Samsung Galaxy S4: The threats from Apple, Sony and HTC
V3 takes a look at the biggest rivals Samsung's flagship smartphone will have to beat
Samsung's Galaxy S4 New York unveiling is only a week away and as a result rumours about the device are circulating across the web.
There's been talk of an eight-core processor, custom Eye Scroll facial recognition feature and a massive 5in screen. If even a fraction of the rumours are true then the Galaxy S4 will be a great handset.
However, there are already existing and future threats taking aim at the S4, offering their own custom, never before seen features, that may entice users away.
We've put together a round-up of some of the key devices that Samsung's S4 will face stiff competition from, to see what the rest of the market has on offer to tempt buyers.
The Huawei Ascend P2
Huawei unveiled the Ascend P2 at Mobile World Congress (MWC) claiming the handset is the fastest 4G LTE handset in the world boasting 150Mbit/s data speeds.
The P2 also has some pretty nice tech supporting its speedy connectivity, coming loaded with a powerful 1.5GHz quad-core processor, 13MP rear camera, beefy 2,420mAh battery and 4.7in 1280x720 315ppi HD.
Yet despite this the P2 is set to retail for a mid-tier €399.
Come its Q2 2013 release the P2's top end specs, fast data speeds and affordable price tag could make the device a surprise hit in the UK market.
Threat level - LOW: While the Ascend P2 is a good device the Huawei brand is nowhere near as popular as Samsung, so the firm should have no trouble seeing off its Chinese rival for sales.
The Sony Xperia Z
Announced at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas at the start of the year, the Xperia Z is Sony's current flagship smartphone.
Designed to reverse the Japanese firm's declining smartphone sales, Sony's loaded the Xperia Z with every innovation it could think of.
These include custom Bravia Engine 2 screen technology and a massive 13.1MP rear camera Sony claims is the best its ever made for a smartphone.
Having tested the Z we found there was some truth to Sony's claims and there is plenty to like about the device.
Add to this its rugged IP57 certification, that means its scratch, dust and even water resistant and we're thinking the Z may have already snapped up some of Samsung's potential customers.
Threat level - MEDIUM: The Xperia Z is a solid offering and its rugged features could tempt those fed up with breaking their £500 device with one drop, but Samsung's innovations and brand cache should help fend off this threat. If it adds rugged features too, it will definitely see off Sony.
Samsung Galaxy S4: The threats from Apple, Sony and HTC
V3 takes a look at the biggest rivals Samsung's flagship smartphone will have to beat
The HTC One
Taiwanese firm HTC unveiled its One handset a couple of weeks before MWC. Like all non-Samsung and Apple phone makers, HTC has had a tough time of it recently, with its market share significantly shrinking throughout 2012.
For this reason the One is a key release for HTC. Clearly aware of this HTC's chosen to go all out with the One, loading it with its brand new Sense 5.0 skin and Ultrapixel camera tech.
Ultrapixel is a technology HTC claims will finally end people's misplaced belief that megapixel count determines how good a camera is.
The company's gone so far as to boast the One's 4MP rear-facing camera will outperform most 13MP competitors.
The technology reportedly does this by capturing pixels that are 200 percent bigger than those recorded on its previous 8MP smartphone cameras.
The increased size reportedly removes a lot of the background noise recorded on higher megapixel cameras to improve image quality.
Having had some hands on time with the One our opening tests have shown there to be some truth to HTC's claims and the camera could be a key selling point for the device.
On the software side HTC's Sense 5.0 adds new ZOE camera and BlinkFeed features to the One.
ZOE enables the camera to support dual path encoding, letting it automatically shoot burst photos every three seconds when users are recording video.
BlinkFeed, meanwhile, is designed to act as a one stop information source for smartphone users, collating information from over 1,500 approved news outlets, including the BBC, Sky News and ITV as well as the user's Facebook, Twitter and email into one feed.
Threat level - HIGH: With all these features on display, the HTC One will undoubtedly be one of, if not the, biggest Android competitors facing the S4...for now
Future threats - Apple's next iPhone
As well as the existing Ascend P2, Xperia Z and HTC One handsets the S4 will also have to wrestle with Apple's iPhone, both the current iPhone 5 and future devices from its arch rival.
In the past Samsung has released its flagship Galaxy handset towards the end of the Apple iPhone's life cycle. The tactic means that the company has a chance to hog the limelight and get decent pre-order sales without having to directly compete with the next iPhone.
Yet, to date it's always been the next iPhone that has been the year's top selling smartphone and Samsung will no doubt know it's biggest threat will come from the West Coast.
Threat level - NUCLEAR: As ever, Apple will generate huge interest with its next device, and so Samsung will be hoping to take advantage of launching right in the middle of its rivals launch cycle.