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I played around with the HTC Incredible for a few minutes today.
- I did not like the look and feel (ID) of the Incredible nearly as much as I thought I would. It looked and felt cheaper than the N1. The shape is boring and the all glass/shiny front does not look good. I am much more pleased with the look and feel of the N1.
- The software shortcut buttons (back/menu/home/search) work quite a bit better on the Incredible compared to the N1 with less chance of an unsuccessful press.
- I didn't notice a huge difference in the touchscreens like I had read about. I didn't try the multitouch test.
- Scrolling between home screens didn't seem as fast as my N1, but I am running a custom ROM and kernel on the N1.
- I like the trackball on the N1 a lot more than the optical sensor on the Incredible. It wasn't very smooth rubbing your finger over the optical sensor. The interface between the sensor and the phone casing was a little rough. The trackball is definitely smoother.
Overall I am happy having an N1 and, if it ever existed, I have lost all Incredible envy.
I'm in Canada so I'll most likely never see one of these guys.
How much were they selling for no contract at Best Buy?
I felt the exact same when I looked at it, in fact, I hated the optical track pad also, n1 scrolled wayyyyy faster with it, and pushint it in is hard on the incredible, but Still I welcome it to the family
I love the trackball. I don't know why so many don't like it. optical track pad just seems like it would be a pain.
I found a trick for the nexus track ball, if you just give it a super hard swipe, it will go clear across an entire sentence me text in one swoop. I see people complain its too slow but its not if you give it a really fast swipe.
I just played with the incredible this morning. first thought is the track pad is horrible compared to the track ball. no matter how fast I swipe my finger, it only moves the cursor a few letters. the nexus track ball will move an entire sentence, like 7 words, if you give it one fast swipe.
the incredible is very light weight, but it just feels plasticky compared to the nexus. the nexus feels like a high quality appliance to me, no contest imo.
the speed of the OS felt pretty much the same. I'm running stock ROM on my nexus, not yet rooted (but I will soon enough!).
overall I can't believe anyone would even feel remotely bad about having the incredible released with slightly better specs, the nexus seems like the better phone to me in every way. the one thing I would like is the dual led flash. I don't care about the 8 gb memory or 8 mp camera one bit. but the extra flash would be nice for those random times when you need that photo in a bar or something, cause the nexus single led isn't very good.
ill take the dual mics over the dual flash though
RogerPodacter said:
overall I can't believe anyone would even feel remotely bad about having the incredible released with slightly better specs, the nexus seems like the better phone to me in every way. the one thing I would like is the dual led flash. I don't care about the 8 gb memory or 8 mp camera one bit. but the extra flash would be nice for those random times when you need that photo in a bar or something, cause the nexus single led isn't very good.
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The only people who feel bad about the Incredible being slightly better are the whiners.
IE the people who weren't happy with the Nexus One even without any other similar device having been announced yet.
NO PHONE is perfect.
Case in point: The Incredible, despite having slightly better hardware, feels cheap and is ugly / boring.
How about we wait until FroYo gets (leaked) and we have it first?
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Paul22000 said:
The only people who feel bad about the Incredible being slightly better are the whiners.
IE the people who weren't happy with the Nexus One even without any other similar device having been announced yet.
NO PHONE is perfect.
Case in point: The Incredible, despite having slightly better hardware, feels cheap and is ugly / boring.
How about we wait until FroYo gets (leaked) and we have it first?
.
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Click to collapse
This should be the banner of the N1 forum that everyone see's before they post
Paul22000 said:
The only people who feel bad about the Incredible being slightly better are the whiners.
IE the people who weren't happy with the Nexus One even without any other similar device having been announced yet.
NO PHONE is perfect.
Case in point: The Incredible, despite having slightly better hardware, feels cheap and is ugly / boring.
How about we wait until FroYo gets (leaked) and we have it first?
.
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Click to collapse
I really wanted to disagree with that post to not seem like an N1 fanboy, but I agree.. the Incredible is a giant plastic brick, we will get updates first, and the hardware is only slightly upgraded. It is Incredible, but if you have a Nexus.. its not worth switching over to.
If the Incredible does get developer support, and Froyo gets ported.. then.. um.. maybe we should be worried then. What if Froyo is released quickly for it? We won't have much to brag about but developer support, and.. sexiness? And then if it gets developer support, as much as we have, then it will really be a problem. They may have took root security measures like on the Desire and Legend though, so it may not even matter.
that's what I'm saying, the nexus is such a better built phone that I don't care if the incredible has a 5 gHz CPU, I'd always take the nexus every time.
RogerPodacter said:
that's what I'm saying, the nexus is such a better built phone that I don't care if the incredible has a 5 gHz CPU, I'd always take the nexus every time.
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Did I smell a touch of sarcasm there? you honestly will dump a 5GHz CPU for the nexus?? There is too much love in here guys!
well I was being half sarcastic, but not totally to be honest. sit a nexus next to an incredible and tell me "pick on for free and It's yours, but only one" and I would take the nexus every time no question.
The Nexus One is the first phone I've ever owned that I have no envy of any future phones. It fulfills every single need I have and I can see myself using it beyond 2 years. It's THAT good.
Yup. I agree with above poster. I've never had the latest and greatest and nothing available better. And there won't be for a while, in Canada. I am by no means regretting my purchase and am absolutely in love with the Nexus One. I haven't put it down since I got it 2 and a half weeks ago.
If you have one, love it. If not, then sell it and get yourself an Incredible. Then regret switching.
Jim
the only thing that really annoys me about the phone is battery life. but i guess this is something that no smartphone will do any better in the forseeable future.
I played with an Incredible at a verizon store yesterday. It does seem thinner and snappier.
Still prefer the stock UI.
Biggest sense plus is the exchange server support.
eabinsan said:
the only thing that really annoys me about the phone is battery life. but i guess this is something that no smartphone will do any better in the forseeable future.
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have you tried that GSM Auto (PRL) setting in the other thread? it really seems to work. i have had HORRIBLE battery life for the last month. my battery would die in about 5 hours or maybe 6. so far with this new setting, i am at 4 hours and still at 85%. its made a huge difference so far. but i'm still testing to really know.
battery life is not _horrible_ for me, but it's not great either.
i do have the extended 2800 mAh battery from SEIDO, and i manage to get 3 days out of it. now if this were the performance with the stock battery, i would be a happy camper.
I've had the phone over a week now and I'd like to give my insight as to what I love and what I dislike in comparison with the Nexus.
Just a few sentences.
First off about me: I'm a big texter, I use Twitter, Facebook, IM and general browsing the most, as well as listening to a lot of podcasts and music. SO here are my impressions taking this into account.
