As the title says, I'm an iPhone 4S owner who soon will become an "ex - iPhone owner". I just want to change OS 'cause I need some fresh air.
Anyway, I don't know which Android phone should I choose.
Obviously, the choice is between the HTC One and the Galaxy S4. I've already "deleted" the Nexus 4's choice.
I'll use the phone.. well, to do "normal" things, such as web surfing,
photos (I like, sometimes, to use my phone as a camera, especially when I'm abroad), social networking and stuff related to university.
So.. Thank you!
Both are great phones and really it's swings and roundabouts as to where you stand.
Sense or Touchwiz.
In a way I think Sense 5 and the HTC One is more 'apple'esque' so the switch to Android whilst still very different - isn't quite so abrasive as Touchwiz presents on the S4. Simple things like settings layout on the HTC One is a lot easier to navigate than the settings menu on the S4 which has things broken into tabs and categories that defy explanation at times.
HTC's Sense 5 aesthetic is consistent throughout the device - dialler - calendar - music - notes - tasks etc.. all have a coherent design ethos / look.
Touchwiz is more vibrant and in your face - however many of its software elements have conflicting design (such as dialler being big squares and yet music app being small round buttons) it often feels like each of the phones sections had a different design team working off a different hymn sheet.
Cameras...
S4's camera is very good indeed and could indeed function as your standalone camera. It's that good.
The HTC One is a social snapper - its designed for those times when your out and about with friends in low light situations and where other phones would struggle it produces better results. Likewise its lower resolution makes it ideal for facebooking, twittering and tumblr. But for outdoors Landscape shots the lower resolution struggles to compete compared to the S4.
Both have features like 'action shot' and both are great for portraiture (family photos).
So if your social snapping in bars / restaurants / dinner parties or at night the HTC one is a great snapper. As long as your not planning on printing them out anything bigger than 10x8 you should be fine.
But If you want a camera for landscapes, seascapes and such in outdoor daylight the S4 produces better shots because of the increased resolution - it simply is able to capture more detail in that scenario.
Performance
For me they both are much of a muchness. Speed wise you'll find little difference in real world usage for most things. The S4 does have little micro-stutters here and there (despite the recent patch) but they are not deal breaking by any means and only really noticeable when doing certain things in the launcher (quickly swiping through widgets or such).
Battery life is likewise much of a muchness. For me the One had better battery life but not a huge deal better by any means. But others have posted the other way round (vice-versa) too, so I think in general terms you'll find same battery life.
Storage.
S4 - if you can get the 32GB you'd be better off than buying the 16GB especially if your futurproofing. Whilst you can add additional storage - you will only be able to install music / photos to the microSD and not Apps. Jellybean / Google decided to not allow installing of applications to microSD.
HTC One - comes with 32GB as standard, but of course lacks the microSD.
Currently I have 11gb of music on my One, 72 additional applications installed, and the OS etc... I have 12gb free. I don't think I'll ever need any additional storage - but others might want to carry more music around especially if they dont want to stream via spottily / google music or similar.
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Both phones are excellent and it will come down to small differences that decide your preference. Really you should go to a store and just see if you can spend 20 minutes with each.
Either way you'll be buying a great handset no matter what
