Samsung Galaxy S4 or HTC One

[onthecouchagain]

Boy... very tempted to order the HTC One developer's edition, especially because it's the same price as my unlocked iPhone, but the value is so much better.

14 day return policy from the day it's activated, so two days after April 18th... That just covers the S4 launch. I could in theory make my decision then....

 

[F123D]

Do it. You know you want to.

Even I'm tempted just for the fun of it.

 

[Donvald]

Personally i dont see the attraction in the One. Functionality over form is usually my thing hence why i have the Note 2. I understand why some like the look but for me the speaker grills are reminiscent of one of my ancient fake aluminium/plastic bedroom high-fi systems; a couple of dings on the chasis and all of a sudden the space age design looks dated and cheap.

Sticking a case on while protecting it also defeats one of the main features - its looks. But each to their own.

 

[LorPGDL]

Personally i dont see the attraction in the One. Functionality over form is usually my thing hence why i have the Note 2. I understand why some like the look but for me the speaker grills are reminiscent of one of my ancient fake aluminium/plastic bedroom high-fi systems; a couple of dings on the chasis and all of a sudden the space age design looks dated and cheap.

Sticking a case on while protecting it also defeats one of the main features - its looks. But each to their own.

who says the one is any worse than the note 2 or the s 4, the one is not a phone where function follows form, it just happens to have a nice form but also top of the line function

 

[Donvald]

who says the one is any worse than the note 2 or the s 4, the one is not a phone where function follows form, it just happens to have a nice form but also top of the line function

Yes all new phones have a high standard and are comparable. Its the presentation features and performance that are the differentiating factors. Its obviously a matter of personal choice and need. However software wise the s4 has more through touch wiz than the One. Thats important to me.

 

[LorPGDL]

Yes all new phones have a high standard and are comparable. Its the presentation features and performance that are the differentiating factors. Its obviously a matter of personal choice and need. However software wise the s4 has more through touch wiz than the One. Thats important to me.

indeed, lets be glad we have the choice between so many excellent handsets, not like the apple loyalists that have less real choice than the north koreans what to get

 

[onthecouchagain]

Yes all new phones have a high standard and are comparable. Its the presentation features and performance that are the differentiating factors. Its obviously a matter of personal choice and need. However software wise the s4 has more through touch wiz than the One. Thats important to me.

I preordered the one and do feel like it may be a mistake. Luckily I do so with the knowledge that I have 14 days to return with no restocking fee and free return shipping.

Hopefully that'll bring me right up to the s4 launch and I can test both devices.

I do want a few Samsung features like smart stay and smart rotation, and auto unlock zone. I feel like they would be very useful, among other features.

I'm giving htc a chance here because I'm very impressed by their efforts this year. The value of 64gb at $650 (for comparisons sake the unlocked iphone is also $650 but at a mere 16 gb), the $100 dollar trade in program, and the hassle free full return policy were really what tipped me.

So kudos to htc for all of that. But the device itselfmay still not be enough...

I'm particularly bitter about it launching with 4.1 and bucking the trend with the home configuration. Also worried about the mixed camera reviews. And while the battery impressions and reviews have all sounded positive, I worry about it on lte. I remember htc one x battery reviews were fairly good too, but the reality on lte was atrocious.

I'll know in a few weeks!

 

[torana355]

Boy... very tempted to order the HTC One developer's edition, especially because it's the same price as my unlocked iPhone, but the value is so much better.

14 day return policy from the day it's activated, so two days after April 18th... That just covers the S4 launch. I could in theory make my decision then....

I love the looks of the HTC One but i just cant buy a HTC product when they don't get software updates out quick enough. The fact it is coming out with outdated software (4.1) is a joke.

 

[onthecouchagain]

I love the looks of the HTC One but i just cant buy a HTC product when they don't get software updates out quick enough. The fact it is coming out with outdated software (4.1) is a joke.

It certainly doesn't help itself starting out behind.

 

[torana355]

It certainly doesn't help itself starting out behind.

