Smartphone shoppers, you are spoilt for choice!   There are three really great smartphones for you to choose from - the HTC One M8, the Sony Xperia Z2, and the Samsung Galaxy S5.

So what's the difference and which one is worth your investment?

Let's start with design.  In this respect there is only one real winner here - the HTC One M8 with its beautiful aluminium body.

The whole finish just says classy, well made, well worth having. 

It has more exaggerated curves than the angular Sony Xperia Z2 and Galaxy S5, which makes it far prettier and more comfortable in the hand. 

On the downside, it's not water resistant like the Xperia Z2 and Galaxy S5, but it does resist fingerprints, helping to keep its impressive, glossy exterior. 

The Samsung Galaxy S5 has had an upgrade in its casing with the soft faux leather finish on the back, but it comes down to this Samsung: it's plastic and plastic can't compete with metal. 

Samsung may incorporate metal around the rim, but the plastic backing is no comparison to the sleeker metal bodies of the HTC One M8 and Xperia Z2. 

All three smartphones are powered by the Snapdragon 801 processor so they are the same in terms of performance, and the storage can also be increased on all three with microSD cards.

The screens are pretty indistinguishable, with both the One M8 and the Xperia Z2 coming with Full HD 1080p resolution screens.  The Xperia Z2 is just a fraction bigger - 5.2 inches over HTC's 5 inches. 

You won't really feel like you're missing out on anything in terms of size or resolution but you may notice the difference in the colors, with the Sony Xperia Z2's colors that little bit brighter thanks to Sony's 'True Color' technology.  The HTC One M8 is also outdone by the Samsung Galaxy S5's super sharp AMOLED screen. 

The start screens are similar but HTC One M8 comes with a new BlinkFeed feature conveniently collating news and social media updates all in one place. 

The Galaxy S5 has some elements that are just good fun, like the fingerprint scanner which doubles up for security and a convenient means of paying for goods, and the S Health app to help owners keep track of their activity levels, measuring things like how many steps you have taken during the day.

Battery life is the most impressive on the HTC One M8, lasting around 48 hours in tests, compared to Xperia Z2's one day and Samsung Galaxy S5's day and a half. 

But Sony Xperia Z2 has by far the best camera, being fitted with a 20.7-megapixel Exmore RS camera which takes much sharper pictures with stronger colors.  The HTC One M8's Ultrapixel 4-megapixel camera just can't come anywhere close and is more suited for social media pics rather than the family album. 

The Samsung Galaxy S5 comes in a close second with its 16-megapixel camera, which takes more crisp images over distance than the HTC One M8 but it's still not quite as good as the Xperia Z2. 

Where users might still prefer the HTC One M8 camera is in the way its dual lens makes it possible to play around with the shot without having to first engage a special mode like with the Galaxy S5.