Samsung Galaxy S4 or HTC One

[MRU]

The more I see the HTC One, the less enamored I am by it. I think its beauty is beginning to wear off on me. It's almost... dare I say... ugly. Almost! I just get the sense it won't age well. I don't know why. Especially the front with so much bezel. I love the aggressiv speaker grills, but I don't know if that look will age well into the rest of 2013 and beyond. The thickness too is a slight bother. And, once again, the home button reconfiguration just throws the entire device off and is a real turn off.

And oddly, the S4 is looking more and more beautiful. It really just removed all the ugly parts of the S3, in my opinion (the S3's fake curvature on the side bands, the slight bloatedness of the side bezels, and even the faux-metal looks more metal-like on the S4 than the S3), and adds the beautiful refinements of the Note II (straighter bezels, etc.)

I recently handled a friend's Note II, too, and I have to say, it's a beast of a device. And I don't mean just size-wise. The thing does feel high-quality, even if it is plastic. It just felt beastly of a phone. Like I was holding something very powerful and capable of doing real work if I wanted to, but also very capable for play.

It's really made me hopeful that the S4 is the way to go between the One and the S4. Nothing is final until I handle both devices for myself, of course, but I'm becoming more optimistic about the S4.

What your actually doing coach is fixating on small things and blowing them up massivly disproportionately to convince yourself of purchase A) over purchase B). You are almost brain washing yourself

Is it not easier to just say I think I prefer to get the S4 and so I will, rather than trying to ratify your decision by overblowing differences between the two devices.

The reality is your not going to be holding onto either device (a few years) to worry about it ageing aesthetically, and both handsets are beautiful I doubt either is going to age worse than the other.


If anyone needed to see the two phones in person side by side its you. Because your concerns at the moment are vastly disproportionate to the reality.

But seriously, I'd just settle on getting the S4 at this stage and forget about the one, because its clear to most readers here based in your posts it would suit you better at this stage.

 

[F123D]

That .3" does make a difference. The S4 screen extends past the HTC logo on the One near the bottom. It's pretty noticeable actually.

 

[cuzo]

Not me, personally.

Playing with fire#

 

[MRU]

That .3" does make a difference.

I didn't say there wasn't a difference, but to say it's a 'massive difference' it certainly over egging it. Certainly in the hand and in use it's not a massive difference.

Also bezel difference on the sides is about 1.5mm difference at best.



If .3" is really so big, then you must fall for every viagra, ciallis spam email. With 9" already in my pocket I don't think .3" less on my phone is a big deal.

 

[LorPGDL]

im of the opinion that the less bezel there is, the better.

however, i can tolerate bezel when the overall design of the phone, fit and finish and materials used is so much superior to what the galaxy s 4 offers.

the only hardware point in favour of the s 4 is the reduced bezel, nothing else hardware wise speaks for the s 4 (maybe the camera, dont know).

 

[jrswizzle]

I didn't say there wasn't a difference, but to say it's a 'massive difference' it certainly over egging it. Certainly in the hand and in use it's not a massive difference.

Also bezel difference on the sides is about 1.5mm difference at best.



If .3" is really so big, then you must fall for every viagra, ciallis spam email. With 9" already in my pocket I don't think .3" less on my phone is a big deal.

Bazinga!

 

[nickchallis92]

I really really like both handsets. The one is the most beautiful phone out there and HTC deserves big credit for that.

But I've got a loyalty towards Samsung because I've been so impressed by the S1, S2 and S3. The software on there Galaxy range of handsets works well and offers a supremely smooth experience whilst adding genuinely useful features. Furthermore, samsung have been excellent with providing quick and well rolled-out updates.

Also isn't it nice knowing you've got the best chipsets out there with samsung?

 

[jrswizzle]

I really really like both handsets. The one is the most beautiful phone out there and HTC deserves big credit for that.

