MP, f/1.9, AF |
| Features | LED flash, HDR | LED flash, panorama, HDR |
| Video | 1080p@30fps [2, 4, 5, 13, 16, 21, 22, 26, 27, 33, 35, 38] | 1080p@30fps |
Selfie Camera
| HTC Desire 820 | Samsung Galaxy A8 (2015) |
|---|
| Single | 8 MP, f/2.3, 28mm (wide) | 5 MP, f/1.9 |
| Video | 1080p [2, 4, 5, 9, 13, 16, 21, 22, 27, 33, 35, 38] | 1080p@30fps |
| Features | — | Wide selfie, Palm and Voice Selfie |
Battery
| HTC Desire 820 | Samsung Galaxy A8 (2015) |
|---|
| Type | Li-Po 2600 mAh, non-removable | Li-Ion 3050 mAh, non-removable |
| Talk time | Up to 22 h 40 min (3G) | — |
| Stand-by | Up to 424 h (3G) [2, 4, 5, 8, 16, 18, 21, 22, 33, 37, 41] | — |
| Charging | — | Standard charging |
Body
| HTC Desire 820 | Samsung Galaxy A8 (2015) |
|---|
| Dimensions | 157.7 x 78.7 x 7.7 mm (6.21 x 3.10 x 0.30 in) | 158 x 76.8 x 5.9 mm (6.22 x 3.02 x 0.23 in) |
| Weight | 155 g (5.47 oz) | 151 g (5.33 oz) |
| SIM | Nano-SIM (single or dual SIM variants) | Single SIM (Nano-SIM) or Hybrid Dual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual stand-by) |
| Build | Polycarbonate body [3, 4, 16, 20, 22, 34] | Aluminum frame, plastic back |
Comms
| HTC Desire 820 | Samsung Galaxy A8 (2015) |
|---|
| WLAN | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, DLNA, hotspot | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct |
| Bluetooth | 4.0, A2DP, aptX | 4.1, A2DP, EDR, LE |
| Positioning | GPS, GLONASS | GPS, GLONASS, BDS |
| NFC | Yes (region dependent) | Yes |
| Radio | FM radio | FM radio |
| USB | microUSB 2.0, OTG [11, 16, 17, 26, 27, 28, 41] | microUSB 2.0 |
Launch
| HTC Desire 820 | Samsung Galaxy A8 (2015) |
|---|
| Announced | September 2014 | July 2015 |
| Status | Available. Released November 2014 | Available August 2015 |
| OS at Launch | Android 4.4.2 KitKat, upgradable to Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow [2, 3, 33, 37] | — |
| OS | — | Android 5.1.1 (Lollipop), upgradable to 6.0 (Marshmallow) |
Frequently asked questions
Which has the better battery, HTC Desire 820 or Samsung Galaxy A8 (2015)?
Samsung Galaxy A8 (2015) — 2,600 mAh for the HTC Desire 820 versus 3,050 mAh for the Samsung Galaxy A8 (2015).
Which is lighter, HTC Desire 820 or Samsung Galaxy A8 (2015)?
Samsung Galaxy A8 (2015) — 155 g for the HTC Desire 820 versus 151 g for the Samsung Galaxy A8 (2015).
Which is newer, HTC Desire 820 or Samsung Galaxy A8 (2015)?
Samsung Galaxy A8 (2015) — Nov 2014 for the HTC Desire 820 versus Jul 2015 for the Samsung Galaxy A8 (2015).
Is the HTC Desire 820 or the Samsung Galaxy A8 (2015) rated higher?
We rate the HTC Desire 820 7/10 and the Samsung Galaxy A8 (2015) 6/10.
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