Samsung Galaxy Alpha vs. HTC One mini 2: Metal mania

Loudspeaker

The HTC One mini 2 has a definite advantage with its two front-facing speakers. For music playback they sound better and are louder too. The two speakers perform better for ringing and notifications too.

The Samsung Galaxy Alpha was quitter in general and its single speaker isn't as nice for music. Not that stereo speakers are a guarantee for loudness, the Sony Xperia Z3 Compact is slightly behind the Galaxy Alpha in terms of loudness (perhaps due to waterproofing).

Speakerphone test	Voice, dB	Pink noise/ Music, dB	Ringing phone, dB	Overall score
LG G2 mini	65.2	67.7	64.6	Below Average
Sony Xperia Z3 Compact	65.9	62.1	73.5	Average
Samsung Galaxy Alpha	66.6	61.7	75.7	Average
HTC One (M8)	65.8	64.7	75.7	Average
Samsung Galaxy S5	66.9	66.6	75.7	Good
HTC One mini 2	69.3	66.6	75.9	Good
Samsung Galaxy S5 mini	73.5	67.7	78.7	Very Good
Motorola Moto G 4G	77.1	76	83.3	Excellent

Winner: HTC One mini 2. HTC has done well to turn audio into its trademark. With the loudspeaker part nailed, it has to win the next chapter too for complete audio domination.

The Samsung Galaxy Alpha loudspeaker is usable for notifications and it's nice that it doesn't get muffled when you put the phone on a table but there are few other good things about it.

Audio quality

The Galaxy Alpha does an excellent as far as the quality of its audio output is concerned. The Samsung smartphone has a perfect output when it's connected to an active external amplifier and doesn't allow for much deterioration when you plug in a pair of headphones

However, what it faced here is the One mini 2 - arguably the best performing smartphone when it comes to music playback. The HTC handset does everything perfectly right, which allowed it to stroll to the victory even with such fierce competition.

And here go the results so you can see for yourselves.

Test	Frequency response	Noise level	Dynamic range	THD	IMD + Noise	Stereo crosstalk
Samsung Galaxy Alpha	+0.01, -0.04	-96.6	92.8	0.0058	0.0091	-97.1
Samsung Galaxy Alpha (headphones attached)	+0.04, -0.01	-95.7	92.7	0.013	0.033	-65.6
HTC One mini 2	+0.02, -0.09	-94.8	93.8	0.010	0.011	-93.5
HTC One mini 2 (headphones attached)	+0.08, -0.03	-94.9	93.8	0.028	0.022	-90.1

Samsung Galaxy Alpha frequency response

HTC One mini 2 frequency response

You can learn more about the whole testing process here.

Winner: HTC One mini 2. The Samsung Galaxy Alpha does very well in terms of audio output and will please even demanding audiophiles, but it's still no match for the One mini 2.