After 4 iPhones, a Galaxy S3 and then a Note 2, I've decided to skip the GS4 and go with the HTC One.
Wasn't sure I would like the HTC1 as I'm pretty used to the Samsung way of doing things but I'm happy to say it's been a non issue and I'm thrilled with the HTC1 so far.
Biggest deal for me is the screen. I don't know why this doesn't get mentioned more often but the Samsung OLED screens are practically unusable when you have sunglasses on. This was a huge issue for me in the car as you couldn't even sneak a quick glance at the phone for GPS without flipping off the shades. Even when parked I couldn't read email on the phone without taking off my sunglasses.
The HTC1 with its super bright LCD screen has been no problem either in bright sun or in the car with sunglasses on. VERY happy about this. (and the 1080p screen resolution is breath taking... you really have to see this to believe it)
Sealed battery is also a non-issue. After a few charge cycles the battery life has been really good and easily gets me through the day. It's not Note 2 good but good enough. I never once replaced or carried a spare with my Samsungs either and I'm guessing that is the same for the majority of users.
SDcard slot is not missed. I'm way more enjoying the extra internal memory and personally I found the SDcard was NOT a good substitute for additional internal memory and also created another security headache if the phone was lost or stolen. When I found out the new S4 only had 8GB of usable internal memory, that was the deal breaker. I am lovin' the 32GB internal memory on the HTC1 and I will never again be going with less.
I was worried about the button layout on the HTC1 and was also worried about Sense vs Touchwiz but again, you get used to both pretty quickly. I see NO lag at all on the HTC1 and Sense is pretty snappy. It's not perfect, just different but it gets the job done and feels a little less bloated than Touchwiz.
I was also missing the Touchwiz tool bar in the notification pull down but that was easily solved for free with "Power Toggles" from the play store. Power Toggles even puts the battery percentage indicator on the notification bar.
Other things I like on the HTC One are minor ones like how it doesn't turn the screen on when I plug or unplug the charger cable. That was a nuisance on the Samsungs. The sound is fantastic with stereo speakers and built in Beats Audio. I have to disable Beats in the car though as it's a little exaggerated on the bass for my tastes.
I'm also one of the weirdos that actually likes a top power button. It gives me more space on the sides of the phone to grab it and pull it out of my ProClip cradle without accidentally pressing the side power button.
Only negatives so far are charge speed. It's pretty fast up to 90% or so but seems to take a while for that last 10%. I think HTC does this on purpose to extend the battery life but I charge at night so not a big deal. I'd also like the top power button to be centered but again minor. Samsung has also made some serious strides in backing up your phone. HTC, not so much. Easily solved however with third party backup apps.
All in all an outstanding device and I'm loving the screen, the build quality, the sound and the extra internal memory. If you're looking at a GS4, do yourself a favour and at least check out the HTC1. It may or may not be for you but it's more than a worthy competitor. (and take your sunglasses with you to view the screens side by side and you'll see what I mean)
Cheers!
P.S. Just in case anyone was wondering why I switched from my Note 2... Well, I'll tell ya! I was starting to get very painful tendonitis in my right thumb from the width of the phone and from stretching my thumb to reach the buttons at the bottom. If I moved the phone up in my hand to reach the buttons it would get top heavy and try to flip back over my fingers and out of my grasp. This resulted in drops a couple of times. Definitely a two handed phone. My software was also getting wonky and starting to corrupt contacts, etc. and that was the final straw. (in fairness though a new firmware load probably would have fixed that but still doesn't explain the corruption)
P.S.S. Also got a kick out of case shopping for the HTC1. I went to a ton of shops in the malls and almost without exception, all the guys behind the counters were personally rockin' new HTC1's. That tells me pretty clearly that HTC has a well deserved hit on their hands.
Wasn't sure I would like the HTC1 as I'm pretty used to the Samsung way of doing things but I'm happy to say it's been a non issue and I'm thrilled with the HTC1 so far.
Biggest deal for me is the screen. I don't know why this doesn't get mentioned more often but the Samsung OLED screens are practically unusable when you have sunglasses on. This was a huge issue for me in the car as you couldn't even sneak a quick glance at the phone for GPS without flipping off the shades. Even when parked I couldn't read email on the phone without taking off my sunglasses.
The HTC1 with its super bright LCD screen has been no problem either in bright sun or in the car with sunglasses on. VERY happy about this. (and the 1080p screen resolution is breath taking... you really have to see this to believe it)
Sealed battery is also a non-issue. After a few charge cycles the battery life has been really good and easily gets me through the day. It's not Note 2 good but good enough. I never once replaced or carried a spare with my Samsungs either and I'm guessing that is the same for the majority of users.
SDcard slot is not missed. I'm way more enjoying the extra internal memory and personally I found the SDcard was NOT a good substitute for additional internal memory and also created another security headache if the phone was lost or stolen. When I found out the new S4 only had 8GB of usable internal memory, that was the deal breaker. I am lovin' the 32GB internal memory on the HTC1 and I will never again be going with less.
I was worried about the button layout on the HTC1 and was also worried about Sense vs Touchwiz but again, you get used to both pretty quickly. I see NO lag at all on the HTC1 and Sense is pretty snappy. It's not perfect, just different but it gets the job done and feels a little less bloated than Touchwiz.
I was also missing the Touchwiz tool bar in the notification pull down but that was easily solved for free with "Power Toggles" from the play store. Power Toggles even puts the battery percentage indicator on the notification bar.
Other things I like on the HTC One are minor ones like how it doesn't turn the screen on when I plug or unplug the charger cable. That was a nuisance on the Samsungs. The sound is fantastic with stereo speakers and built in Beats Audio. I have to disable Beats in the car though as it's a little exaggerated on the bass for my tastes.
I'm also one of the weirdos that actually likes a top power button. It gives me more space on the sides of the phone to grab it and pull it out of my ProClip cradle without accidentally pressing the side power button.
Only negatives so far are charge speed. It's pretty fast up to 90% or so but seems to take a while for that last 10%. I think HTC does this on purpose to extend the battery life but I charge at night so not a big deal. I'd also like the top power button to be centered but again minor. Samsung has also made some serious strides in backing up your phone. HTC, not so much. Easily solved however with third party backup apps.
All in all an outstanding device and I'm loving the screen, the build quality, the sound and the extra internal memory. If you're looking at a GS4, do yourself a favour and at least check out the HTC1. It may or may not be for you but it's more than a worthy competitor. (and take your sunglasses with you to view the screens side by side and you'll see what I mean)
Cheers!
P.S. Just in case anyone was wondering why I switched from my Note 2... Well, I'll tell ya! I was starting to get very painful tendonitis in my right thumb from the width of the phone and from stretching my thumb to reach the buttons at the bottom. If I moved the phone up in my hand to reach the buttons it would get top heavy and try to flip back over my fingers and out of my grasp. This resulted in drops a couple of times. Definitely a two handed phone. My software was also getting wonky and starting to corrupt contacts, etc. and that was the final straw. (in fairness though a new firmware load probably would have fixed that but still doesn't explain the corruption)
P.S.S. Also got a kick out of case shopping for the HTC1. I went to a ton of shops in the malls and almost without exception, all the guys behind the counters were personally rockin' new HTC1's. That tells me pretty clearly that HTC has a well deserved hit on their hands.
Last edited:
