The Consumer Electronics Show is now up and three powerful smartphones of the year are "no show" yet at the event. HTC Two M8, Samsung Galaxy S5 and Sony Xperia Z2 have been expected but could attend MWC instead. For now, here is a sneak preview from the giants before MWC happens.

HTC Two M8

Preliminary specifications of HTC Two M8 leaked by @evleaks and it includes Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor, 2 GB of RAM, 5 inches of 1,080 display screen, ultrapixel camera, 2.1 MP front-facing camera, Android 4.4 KitKat and Sense UI 6.0.

Some reports indicate that HTC Two is HTC One+ sporting Snapdragon 805 processor; however, Qualcomm's Snapdragon 805 won't arrive until later this year. In comparison, the M8 seems to be an improved version of the 2013 flagship smartphone, HTC One.

HTC One

HTC One+ or HTC Two

Android 4.1.2 factory, Android 4.3 update; Android 4.4 planned

Android 4.4 factory

4.7-inch display

5.0-inch display

Corning Gorilla Glass 2

Corning Gorilla Glass 3

4 MP Ultrapixel rear camera

6 to 8 MP Ultrapixel camera

HTC Sense UI 5

HTC Sense UI 6

No microSD card slot

MicroSD card supported

2,300 mAh battery

2,900 mAh battery

Although unconfirmed, these rumoured specs still show several improvements on the upcoming 2014 flagship from HTC that may appear at Mobile World Congress next month.

Samsung Galaxy S5

Unfortunately, Samsung didn't let the Galaxy S5 attend CES and could be planning to unleash it next month at the MWC. Samsung's vice president and head of design strategy Dong-hoon Chang has been reported on confirming rumours of an announcement at MWC 2014 are "about right."

Mr Chang also mentioned that the Galaxy S5 is made out of "new material" and that the company is reviewing whether it should put a flexible display on the upcoming smartphone. This means that Galaxy S5 is no longer following the plastic trend of former flagship smartphones such as Galaxy S4 and S3.

Some reported technical specifications included 5.25-inches of screen, 2,560 x 1,440 display resolution, LTPS LCD display screen from Sharp, 4 GB of RAM, 64-bit Exynos 6 processor and Android 4.4 KitKat OS.

Sony Xperia Z2

Xperia Z1's successor is also absent and seems to be covered by Xperia Z1s. The Xperia Z2 is expected to come out this year, probably appearing at the MWC if it remains a no show at CES. There are two codenames floating around regarding one of Sony's 2014 flagship Xperia smartphone - Avatar and Sirius - while the second one is coded as Canopus.

The Xperia Canopus is rumoured to be revealed by May 2014 and remains unconfirmed if it's a smartphone or a tablet - don't forget that Sony plans to release a Windows Phone this year.

Early reports point that Xperia Avatar is the destined successor of Xperia Z1, but Sony plans to launch two flagship devices for 2014 and one of them is the alleged Sirius.

The Sony Xperia Sirius features the following specifications:

- Android 4.4 KitKat

- 5.2 inches of screen display

- 2,560 x 1,440 display resolution

- Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 processor

- 3 GB of RAM

- 20.7 MP rear camera with Sony G lens

- 3,500 mAh battery

Sirius' technical details appear similar with rumoured specs of the Xperia Avatar including the screen, OS and camera. The Xperia Avatar has been reported to feature Xenon flash instead LED for better capture quality, wireless recharging for only an hour and the obvious water/dust resistances.