The screen: it is hard to fully express how much nicer this feels than the Nexus screen, but suffice to say whites are whiter, colours seem truer and tactile response is noticeably improved. The screen feels more close to your finger somehow...it's hard to put into words. Visibility in sunlight is noticeably better - not quite as visible as iPhone but perfectly acceptable.
Build quality of i9000 is not on a par with the Nexus in terms of its chassis, which seemingly uses cheaper plastics compared to the Nexus' metal architecture. I was still fairly happy with the Samsung's build quality at first but subsequently noticed little microscopic scuffs appearing on the battery cover and a little dink on the bezel. I swear I have only had the phone in my pocket and haven't been throwing it around. Although it isn't exactly in bad condition now I still resent the fact that after only TEN DAYS of careful use and pocket-placement I am already able to detect small signs of wear. On the other hand the screen on the i9000 looks to be of higher build quality - it is made from Gorilla Glass and to look at doesn't seem susceptible to dust contamination as the relatively highly-mounted Nexus digitizer.
The loudpeaker is important to me, and the Nexus had a crappy, hissy loudspeaker. Thankfully the Samsung i9000 speaker is more powerful with richer dynamics and less hiss. It is on a par with the iPhone 3G, if not slightly better as it seems a bit louder...great for listening to podcasts.
Camera.
Like-for-like testing of the Nexus and Galaxy in daylight shows what appear to be richer and sharper pictures on the Samsung. I suspect (judging by their use of rubbish loudspeaker components) that HTC use pretty bog-standard camera optics; and although the Nexus is pretty good most people would favour the Samsung shots under default conditions. The Nexus wins at dim-to-low-light shots though just because it has a flash and is therefore usable in more varied conditions. Video capture on the i9000 is just leagues ahead of the Nexus which not only records at a lower resolution but also produces muddier images with dreadfully low-quality audio. The Samsung also offers a consistent framerate of 30fps and handles low lighting really quite admirably compared with the Nexus.
UI
Since the i9000 only has Eclair there are a few notable missing features found only in Froyo. Despite this the Galaxy still outperforms the Nexus in all the Benchmarking tests I've seen. I haven't performed any benchmarks myself but a side-by-side comparison of both devices (Nexus with Cyanogenmod 6.0 RC) shows noticeably smoother scrolling on the Galaxy S in all apps, including the browser. There are some nice extras too: like quick access to WIFI, Bluetooth, Silent switch and Vibration mode from within the notifications bar. I also like the fact that you can change to different fonts on the i9000 across the whole UI. This gives the OS a slightly different feel which is nice.
Input -
This really fails the Galaxy S i9000. I've really come to realise how much I miss having some form of trackball with the Galaxy S.
On the face of it things seem fine; in fact RAW TEXTING on the i9000 is a lot more pleasurable than on the Nexus not only because of the greater screen real-estate but also because the screen itself is more responsive....but the caveat is that lack of a trackball or optical trackpad...
There is no reason why Samsung couldn't have included an optical button (as seen on the Omnia among other Sammy phones) to facilitate text selection. Judging by the iOS-inspired Touchwiz 3.0 it SEEMS that Samsung want some of the minimalism of the iPhone hardware and UI but what they have failed to notice is that the iPhone uses a long-press magnifying glass feature across the ENTIRE OS which allows for VERY EASY text selection, copying and pasting. Android, and Touchwiz does NOT include such a facility - just a half-hearted cursor pad in the default keyboard which is obtained by long-pressing the numeric button. This facility is clunky at best, useless at worst, since it necessitates using only the Samsung default keyboard if you wish to do any cursor movement, or irritatingly swapping from your preferred keyboard (such as my favoured Droid X IME) back to the default keyboard, then back to the preferred keyboard again. I've found myself having to do this a few times as it is often practically IMPOSSIBLE to select a passage or move the cursor to the exact right place without a d-pad or trackball. This really is a major failing for me and completely ruins things.
*EDIT* i've found that swiping from the Swype to the Sym key in Swype opens up a cursor system. I've tried to get along with Swype and haven't succeded so far but i'll give it a try again .
Media -
Owing to the great speaker, listening to podcasts on the i9000 is a pleasure. Music also sounds acceptable. The music control panel which shows up in the notifications bar when you are playing tracks is also genuinely useful.
One of the i9000's main selling points is not only its ability to record HD video but also to PLAY it. I've tested it with about twenty 720p clips from Youtube, and a number of 720p WMV files and it hasn't skipped a beat. Genuinely wonderful smoothness of playback. I haven't found a video of 720p or less that it wouldn't play as yet, although the BBC iPlayer downloads from Myplayer played without sound and necessitated Rockplayer.
Anyway I'm running out of steam now....but to conclude: I'm getting rid of the Galaxy S: it's a combination of overall build durability and a lack of nice, simple hardware features like a trackball and notification light that make me think that there will be something better along for me soon. I really like the phone and find it a joy to use but the few annoyances have spoilt it for me sadly.
If anyone near the midlands, UK wishes to buy an unlocked, unbranded Galaxy S with unopened accessories for a £290 before it goes on eBay then drop me a line.
Any other questions I will be happy to answer.
leoni1980 said:
simple hardware features like a trackball and notification light
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Not to be an ass, but if you knew you wanted those features, then why did you get it? It's obvious from any picture of a SGS that it doesn't have a trackball. And early reports from this forum would have informed you that it doesn't have notification lights...
Of course one does have to wonder why Samsung didn't go all out. How hard would it have been to add camera flash among those other things you listed.
You might be interested in the Desire HD that's rumored to be coming out sometime soon.
Leoni,
I know you're not exactly in love with the swype keyboard yet, but I think you'll love it fiercely once you get into it. You know how I hated swype in the past, I think, because of my fierce liking for Tengo. But even I can like swype keyboard, and like it a lot.
The copy/cut and paste being poorly designed as compared to iPhone will be something that we had to put up with, no matter which Android phone we switch to. Granted at HTC has the iPhone-like copy and paste facility, but that's not available uniformly across the system and across all applications. So, I reckon there isn't much effective difference across different android phones in this regards. I know the lack of trackball makes text selection difficult, but not impossible I believe. But with or without trackball, the design are all bad. Perhaps a future firmware could redo cut and paste from the ground up again and get it right.
Overall, when I read your comparison, I thought it was overwhelmingly positive towards SGS, a lot more then Nexus. It was the conclusion which took me by surprise.
INeedYourHelp said:
Not to be an ass, but if you knew you wanted those features, then why did you get it? It's obvious from any picture of a SGS that it doesn't have a trackball. And early reports from this forum would have informed you that it doesn't have notification lights...
Of course one does have to wonder why Samsung didn't go all out. How hard would it have been to add camera flash among those other things you listed.
You might be interested in the Desire HD that's rumored to be coming out sometime soon.
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Click to collapse
It's not so much a lack of trackball that's the problem so much as a complete lack of innovation with respect to compensating for the lack of a trackball. Ironically HTC sense implements a good system very similar to (perhaps even BETTER than) the iPhone's magnified system within the Desire browser, yet the Desire requires such a system far LESS than the i9000 owing to its optical trackball.
Text selection on the N1 is very easy in the browser: click in the trackball, move the arrow cursor click again to highlight. It's such a pity that Samsung didn't devote a little more time to core features that make the user experience more friendly and enjoyable rather than making those ugly widgets and pointless add-on apps.
Dont get me wrong I do really like the phone but it just feels too proprietary, too unfinished and too lacking in development support compared to.the N1, despite its many nice features.
INeedYourHelp said:
Not to be an ass, but if you knew you wanted those features, then why did you get it? It's obvious from any picture of a SGS that it doesn't have a trackball. And early reports from this forum would have informed you that it doesn't have notification lights...
Of course one does have to wonder why Samsung didn't go all out. How hard would it have been to add camera flash among those other things you listed.
You might be interested in the Desire HD that's rumored to be coming out sometime soon.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I also switched from Nexus One to Galaxy S, and didn't realize how much I'd used the trackball until it was gone. Same with the camera flash led. I knew they weren't on the SGS, but didn't think I'd miss them. I definitely do. Unlike the original poster, they're not deal-breakers for me, but throw in those two oversights and the plastic back/frame and I feel like the SGS, which had the potential to be the PERFECT phone for the next several months at least, can't claim that title clearly. I'm not getting rid of mine, though. I love Swype (Shapewriter even more) and can deal with the lack of easy text selection.
distortedloop said:
I also switched from Nexus One to Galaxy S, and didn't realize how much I'd used the trackball until it was gone. Same with the camera flash led. I knew they weren't on the SGS, but didn't think I'd miss them. I definitely do. Unlike the original poster, they're not deal-breakers for me, but throw in those two oversights and the plastic back/frame and I feel like the SGS, which had the potential to be the PERFECT phone for the next several months at least, can't claim that title clearly. I'm not getting rid of mine, though. I love Swype (Shapewriter even more) and can deal with the lack of easy text selection.
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I've already sold my Nexus. I have a 32gb iPhone which Apple have fixed for me after I left it faulty and unused for months so Im thinking of going back until something new comes along. I got the Galaxy on upgrade and suspect (as with all samsung phones) that its value will plummet very rapidly so i'm going to sell it while I can still get a reasonable price on it. Maybe I'll buy the Droid x, maybe the iPhone 4....maybe the Desire HD....either way I'm selling the Galaxy S before it gets any tattier.
I agree with the points of the OP, I'm in the same situation, coming from a Nexus One to the Galaxy S. I'm coming to a different conclusion though: I'm keeping the Galaxy S. I find the cell signal/reception to be significantly better, pretty outstanding actually. Also, it just feels much faster in terms of data both via 3G and Wifi.
It's still early, the Nexus One has had a lot of time to mature. I believe the ROMs along with the upcoming 2.2 will give the Galaxy S the polish it needs. As for the casing, well, the material will certainly scuff faster but I'm not really feeling the back plastic is too cheap-- it feels just like my old iPhone 3G, which no one accused of feeling cheap.
leoni1980 said:
The loudpeaker is important to me, and the Nexus had a crappy, hissy loudspeaker. Thankfully the Samsung i9000 speaker is more powerful with richer dynamics and less hiss. It is on a par with the iPhone 3G, if not slightly better as it seems a bit louder...great for listening to podcasts.
Input -
This really fails the Galaxy S i9000. I've really come to realise how much I miss having some form of trackball with the Galaxy S.
This facility is clunky at best, useless at worst, since it necessitates using only the Samsung default keyboard if you wish to do any cursor movement, or irritatingly swapping from your preferred keyboard (such as my favoured Droid X IME) back to the default keyboard, then back to the preferred keyboard again. I've found myself having to do this a few times as it is often practically IMPOSSIBLE to select a passage or move the cursor to the exact right place without a d-pad or trackball. This really is a major failing for me and completely ruins things.
*EDIT* i've found that swiping from the Swype to the Sym key in Swype opens up a cursor system. I've tried to get along with Swype and haven't succeded so far but i'll give it a try again .
Anyway I'm running out of steam now....but to conclude: I'm getting rid of the Galaxy S: it's a combination of overall build durability and a lack of nice, simple hardware features like a trackball and notification light that make me think that there will be something better along for me soon. I really like the phone and find it a joy to use but the few annoyances have spoilt it for me sadly.
If anyone near the midlands, UK wishes to buy an unlocked, unbranded Galaxy S with unopened accessories for a £290 before it goes on eBay then drop me a line.
Any other questions I will be happy to answer.
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Click to collapse
The ending was a surprise to me, but to each there own.
From all comparisons I've read, this has a better speaker than the iPhone 3G (not sure about anything beyond that), the iPhone 3G didn't even have as good a speaker as the iPod Touch 2.
leoni1980 said:
"This facility is clunky at best, useless at worst, since it necessitates using only the Samsung default keyboard if you wish to do any cursor movement, or irritatingly swapping from your preferred keyboard (such as my favoured Droid X IME) back to the default keyboard, then back to the preferred keyboard again. "
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I am either misunderstanding or you have it wrong, I use SwiftKey and I can select text, and select text very well. The screen is so accurate and I don't have to do much. Wherever my cursor is it will start there, so if I'm not where I need to be I move the cursor there which typically takes one touch, then I select my ending point which again I get right more often than not. Where I'll agree with you though is in apps, I read engadget and God is there touch accuracy off in that app for whatever reason. I have to literally be a cm away from the location I want and maybe above/below where I want. Typically I just settle for retyping extra...a trackball here would be marvelous.
distortedloop said:
I also switched from Nexus One to Galaxy S, and didn't realize how much I'd used the trackball until it was gone. Same with the camera flash led. I knew they weren't on the SGS, but didn't think I'd miss them. I definitely do. Unlike the original poster, they're not deal-breakers for me, but throw in those two oversights and the plastic back/frame and I feel like the SGS, which had the potential to be the PERFECT phone for the next several months at least, can't claim that title clearly. I'm not getting rid of mine, though. I love Swype (Shapewriter even more) and can deal with the lack of easy text selection.
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Click to collapse
tenshi888 said:
I agree with the points of the OP, I'm in the same situation, coming from a Nexus One to the Galaxy S. I'm coming to a different conclusion though: I'm keeping the Galaxy S. I find the cell signal/reception to be significantly better, pretty outstanding actually. Also, it just feels much faster in terms of data both via 3G and Wifi.
It's still early, the Nexus One has had a lot of time to mature. I believe the ROMs along with the upcoming 2.2 will give the Galaxy S the polish it needs. As for the casing, well, the material will certainly scuff faster but I'm not really feeling the back plastic is too cheap-- it feels just like my old iPhone 3G, which no one accused of feeling cheap.
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I was thinking of getting an N1 in addition to my Galaxy S. I'm in Korea and the N1 has been available for about a month, I got my Galaxy S about 3 weeks ago when they first came out. Now they are moving to unlimited data and free tethering so I was thinking about going with 2 devices. Samsung Hub just reported that FroYo is coming to Korea in about 2 weeks though, which takes some of the steam out of me wanting the N1.
What do you 2 think? Would you get the N1 unlocked, without a plan? I was 67% going to get it when I heard the data plans, then now it's flipped to 33% now that I heard FroYo...what to do?
Good balanced review, though I am surprised at the conclusion
The SGS certainly has some annoyances compared to my old N1+Froyo, however I'm confident the SGS firmwares will improve on this great hardware.
For me, camera flash = consistently rubbish looking photos; I don't miss visual notifications because the SGS is in my pocket and its more important the phone be loud; Cut-and-Paste - yes a little easier using the N1 trackball but I seem to rarely want to do c'n'p except to share a URL or whatever; Positioning the cursor was definitely easier using a trackball but I'm a big fan of Swype and I use the cursor positioning so rarely that it's not a big deal for me to use the Swype cursor keys. The iPhone definitely has the superior c'n'p implementation, but for a function I use so infrequently I don't miss it that much (before the N1, I was on a iPhone 3G).
For me the trackball/cursor issue ismt just about being able to cut copy and paste, its about being able to get the cursor back where it was supposed to be if it happens to move! And it seems to happen to me a lot
just so you can see my point, try typing out a sentence here on these forums within the browser then move the cursor slightly....see how efficiently you can put the cursor back where it should be
I can see where Leoni is coming from and why his decision makes sense though. With iPhone 4, Droid X, and Desire HD in the horizon, it does make sense. Leoni has experienced just about every phones available. The only thing i wonder is if he's leaving enough money for his retirement.
eaglesteve said:
I can see where Leoni is coming from and why his decision makes sense though. With iPhone 4, Droid X, and Desire HD in the horizon, it does make sense. Leoni has experienced just about every phones available. The only thing i wonder is if he's leaving enough money for his retirement.
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Click to collapse
EDIT**** The trackball-less system strikes again
I don't know what you mean Eaglesteve: in the last year i've only owned an iphone 3G, T-Mobile G1, Sony Ericsson C905. HTC Magic, iPhone 3Gs, HTC Hero, HTC HD2, Motorola Dext, Samsung Galaxy, Samsung Omnia 2, Google Nexus One, HTC Desire and a Samsung Galaxy S....
;-)
leoni1980 said:
I don't know what you mean Eaglesteve: in the last year i've only owned an iphone 3G, sony Ericsson C905.
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Is that right? I thought you had an HD2 and HTC desire as well, no? What about Nexus one? BTW, why did you get an iPhone 3G instead if 3GS last year?
eaglesteve said:
Is that right? I thought you had an HD2 and HTC desire as well, no? What about Nexus one? BTW, why did you get an iPhone 3G instead if 3GS last year?
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See my revised post. Ironically the cursor decided to move and in the process of trying to get it back in place I hit 'submit Reply'. Can you see why I am getting annoyed with this phone now??
Yes I KNOW there is the XDA app 'brought to me by Tapatalk' but I just don't blinking LIKE it....
OMG...I know you've tried many phones but not in my wildest dream that many, hahaha.
eaglesteve said:
OMG...I know you've tried many phones but not in my wildest dream that many, hahaha.
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I forgot to mention the Nokia 5800 and the cheap N95 I picked up.
One or two devices barely saw a week's usage!
I still like the iPhone for pure 'appliance' slickness and have loads of iPhone docks and external battery add-ons; sadly I despise Apple's closed ecosystem. I may yet change my mind about the Galaxy S - I'm just particularly irritated with it this morning.
miker71 said:
Good balanced review, though I am surprised at the conclusion
The SGS certainly has some annoyances compared to my old N1+Froyo, however I'm confident the SGS firmwares will improve on this great hardware.
For me, camera flash = consistently rubbish looking photos; I don't miss visual notifications because the SGS is in my pocket and its more important the phone be loud; Cut-and-Paste - yes a little easier using the N1 trackball but I seem to rarely want to do c'n'p except to share a URL or whatever; Positioning the cursor was definitely easier using a trackball but I'm a big fan of Swype and I use the cursor positioning so rarely that it's not a big deal for me to use the Swype cursor keys. The iPhone definitely has the superior c'n'p implementation, but for a function I use so infrequently I don't miss it that much (before the N1, I was on a iPhone 3G).
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I think that the soft d-pad of the Galaxy works suprisingly good when it comes to text selection. It is triggered by default in the newest firmware (don't believe it is triggered in the older firmware).
Anyway one can manually trigger the soft d-pad by holding down the "?123" button on the standard samsung keyboard. Very nice feature....
appelflap said:
I think that the soft d-pad of the Galaxy works suprisingly good when it comes to text selection. It is triggered by default in the newest firmware (don't believe it is triggered in the older firmware).
Anyway one can manually trigger the soft d-pad by holding down the "?123" button on the standard samsung keyboard. Very nice feature....
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Click to collapse
But that necessitates using the default keyboard and despite trying to like it for four days straight I just found it very unlikeable
leoni1980 said:
But that necessitates using the default keyboard and despite trying to like it for four days straight I just found it very unlikeable
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I think it all depends on the device you are comming from. I come from a HTC HD2 and the keyboard is a relief for me. (due mostly to the better cap. touchscreen of samsung)
It's good to have device by device comparisons. But I think one always have to take into perspective the platform or device one particular person is comming from. For a HD2 user the nexus maybe worse than the galaxy. For a nokia user maybe not. Persons are historically situated
This looks like one of the hot comparisions out there right now. Many of you are probably wondering if you should get the One or S4. I was in the same boat as some of you guys before buying the HTC One. I had been using a nexus 4 which felt fast and good in hand, but after breaking the screen and getting quoted $250 to fix it, i decided to buy a new one. I didn't even look at any phones other than the HTC One, Galaxy S4 and XPeria Z. I removed the XPeria Z from my list after hearing that the snapdragon s4 feels laggy on the 1080p screen and the screen is a little washed out compared to the other two. It was really hard to choose from the remaining two, but here are things that i thought were pros and cons of both phones:
Galaxy S4 Pros:
- Has SD Slot
- Has Removable Battery
- Processor is clocked 200MHz higher at 1.9GHz (Doesn't make much difference)
- AirView is pretty cool and would be pretty useful if more apps implemented (I don't think the API is open though)
- Faster unofficial updates since Google announced they would be providing updates for the stock version of GS4 which means the roms can be ported faster.
Galaxy S4 Cons:
- Doesn't have a premium feel with plastic polycarbonate body (the phone's plastic felt like the plastic used on my motorcycle's helmet)
- Has too many gimicky features that just take up space but you can never use (the eye tracking features are useless at night or where there is no perfect lighting, Air gestures are not practical for most people.)
- Only 16GB of internal storage (at the moment), and only about 10 GB is free for users to use, which means you cannot download apps that are more than that on size. Almost all big games on the android market are at least 1GB and can go up to 3, and if you install like 5 or 6 of them, you will be pretty close to running out of storage for apps.
- When i held the device on my hand, it felt slimey (its kind of hard to explain) as if it was dipped in some kind of oil.
- Phone speaker is tiny. I don't listen to music through the speakers, but while trying my friends GS4's speakerphone to call while driving, i felt like the volume was little too low.
- TouchWiz is really cluttered. I checked how many apps that i didn't need were installed by default, and there were more than 20 apps that i would never use.
- Periodic Jitters. The phone seemed to freeze up for a quarter of second randomly while using the phone. And sometimes the UI would totally skip animations. These aren't big things, but they make the user experience feel less fun.
HTC One Pros:
- Smooth aluminum finish definitely makes the device feel premium in hand and gives overall better hand feeling.
- Ultrapixel camera works great at low light conditions.
- The infrared blaster merged into the power button just makes the device look less cluttered.
- The PPI is the higest out of anything i have ever used. The display is so sharp that it looks like you are looking at a printed photo when you are looking at the picture on the phone.
- HTC Sense 5 is great. I was always an aosp fan, but they have optmised sense so much that i like sense better than stock now.
- Boomsound speakers are great. I never thought i would be using speakers to watch videos on my phone, but the boom sound speakers are so loud and clear that i like using them over my $200+ headphones while watching movies and videos. The speakers are something that you will not notice how good they are unless you actually use them. Head down to a Sprint or Tmobile or ATT store and try it out.
- Beats Audio sounded like a gimmick at first, but it surprisingly works really well. Some songs sound so much better with beats turned on.
- It has a built in amp for the speakers, which helps the speakers perform really good.
- It is iPhone smooth. No matter what you guys say, i had never used an android phone that could match iphone's smoothness before using the htc one. The galaxy s4 is smooth, but the one feels a lot more smoother than the s4 when using side by side.
- Call Quality seemed much much better than S4 on my tests.
HTC One Cons:
- No Removable Battery. This definitely sucks.
- No SD Slot.
- Still uses 4.1.2 instead of latest version.
- Only 4 MP camera. Way more than enough on daily use, but if you want to print a photo in really large size, you might want to look for a real camera.
- It's almost impossible to repair.
Well these were pros and cons from my tests. I ended up buying the HTC one after a long research. Here are some deciding factors and solutions for HTC one's cons that made me get the HTC:
- The One came with 32 GB which was enough for me. And since i have good network and unlimited data with tmobile, i could always use cloud storage if i needed more.
- The One supports USB OTG like the S4 which means after buying a $1 cable from ebay, i could just plug in my USB flash drive and watch movies and other things from there. This would save me internal space, and i could always use the usb if i wanted to watch a movie. This would compensate the non removable storage in the HTC One.
- The non removable battery in the HTC One sucks, but according to a lot of reviews it would last for a day with moderate use which was good enough for me.
- The non removable battery problems could be solved by portable chargers.
- Even though the battery is non replaceable in the HTC One, i don't think i will need to replace it for at least 2 years, and i wont be using this phone for more than 2 years. The battery is rated for charging cycles of 1000 times. This means even if you charge and discharge your phone completely 3 times in two days (which we don't normally do), the phone would easily last 2 years. And the 1000 times rating is the minimum rating, the battery could last even longer.
- The One has much more premium feel in hand compared to the S4. If you hold both in hands at the same time, you can totally feel the difference.
- Samsung's 16GB internal storage feels like too low for apps. Since you can only use 10GB out of the 16, i feel like i am going to run out of internal storage pretty quick.'
- The Audio quality from headphone port as well as the speakers is much better than the S4. I tried both side by side and One was far better in terms or audio quality.
- The display in HTC One seemed better than the S4 probably because of the higher PPI or samsung's use of pentile display tech. You wouldn't notice this if you were just using one of the phones, but if you had both phones side by side, the difference was noticable.
- The display on the HTC One works much better on sunlight compared to the Galaxy s4's OLED display. The difference is pretty big.
- I noticed that most pictures that i took with my phone were in low light situations. HTC One was much better in low light, even when the Galaxy S4's night mode was turned on.
- I actually liked the looks of HTC's sense compared to Touchwiz. Touchwiz just feels cartoonish compared to Sense.
Let me know if there are any pros or cons or any of the phones that i missed to mention above.
P.S. I am pretty biased towards the HTC one on the last part (deciding factors) since those were the reasons i got one instead of other. But i've tried to be as fair as possible on the pros and cons.
Update: Check this post http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=41502507&postcount=27
Thanks for the info. I thought Verizon did me a favor and gave me one decision with the s4. Looks like there going to release it and I will have a decision. I've read all the pros and cons and you really have to hold the devices side by side and I did that yesterday for the first time.
Sent from my Nexus 10 using xda app-developers app
Fstall303 said:
Thanks for the info. I thought Verizon did me a favor and gave me one decision with the s4. Looks like there going to release it and I will have a decision. I've read all the pros and cons and you really have to hold the devices side by side and I did that yesterday for the first time.
Sent from my Nexus 10 using xda app-developers app
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Click to collapse
Honestly, both phones are pretty similar in terms of performance specs. But its the tiny little things that make a big difference. Try both phones and don't make your decision based on the fact that verizon doesn't have the one yet. Since sprint already got the CDMA version, verizon should be getting one pretty soon.
Yes, the HTC One is "feeling" good in the hand because of the aluminum. But how things works and functions is way more important than how things feels.
But that feeling comes with a big cost. Aluminum is spreading the heat way more than plastic does. And because the temprature on the HTC One is way higher than it is on the Samsung Galaxy S4 (according to NordicHardware here: http://tinyurl.com/brskpgw), then i wouldn't really say aluminum is a good thing to have on a phone when a phone gets that hot.
