My Observation of the One and GS4

[KAB2010]

I use the iPhone 5, but have used many Android devices from basically all the major manufacturers. The One and GS4 had me very curious about switching, unfortunately they couldn't quite sway me enough yet. Keep in mind, I only used them briefly in stores, but have researched and read forums in depth. This will be my opinion and you may find it subjective.

GS4: amazing screen to body ratio, very vivid. not as fast as it should be, noticed some lag but nothing major. very thin and feels well built. touchwiz menus are very subpar, the blue bars at the top are just plain ugly. quick settings in notification are great. menu button on the left is nice to have. the space between the dock and the first app row is horrible, so much wasted space and no excuse for this. it simply does not make sense.

HTC One: best screen quality ever. very accurate and true to life, and more usable in sunlight. the screen to body ratio makes the screen seem smaller than it is, and it is a little too narrow like the iPhone 5. much more fluid and quicker than the GS4 while just scrolling around and clicking through things. I'm not a big fan of Sense 5. forcing facebook into pictures, not allowing to disable blinkfeed without root, and screwing up the ease of adding icons to homescreen is ridiculous. these people get paid to get these things right, I don't get paid for that and still could've given them this simple advice.

I like Android and iOS equally, but if the iPhone allowed me to set default apps, add quick settings to the notification center without jailbreak, and made the screen bigger I'd be perfectly happy and not want to switch. I did give these two Android phones a chance to sway me, and the little annoyances they had hindered it. I'm not interested in rooting and jumping through hoops to make things work as they should. When I pay top dollar, it should work mostly perfect as is.

(note: I know this wasn't typed very neatly, but I was just writing everything down as it came to my mind. I apologize if it's annoying to read lol.)

 

[The iGentleman]

I use the iPhone 5, but have used many Android devices from basically all the major manufacturers. The One and GS4 had me very curious about switching, unfortunately they couldn't quite sway me enough yet. Keep in mind, I only used them briefly in stores, but have researched and read forums in depth. This will be my opinion and you may find it subjective.

GS4: amazing screen to body ratio, very vivid. not as fast as it should be, noticed some lag but nothing major. very thin and feels well built. touchwiz menus are very subpar, the blue bars at the top are just plain ugly. quick settings in notification are great. menu button on the left is nice to have. the space between the dock and the first app row is horrible, so much wasted space and no excuse for this. it simply does not make sense.

HTC One: best screen quality ever. very accurate and true to life, and more usable in sunlight. the screen to body ratio makes the screen seem smaller than it is, and it is a little too narrow like the iPhone 5. much more fluid and quicker than the GS4 while just scrolling around and clicking through things. I'm not a big fan of Sense 5. forcing facebook into pictures, not allowing to disable blinkfeed without root, and screwing up the ease of adding icons to homescreen is ridiculous. these people get paid to get these things right, I don't get paid for that and still could've given them this simple advice.

I like Android and iOS equally, but if the iPhone allowed me to set default apps, add quick settings to the notification center without jailbreak, and made the screen bigger I'd be perfectly happy and not want to switch. I did give these two Android phones a chance to sway me, and the little annoyances they had hindered it. I'm not interested in rooting and jumping through hoops to make things work as they should. When I pay top dollar, it should work mostly perfect as is.

(note: I know this wasn't typed very neatly, but I was just writing everything down as it came to my mind. I apologize if it's annoying to read lol.)

My question is, why don't you hold all phones to the same standard? It seems that the shortcomings you found on the GS4 and the One are inexcusable, yet the iPhone's are excusable. What makes one okay and the other not okay? You say you're not interested in "rooting and jumping through hoops", yet 2 of the 3 things you complained about with the iPhone would require a jailbreak to remedy (and the third can't be fixed). Are you willing to jailbreak to remedy those things, or do you just give the a pass? If the answer is yes, then why doesn't the same standard apply to other phones? If the answer is no, my question remains the same, why doesn't the same standard apply to other phones?

 

[Ddyracer]

I use the iPhone 5, but have used many Android devices from basically all the major manufacturers. The One and GS4 had me very curious about switching, unfortunately they couldn't quite sway me enough yet. Keep in mind, I only used them briefly in stores, but have researched and read forums in depth. This will be my opinion and you may find it subjective.

GS4: amazing screen to body ratio, very vivid. not as fast as it should be, noticed some lag but nothing major. very thin and feels well built. touchwiz menus are very subpar, the blue bars at the top are just plain ugly. quick settings in notification are great. menu button on the left is nice to have. the space between the dock and the first app row is horrible, so much wasted space and no excuse for this. it simply does not make sense.

HTC One: best screen quality ever. very accurate and true to life, and more usable in sunlight. the screen to body ratio makes the screen seem smaller than it is, and it is a little too narrow like the iPhone 5. much more fluid and quicker than the GS4 while just scrolling around and clicking through things. I'm not a big fan of Sense 5. forcing facebook into pictures, not allowing to disable blinkfeed without root, and screwing up the ease of adding icons to homescreen is ridiculous. these people get paid to get these things right, I don't get paid for that and still could've given them this simple advice.

I like Android and iOS equally, but if the iPhone allowed me to set default apps, add quick settings to the notification center without jailbreak, and made the screen bigger I'd be perfectly happy and not want to switch. I did give these two Android phones a chance to sway me, and the little annoyances they had hindered it. I'm not interested in rooting and jumping through hoops to make things work as they should. When I pay top dollar, it should work mostly perfect as is.

(note: I know this wasn't typed very neatly, but I was just writing everything down as it came to my mind. I apologize if it's annoying to read lol.)

You need to seriously take a look at the N4 made by LG and Google. It has none of this stupid skins shenanigans and pure jelly is fast, and has little lag.

Heck, the ole nexus is so smooth and I assume the N4 is a bit more speedy.

 

[Fernandez21]

My question is, why don't you hold all phones to the same standard? It seems that the shortcomings you found on the GS4 and the One are inexcusable, yet the iPhone's are excusable. What makes one okay and the other not okay? You say you're not interested in "rooting and jumping through hoops", yet 2 of the 3 things you complained about with the iPhone would require a jailbreak to remedy (and the third can't be fixed). Are you willing to jailbreak to remedy those things, or do you just give the a pass? If the answer is yes, then why doesn't the same standard apply to other phones? If the answer is no, my question remains the same, why doesn't the same standard apply to other phones?

You do realize that not all short comings are created equal for everyone, right? For me a non removable battery is no big deal, for others they are deal breakers. So maybe those 3 things he complained about on the iPhone aren't as big a deal as the ones he complained about the HTC One and S4.

 

[The iGentleman]

You do realize that not all short comings are created equal for everyone, right? For me a non removable battery is no big deal, for others they are deal breakers. So maybe those 3 things he complained about on the iPhone aren't as big a deal as the ones he complained about the HTC One and S4.

..hence why I asked HIM why..

 

[Zwhaler]

I still think the Note 2 is better than all 3 of those phones

1. iPhone: screen is too small for my liking and I much prefer Android after switching over which is of course a personal preference. Speaker quality is way worse on the iPhone plus no HD YouTube videos over LTE in native app you have to be kidding me. Lack of inertial scrolling in apps bugs me too, but that's a small issue.

2. HTC One: I dislike Sense strongly and the screen was nice but the trade off isn't worth it for me. I like TouchWiz quick settings and overall UI much better, plus the battery life on the One isn't as good.

3. Galaxy S4: I checked it out and the screen is really nice, even though when I look closely I can see the diagonal diamond subpixel arrangement and like RGB better, the phone didn't feel any faster than my Note 2 even though the GS4 is at 1.9GHz. Certain apps like Reddit Sync Pro feel much better on the Note 2 maybe I'm just so used to it, also web browsing was okay on the GS4 but I'm used to a larger screen for such tasks and they don't work as well on a sub 5" screen in my opinion.

