By 
The Samsung Galaxy S4 and HTC One are sure to be two of this year’s hottest handsets, and many buyers will be faced with a decision between the two. With both devices on hand, it seemed like a no-brainer to pit the phones head-to-head in an effort to decide which is really the better buy. If you want more in-depth coverage of each handset, check out our full Galaxy S4 review and HTC One review. What follows here is a quick look at the key points of comparison, but deciding which device holds the edge wasn’t always easy.
Quick Jump: Design | Display | Software| Camera | Benchmarks | Battery Life | Conclusion
Design and Build Quality
The Samsung Galaxy S4 and HTC One are both marvels of engineering, cramming a host of high-powered hardware into smartphone shells that continue to get thinner, lighter, and more durable. Despite a larger 5-inch display, the Galaxy S4 actually manages to come in smaller in most areas than the One with its 4.7-inch screen.
The Galaxy S4 measures 5.38 x 2.75 x 0.31 inches, while the One measures 5.41 x 2.69 x 0.37 in. The S4 is lighter at 4.59 ounces, while the One weighs a hair over 5 ounces. Overall, however, device size is a wash. You won’t notice the extra tenths of an inch or the half ounce weight difference.
Where the two devices really differ is in the quality of build. Samsung decided to stick with a design close to last year’s Galaxy S3, and the result seems a bit lazy. HTC’s engineers, however, put in some real man hours in designing the One, even coming up with new manufacturing techniques along the way.
Samsung continues to stick with plastic as the main build material for their premium smartphones. While it does afford certain benefits like a removable battery and the ability to attach a flip cover, the handset feels a bit cheap. The One however, feels like a solid, well-built piece of tech. Gapless unibody construction utilizing metal as the main material makes the phone as much a joy to look at and hold in the hand as it is to use.
Edge: HTC One
Display
Both the Samsung Galaxy S4 and HTC One feature displays pushing Full HD 1920 x 1080p resolution, though they vary in size and technology. The Galaxy S4 sports a 5-inch Super AMOLED display. At 1080p resolution, it’s a first of its kind. The One carries a 4.7-inch Super LCD3.
Both are capable of reproducing 16 million colors, and both gain durability via Gorilla Glass construction (Gorilla Glass 2 on the One and Gorilla Glass 3 on the GS4). Due to the smaller screen size, the One features a higher pixel density of 469 ppi compared to the 441 ppi found on the Galaxy S4.
In a head-to-head comparison, deciding which phone got the edge was difficult. At full brightness the Galaxy S4’s Super AMOLED display offered a richness of color and contrast, while the HTC One looked a tad bit washed out. Color reproduction was slightly different between the two, most noticeable in the green spectrum. The HTC One seemed a bit truer to life, but the Galaxy S4 did a better job of reproducing darker shades.
Edge: Samsung Galaxy S4
Software
The Samsung Galaxy S4 runs Android 4.2.2. The HTC One comes with a slightly older version, Android 4.1.2. But each features its own proprietary user interface on top of Google’s Jelly Bean platform. For the Galaxy S4, that’s Samsung’s TouchWiz. For the One, HTC Sense 5.
Both feature some major upgrades over older versions of the same software. For the Galaxy S4, this includes some new hands-free user input methods as well as a smattering of updated apps, including the newly consolidated Samsung Hub content ecosystem for purchasing music, books, video and more. Samsung has always favored a slightly cartoony, bubbly appearance for its UI, and it remains that way with the GS4.
Sense 5 also features its fair share of updates, including an overhauled homescreen interface, a revamped gallery showcasing your pictures and videos in beautiful fashion (though a bit confusing and clunk at times), and an improved keyboard. HTC has really slimmed down Sense in this case, but it looks as sleek and stunning as ever.
Both gain universal remote functionality by way of built-in infrared blasters and new TV guide software. Samsung’s WatchOn and HTC’s TV app give you a view at what’s currently playing, offer recommendations, and allow you to easily control your home theater setup right from your smartphone. You’ll never lose the remote again.
The intricacies of each platform make it nearly impossible to compare both directly, as this portion mostly comes down to user preference. For a more in-depth look at what to expect from each, check out the software section of our full HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S4 reviews.
Edge: Toss-up
Audio
As has been the case with most recent HTC phones, audio is highlighted on the One. With Beats integration and new BoomSound dual-front facing speakers. For Samsung, audio is less of a focus, but they have introduced Group Play music, which turns a hoard of Gs4 handset into a roving sound system.
But it’s hard to argue with what HTC has done, bringing a true stereo audio experience to a smartphone and giving users the option to enhance said audio with Beats technology. To get a stereo experience with the Galaxy S4, you will need multiple devices, and that won’t always be an option in most cases.
Edge: HTC One
Camera
Samsung and HTC have really upped the ante with the cameras featured in the Galaxy S4 and One. Samsung deploys a 13MP sensor with LED flash capable of capturing 1080p video, while HTC has gone a more innovative route and introduced us to the first “UltraPixel” camera. That camera stacks a set of 4MP sensors on top of each other, stitching together a final result that is touted as providing better low-light shooting and greater depth of color and contrast.
In real-world testing, the Galaxy S4 outperformed the HTC One in outdoor, daylight conditions. The One, however, had a better handle on low-light and indoor situations. In terms of video, it’s a toss up. Both cameras offer image stabilization, but each had its flaws. The One’s stabilization is always-on, but it didn’t make a huge difference in our test videos. Samsung allows the feature to be toggled with the S4, but again, it didn’t produce a huge difference in video quality.
Both cameras offer various shooting modes, filters, and more. HTC introduced its Zoe motion images with the One, while Samsung brings new features like dual-camera shooting (front and rear camera at the same time) and Eraser mode for removing unwanted subjects from photos automatically. In the end, the Galaxy S4 offered a more robust software experience, but it was hard to determine the true winner in terms of picture quality.
Edge: Toss-up
Storage
Both the HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S4 come in several different storage options. The One is available with either 32GB or 64GB of internal storage, while the Galaxy S4 comes in 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB flavors. The Galaxy S4, however, can gain an additional 64GB of storage via a microSD card. The One offers no support for expandable memory.
In an ideal world, all options would be available to all consumers, but unfortunately this is not the case. Depending on carrier considerations or whether or not the device is unlocked, users may have to settle for less storage than would be ideal. This makes the expandable storage of the Galaxy S4 an appealing choice for some.
Edge: Samsung Galaxy S4
Benchmarks
The quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 was at the heart of both devices we tested. The Galaxy S4 is available in some regions with Samsung’s new Exynos 5 Octa chipset, but for the sake of this comparison we will leave that version of the device out. The One’s CPU is clocked at 1.7GHz, while the GS4 is turned up to the max at 1.9GHz. As expected, the benchmarks were neck-and-neck.
Running multiple tests on several benchmarking apps available from the Google Play Store (including AnTuTu, Quadrant, and NeneMark 2), there was no clear-cut winner. Sometimes the Galaxy S4 [results above] forged ahead, others the One (despite its lower clock speed)[results below]. What the tests say to us is that you can’t go wrong with the performance either phone affords.
Edge: Toss-up
Battery Life
Both the Samsung Galaxy S4 and HTC One feature sizable batteries that should power through a normal day’s use with no problem. The Galaxy S4 has a slightly chunkier power cell at 2,600 mAh while the HTC One comes in at 2,300 mAh. The GS4 features a removable batter, while the One’s battery is sealed within the device.
In normal testing, both were able to squeeze out 10-16 hours of use. Of course, taking full advantage of all the features available on both devices ultimately leads to a dramatic reduction in up time. For those doing a lot of gaming, streaming, web browsing, etc., battery power can quickly drain. But that sort of binging isn’t the typical daily use for most people.
While the Galaxy S4 ekes out a few extra minutes of power overall, both are perfectly capable of taking you from waking up in the morning to passing out at night without the need to seek a charger. The GS4 gets kudos for its removable battery (for those that like to carry a spare).
Edge: Toss-up
Verdict
In our full reviews, we rated the HTC One just a hair higher than the Samsung Galaxy S4. In our head-to-head comparisons, however, the results were dead even. Here’s the breakdown:
- Design & Build Quality – HTC One
- Display – Samsung Galaxy S4
- Software – Toss-up
- Audio – HTC One
- Camera – Toss-up
- Storage – Samsung Galaxy S4
- Benchmarks – Toss-up
- Battery Life – Toss-up
Which phone should I buy?
In the end, you can’t go wrong when choosing between the HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S4. Any number of the above categories could have resulted in a tie, and many will come down to personal preference. On top of that, all categories aren’t necessarily equal for each buyer, nor is it a cut-and-dry decision when it comes down to things like software. For someone seeking the sleekest combination of power and beauty, the HTC One is the way to go. If a big, bright and beautiful display along with innovative user interface options is your thing, look no further than the Galaxy S4.
But which is the choice for you? Sound off in our poll below to decide the real winner!
[polldaddy poll=7061178]
Good write up comparing these two devices. Phandroid should do this more often!
Agreed!
Agreed. This is pretty much exactly what I have been looking for. Looks like I will be going with the One. The last few Samsung phones I have owned have disappointed greatly in terms of call quality and things actually working as they were intended to. Since they are neck-and-neck, it really makes it a no-brainer for me.
Hello One, and Buh-bye VZW.
I know it probably won’t happen, but I’m still kinda hoping that the red HTC One we’ve been seeing sneaking around the web is headed to Verizon. I’m not quite ready to jump ship just yet…still have my unlimited data and it’s hard to beat Vzn’s coverage.
Why do you think it won’t happen? VZW isn’t going to miss out on this one, rest assured.
We’ve got more coming in the future!
I really appreciated the comparison but I felt it did an injustice in some areas.
He dove into several features on the S4, especially in the camera section, and then basically said yeah the HTC one has several of these features also. I’ve looked at about 6 reviews thus far and the camera on the HTC One produces more real to life color and far better low light pictures. In the Review Kevin just suggested it was slightly better.
The display is not a clear winner either. The size is larger on the s4 but that is more of a preference. Specs wise you are dealing with PPI and AMO LED vs LCD. HTC one wins on PPI and arguably the LCD will have more real to life colors but less contracts than AMO Led. I would put the display as more of a toss up.
The non removable storage and battery are the main things that bother me about the HTC one. The storage isn’t as big of a deal now a days for me since I store most of my stuff in the cloud and 16-32 GB is more than enough.
I sort agree with his assement on other stuff. Software is a toss up because you have touchwiz vs sense (I think sense wins), and the s4 with a new kernel of android.
I’m rambling now and want to get to lunch but thanks for the review and hope to see more Kevin.
So he should give the htc one a better review because you like it more than the s4?
No, I think that all the information wasn’t presented for a person to properly determine which phone to get. The problem is you have to keep a review like this to a reasonable amount of time, and to compare all of the features/specs would of taken much longer.
I’ve now read about 4 reviews on the GS4, and about 10 on the HTC One so I feel like I have a broad spectrum of knowledge to work off of, and some of that was skimmed over in this review.
That’s all I’m saying.
TBH though when there is not a clear cut answer, lets say the display, it’s all opinion. If a very large display is the most important factor for a person then that will clearly influence which device will win in that category.
you shouldn’t be bashing this article unless you have had time to spend with both devices. as for the comparisons, he pointed which camera was best for which scenario. Was a toss up. and for the screen, i too prefer the GS4 over the One. Both screens are unbelievable. The talk of PPI is dismissle here, as with that many pixels in that small of a screen you will not notice any difference in the ppi. In the end it is all about the color and how things look on the screen. The One is more natural, but I like the deeper contrast/darker blacks of the AMOLED, and the GS4 is much better IMO when in direct sunlight. Plus, getting a 5″ screen in a frame that is slightly smaller than the One is impressive. Both are great devices and are the top of the chain, so you cannot lose with either.
PS, I am huge on memory therefor I do prefer the GS4.
Not bashing. I was very excited to see such a comparison and for the most part I thought the reviewer did a great job. I just thought that some comparisons could of been done better.
The HTC One does great in low light but worse in well-lit situations. So you could go either way based on preference. Similarly, the colors might be more “realistic” but the S4 is undoubtedly more vibrant since it takes realistic and adds more contrast and color. Again, preference, but clearly defined positives/negatives.
At the end of the day, you want to remember something the way it was, not “faked”.
Thanks for the reply Rob.
Honestly, I don’t think many people would agree that “more vibrant” is better than “more realistic.” Not that I care, they are both great phones, but when you read through the more scientific Anandtech review of the two displays, it’s almost impossible to objectively conclude the S4’s display is better.
28 more pixels is not making difference between those screens and people talking about better pictures from the One camera are not taking under consideration the the shoot parameters… how are the shutter speed and aperture on those shots? What kind of setting are you using in those “low light” shots. I really doubt in a tiny sensor with less that 2 micras pixels you really get a significant difference if the speed shutter is not modified.
Able to remove battery in the S4 should be a plus instead a “toss” in the same way that all the touchless features and easy modes in TouchWiz.
All these reviews about both of those phone are just useless after the topic “Design” when you read Aluminum unibody nothing else seems important for many Android users.
Wah Wah, another misguided Samsung fanboy who doesnt understand technology. The Sensor is the same size, dummy the detail lies that HTC went for less pixels but larger to capture more light and Sony (where samsung gets its sensors) made them 13 mp on the same sensor, meaning it takes more light to capture a shot, it has a slower shutter its pixels are a third smaller than HTC’s.
Those sensor are even smaller than 1/3.2″ with differences in pixels size less than 0.8micras… that is not significative.
More light in bigger pixels, right but how much light?
Those are stupid relations just like people seen PenTile pattens on 1080 screens…
Now, do you have the shutter speed of those images to be able to afirm that different is because one sensor has pixels bigger tha others? If you know about photography shutter speed and ISO value are important to compare two images in same light conditions with different sensors, at least you also are a camera troll just like th Dpreviews users with the new “pixel size dogma”… btw uou should know there are FF sensor with smaller pixels and good light response.
So show me the shot parameters and then you can try to convince me about you photography knowledge.
Why the Nikon D5200 with 24MPx and the same sensor size than the Pentax K5 with 16MPx has a little better performance with almost half size of the Pentax sensor pixels?
I would like to have a good explanation…
I don’t know how much of a plus a removable battery is. Most consumers don’t (and won’t) carry around a spare battery, and the end result is a flimsy back cover that makes the whole thing feel a little cheaper and is more likely to let moisture, dirt etc. into the phone.
This is mostly just my own opinion, but I think the facts would bear out that most people never use a spare battery.
I agree with Beenyweenies. I don’t know of anyone who carries around a spare battery.
BE AWARE!
If you broke your HTC One, then it is NOT possible to repair the phone without it will cost you a HUGE lot of money.
IFixit show, that they have to destroy the phone, becouce everything is sealed with very strong glue! Bad for you, if the screen crack – then you have to throw your phone in the basket! Bad battery, after one or two years? – then throw your phone away! Have you money for that?
IFixit show us the scary facts!
http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/HTC+One+Teardown/13494/3
HTC One Repairability Score: 1 (one!) out of 10 (10 is easiest to repair)
(To compare: Samsung S4 have a score of 8 of 10!)
Very, very difficult (possibly impossible?) to open HTC One without damaging the rear case. This makes every component extremely difficult to replace.
The battery is buried beneath the motherboard and adhered to the midframe, hindering its replacement.
The display assembly cannot be replaced without removing the rear case—this will make the most common repair, a damaged screen, nearly impossible.
Copper shielding on many components is difficult to remove and replace.
Solid external construction improves durability.
How many people will be purchasing this phone without insurance? Very few, so that’s a non-issue: it’s Assurion’s problem, not the customer’s. In addition, the one thing that most customers have to worry about needing repaired…the screen…is the most difficult thing to repair on the GS4. If someone buys either phone without getting insurance then they know they are taking a risk, regardless of the cost of the phone or how repairable it is.
Nicely done, thanks Kevin!
Thanks, Early!
I thought you were out hunting squirrels ;)
Yep, we had a squirrel rebellion here as well.
More information about our squirrel chases can be found in our forums, visit the Lounge.
I tink it’s pretty clear the GS4 is better than the One. I happen to think it looks better too. Gs4 just offers so much more. I mean if you like aluminmum I guess the One might work for you but oh the stuff you’re missing. Great review, thanks.
GS4 Airtouch vs HTC n’one
GS4 Thermometer vs HTC n’one
GS4 Pedometer vs HTC n’one
GS4 Humidity Sensor vs HTC n’one
GS4 SD CARD Support vs HTC n’one
GS4 removbatts vs HTC n’one
THE NEW HTC n”ONE!!!
I agree. The only area that the HTC can definitively be said to be better is the much-touted “build quality”. But as we’ve seen in numerous other stories, it has gaps, light-bleed, and who knows what else, so what we actually have is a phone with superior “design quality”, the build quality itself being highly questionable at best. And, of course, this type of design comes with the huge downside (for some) of an inaccessible battery and no external storage slot. And who needs this type of unibody design anyway in a device that most people keep for, what, a year, 18 months at most? Gorilla glass is all that’s required for durability.
sound quality is better too. as well as the screen technology. coming from a g-nex i can appreciate the advantages of them. my nexus 10s f-f speakers are awesome. and the cartoony look of amoled is overrated. and dont forget the radios! Sammy radios stink, esp on sprint.
Yeah, that superior build quality looks way cheaper with a bunch of light leaking from near the buttons. Or the gaps that are there in their gap-less design.
I actually have an HTC One and have not notice any light bleed nor is there any gap on the top or bottom. This is just Samsung fanboy falsehoods. I’d rather have a quality product design than a cheap creaking piece of plastic.
creakin plastic rofl.. and you talk about falshood.. gtfo enjoy your
HTC None
I own SGS3, if I press firmly on the back side it does creaking slightly I admit. I haven’t got my hands on SGS4, but honestly it looks ‘too much similar to SGS3’ that makes me a bit disappointed. I guess I just wait for brand new Galaxy Note 3 before upgrading my SGS3.
In my humble opinion if you are not a Samsung user,SGS4 probably perfect phone for you, but if you’re an SGS3 user like me, I don’t think SGS4 will give you much improvement over your older phone. Yes, it’s smoother, faster, but it won’t give you much experience over your current SGS3. The remaining 9 GB internal storage (the rest is for the too much gimmick and bloated system) is also a let down for me, as you will unlikely able to find the 32GB models. I’m not very fond of SD Cards because it is slow compared to the Internal Storage and prone to data corrupts (Yes, I do have 32GB Class 10 SD Cards on my SGS3 and I think it IS still slow).
My bet is on upcoming Galaxy Note 3 for my SGS3 upgrade :)
Pretty clear? This review is good, but not that much in depth. Go to http://anandtech.com/ and read their in depth reviews. Not everyone is obsessed with SD card slots and removable batteries(no one I know owns a second battery for their phone). Battery life on the HTC One is actually rated slightly better, and for $199, you get 16gb more of on-board storage with the One than the GS4. Most people are happy with 32gb of storage. Also, anyone with half a brain can see the huge benefit of front-facing stereo speakers. In the meanwhile. Who the hell cares about a humidity sensor and a thermometer? You might, but 99.9% of the population couldn’t care less. I have an app for that.
GS4 airtouch – quite useless on a smartphone application. I like the approach though, would be nice seeing it soon for Samsung TVs.
GS4 thermometer – what? you put GS4 in your mouth or under your armpit when you have a fever?
GS4 Humidty sensor – Really, a person REALLY REALLY needs this feature? When is the last time you check humidity in your room or office or study hall or wherever?
GS4 SD card – If you are not a storage maniac, a person would choose 32GB/64GB built-in storage any time. Much fasters for loading pictures/apps/videos.
GS4 removbatts – Not everyone is a battery hog, plus ONE easily lasts a day and half with moderate usage.
I have no use for any of those, so why would I want the GS4 over the One?
This is so true! So many people are ampped up on an aluminum body. They will be upset when they find out that it will bend, dent, and offer the least amout of cushion on a drop. I have a GS3 and I love everything about it. The GS4 is for those people who are true techies and know the ends and out of android. I’m all for productivity rather than “so called” aestetics!
– From everything I’ve read, airtouch causes the phone to stutter and lag, and is a gimmick at best.
– I struggle to see how a thermometer and humidity sensor are at all relevant to a smartphone. Can you explain?
– I admit it would be nice if the One had an SD card slot, but for a smart device, cloud storage is just infinitely better. There’s a reason the Nexus 4, HTC One and many other high end phones are going in this direction.
– Every phone I’ve owned with a removable battery had a crappy plastic door that was a constant source of frustration. Besides, are people seriously supposed to carry a spare battery around in their pocket? Only the most hard core nerds are going to do that. Again, many many phones are moving away from that because it adds weight, size and design compromise with very little return since most people aren’t going to take advantage of it.
HTC One is the winner imo it is just such an amazing phone and as for power oc the One to 1.9 with root and it will smoke the S4!
um.. no it wont… even with the same processors, Samsung gets the better stronger batch from Snapdragon. Google it…
A lot of reviews show that ONE is smoother in user experience though benchmark wise S4 won entirely. Touchwiz just can’t get rid of that intermittent lags!!
says you… nonsense is all looks and is slow as well as missing all the awesome features of touchwiz which is hardware accelerated. Even my note 2 is lag free… gs4 does not have lag.
says you!
then what about those who root and overclock the gs4… your ONE will still be as you put it smoked. never compare anything modified to anything stock if the stock is better to begin with
I like both phones but the s4 has better ram than the One. It has 2 GB DDR3 ram vs 2 GB DDR2 of the One. The s4 hands down wins spec wise.
Um… I beg to differ as the tests above prove your talking out your A@$ … The one is nearly tied with or is beating the S4 with the “lesser ram” lol and it is going it at a slower clock speed…
S4 have som camera feature, nothing more! HTC One have everything!
As a Nexus fanboy, i would definitely buy HTC One!
Okay samsung wins on display and personal storage and you say its a toss up? Are those not the reasons to get a smart phone in the first place (alongmwith software)
If you compare 16GB + 16GB microSD S4 vs. 32GB hTC ONE, the ONE is clearly the winner. It’s hard to compare storage and personal experience as everyone has different needs in terms of storage size. Of course, people who opts to maximize storage would choose S4 over the ONE. However, for a 32GB comparison as I brought up above, ONE is the winner as 32GB built-in is much faster and responsive than 16+16 configuration.
What would be the point of a comparison such as that? Why not compare the 32GB HTC One to the 32GB Galaxy S4?
Uh, the $100 premium Samsung charges for the honor of getting a 32 GB of storage for one, Copernicus.
toss because just because those are the two main reasons for you, doesn’t mean its the two main reasons for every. I personally have 0 use for anything over 64 gb. 32gb is actually more than enough for me. I easily make due with 16. Also it sounds like everything is pretty much just splitting hairs in either case.
A screen whose colors decay over time, permanently burns in images on
the panel, and delivers 33 % less pixels than it advertises.
The problem is that the HTC One LOOKS better (in many people’s opinion). In some cases, having a sexier phone will outweigh small wins in display and storage, since those areas are still relatively close.
I personally think the S4 is probably a better all-around phone, but would probably buy the HTC One, simply because it seems more shiny/new/fresh whereas the Galaxy S4 is marginally better than previous Samsungs (which I’ve owned). So in many cases I think the sexy/shiny/new factor will slightly edge S4 out even though it may be slightly better in terms of all-around performance.
Toss up indeed.
I would have one question: What is the shutter lag like on both phones? if the cameras themselves are roughly equivalent, the tiebreaker would be which one is closer to instantaneous.
Can you update on that?
I’d say that’s a wash there as well. Both featured pretty zippy shutter speed, we’d be splitting milliseconds if we really want to compare.
If I was in the market for a new phone I still don’t know which one I’d pick… I love the Touchwiz features on my Galaxy Note 2 but I also love the One’s sexy design…
Yeah it’s a hard choice.
GS4: Larger Screen, Removable Battery
HTC1: Higher quality design, better camera and audio
I hate Touchwiz, but it’s been scaled back since it’s original inception.
The thing is I really don’t care if it’s a slightly bigger screen, both phones have “large enough” screens for me. The non-removable battery really bothers me, heck it’s one of the reasons I listed as a negative for iPhones, and feels like a step back.
I have a young daughter, and am constantly at the park and places in low-light where all of my phone camera’s have failed me. The better camera on the HTC one and boomsound are probably the main reasons driving me to that device.
it has better audio recording too
Where’s the neither option on the poll?
Why is there never a comparison between things, such as “call quality” or “bluetooth quality”? Strangely, many people actually use these devices as phones, which are connected via BT to their vehicles or headsets. Yet, we never see reviewers even mention these. Please don’t tell me that no one cares (many do) or that all phones are the same (they are not). I have heard that HTC had real issues with bluetooth quality in their previous renditions of the One (X, X+, etc.), and I would really like for some professional testing to be done.
GSMarena and AnandTech cover both… and do it scientifically as well.
Good question. If I’d realized just how bad the radios (or rather antennas, which is where the problem lies) were on the Sensation, I never would have bought one. Its bluetooth is the worst I’ve ever had on a phone. I wish Nokia would produce an Android device!
Gosh…I really love the HTC One
I don’t agree with the display and software sections. Display should be a toss-up on whether you want over saturated colors or not.
The software, really? Touchwiz is still designed to the gingerbread era; and like other reviews have stated, it has a lot of features… TOO many features where it can get confusing. Also, most of the features you wont ever use or just pure gimmicks.
Who actually uses OEM homescreens? Apex for me.
Most people don’t use custom launchers.
majority of the population
Not sure it’s the majority… but that’s the first thing on my new phones :)
you think more that 50% if the people who own android phones in the world root and rom?
edit: or flock on custom launchers
Nova doesn’t require root. No idea what percentage of people use custom launchers but Nova and Apex each have 1,000,000+ downloads, whatever that means.
yeah i had to edit my comment to ad that tidbit. But yeah those are excellent numbers, but combining those numbers is gives you the amount of android phones on sprint vs the amount of android phones in the rest of the world.
Nope. As previously stated, I’m not sure. Almost everyone I know has a custom launcher, but they are likely in the minority. Either way, who cares?
i was just saying the tech nerds here commonly overstate the amount of tech nerds in the world. As another user stated below, apex and nova launcher both have 1 mil downloads each… that means combined (not even counting people who have downloaded on multiple devices/people who downloaded both launchers) they have about as many downloads as Sprint has android users. That means amount of people with these 2 most popular launchers to non launchers is roughly the amount of android users on Sprint vs the rest of the entire world. Not saying it means a whole lot, but it does mean that OEM skins do matter because most people dont whipe them off their devices.
nah, screen easily goes to Samsung for size alone, knowing they are both good quality hi-res screens, 0.3″ diagonally is a lot, especially a 5″ screen in a smaller phone.
S4 comes with the latest Android 4.2.2 over the 6 months old 4.1.2 that the One has. Still not sure which phone I like better but I WILL make it to the store today.
the S4 has both the poppy saturated colors, and natural RGB with a simple setting change. Both provide more accurate colors. It’s an easy win for the S4. And software, yeah… TouchWiz is bar none the best version of Android. So I agree, it shouldn’t be a toss up.
You forgot to include “in my opinion” there.
I hated touchwiz from day one. I hated all the useless gimmicks it brings and bloats with. But in my opinion, all the manufacturer overlays can take a hike as of ICS. GB and before needed some extra love, ICS+ does not need all the extra nonsense. But again, that’s just my opinion.
i prefer sense over touchwhiz design wise.
just switched from a note 2 to the glorious HT Cone, never looking back.
Keep your plastic phones in 2009 where they belong Samsung. Can’t have a $650 phone with plastic these days, sorry no excuse. Even LG stepped up their game.
Damn son, thats a huge step in display area, why did u have a note 2 in the first place?
Because Note2’s pixel sucked? Pentile AMOLED is not even true 720p/1080p.
If you can SEE the pixels on the Note II, you need to turn yourself in to NASA.
I can see them… when I hold the phone a couple inches from my face.
Can I go to NASA now?
have fun never getting an update and sticking with the android its running right now. samsung has plastic bodies but slow updates if any. if you like rooting i guess you can bypass that.
How can the battery be a toss up when Samsung has the option of either using an additional battery or extended battery because of the plastic back plate?
The category was “battery life” not “battery features.” Also, more in-depth reviews rate the HTC One as having just a hair better overall battery life.
Gotta throw em a bone here and there or the S4 wins every category.
Ha! A screen whose colors decay over time, permanently burns in images on the panel, and delivers 33 % less pixels than it advertises. A phone with a removable battery because even though its bigger its also less efficient. A camera that is 13mp and can barely keep up with a 4mp competitor.
Not to be picky or anything but leaving a comment like the one above and then calling Alexander Ramos a fanboy seems rather hypocritical.
Both devices are strong additions to the market and both have groups of people who prefer one to the other, but that’s no reason to go picking fights and attempting to instigate flame wars.
I’m not instigating, Amoled screens colors do decay overtime its an attribute of amoled, they do feature 33% due to their pentile pixel arrangement and burn in is a fact, I can point you out to multiple threads about these issues. I’ll agree that samsung has made great strides into fixing these issues but they are still prevalent.
Can barely keep up with the 4 mp shooter? I think it’s time you visit other websites that actually review that properly. Try GSMarena or AnandTech… the s4 camera runs laps around the one.
And the screen will last just fine… because they’re smart enough to stay away from the useless onscreen keys.
Haha “… the S4 camera runs laps around the One.” You’re kidding right? You represent exactly what sammy fan boys are all about. They each have their strong points, and weak points. Surprising you read the AnandTech review and the only thing you got out of it is that the One is trash compared to the S4. Before you regurgitate arguments that are purley bias, do some research before you blast something. Of course, I’m sure you have facts (un-biased facts) to back up your claim of it being “lapped” as it were? AnandTech certainly did NOT slam the One, in fact he loved it.
The One is trash compared to the S4. And I won’t be buying the S4 either. A lot of writing you just did to be utterly wrong about me.
“The One is trash compared to the S4”
Hyperbolic, monolithic and utterly untrue statements like this serve to discredit you entirely. Everything you said leading to this comment is now suspect.
Very true. And tens of millions of people buying them will demonstrate how hyperbole can describe reality.
In your logic the iPhone beats them all due to more sales. Popularity != functionality, and now that Samsung has a lot of fanboys (due to it’s competition with iSheep) it will be bought simply because of the brand name.
Not everyone looks deep in to what phone they buy. Most people just say eh, this one looks cool and buy it.
Popularity is more important than functionality. Yes, very astute point you just made. They are not equal indeed. Just ask Sony about Betamax and how that worked out against the technically inferior, yet more popular, VHS.
You gave me the giggles. Nice joke there.
Design & Build Quality – HTC One <- No argument there
Display – Samsung Galaxy S4 <- I have my reservations.. Most of the time, my screen brightness isn't on max, and the S4 just barely knocks the One's display on max brightness.
Software – Toss-up <- Personal preference, but honestly, it's between a cartoonish, kid-friendly UI vs. a more mature UI
Audio – HTC One <- No argument
Camera – Toss-up <- No argument… where the One falls, the S4 picks up, and vice versa
Storage – Samsung Galaxy S4 <- Can't beat an option for a SD-Card, No argument.
Benchmarks – Toss-up <- It's funny how the One's lower clocked processor manages to go head on with the S4's .2 ghz faster processor
Battery Life – Toss-up <- It's also funny how the One's 300 mAh smaller battery can go head on with the S4's 2600 mAh stock battery
Both are great devices, but the S4 certainly doesn't win in every category.
Build quality to HTC??? Dude… there’s no repairability for the thing, and if you drop it slightly the speaker grills pop off forever.
And where the s4 camera “failed” the review neglected to use the Auto feature, which would have automagically turned on night shot, and produced a better dark picture with less noise.
And battery – wait for a GSM version updated review. Of course the CDMA Sprint version battery is going to be doodoo compared to the AT&T One… two radios are active on one phone constantly, and only one radio on the other.
Repair-ability and build quality are two different things. No one (other than some clumsy folk, and you I guess… lol) is gonna pick up a phone and ask themselves if this would be easy to repair… When someone picks up a phone, they’re gonna ask themselves if this is a premium device, and when picking up the HTC One, it does feel like a premium because of how solid it feels, and partially due to the fact that it’s made from aluminum. I have no clue what you mean by “drop it slightly the speaker grills pop off forever”… I’m guessing you’re speaking of a drop test? No idea how you can drop something “slightly”… and I’m curious to see how the S4 will fare in a drop test, with a bigger screen and smaller bezels. Leaves a lot more room for damage…
No matter what, the S4 does fail in night shots compared to the One, and it’s not by a small margin either.
For the battery, there are GSM reviews of the S4 out there, all of them reporting an 8-16 hour battery life, depending out what you’re doing.
Like I said, both are great devices, but it’s unfair of you saying that the S4 beats the One in every aspect.
The S4 does not fail in night shots compared to the One, it outperforms the One in them.
http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_s4_vs_htc_one-review-913p10.php
To be fair, I don’t consider GSM Arena’s “low light” shot to be exactly low light…
Check out this review… Startling difference in low light quality…
http://www.anandtech.com/show/6914/samsung-galaxy-s-4-review/7
That’s darkness. Low light is different.
So…. in the darkness test, the HTC One wins….
-.-
;-)
Your right nobody looks at repair quality. That’s exactly why thousands of people will be walking around with a dented body of an htc one if it ever falls once. Again if it falls the speaker on the front will fall off and not go back on which has been proven in drop tests. At least if the galaxy s4 falls and anything happens to the back its cheap plastic and you can get another one. Also why in the world would anyone take night pictures? What are you planning on sneaking in somebody’s room at night and taking a picture of them? Every normal person I know uses flash on the camera when they take a picture at night. I don’t know why you buy a phone but I buy it for all the features. The galaxy s4 has a build in thermometer sensor. It also has the ability to translate languages easy. You can tilt the phone up or down and it will scroll itself. You can look away from a video and it will stop and look back at it and it will keep going. Of you wear gloves when its cold you can still use the screen. You can just wave your hand over the screen and go though each page of the phone. You can also edit people out of pictures with one touch. Plus you can charge the phone wireless. Can you tell me what the htc one does other than looks pretty? If that’s the only reason you buy a phone because it looks nicer than you might as well buy a purse too. Or let me guess you have one already? Let me know how you feel when you drop the htc one out of your pocket and the speaker piece falls off it and won’t go back on.
1) Buy a tpu case/otterbox if you’re extremely clumsy
2) You’re right, the S4 is cheap plastic. You can get another one for $600, no problem.
3) Night pictures? Hell yeah! Useful as heck when I be stalkin’ dem hoes.
4) I don’t know why people would buy the S4 with all it’s features, who would use a humidity sensor, especially when your phone is in your pocket? Translate languages easily? yeah sure, from French, Spanish, and English… Google Translate does a better job. You’ll like an idiot tilting your phone, and waving your hands in front of your phone. I actually don’t want the video to stop when I look away, because I look away for a reason. Editing people out of pictures in one touch? Cool feature bro, can’t wait to see how well it does (sarcasm)… It’s not a proven feature that is proven to work particularly well.
5) Won’t be buying the HTC One, nor the S4.. My Evo LTE will suffice.
Looks like you’re a full pledged Samsung Fan-Boy. Congrats!
….I swear, these Samsung Fan-Boys are worse than Apple’s…
How am I a fan-boy? I prefer a phone with a ton of features and all I did was ask what could the htc one do that galaxy s4 do and all you could say was those features are stupid. If you buy a case for your phone then the whole point of the body of the phone is pointless. The htc one speaker piece fell off when it was dropped once. If you own a phone for a year and don’t drop it then that’s impressive. Yeah i’d use those features on the phone. If you’re not planning on using any features why even buy a smartphone? Also that look away feature you can turn on and off… Also the back on the galaxy 4 can be bought for a few dollars on ebay… You don’t need to spend $600 like you say on it. I never said buy a new phone I said buy a new back piece which is dirt cheap. If you dent the htc one you cant buy a new back you have to buy a new phone. Stop trying to twist my words around when you have a terrible argument.
You prefer a phone with gimmicks, nice. You make a HUGE deal over dropping the phone and the speaker grill coming off, when you can easily repair that yourself. I wonder what excuse you’ll say when the S4 gets the drop test treatment and the screen breaks because of a lack of support from the cheap plastic and smaller bezels.
You really think the only damage to the S4 after dropping it is a scuff mark on the back? Lol okay, have fun with that.
You’re arguing over spilled milk; nothing will be gained from what you’ve been arguing. Buy the S4, live your life.
Here’s a LPT for ya: Think through your arguments before posting/saying it
Dude…all those gimmicky features are nice, agreed but once most ppl get over it they’re, well, over it. That would be utterly ass clownish to do that in public. I liken it to someone speaking publicly to their personal assistant “Siri”. Come on, palm-swiping??? I see a lot of S3 phones out there but no one doing those silly gestures. Don’t get me wrong – Sammy makes the hell out of a phone but that’s some expensive ass plastic that you initially pay for to only turn around and pick up the back plate for a few bucks. HTC stepped up the android game giving something sorely missing – the premium/quality form factor. Hell, they’re even offering for the same or less than the S4! Interesting but I’ve noticed that the polls on different android sites indicate consumers prefer the One by a good margin. Samsung packs a good phone but its about time they lay off the plastic, I mean polycarbonate!
Forever? You must be a drama queen
Yes. Forever. As in: they can not be replaced or re-attached. They’re no longer a part of the device… forever.
The problem is if you have to compare the batteries between the two devices.
Just a personal preference here, but I would of much preferred a removable battery. But your talking about a Sturdy, Aesthetic design vs a more functional design.
Great article. I owned 3 HTC phones in a row. Eris=garbage. DINC=very good. Rezound=eh, still in use. Now I have a GS3 and I don’t see myself going back to HTC, though looks like One is a fine phone.
ONE for sure, period.
How is the HTC One a unibody when its two pieces. I prefer HTC over Samsung. Plastic is out unless you can do plastic right, as in design and appeal like the 920,800. I played with the htc one and the ffc is the same as my 8x. I hated that the phone felt so light, feeks lile one drop and its over. I don’t want an iphone esque device. (durability). can’t wait for GDR3 so wp8.1 can slide into the fit.
Wow, the Htc’s camera really dies when you compare it. Even though the color representation may be a smidge better, the lack of resolution really hurts.
It sort of seems like you made it come out tied and maybe that’s a good thing for forcing people to make up their own minds. For software if the skins are about the same then S4 should definitely have gotten the nod for being current with 4.2.2. The S4 battery is bigger, lasts longer, and is removable. Even if one of them came out ahead I totally agree with “categories aren’t necessarily equal for each buyer”, and they are both great phones. Play with both in the store people before deciding.
Depends…. on my Nexus devices, I’d rather have 4.1, because the bluetooth stack actually works properly. So I think 4.1 is superior to 4.2.
No Bluetooth issues on my Nexii. And a quick look at all Nexus threads on xda shows 4.1 ROMs are pretty much non existent … and for good reason.
Have you tried pairing up a bluetooth game controller with 4.2? (PS3 doesn’t count, since the Sixaxis app uses its own bluetooth stack). Also, what about USB OTG?
Only used PS3 for bluetooth controllers because it’s the best solution by a long shot. Use it to dominate Critical Strike Portable on the N10. I’ve also tried out the xbox 360 controller wired OTG and and various other OTG devices. Bluetooth headsets I have work fine too. Google did release a new and improved bluetooth stack with 4.2 and got away from bluez. It’s not Google’s fault that a few poorly supported cheapo bluetooth game controllers aren’t or can’t be updated to be compliant.
The SD card and replaceable Battery Give the S4 the edge for me. My tired old HTC Desire (which I love by the way) is running and old version of CM10 but I’m way over due for a new phone..
Cop out on the battery issue. The GS4 is the clear winner for removability. I have 2 spares for my GNEX for when I’m travelling and using navigation and yelp and other stuff constantly without being stationary long enough to charge.
That said, if I had to choose I’d probably go the HTC One for build quality and beauty.
Most people are NOT going to carry spare batteries around in their pocket. It may be a nice feature for the few people that are willing to do this, but it requires a lot of size, weight and design compromises to accommodate a very small percentage of smartphone owners.
To be clear, this is not an every day thing, but when I travel it’s common. I don’t carry them in my pocket, but in my laptop bag that’s with me everywhere when I travel.
Sure, and that’s a totally legitimate use case. I just think that kind of need is uncommon enough that it doesn’t affect most consumers. Even among those who travel often, such as myself, there’s usually a tablet or laptop in the mix and the 8 or so hours of continuous general use is plenty.
Software toss up, is my only complaint. On these sites we complain about a phone not coming out with the most recent version of android and the ONE is already behind and its a toss up please explain how…4.2.2/4.1.2?
I think he was more going with software features more than the version of android.
I think he was going more with Sense 5 or TouchWiz. As far as the latest Android, I can tell you it’s pretty buggy. My Nexus 7 has issues and so did my S3. That’s why HTC went with the previous versions to be more stable.
I have owned the HTC One for 7 days now and I can tell you Sense 5 is much more polished than TouchWiz and the over all phone is more polished than my S3. I don’t regret my decision one bit, I think it’s the better device.
I don’t buy Samsung because it looks better. It doesn’t. I buy Samsung because I never have to plug in my phone, I get as much storage as I want, and I get the biggest screen on the smallest footprint. And it’s lighter in my pocket.
you never plug in your phone? cool!
Have always bought two spares and a battery charger. Therefore, I only plug in my batteries and never my phone.
Did anyone notice the 3 Dot Menu Softkey on the HTC One when it was running the benchmarks? It cuts off that part of the screen with just the 3 Dot Menu with a Black Bar. I’ve never owned an Android that didn’t have a Menu Button. I had a GNex with all soft keys. So how does other apps look for a phone like the HTC One with the 3 Dot Menu? Are all apps like that? If so, then its taking up a lot of screen real estate with that Black Bar. And the HTC One screen is smaller than the S4’s to begin with. Any thoughts on that? Does anyone notice what I mean?
The 3 dot menu comes up in apps that are outdated, and don’t follow the latest developer guidelines. So, it will vary depending on which app you are running. If the app is updated, it should have a standard menu bar at the top.
Ahh ok, I see. Thanks for the clarification.
A custom rom can change the HTC logo to a menu button .