And good luck holding that phone under heavy usage, because you know, over 57 degrees celcius and aluminum is NOT gonna fell good in the hand at all.
You should write this down as a cons / negative side for the HTC One.
Tom-Helge said:
Yes, the HTC One is "feeling" good in the hand because of the aluminum. But how things works and functions is way more important than how things feels.
But that feeling comes with a big cost. Aluminum is spreading the heat way more than plastic does. And because the temprature on the HTC One is way higher than it is on the Samsung Galaxy S4 (according to NordicHardware here: http://tinyurl.com/brskpgw), then i wouldn't really say aluminum is a good thing to have on a phone when a phone gets that hot.
And good luck holding that phone under heavy usage, because you know, over 57 deagrees celcius and aluminum is NOT gonna fell good in the hand at all.
You should write this down as a cons / negative side for the HTC One.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And if you would think about what you just posted, you'd know that heat dissapation is a good thing. Both phones have more or less the same processor, so they heat up about equally. The heat you feel on metal means that the heat is getting sucked away from processor and other electronics inside, preventing them from overheating. :good:
Tom-Helge said:
Yes, the HTC One is "feeling" good in the hand because of the aluminum. But how things works and functions is way more important than how things feels.
But that feeling comes with a big cost. Aluminum is spreading the heat way more than plastic does. And because the temprature on the HTC One is way higher than it is on the Samsung Galaxy S4 (according to NordicHardware here: http://tinyurl.com/brskpgw), then i wouldn't really say aluminum is a good thing to have on a phone when a phone gets that hot.
And good luck holding that phone under heavy usage, because you know, over 57 deagrees celcius and aluminum is NOT gonna fell good in the hand at all.
You should write this down as a cons / negative side for the HTC One.
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Click to collapse
hey mate i been using htc one for 2 month and i wanna correct you even i watching movie and playing asphalt 7 or nova or modern combat
my battery highest rate will go till 41 degree and i never feel hot or watsoever just warm if u going to ask me how the hell i check now i teach u guys and that dont know just press *#*#4636#*#* if the device battery heat higher than 48degree will be consider defected battery as what HTC service center told me.lastly im not a HTC fanboy i own samsung s3 previous and my sister own s4 now,we compare side by side and my sister said wanna sell of s4 and get HTC one no offense and peace
OP, as you can see by reading the sticky by jotha in this very section, comparison threads aren't allowed in this forum.
Tom-Helge said:
You can't see ANY differences from 441 PPI to 468 PPI with the naked eye. It's that simple. You are only imagine in your head that you actually are seeing differences. But in reality, you don't. You can't see any differences here before you gets the screens under a microscope.
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Normally I would agree with you on this...But the fact that the S4 uses a pentile display I would have to disagree! I'm sure most people can tell a difference side by side.
Sent from my HTCONE using xda premium
gutrrob said:
Normally I would agree with you on this...But the fact that the S4 uses a pentile display I would have to disagree! I'm sure most people can tell a difference side by side.
Sent from my HTCONE using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe you should read about the new Pentile technology that are in the Galaxy S4 before you claim it's bad because of earlier pentile techologies: http://www.displaymate.com/Galaxy_S4_ShootOut_1.htm
TLDR: The Super AMOLED screen on the Galaxy S4 are as good as the iPhone 5 screen is. It says enough.
Tom-Helge said:
Maybe you should read about the new Pentile technology that are in the Galaxy S4 before you claim it's bad because of earlier pentile techologies
TLDR: The Super AMOLED screen on the Galaxy S4 are as good as the iPhone 5 screen is. It says enough.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The HTC One has a far superior screen compared to the iPhone 5! Your comment doesn't hold any water.
Find a article where the S4 screen is just as good as the One.
Sent from my HTCONE using xda premium
gutrrob said:
The HTC One has a far superior screen compared to the iPhone 5! Your comment doesn't hold any water.
Find a article where the S4 screen is just as good as the One.
Sent from my HTCONE using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When it's about PPI, then yes, HTC One are better than iPhone 5. But everything is not about the PPI on a screen.
Maybe you could find the article / proof that says the HTC One's screen are better than iPhone 5 when it comes to color accuracy?
HTC One and iPhone 5 uses the same screen technology (both have RGB stripes). So the only thing we can compare between those 2 are color accuracy.
And if you then can find me the proof that HTC One is doing a better job at color accuracy than the iPhone 5, then sure, i will use the HTC One over the iPhone 5 to compare the Samsung Galaxy S4's screen with.
gutrrob said:
The HTC One has a far superior screen compared to the iPhone 5! Your comment doesn't hold any water.
Find a article where the S4 screen is just as good as the One.
Sent from my HTCONE using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry if I'll make you upset or something but IMO the iphone 5 screen is one of the best LCD's out there.
It has excellent calibration, sunlight visibility is superior to everything out there (even better than HTC one), excellent viewing angles and very high (maybe even the highest) contrast among mobile LCD displays.
Yes, the SLCD3 (of Samsung and Sony) in the HTC one is excellent but it's not perfect and the only place it's superior to the iphone 5's screen is ppi. Other than that, it's on par or inferior.
Check it yourself, and I know I'll be backed up by you and any other person who've seen the iphone 5's in person.
BTW, I still prefer the HTC one display over the iphone 5 display.
Tom-Helge said:
When it's about PPI, then yes, HTC One are better than iPhone 5. But everything is not about the PPI on a screen.
Maybe you could find the article / proof that says the HTC One's screen are better than iPhone 5 when it comes to color accuracy?
HTC One and iPhone 5 uses the same screen technology (both have RGB stripes). So the only thing we can compare between those 2 are color accuracy.
And if you then can find me the proof that HTC One is doing a better job at color accuracy than the iPhone 5, then sure, i will use the HTC One over the iPhone 5 to compare the Samsung Galaxy S4's screen with.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Funny how you keep bringing up the iPhone 5 when were talking about the S4 vs HTC One screen!
I'm done here Troll!
Sent from my HTCONE using xda premium
gutrrob said:
Funny how you keep bringing up the iPhone 5 when were talking about the S4 vs HTC One screen!
I'm done here Troll!
Sent from my HTCONE using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If iphone 5's screen superior (or on par) than the HTC one's screen than we can bring comparisons (that already made) between him and the S4 instead of the s4 against HTC one which we don't have professional comparisons unless you count the GSMArena comparison (for example) which gave the s4 the winning spot in the screen part:
http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_s4_vs_htc_one-review-913p3.php
sindresv said:
Tom-Helge:
Why do you come here and try to destroy a perfectly good thread? The OP was trying to help others in the same situation as he was in, and he was not blindly butchering the S4. He had many valid points both pro and cons on both devices, so I don't really see the problem.
