Samsung has officially taken the wraps of its much-rumoured Galaxy Alpha smartphone, introducing the first metal device to the South Korean giant's portfolio.

It looks set to be a good-looking device, but how will it compare to the HTC One M8 consistently praised for its build quality? We have put the two devices up against each other to see what the differences are and how the Samsung Galaxy Alpha stacks up to the HTC One (M8).

The Samsung Galaxy Alpha is smaller, slimmer and lighter

The Samsung Galaxy Alpha measures 132.4 x 65.5 x 6.7mm and weighs just 114g, making it one of Samsung's slimmest devices yet.

It also makes it slimmer and lighter than the HTC One M8 that measures 146.3 x 70.6 x 9.3mm and hits the scales at 160g.

Both offer a metal structure, but the Galaxy Alpha features a smooth matt finish on the rear, while the HTC One M8 is housed in an aluminium casing all around it.

You'll also find the signature front-facing speakers on the HTC One M8, along with capacitive buttons, while the Samsung Galaxy Alpha follows the style synonymous with the Galaxy range, offering a centre home button and capacitive buttons on either side.

The HTC One M8 has a bigger and better display

The Samsung Galaxy Alpha has a 4.7-inch 1280 x 720 Super AMOLED display that delivers a pixel density of 312ppi, while the HTC One M8 offers a 5-inch 1920 x 1080 resolution display that features a 440ppi.

This means the HTC One M8 will offering the winning display for many as it is not only larger but it will be sharper too thanks to the increased number of pixels packed in per inch.

Better front-facing camera on the HTC One M8

The rear cameras on these two devices are tricky one to compare as HTC opt for its UltraPixel technology with the HTC One M8 while the Samsung Galaxy Alpha has a 12-megapixel rear snapper.

The HTC One M8 also features a secondary lens that's purpose is to capture depth information but without testing the Galaxy Alpha's offering, it would be impossible to compare the two.

You should get better selfies from the HTC One M8 however, as it comes with a 5-megapixel front snapper in comparison to the Samsung Galaxy Alpha's 2.1-megapixel offering.

One thing worth mentioning is the Samsung Galaxy Alpha is capable of shooting video in UHD 4K (3840 x 2160) at 30fps, while the HTC One M8 can only manage 1080p Full HD recording.

Samsung Galaxy Alpha for processor, HTC One M8 for battery and storage

The Samsung Galaxy Alpha will come with either an octa-core processor comprising a 1.8GHz quad-core chip and a 1.3Ghz quad-core chip, or a 2.5Ghz quad-core chip.

The HTC One M8 on the other hand, features the 2.3GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 quad-core processor so the Samsung Galaxy Alpha may be a fraction faster but it will be very slight.

Both devices come with 2GB of RAM and the Samsung Galaxy Alpha has 32GB of internal storage, while the HTC One M8 comes with 16GB.

That said, the HTC One M8 offers microSD expansion up to 128GB, while the Samsung Galaxy Alpha doesn't support microSD meaning once you have filled the 32GB you will have to start deleting.

In terms of battery, the HTC One M8 wins the battle here too with its 2600mAh capacity compared to the Samsung Galaxy Alpha's 1860mAh battery.

Additional features

Both devices will run on the latest version of Android KitKat 4.4 and both offer individual features such as power saving modes and camera features.

They also both come with the usual connectivity functions including Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and NFC, along with a range of sensors.

Where the Samsung Galaxy Alpha does win a few points back is the on board fingerprint reader and heart rate sensor that the HTC One M8 has neither of.

Price

Samsung has announced the Galaxy Alpha will be available at the beginning of September and although no price has been confirmed, the device was previously rumoured to hit the £549 mark.

If the rumour turns out to be accurate, it would make it the same price as the HTC One M8.

Conclusion

The Samsung Galaxy Alpha is slimmer, lighter, smaller and offers a slightly faster processor than the HTC One M8.

The HTC One M8 offers a bigger and better display, along with a bigger battery capacity, microSD support and a better front-facing camera but the Samsung Galaxy Alpha adds a fingerprint reader, heart rate sensor and 4K video recording to the mix.

It's a pretty tough call between these two devices and as both offer a premium metal build with their own individual styles, ultimately it is likely to come down to which you prefer in terms of design.