 

[strausd]

I still think the Note 2 is better than all 3 of those phones

1. iPhone: screen is too small for my liking and I much prefer Android after switching over which is of course a personal preference. Speaker quality is way worse on the iPhone plus no HD YouTube videos over LTE in native app you have to be kidding me. Lack of inertial scrolling in apps bugs me too, but that's a small issue.

2. HTC One: I dislike Sense strongly and the screen was nice but the trade off isn't worth it for me. I like TouchWiz quick settings and overall UI much better, plus the battery life on the One isn't as good.

3. Galaxy S4: I checked it out and the screen is really nice, even though when I look closely I can see the diagonal diamond subpixel arrangement and like RGB better, the phone didn't feel any faster than my Note 2 even though the GS4 is at 1.9GHz. Certain apps like Reddit Sync Pro feel much better on the Note 2 maybe I'm just so used to it, also web browsing was okay on the GS4 but I'm used to a larger screen for such tasks and they don't work as well on a sub 5" screen in my opinion.

A Note 2 will also give him an excuse to go shopping for new pants with larger pockets. Talk about a win win

 

[LIVEFRMNYC]

My question is, why don't you hold all phones to the same standard? It seems that the shortcomings you found on the GS4 and the One are inexcusable, yet the iPhone's are excusable. What makes one okay and the other not okay? You say you're not interested in "rooting and jumping through hoops", yet 2 of the 3 things you complained about with the iPhone would require a jailbreak to remedy (and the third can't be fixed). Are you willing to jailbreak to remedy those things, or do you just give the a pass? If the answer is yes, then why doesn't the same standard apply to other phones? If the answer is no, my question remains the same, why doesn't the same standard apply to other phones?

A great point that many should consider.

 

[adder7712]

Load up custom AOKP/AOSP roms on both and they both will be silky smooth. That can be said for my old S II, which now runs SuperNexus.

 

[KAB2010]

My question is, why don't you hold all phones to the same standard? It seems that the shortcomings you found on the GS4 and the One are inexcusable, yet the iPhone's are excusable. What makes one okay and the other not okay? You say you're not interested in "rooting and jumping through hoops", yet 2 of the 3 things you complained about with the iPhone would require a jailbreak to remedy (and the third can't be fixed). Are you willing to jailbreak to remedy those things, or do you just give the a pass? If the answer is yes, then why doesn't the same standard apply to other phones? If the answer is no, my question remains the same, why doesn't the same standard apply to other phones?

Quick settings and default app abilities are nice, but not a deal breaker. Safari works very well as does the messaging app, which are two things I might would want to change depending on the android phone. The screen size is the only thing that really kills me. That's where the GS4 wowed me. Also, I'd have to buy off contract so by selling my iphone 5 on eBay it would still cost around 100-150 so I need a great reason to do so.

----------

You need to seriously take a look at the N4 made by LG and Google. It has none of this stupid skins shenanigans and pure jelly is fast, and has little lag.

Heck, the ole nexus is so smooth and I assume the N4 is a bit more speedy.

I tried the Nexus. Wonderful phone except for the HORRIBLE camera quality. My iphone 4 took better pics, and of course my iphone 5 does. I really don't know why that bothers me cause I hardly take pictures. I guess I just would rather have it and not need it than not have it when I may need it.

 

[jamezr]

A Note 2 will also give him an excuse to go shopping for new pants with larger pockets. Talk about a win win

Almost spit out my coffee.....

 

[Stuntman06]

the space between the dock and the first app row is horrible, so much wasted space and no excuse for this. it simply does not make sense.

I didn't like this either. What I ended up doing is install an alternate launcher. It allowed me to use that space by adding an extra row for screen objects (icons or widgets).

 

[KAB2010]

I didn't like this either. What I ended up doing is install an alternate launcher. It allowed me to use that space by adding an extra row for screen objects (icons or widgets).

The problem I have with alternate launchers is they don't replace anything except for the home screen (and maybe the app launcher?). Settings and what not still won't go together with it. I don't know enough about rooting to feel comfortable going that route. While there are threads about root, I haven't seen any that answer all of my simple questions in simple terminology.

 

[chagla]

... I did give these two Android phones a chance to sway me, and the little annoyances they had hindered it. I'm not interested in rooting and jumping through hoops to make things work as they should. When I pay top dollar, it should work mostly perfect as is.

(note: I know this wasn't typed very neatly, but I was just writing everything down as it came to my mind. I apologize if it's annoying to read lol.)

who says you have to "root" Android phone to make it "work"? it's really a misconception. on ios jailbreak is a must and the first thing one must do. on Android, "rooting" is for hardcore geeks because 97% of the customizations do NOT require any technical knowledge or rooting.

it's just a matter of downloading the preferred app from the market.

you have many choices, you don't have to download replacement apps from market if you don't want.

can you tell us what actually doesn't work on android that requires you to root?

 

[dwaynewilliams]

I saw the HTC One in the store and was really looking forward to the phone being a thing of beauty. A lot of tech sites said that it was the best looking smartphone ever made, even better than the iPhone 5. I have to admit, it is an attractive device, but it isn't as good looking as the iPhone 5. Don't believe the hype.

 

[sc4rf4c3]

I saw the HTC One in the store and was really looking forward to the phone being a thing of beauty. A lot of tech sites said that it was the best looking smartphone ever made, even better than the iPhone 5. I have to admit, it is an attractive device, but it isn't as good looking as the iPhone 5. Don't believe the hype.

So we should believe you?

 

[KAB2010]

who says you have to "root" Android phone to make it "work"? it's really a misconception. on ios jailbreak is a must and the first thing one must do. on Android, "rooting" is for hardcore geeks because 97% of the customizations do NOT require any technical knowledge or rooting.

it's just a matter of downloading the preferred app from the market.

you have many choices, you don't have to download replacement apps from market if you don't want.

can you tell us what actually doesn't work on android that requires you to root?

Annoyances that would require root most likely:
Well on the HTC One.. turning the back key into a menu button, disabling the annoying black menu bar on screen, disabling facebook integration while keeping the stock gallery without completely deleting the facebook app I regularly use.
On the S4, making it lag much less without having to disable everything on the phone.
On the Nexus 4, increasing battery life with a better kernel, and making the display calibrated correctly.

 

[David58117]

Annoyances that would require root most likely:
Well on the HTC One.. turning the back key into a menu button, disabling the annoying black menu bar on screen, disabling facebook integration while keeping the stock gallery without completely deleting the facebook app I regularly use.
On the S4, making it lag much less without having to disable everything on the phone.
On the Nexus 4, increasing battery life with a better kernel, and making the display calibrated correctly.

I havent used an s4, but if its like the s3 - the "lag" is actually transition speed. Its easily changed in the settings menu. Apps open almost instantly when its off..

 

[MRU]

I havent used an s4, but if its like the s3 - the "lag" is actually transition speed. Its easily changed in the settings menu. Apps open almost instantly when its off..

Turning animation speed to .5 or better still off helps, but there are still little stutters and traces of lag (noticeable but not game breaking).

I honestly think its down to Samsung memory management on S4. Those comparing it to the S3 & Note 2 have also noticed the S4 tends to use far more memory by default than the S3. I noticed a lot of Samsung services keep popping up and run in the backgound even when they haven't been loaded or initiated by the user.

Turning off Air Gestures / Air View / smart stay / smart scroll also improve performance and Emory footprint, though it still can remain very high when in comparison to other devices running same apps. That means it is Touchwiz on the S4 that's eating up resources.

It needs more optimisation, hopefully the patch they are meant to be pushing out addresses a lot of that. The end user shouldn't have to turn off features that come as default and features that set the device apart in order to improve performance of that device. If a device has 'features' that detrimentally effect user experience, the manufacturer should ave optimised them more or not put them in in the first place.

Honestly to me it felt Samsung added a lot of stuff, but in the process decided it didn't need to refine anything or optimise what was already there. Instead its like it just hoped the extra grunt of the processor would be enough, without taking into consideration that perhaps it wasn't, and pushing the device harder without optimisation is detrimental to user experience and battery life.

 

[strausd]

The problem I have with alternate launchers is they don't replace anything except for the home screen (and maybe the app launcher?). Settings and what not still won't go together with it. I don't know enough about rooting to feel comfortable going that route. While there are threads about root, I haven't seen any that answer all of my simple questions in simple terminology.

I have been an iPhone user for years. Switched to the Nexus 4 in November and haven't looked back. Let me give you my simple breakdown.

Out of the box, an iPhone fulfilled 80% of my needs. After some customization and jailbreaking, that only bumped it up to 85%.

Out of the box, my Nexus 4 fulfilled 60% of my needs at MOST. After rooting and installing custom ROMs and kernels, it now fulfills 90%-95% of my needs.

To get the best out of an Android device, my experience has been that it has to be rooted and have a custom ROM. That is something you might need to take into considering and just understand going into a switch like this.

Setting it up will take time and headaches. Ultimately, is that additional 5%-10% worth it? Only you can answer that.

 

[kasakka]

Quick settings and default app abilities are nice, but not a deal breaker. Safari works very well as does the messaging app, which are two things I might would want to change depending on the android phone. The screen size is the only thing that really kills me. That's where the GS4 wowed me. Also, I'd have to buy off contract so by selling my iphone 5 on eBay it would still cost around 100-150 so I need a great reason to do so.

To me the iPhone 5 is about the perfect size, though I suppose they could cram a slightly larger display on it without changing the proportions much. Most Android phones are just too damn large to me nowadays and the ones that aren't are just ridiculously bad specs for new phones. I mean the upcoming Galaxy S4 Mini is apparently going to have a lower res screen than my iPhone 4.

I'm planning to move to Android because I'm tired of having to jailbreak just to get simple things like equal performance in 3rd party browsers, having autocorrect work like I want or be able to set default apps. That said, I'm not sure if I'd be all that fond of having to root the phone just to get it to work like I want. Right now I'm waiting for the Motorola X Phone and hoping it fixes the problems Nexus 4 has (battery life, camera quality, glass back) while still staying on stock Android for easy updates.

 

[daveathall]

To me the iPhone 5 is about the perfect size, though I suppose they could cram a slightly larger display on it without changing the proportions much. Most Android phones are just too damn large to me nowadays and the ones that aren't are just ridiculously bad specs for new phones. I mean the upcoming Galaxy S4 Mini is apparently going to have a lower res screen than my iPhone 4.

I'm planning to move to Android because I'm tired of having to jailbreak just to get simple things like equal performance in 3rd party browsers, having autocorrect work like I want or be able to set default apps. That said, I'm not sure if I'd be all that fond of having to root the phone just to get it to work like I want. Right now I'm waiting for the Motorola X Phone and hoping it fixes the problems Nexus 4 has (battery life, camera quality, glass back) while still staying on stock Android for easy updates.

I must admit that I think it is an optical illusion, the S3 in real terms wasn't that much larger than an iPhone 5, the vibrant screen just made it seem that way, the S4 is even smaller than the S3 with a larger screen.

Here is my iPhone 5 on top of my S3.

 

[MRU]

I must admit that I think it is an optical illusion, the S3 in real terms wasn't that much larger than an iPhone 5, the vibrant screen just made it seem that way, the S4 is even smaller than the S3 with a larger screen.

Here is my iPhone 5 on top of my S3.


Image

I did this as soon as I opened mine. Yep when you put the 5 on either the one or the S4 they arent as big as they first appear to be

 

[dojoman]

I must admit that I think it is an optical illusion, the S3 in real terms wasn't that much larger than an iPhone 5, the vibrant screen just made it seem that way, the S4 is even smaller than the S3 with a larger screen.

Here is my iPhone 5 on top of my S3.


Image

So what you're saying is iPhone5 screen isn't as small as people think.

 

[Stuntman06]

Most Android phones are just too damn large to me nowadays

That's what I thought when I first got the S3. My previous phone had a 3.7" screen. I got used to the larger size after a few weeks and it doesn't feel too big now.