But I've got a loyalty towards Samsung because I've been so impressed by the S1, S2 and S3. The software on there Galaxy range of handsets works well and offers a supremely smooth experience whilst adding genuinely useful features. Furthermore, samsung have been excellent with providing quick and well rolled-out updates.

Also isn't it nice knowing you've got the best chipsets out there with samsung?

Only if you live in the right area......

Otherwise, Snapdragon 600 no matter which (HTC One of SGS4) you choose.

And "best" is still somewhat relative as Apple's A-series chipsets have always included best-in-class GPUs.

 

[LorPGDL]

I really really like both handsets. The one is the most beautiful phone out there and HTC deserves big credit for that.

But I've got a loyalty towards Samsung because I've been so impressed by the S1, S2 and S3. The software on there Galaxy range of handsets works well and offers a supremely smooth experience whilst adding genuinely useful features. Furthermore, samsung have been excellent with providing quick and well rolled-out updates.

Also isn't it nice knowing you've got the best chipsets out there with samsung?

both htc one and s 4 have the qualcomm 600 in it, the s 4s is clocked higher i believe but its the same chip. graphics wise i think the one has an even better chip than the s 4, but not sure.

smoothness was always better with htcs handsets from my experience. i now use a samsung note with jellybean, but the htc desire hd with a jellybean rom was much smoother, even though older and with a much lower specced chip.

however, samsung is better with updates and offers more sotware wise. most of the new s 4s features can be cloned with third party apps though.

 

[thehustleman]

Why do you guys always forget about the Sony Xperia Z? It's right up there with the GS4 and the HTC One.

Records video with HDR, has a 5" FullHD screen, 13MP camera, the Bravia Engine, but most of all isn't made of plastic, but of glass fiber polyamide and glass panels. And it's waterproof.

Waterproof is the only great feature that phone has, still can't compare to the s4,not even the ONE

 

[nickchallis92]

xperia Z has last year's CPU and a poor screen

 

[Donvald]

both htc one and s 4 have the qualcomm 600 in it, the s 4s is clocked higher i believe but its the same chip. graphics wise i think the one has an even better chip than the s 4, but not sure.

smoothness was always better with htcs handsets from my experience. i now use a samsung note with jellybean, but the htc desire hd with a jellybean rom was much smoother, even though older and with a much lower specced chip.

however, samsung is better with updates and offers more sotware wise. most of the new s 4s features can be cloned with third party apps though.

Which ones? And where are these apps.

 

[LorPGDL]

Which ones? And where are these apps.

i said can. not are

i have no idea whether they exist and im not willing to do a google search on it, as i have no interest in the subject.

 

[jrswizzle]

Which ones? And where are these apps.

My post from another thread - these are the GS4 specific features (responses in bold):

Air Gestures: Refers to hand movements made above the phone's display, without coming into contact with the display, that controls the phone. Common gestures include waving your hand over the display to skip a track or waving left and right to switch between open web pages in the browser. These gestures only work with specific Samsung apps.

Air View: Like the stylus on the Galaxy Note 2, you can hover over the display with your finger to view information about certain pieces of content. For example, hovering your finger over an email shows you a longer preview without opening the message; hovering your finger over a date on the calendar shows you a quick view of what to expect on that day.

Drama Shot: Camera feature that shoots 12 photos at once and shows you a time-lapse of all the action in those photos combined into one picture.

Ok? I'm sure there's someone out there who thinks this is cool....I'm also sure there's an app out there that does this already - plenty of time lapse apps on both app stores.

Dual Camera: Activates both the rear camera and the front camera, so that the photographer can superimpose himself or herself into the subject of the photo. Samsung gave as an example someone watching football superimposing himself or herself into the game.

Dual Video Call: While video-chatting with someone, you can show them both your face and the view from your rear camera while you chat.

Group Play: Allows multiple Galaxy S4 owners in close proximity to join a private network in which they can, among other things, play a game.

Gamecenter - though I suppose I could see some benefit in creating an ad-hoc network if you don't have reception and want to play with all your GS4 friends who are within 10 feet of you.....

S Health: New app that acts as a fitness tracker and food diary. The Galaxy S4 has a built-in pedometer to count your steps, and you can take photos of your meals each day to keep count of your calories and eating habits. Samsung will also sell a fitness bracelet, a digital scale and fitness belt to measure blood pressure, pulse, glucose levels and weight for those interested.

Like this hasn't been done a billion times with countless apps and accessories...

S Translator: An app in which you can input any of 10 languages and receive a translation, either spoken or in text. Also works to translate text on your email, text messages and a few other Samsung apps.

Google Translate.

S Voice Drive: New hands-free function for drivers that allows the driver to operate the phone with his or her voice.

Siri.

Samsung Adapt Display: The Galaxy S4 "learns" what you are viewing and adjusts the display's brightness accordingly. If the phone senses you are reading an article, for example, it will illuminate from a more muted brightness.

Auto-Brightness - most of the apps on the iPhone do this for you already (the Kindle app has its own brightness settings, Passbook will illuminate to max for the best possible scanning environment.

Samsung Adapt Sound: Similar to Adapt Display, your audio can adapt to the content you're listening to (video, music, etc.) and optimize itself to that content.

Samsung Optical Reader: Camera feature that can snap a photo of a business card and import that information into a new contact in your phonebook. Was not working as of demo time, but Samsung reps assured me it would be fixed by the time it shipped to consumers.

The one feature that seems useful didn't even work during the demo....this isn't some crazy new tech - simply a software implementation which likely can be done through an app on another phone (Apple added redemption of gift cards via the camera on Macs recently)

Samsung Smart Pause: When watching a video, the front camera can sense when your eyes move away from the screen and pause the video automatically if you aren't looking.

Samsung Smart Scroll: When you are reading an email or article on the web, you can scroll up and down by tilting the device up and down rather than swiping with your finger.

Samsung WatchON: A built-in IR sensor lets you control your television set with your smartphone. Comes with a standard remote and a program guide depending on your cable provider. Can also control certain cable boxes and DVD players.

HTC One does this (I believe HTC has had this feature in their smartphones for a while - among others).

Share Music: When linked with Group Play, multiple Galaxy S4s can work as surround sound speakers, all playing the same song at once.

Sound & Shot: Allows you to record up to nine seconds of audio at the time of taking each photo.

HTC One has this as well - among others.

Story Album: Templates that allow you to create a digital photo journal or scrapbook from a certain event. You can also then order and print out that story album for a fee.

My HP printer can do this for me....I don't think anyone is arguing this is innovative - just happened to be on the list I found.

____________________________

Not all of Samsung's features can be replicated by apps - but the ones that can't are simply different ways (whether they are better is subject to opinion) to do normal tasks.

 

[Beeplance]

My post from another thread - these are the GS4 specific features (responses in bold):

Air Gestures: Refers to hand movements made above the phone's display, without coming into contact with the display, that controls the phone. Common gestures include waving your hand over the display to skip a track or waving left and right to switch between open web pages in the browser. These gestures only work with specific Samsung apps.

Air View: Like the stylus on the Galaxy Note 2, you can hover over the display with your finger to view information about certain pieces of content. For example, hovering your finger over an email shows you a longer preview without opening the message; hovering your finger over a date on the calendar shows you a quick view of what to expect on that day.

Drama Shot: Camera feature that shoots 12 photos at once and shows you a time-lapse of all the action in those photos combined into one picture.

Ok? I'm sure there's someone out there who thinks this is cool....I'm also sure there's an app out there that does this already - plenty of time lapse apps on both app stores.

Dual Camera: Activates both the rear camera and the front camera, so that the photographer can superimpose himself or herself into the subject of the photo. Samsung gave as an example someone watching football superimposing himself or herself into the game.

Dual Video Call: While video-chatting with someone, you can show them both your face and the view from your rear camera while you chat.

Group Play: Allows multiple Galaxy S4 owners in close proximity to join a private network in which they can, among other things, play a game.

Gamecenter - though I suppose I could see some benefit in creating an ad-hoc network if you don't have reception and want to play with all your GS4 friends who are within 10 feet of you.....

S Health: New app that acts as a fitness tracker and food diary. The Galaxy S4 has a built-in pedometer to count your steps, and you can take photos of your meals each day to keep count of your calories and eating habits. Samsung will also sell a fitness bracelet, a digital scale and fitness belt to measure blood pressure, pulse, glucose levels and weight for those interested.

Like this hasn't been done a billion times with countless apps and accessories...

S Translator: An app in which you can input any of 10 languages and receive a translation, either spoken or in text. Also works to translate text on your email, text messages and a few other Samsung apps.

Google Translate.

S Voice Drive: New hands-free function for drivers that allows the driver to operate the phone with his or her voice.

Siri.

Samsung Adapt Display: The Galaxy S4 "learns" what you are viewing and adjusts the display's brightness accordingly. If the phone senses you are reading an article, for example, it will illuminate from a more muted brightness.

Auto-Brightness - most of the apps on the iPhone do this for you already (the Kindle app has its own brightness settings, Passbook will illuminate to max for the best possible scanning environment.

Samsung Adapt Sound: Similar to Adapt Display, your audio can adapt to the content you're listening to (video, music, etc.) and optimize itself to that content.

Samsung Optical Reader: Camera feature that can snap a photo of a business card and import that information into a new contact in your phonebook. Was not working as of demo time, but Samsung reps assured me it would be fixed by the time it shipped to consumers.

The one feature that seems useful didn't even work during the demo....this isn't some crazy new tech - simply a software implementation which likely can be done through an app on another phone (Apple added redemption of gift cards via the camera on Macs recently)

Samsung Smart Pause: When watching a video, the front camera can sense when your eyes move away from the screen and pause the video automatically if you aren't looking.

Samsung Smart Scroll: When you are reading an email or article on the web, you can scroll up and down by tilting the device up and down rather than swiping with your finger.

Samsung WatchON: A built-in IR sensor lets you control your television set with your smartphone. Comes with a standard remote and a program guide depending on your cable provider. Can also control certain cable boxes and DVD players.

HTC One does this (I believe HTC has had this feature in their smartphones for a while - among others).

Share Music: When linked with Group Play, multiple Galaxy S4s can work as surround sound speakers, all playing the same song at once.

Sound & Shot: Allows you to record up to nine seconds of audio at the time of taking each photo.

HTC One has this as well - among others.

Story Album: Templates that allow you to create a digital photo journal or scrapbook from a certain event. You can also then order and print out that story album for a fee.

My HP printer can do this for me....I don't think anyone is arguing this is innovative - just happened to be on the list I found.

____________________________

Not all of Samsung's features can be replicated by apps - but the ones that can't are simply different ways (whether they are better is subject to opinion) to do normal tasks.

At least all the S IV features are consolidated together into a single smartphone device. You're picking out the features from multiple sources in all your examples in bold.

 

[jrswizzle]

At least all the S IV features are consolidated together into a single smartphone device. You're picking out the features from multiple sources in all your examples in bold.

This is true. Though I would rather have the CHOICE of picking the "features" I want through apps and such than have them all crammed into the software on my phone and have to go through a turn them all off.

Opinion and preference. I recognize some of these features would be very useful for some and I respect that. They just aren't for me.

And despite what people say, the more you cram into the software the more bloated it gets.....I like my OS to be slim and trim with only the feature set initially I'll use with the ability to add functions through apps later - hence my iOS preference.

 

[Markyboy81]

I'm sure there are work arounds and 3rd party apps that can do the same thing, but they'll never be as integrated and I'm hoping that with the s4 they won't be full of bugs and will actually work quite well.