You tell us the One's screen isn't that good compared to the S4, but yet the only phone you compare it to is the iPhone 5. I struggel to see your point as this isn't an iPhone 5 VS One thread.
And for the dark screen on the S4: when you compare phones, you have to do it in stock condition. Not everyone roots and flashes.. In fact most people don't..
I still don't get the fuzz over the battery not being able to be changed. I personally have never had the need to change a bettery, and neither have any of my friends.
I guess this thread will be closed, but I kind of liked it and found it useful
Ind just for your information: yes, the One gets a bit hot, but it's never been a problem holding it, and far from any discomfort!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, there's no a problem in showing the pros and cons of the devices but the list the OP listed is total biased towards the HTC one.
Almost all of the cons of the galaxy s4 and the pros of the HTC one was a matter of opinion and preference.
So yes, it's good for non-techy people to have such thread but not as biased toward the HTC one as this thread is.
Tom-Helge said:
I'm not destroying this topic. I'm correcting some points the op talked about witch isn't true.
When wasn't that allowed to do?
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The SGS4 screen was engineered with a pentigon style layout making the screen more green/blue than it should be , also making the whites more gray than it should be.
in reality the statments that you were bringing up do have some weight, but the SGS4 is a refreshed the SGS3.
Sent from my HTC One using xda app-developers app
Is there any reason that the only people who think that are owners of a S4?
EclipzeRemix said:
The SGS4 screen was engineered with a pentigon style layout making the screen more green/blue than it should be , also making the whites more gray than it should be.
in reality the statments that you were bringing up do have some weight, but the SGS4 is a refreshed the SGS3.
Sent from my HTC One using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you seen the professional test of displaymate? The s4 (in movie mode) have accurate colors.
The "diamond" pentile use different sizes for each subpixel so in the end you can get accurate colors and in movie mode it actually have accurate colors as stated in displaymate tests.
sindresv said:
None of your points have been valid, and when you realise that, you just bring in another phone to compare it with...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So my links that explains why the Galaxy S4 screen is that good as i say isn't any valid points?
I bring in the iPhone 5 because it have been the mainstreamphone to compare other screen on other phones to, because the iPhone 5 screen is pretty mu7ch one of the best screens out there (untilk proven wrong).
The fact that the display is perfect in some situations doesn't change the fact that it is s**t in other key functions. Not being able to use chrome is kind of a big deal for many people!
And you showed us a link telling us that the S4 display is s**t when browsing. Is that explaining how good it is?
Author's comments: I have always loved HTC phones, my first high-end phone was the original HTC EVO and I am the maker of the Azrael ROM for that phone (which eventually became Azrael X). I also was a proud owner of a HTC EVO 3D. But I have had my share of Samsung devices as well. I have had the Samsung Captivate, the Samsung Galaxy S3, and most recently the Samsung Galaxy S4. I also tried the Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom but found for me it was impossible to store and I did not like the false advertising as it is NO S4. It is gimped compared to the S4.
So to sum it off, I like Samsung and HTC, I am no fanboy, I simply choose the device I think fits me best. I am also aware there are other threads like this, but this is just another opinion or another review, so to speak. I hope this proves helpful if you are on the fence about either device.
CONSTRUCTION:
Samsung Galaxy S4: I have easily broken every Samsung phone's screen I have ever had (except the Captivate, which seems to be to invincible!). Let me get that out of the way before I go anywhere else. Do not think Gorilla Glass will live up to it's name! I am not abusive to my phones but I have dropped them while at work especially. I am sure everyone drops their phone from time to time, or it falls out of your hoodie (which has doomed 2 of my phones).
The Captivate was a little tank, that phone is smaller but it feels substantial in your hands and I feel it is the most well made Samsung phone. The S3 and S4 feel very plastic in your hands because frankly, they are! The screen on both my S3 and S4 broke with small drops on the edge toward where the power button is, which makes me think it is a weak spot. The rest of the phone holds up well, despite feeling like it will not but unless you have a very protective case which protects the screen, it does not take much to break the glass.
But as far as the overall setup goes (button locations, etc) I like the 3 button navigation, gestures are pretty cool but I did not use them much. The removable battery and Micro-SD card ports are great to have.
HTC One: Much better build quality, a slightly smaller screen, and aluminum both look and feel nice. I have only had mine for a short time but I was able to tell right away that I liked HTC's construction a LOT better than Samsung's. The phone looks cooler, is a little heavier in the hands (which I like, actually), and the design is very nice. I have not dropped this phone yet in 3 weeks I have owned it, but I am certain if I did it would hold up better.
Where I like the S4 better is the fact you can open the back up and there is a Micro SD-card expansion the HTC lacks. If you carry tons of stuff on your phone, the S4 might be a better bet. I also like the 3 navigation keys on the S4 compared to the HTC One's 2. It took me a bit of getting used to navigating the phone without a back button.
My opinion: Samsung Galaxy S4 has more expandability and I like the fact you can access the battery. But for build quality, there is no comparison. The HTC One is better built and would hold up better.
DISPLAY:
Samsung Galaxy S4: I love the display but I have a few reservations. It is 5.0 Inches with 441 PPI, colorful, and overall very nice with a sharp full-HD resolution. I found the S4 has slightly exaggerated colors, which sometimes look "off" to me. I found even the Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom, with it's smaller and lower resolution screen, looked way better thanks to improved color accuracy and the brighter display. The S4 Screen was a bit of a letdown for me, to be honest. Still nice for what it is but I feel they could have made it better.
HTC One: Hands down, a much better display, despite it's slightly smaller size. It is full HD, 4.7 Inches, and an extremely high 468 PPI. The HTC One has one of the best cell phone displays I have ever seen, it is more or less perfect. The PPI is higher than the Samsung's and the colors pop without being over-saturated. It has better contrast than the S4 too, which only has an advantage of a slightly bigger screen.
My opinion: No contest, the HTC One display is sharper, better contrast, and higher quality. The S4 is .3 inches bigger, which is not much. Both look good though
SOUND QUALITY:
Samsung Galaxy S4: Another area I think Samsung dropped the ball is the sound quality. The Galaxy S4 sounds awesome with headphones, no doubt. Yet the built in speaker is low quality and distorts easily at higher volumes. In fact, the S3 had a superior speaker compared to the S4. While loud in a quiet room, it's easy to miss calls unless you have it on vibrate as well. Call quality is good but the earpiece speaker is pathetic. Mine distorted easily, barely went loud enough, and had a tinny sound. The S3, again, had a superior speaker for the earpiece. I also found a lot of the ringtones are downright annoying and I had trouble picking one I really liked. Thankfully, custom ROMS have their own versions that are good.