I really like this comparison, but IMO audio and camera is for the HTC One (no toss-up) and battery life and current software is for the Galaxy S4. I used to love HTC until I get the Note 2. but, the winner for me is Galaxy S4. I have only eyes for The Note 3 though.
Agreed HTC ONE wins vs S4 US version. But with Exynos OCTA is a completely different story…
THE S4 IS BETTER THEY JUS TRYNA HYPE UP THE HTC ONE…
Great review, but again seems to end as a toss-up. As mentioned below, a call quality comparison and bluetooth performance test might be good to add – my One X always had glitches playing music over bluetooth until I turned off Beats.
How about a scratch-test comparison? My Samsungs with Gorilla Glass have always held up with no scratching but my HTC One X (supposedly with GG) scratched the 2nd day I had it just by laying it face down on a desk and moving it a little (must have been some grit on the desk). I’m guessing it’s a different glass or a coating that actually scratched.
I have the HTC one but I’ll be getting the S4 on saturday
they’re really both good phones and you cant really go wrong just comes down to your choice of Sense v. TouchWiz. Enjoy.
Its hard to believe any part of what you are saying? :)
Imagine if all cell towers went down and u couldn’t make a call and there was no t.v. to see what was goin on and the only way to find out was a fm radio, well HTC seems to provide that, jus plug in some headphones as an antenna no data needed, and u got radio, does Samsung offer that option. Radio. That’s all I wanna know
Is that the dreaded pink spot I see in the HTC’s photo of the parked cars?
I currently have a GS2 and I’m looking to upgrade. For me personally the HTC wins for low light camera performance. The GS4 wins in regards to a removable battery. Build quality is nice on the HTC One but my GS2 has held up just fine also.
With a phone I plan to have for two years the removable battery wins out. I’m sure most of you have not had your cell phone battery completely die. As far as die I mean random phone reboots, terrible erratic battery life, and the battery itself bulging to show that it is bad.
How do I deal with that scenario on the HTC One? I have Sprint… possibly if I have insurance that costs way too much a year I get it replaced? I don’t know but I’m not spending $ on insurance in case the battery dies when with the GS4 I can just go out and buy a $10-15 battery on Amazon and have a completely functioning phone again.
Maybe my GS2 had a bad battery to begin with but we all know batteries become worse with time. I’m going to play it safe and go with the GS4. IMHO.
These are both excellent devices, you can’t lose with either one. I personally would end up goingg with the s4 because it has an sd card slot. The htc one not having this is a deal breaker for me.
Be that as it may, both these devices are winners.
Wonder how long before we can actually buy a 32Gb or 64Gb S4. Those variants promised for the Note 2 are still not available six months after launch.
Also would be interesting to compare samsung versus HTC for updates. Also if there is a way to measure what kind of root and developer support each device will see!
Important thing about HTC one. For example, the t-mobile version has all the frequency bands(GSM/WCDMA.HSPA/LTE) of ATT so one can buy t-mobile version and easily move to ATT. Samsung S4 does not have such flexibility. Please post this difference.
Battery must be a win for the S4, removable battery is without doubt a plus.
Also all those reviews have not importance for Android users more than Aluminum body feature…
Coming from someone that’s owned an HD2 (awesome for its time with metal case) and one s, the feel of the phone doesn’t matter because most people use a case on the phone. How many iPhone users get to enjoy their metal and glass and don’t use some type of case.
Ummmm,… no…. stupid point. At home and at work i take my devices out of their cases and so does alot of people I know. PEOPLE DO CARE about “the feel of the phone” …The One is Superior in design period and people care!
ahahhahahahahahaaaaaaaaa WTF!??? s4 have better screen?? lol is the only comparison all over the internet that says bullshit like that… most of the best site of smarthphones have sayd “the one that has the best screen ever produced on an Android device” and genious satured colors = worst… even though you said bullshit won, however, the one ;)
This is a good review but based on your count-score method, S4 wins (as most of the metrics are benchmark numbers)! But most of us would chose HTC One just for the overall experience!
Looks like Verizon is getting another two years out of me.
Leaving behind a Note 2 ans S3, I just purchased the HTC One yesterday. The colors are far more natural and I’m saying this as someone who loves Samsung recent phones.
The white balance on the camera is awesome and low light pics are amazing.
HTC build quality is great, but I’m guessing a drop to a hard surface will leave a nasty dent in the metal. From experience I can say the plastic Samsungs bounce nicely with no damage whatsoever.
So I have 30 days to decide if I want to keep the One or return it for the S4. It’s not an easy decision.
Aesthetics of the One is far better than the S4 which only has minor changes from the S3. If you’re trying to put yourself out of the croud, get the HTC One.
Great comparison! I have been weighing these 2 phones as well as looking forward to what is on the horizon to come out when my contract is up in june. One thing i have yet to see (and maybe someone has done this already), but i would love to see someone review a phones camera and a/v recording capabilities in a live concert setting. This is where i tend to take the most pictures and video.
low lit and loud, seems like every phone i have had has failed in the photo department of the low light, and the audio ends up being nothing but distortion on a recording.
The S4 should win in battery life because it is user replaceable and it does better according to GSM arena battery test.
There is a very interesting article on pocketnow, in which all the editors of pocketnow have expressed their personal opinions about “s4 or One” and amazingly almost all of them have chosen the One. I made my mind to go for One as they had chosen the htc One AFTER using both phone for some time!
I suggest everyone tocheck that out :)
Wow I remember when us android users used to argue with Apple users. Are our devices so superior now that we have to argue amongst ourselves. How funny :-) anyway in my opinion I prefer the S4 as I’m in love with Sammy these days and its features but getting tiref of Apple fan boys knocking the plastic design. Might wait for a Note 3 and hope for a sexy aluminum shell
Apple is supposed to be building a plastic phone, Apple fanboys will lose another talking point.
Was hoping at least 6 hrs usage on lte. Guess I will stick with iphone until a good battery android phone available before switching back. Also, is it hot when gaming?
Just got my Galaxy S4, and yeah, this camera does not have the pink spot problem. Nice change from my Galaxy S2 Skyrocket!
Nice comparison. The screen’s the key for me. While very nice, I’m not sure how much the aluminum body matters. 90% of phones I see and 100% of the phones I use have plastic (or silicon) covers on them
WTF,you no-brainer say s4 has a better display.Do you think all of us are stupid ?
If I had the choice I think I’d go with the HTC One. My original smartphone was the Droid Incredible so I’ll always have a spot for HTC though I currently have a S3. I think I’m mostly just disappointed in the lack of grow between the S3 and S4. Not that there’s much wrong with the S3 but they didn’t seem to do much more to warrant a brand new phone a year later.
Earphones that came with the S4 are pretty good in ear types. Sound is not audiophile quality, but pretty decent. And it has three buttons for volume up/down and pause.
I like both phones a lot and love the fact that android phones are being compared rather than to an iphone my only gripe I have with the galaxy s4 is that even with the quad core s600 touchwiz still lags alot on the reviews I have seen that should not be happening with a quad core phone with 2 gb of ram the videos and reviews of the htc one show the phone run flawlessly even though clocked at a lower speed . I beleive a lot of the features in touchwiz have potential to beibg really helpful to use but at the moment it just seems to be gimmicks and over complacating things a little samsung should focus on smoothing out the ui rather than gimmicky features . Either phone would be awesome but I’m really intrested in the Note 3 if trend countinues it will be a bigger better display ,larger battery and hopefully better build quality than the s4 oh and also I gaurantee the North american Note 3 will have the octa core processor with lte.
Why doesn’t anyone talk about the htc one drop test. The test where when it fell its amazing aluminum body was dented badly and when it fell on its screen not only did it break but it completely shattered. If the galaxy s4 fell and anything happened to its back its cheap plastic and easy to replace. I’d like to see how the screen would deal with a fall though.
I’m pretty shocked that the GS4 looks so plain. Samsung has become the Toyota of the mobile world, decent product and mass appealing, but over all lifeless and boring.
Yup.. i have SGS3 and I’m not very excited to see SGS4.
I think I just wait for the upcoming Galaxy Note 3.
I’m shocked that people are supporting a battery and memory being held prisoner!!!!!
Shame!!!
I’d like to see the Xperia Z compared with those 2, spec wise it’s a tad behind, but I reckon it would win on build quality, style etc, plus the ruggedness.
I’m surprised nobody has commented about the price difference. While this is somewhat ephemeral, you can, at least on Sprint, get the HTC One as an upgrade to an existing account for between 0 and $50 after rebates, depending on how carefully you shop, whereas the gs4 is $250. Given that the two devices are very close one way or the other, I personally just couldn’t justify the price difference (all things being equal I would have bought the GS4 for the removable battery).
This is very true indeed. The review doesn’t include price comparison.
At the moment the upgrade offer price from SGS3 to SGS4 is not very attractive to me :((
As for the removable battery, I prefer a portable 10000Mah charger over a spare battery. It costs almost the same but much flexibility.
LADIES….LADIES!!!!! Get the phone that suits your needs and STFU. Remember at the end of the day, “my Android kicked your Apple’s ass”
I wish I had the ability to make a decision between these two. But Verizon has only given me one option.
At a given number of pixels, the larger the display, the better. Yes, that actually means less PPI is better. More PPI is better when it means more pixels for the same display size. What count in the end is the number of pixels. Also the total size of the device must not be too big.
In real benchmarks the SGS4 has the edge. Just look at anandtech. CPU, GPU and NAND all are faster in most tests.
Remember when android users used to bash iPhone users for wanting to look cool in the crowds by having an iPhone and saying looks aren’t everything? Now they are all in love with the htc one because of its looks and they wanna look “cool and different”, seriously if your choosing a smartphone on looks your just as bad as the isheep, come on android community, I get if you like it because of the speakers or low light performance but come on, the better SMARTPHONE is the s4, htc makes everything difficult to get to especially in the camera app, and blinkfeed is annoying, at least give people to option to remove it, I’m sick of htc not giving options to anything, and don’t say you don’t care about removable batt/storage because if it had those you would all worship it to no end, and I’m not a Sammy fanboy, I’ve actually never owned a Samsung phone, I currently have the htc rezound and the camera app is still crap in the one, I thought the first 2 galaxies were horrible but the s3 was a winner and so is the s4, touch wiz looks like an iPhone interface but is still better than sense, sense may have a modern look but functionality tw wins, again looks are what isheep do, not us, and again at least Sammy gives options and a ton of features, we used to care about that, I guess people are like raccoons and go for the shiny new object but come on the android community is better than that, I get if there was a feature on the one that was killer and people wanted it bad, but it doesn’t have one, all people say is they like it because it’s metal, when most people use cases that becomes irrelevant, speakers are nice but what person actually listens to music that way? You put on headphones and so again doesn’t matter, but again they are cool just don’t matter much, I too love the design of the one but the rest of it loses to samsung, again not a fanboy, I just hate to see android users become isheep 2.0, there are people that go for just looks but I didn’t think it would be us… Ps htc sense is getting better, but not there yet, maybe next year it’ll have amazing functionality and htc might give people options, my first option was to upgrade to another htc phone but they keep doing the same thing, no options so it’s either Sammy or what moto has coming, but I had the DROID X so I’m a little hesitant to go back
How can you give the battery a toss up???????? Samsung has a larger and removable battery. That is an easy win for Samsung. The camera is an easy pick for me, the Samsung camera gives much better photos and the software with the camera is just sick. You can do all kinds of great stuff with it right out of the box. IMO those two items should be a Samsung Edge.
Uh, probably because the One has a longer talk time and wifi browsing time, even though its a smaller battery. No wonder you Sammy fans feel the need to carry around an extra battery.
Larger battery doesn’t mean better if it doesn’t prolong your talk/browsing time. As for removable battery, I prefer to bring portable charger. It can charge your phone 3 times with its 10000Mah Li-Ion battery. and it cost almost the same as a spare battery.
As for the camera, I just had to agree with HTC approach. Bigger pixel means bigger data means wasting precious storage and data plan. I rarely used picture above 4MP for my twittpic or facebook because it’s just too big to upload and too big to download for your friends/followers, but a low light camera is a big plus for me.
If you want a better picture, no phone camera can beat a true DSLR camera yet :)
So I kinda agree with the review. It’s a Toss-Up. Depends on your needs and preference.
My only concern is battery replacement; Knowing I can swap out batteries in the S4 makes it slightly more desirable…Having to send the phone in to get a replacement is not an option for alot of people…
You DO realize that for all the bells and whistles that you’re praising the GS4 for there is an application out there, right? I’m a religious fan of iPhone from 3 to 5 and all the S’s in between, my whole life is “appled” yet I switched to the One because it has the best of both worlds and until you have it in your hands you won’t see that… It doesn’t really feel like an Android because you can customize it (without huge changes) as much as you want and still it is a very responsive phone. And thanks to dropbox, netflix and google play you really don’t need too much storage… Obviously I have an iPod touch and an iPad so I share all my music, movies and pics among them all but still, this phone is a very good one, and I’m not saying the GS4 is not, I just say, don’t praise it for what it punches, it all can be added and tweaked in the One as well; try both phones, compare them and then make your decision, in the end you’ll be the One (pun totally intended) using the phone, just don’t judge or criticize others for choosing the one you don’t like ;)
HTC ONE
camera , benchmarks and battery life are all in GS4 favore
poll result dont lie. htc one beat s4 2 to 1.
I really like Samsung, but damn i love the aluminum unibody of HTC!
I find it funny that the HTC INSPIRE and the Sensation series and the One S are all made out of unibody metal with the exception of the battery cut outs HTC has always had a premium build quality and “premium” materials …beer and soda cans are also made from glass and aluminium …but now all of a sudden its like the rest of the world took notice even last years One X had a better look and feel than the GS3 guess thats the power of advertisement
I couldn’t decide, and I normally have 2 handset’s anyway, so I’ve got both. Had the ONE since the 15th of March and the S4 since the 26th of April so still haven’t used the S4 as much as the ONE, but in my opinion, I prefer the One. Definitely, without a doubt, noticeably faster than the S4 in near enough everything. My ONE got an update on Monday and even though there’s no changes in the menu’s or anything, as fast as it was it seems to have had a speed boost. Verdict >> The S4’s a wicked piece of kit but the ONE is a F**king MONSTER.