Exactly, but with that being said the big fun with Android is flashing new roms so im sure you will be able to flash a 4.2.2 based rom and then a KLP based rom on there before HTC release a software update

 

[2298754]

I love the looks of the HTC One but i just cant buy a HTC product when they don't get software updates out quick enough. The fact it is coming out with outdated software (4.1) is a joke.

Yup, I agree. HTC is so far behind when it comes to software updates. The One X got JB months after the S3 did on AT&T. Let's not forget the S3 came out much later than the HTC also.

 

[onthecouchagain]

Yup, I agree. HTC is so far behind when it comes to software updates. The One X got JB months after the S3 did on AT&T. Let's not forget the S3 came out much later than the HTC also.

Hopefully htc will wise up and hopefully the developers edition will get updates sooner.

Is there still no word on 4.2?

4.1 is already a turn off but they won't be winning anyone over if there's no hard word for 4.2 directly from htc. It'll be a real test to see if they've learned anything.

 

[daneoni]

Some nitpicking about the 4.2 thing. 4.2 was buggy. 4.2.2 (which fixed bugs) wasn't possible since HTC needed to go to market. Hence 4.1.2 which isn't a great deal behind. You're not missing out on much.

The phone will get 4.2.2 and 5.0 soon enough. I don't see the big problem. Mountain out of a molehill.

 

[onthecouchagain]

Some nitpicking about the 4.2 thing. 4.2 was buggy. 4.2.2 (which fixed bugs) wasn't possible since HTC needed to go to market. Hence 4.1.2 which isn't a great deal behind. You're not missing out on much.

The phone will get 4.2.2 and 5.0 soon enough. I don't see the big problem. Mountain out of a molehill.

How did Samsung get 4.2.2 on their device? Their launch was only a month apart at most, no? Genuine question.

And are there any dates about 4.2 for the HTC One? Even a window?

 

[vaio1990]

Where is the option for 'neither'???

 

[onthecouchagain]

Where is the option for 'neither'???

Here: https://forums.macrumors.com/forums/99/

 

[daneoni]

How did Samsung get 4.2.2 on their device? Their launch was only a month apart at most, no? Genuine question.

And are there any dates about 4.2 for the HTC One? Even a window?

Technically Samsung isn't in the market yet so they're still 'getting 4.2.2 on their device'. Evidenced by the fact that early review units lagged and were obviously not final builds.

I haven't heard about 4.2.2 dates or window for the One.

 

[onthecouchagain]

Technically Samsung isn't in the market yet so they're still 'getting 4.2.2 on their device'. Evidenced by the fact that early review units lagged and were obviously not final builds.

Fair point. Definitely noticed considerable lag in early videos.

 

[Pompiliu]

Easy. HTC One. Much better screen, design and build quality.

 

[Markyboy81]

Easy. HTC One. Much better screen, design and build quality.

Much better screen? Really?

 

[woodekm]

Been using a HTC one X and LOVE it compared to my S3. Just laid down the cash for the aluminum HTC one (M7) pre-order. Cant wait - shipping on 4/18. Looks like everything I wanted in a larger iPhone but dont want to wait five years.

 

[MRU]

SGS4 Exynos v HTC One benchmarks 3DMarks

 

[xraydoc]

Between the One and the S4, I would probably choose the HTC One. Much better build quality, aesthetics and I prefer LCD to AMOLED.

My concern would be the battery life on either - I don't think either company is putting a big enough battery in their phones.

The champion, as least on my experience, is still the iPhone 5. The iPhone 5 is so efficient it's amazing that phones with 30+% larger batteries can't last nearly as long.

 

[johnjefferson]

Wait. So the HTC Droid DNA comes out and tons of people and reviewers rip it for having a non removable battery and no SD card but they release pretty much the same phone on the other carriers and now everyone loves it? LOL. Verizon haters were just mad because they couldn't get the DNA.

 

[shadowjeff]

Definitely the HTC one, this phone is just so damn good looking, on par with the iphone 5 if not better looking. I just find the samsung galaxy 4, including the s3, outright ugly looking with that plastic body and the Touchwiz UI. As a flagship phone for the top Android company, i can't believe they couldn't put more effort into designing something at least decent looking. The s4 has some pretty neat features though, but i would never use a phone this ugly.