There's little doubt that 2013 is shaping up to be a landmark year for the mobile industry. Alongside the arrival of 8-core chipsets like the Samsung Exynos 5 Octa, the proliferation of Full HD displays at the high-end of the smartphone market is set to dazzle consumers' retinas and tempt them to part with their hard-earned coinage in equal measure. So far, we've witnessed the blockbuster arrival of the Sony Xperia Z at CES, while the HTC Butterfly made waves towards the end of 2012 and kickstarted the Full HD smartphone revolution. But how do the two trendsetting products compare? 

Size and weight

Sony's Xperia Z is one of the most slender devices on the market, sizing up at just 7.9mm in depth and tipping the scales to the tune of 146g. The HTC Butterfly has a larger girth of 9.08mm, but weighs marginally less at 140g and is also a shade taller at 143mm (versus the Xperia Z's 139mm).

Display

Both devices feature 5in screens and look like they're really going to please the eyes, offering Full HD resolutions of 1,920 x 1,080 pixels at a stunning density of 441ppi.

Camera

The Xperia Z looks like it has one of the very best cameras in the high-end smartphone segment, sporting a 13.1-megapixel Sony Exmor RS sensor. This sets it apart from a lot of its rivals which - like the Butterfly - feature 8-megapixel primary snappers. The Z's 2.2-megapixel front camera also shades the 2.1-megapixel auxillary shooter found on the HTC device - but only just.

Processor and battery

Both the Xperia Z and the Butterfly feature a Snapdragon S4 SoC, comprised of Krait CPUs clocked at 1.5GHz and an Adreno 320 GPU. Sony's new flagship packs a 2,300mAh battery with a claimed 3G talk time of up to 11 hours - a spec that slightly shades the HTC device's 2,020mAh battery.

Software

In the Xperia Z and the HTC Butterfly, the Android platform has two of its more tempting propositions and both ship with Jelly Bean 4.1. Die hard fans of Google's mobile OS will find themselves leaning towards the HTC device, however, as it is immediately upgradeable to Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. The Butterfly also features Sense 4+, HTC's custom UI overlay.

Storage and memory

The Xperia Z and HTC Butterfly will both debut with 16GB of on-board storage and content hoarders will be pleased to note that they each feature a microSD card slot for cheap and easy augmentation. Both handsets will also pack 2GB of RAM under the hood.

Connectivity and wireless

Though UK network availability has still to be confirmed, the Sony Xperia Z and the HTC Butterfly both support the LTE standard and we would expect the duo to join EE's 4G party following their consumer release. Both devices also feature NFC technology, but neither can charge wirelessly.

Extras

Until the Xperia Z arrived, ITProPortal's spec comparisons didn't really need a section for special features, but the water and dust resistant Sony flagship changed all that. The HTC Butterfly doesn't pack any extra swag.

Price, availability and opinion

Following its European launch at MWC in February, the Sony Xperia Z will hit the UK on 1 March. The device is already up for pre-order via Amazon and pricing has been provisionally set at £550.

Unfortunately, the HTC Butterfly doesn't look like it's going to be officially available in the UK, but you can get it as a grey import - DigitalRev is currently flogging it for £579 SIM-free and there's also generally a few going on eBay for a similar price.

That's a fairly big ask in our opinion, and one we wouldn't necessarily indulge. The Butterfly is a nice enough device, but it's chunkier than its Japanese rival and thoroughly put to shame by the Xperia Z's snazzy camera and ultra-durable extra features.

As far as UK and European markets are concerned, it's going to be worth waiting to see how the 4.7in HTC M7 shapes up, as it too is expected to feature a Full HD display and may compare more favourably to the Xperia Z across the board. But, if you absolutely have to have a new-gen handset in the next week or so, then Sony's new flagship is the obvious choice.

For more, why not check out how the Sony Xperia Z compares to the Samsung Galaxy Note 2?