 

[nickchallis92]

This is true. Though I would rather have the CHOICE of picking the "features" I want through apps and such than have them all crammed into the software on my phone and have to go through a turn them all off.

.

Yeah christ, that would take like 7 seconds

 

[Markyboy81]

This is true. Though I would rather have the CHOICE of picking the "features" I want through apps and such than have them all crammed into the software on my phone and have to go through a turn them all off.

Opinion and preference. I recognize some of these features would be very useful for some and I respect that. They just aren't for me.

And despite what people say, the more you cram into the software the more bloated it gets.....I like my OS to be slim and trim with only the feature set initially I'll use with the ability to add functions through apps later - hence my iOS preference.

If anything ios is worse than android in this respect, surely. At least with android you can disable the stock apps if you don't use them. With ios you can't even hide apps, such as stocks, game center and passbook. And having these apps built in also add to the bloat of the os

 

[maxosx]

I really really like both handsets. The one is the most beautiful phone out there and HTC deserves big credit for that.

But I've got a loyalty towards Samsung because I've been so impressed by the S1, S2 and S3. The software on there Galaxy range of handsets works well and offers a supremely smooth experience whilst adding genuinely useful features. Furthermore, samsung have been excellent with providing quick and well rolled-out updates.

I share your same preferences. After buying each and every Galaxy from S to S3, I'm a huge Samsung supporter. My experience with them has been simply stellar.

Only once have I received a defective phone. I reached out directly to Samsung USA, even though I didn't buy it from them, in less that two hours they responded to my email. I was shocked as it included a prepaid shipping label & a promise to replace my phone with a _new_ one. Immediately I shipped it back at 10:00 AM PST.

The very next day at 9:50 AM, our regular FedEx driver walked into the office and handed me a package from Samsung. To say I was surprised is an understatement.

It just goes to show that approached in a pleasant organized fashion ( I had included all the requisite specifics, serial number, et al, ) and given the opportunity to help a customer, Samsung is indeed a very accommodating company.

 

[onthecouchagain]

Yeah christ, that would take like 7 seconds

Yeah. I really don't get this sentiment. There are ton of features in every phone I've owned that I don't use and just turn off. They don't do any sort of damage to my experience (except maybe Newstand which I can't "turn off" without jailbreak, but even that is relatively harmless).

Passbook, Flyover, Newstand, Face Unlock, Siri, Google Now (the automatic features), Photo Sphere... and many others are features that I barely or never use.

There is no harm done whatsoever in having them but not using them.

 

[F123D]

I didn't say there wasn't a difference, but to say it's a 'massive difference' it certainly over egging it. Certainly in the hand and in use it's not a massive difference.

Also bezel difference on the sides is about 1.5mm difference at best.

For a device that's almost identical in size (except for the One being even taller and thicker) that bezel is just wasted space. Just like the location of the HTC logo is wasted space. Sure, the average person might not notice but those people aren't the ones on a message board discussing phone specs like we do.

With 9" already in my pocket I don't think .3" less on my phone is a big deal.

It's none of our business if you want to carry around two phones..

 

[onthecouchagain]

For a device that's almost identical in size (except for the One being even taller and thicker) that bezel is just wasted space. Just like the location of the HTC logo is wasted space. Sure, the average person might not notice but those people aren't the ones on a message board discussing phone specs like we do.

If they wanted the HTC logo there, they could've at least let it be the home button. And the right button could've been app switcher or menu button.

 

[F123D]

If they wanted the HTC logo there, they could've at least let it be the home button. And the right button could've been app switcher or menu button.

Exactly.

 

[Donvald]

The S4 defines itself by the new software and hardware integration that cannot be replicated by apps. To suggest that 3rd party apps can somehow replicate air gestures and some of the new smart features is an odd thing to suggest. The list provided is pointless and doesnt answer my question as i thought.