HTC One: Front facing stereo speakers that sound good and go very loud, Beats Audio, a good earpiece speaker, and amazing sound that comes from the headphone jack. For Multimedia experience, the HTC One walks all over the Samsung Galaxy S4. With sound more than display, there is NO question which is the superior device of the two for music or Multimedia. The built in ringtones and sound samples are superior and sound cooler (unless you are into animal sounds or ethnic sounds).
My opinion: I think the S4 is far inferior to the HTC One is sound, the S4 seems to use low quality components (except the headphone jack circuitry and DAC). The HTC One by a landslide.
USER INTERFACE:
Samsung Galaxy S4: Uses Touchwiz, a lot more like vanilla Android. I like Touchwiz a lot and find it both easy to navigate and easy to use on a regular basis.
HTC One: Sense, which I have always loved. While I am not as used to it as Touchwiz, Sense looks good, has good functionality, and I do like the news and social feeds.
My opinion: This is purely personal preference. Both work good and are easy to figure out. I prefer things about both, I think Touchwiz is a little bit easier (but I am more used to it) and Sense has more features. Both are great.
SPECS:
Samsung Galaxy S4: For raw horsepower, on paper the Galaxy S4 is a step up from the HTC One. Super fast, great with games, and lag is rare. But, I also have seen the S4 lag quite a bit even when just using the phone. In actual use, the S4 is the slower of the two usually. Surprising but true.
HTC One: In execution, I have seen no difference in games or using the device day to day. Despite slightly lower specs, the HTC One is just as fast and if the S4 is faster (which it should be according to benchmarks), you do not see it in use. In fact, the HTC One seems to be the faster of the two in actual use. Benchmarks and specs are great but useless in actual use.
My opinion: Both are snappy and are great for games. I would not buy one or the other because of the specs, but in theory the S4 is slightly superior (but you are splitting hairs, really). Both are currently 2 of the fastest devices around. I find the HTC One the faster of the two in actual use, which is surprising.
CAMERA:
Samsung Galaxy S4: with 13 Megapixels, a back-lit sensor, and a bunch of image editing options, the camera is more than adequate for most people. The front facing camera is pretty decent too, I have managed to take some great photos with the S4 as I am sure anyone can. Ghosting around moving objects is the Achilles heel with the S4.
HTC One: With a 4 Megapixel "Ultrapixel" Camera, though it sounds worse on paper, I find they both tradeoff in the camera department. The colors are less vibrant but more natural looking in general on the HTC One. I found the image stabilization to work better on the One, so it is easier to get a better shot.
My opinion: For more vibrant looking photos, or for larger blowups of taken photos, the S4 is the pick. For more natural color, better image stabilization, and a wider angle, the HTC One is the better device. They both have good cameras though, and I am sure they will satisfy anyone who likes to snap photos with their phones. I prefer the HTC One camera overall though.
DEVELOPMENT:
Samsung Galaxy S4: Awesome developers with decently active development going on. But Samsung has been more active in trying to prevent tampering with the phone, so it is harder to root it and get past the protection. The removable SD Card can save your butt if you get into a bootloop as it allows you to have another means to push a different ROM (or firmware, etc) onto the phone if you get into trouble.
HTC One: HTC is a lot more helpful when it comes to unlocking the phone for developers. They even have a website which allows you to get root access (though still S-On) and is simple to use with full instructions. Once you have done that, getting full S-Off, changing firmwares, and even turning your device into more customizable versions (like the Google Play edition or Super CID which is unlocked) is easy to do. The development is as active as the S4 with a lot of very good developers that have been around a long time.
My opinion: The HTC One is your ticket if you want an easier time gaining full root access and not having to worry about HTC coming out with new ways to thwart you from getting full access. In fact, users with newer Galaxy S4 phones have a bootloader that has yet to be fully cracked, which causes a headache and prevents you from easily changing radios or firmwares. It also requires you to use tricks just to put a custom ROM on the phone.
CONCLUSION: Both amazing phones, you cannot go wrong with either. Both are fast, run the newest versions of Android, and have tons of features.
For raw horsepower, removable storage, and a more vanilla-Android like interface the S4 may be the better phone for you.
For MUCH better sound and video quality, a better and more durable build quality, and a chipset that seems just as fast, the HTC One is your meal-ticket. It is also much easier to customize, so if you want to install and run custom ROMS and keep the ability to run custom firmware and radios, the HTC One is yet again the better advice. If you like Sense, you will love the HTC One!
To me, the HTC One is a better device in all ways that are important. A large part of a smartphone is the display and sound for the games and multimedia, and in that respect the HTC One is the better device.
I will likely have to edit this for mistakes but I hope this is helpful and I tried to be as subjective as possible. Both are super nice and show that technology in these phones is quite amazing and will just continue to improve over time. :good:
Good to hear your opinion. Now mods can you close this thread. What a waste of writing.
No comparison thread, you should know this.
Duuuuuuuude! This is very very detailed,
But its probably gonna get closed man. Comparison threads like this have been closed multiple times in the One forums already.
That being said I agree with most of the points you've covered except for a few.
- You mentioned the button layout and said the One is missing the back button... I'm sure you meant the menu button though. Like it or not "menu" buttons are gonna die out. Googles design philosophy opts for the on screen 3 dot menu buttons inside apps.
- I'm not sure how your s4 managed to match the One in speed. In my time comparing the two directly, the S4 has noticeable lag compared to the One. The One is much smoother in real world use. Benchmarks are completely useless imho.
- Also I know its subjective but the consensus around here seems to be different when it comes to Sense vs Touchwiz. You said both are easy to use, and that Sense has more features. Actually, Touchwiz definitely has more "features" to the point of being bloated and gimmicky. Sense is much leaner and easier to use imo. Sense isn't bloated with things nobody will ever use, part of why its a cleaner faster experience I think.
- Not sure what you mean by the s4 being a good choice if you want a more vanilla android experience... Touchwiz is about the furthest away from vanilla android you can get. If your referring to the legacy menu button then as I've said before, that is actually against googles design philosophy, look at nexus devices. No menu button.
Good write up for the most part, and I agree with your conclusion. :thumbup:
Sent from my HTC One using xda app-developers app
Xstop said:
Good to hear your opinion. Now mods can you close this thread. What a waste of writing.
No comparison thread, you should know this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is not meant as a comparison thread, rather my own experience with the phones and to help choose between the two as choosing a device is difficult. For one, what do you care if I write this, does it interfere with your day to day life? Are you a "thread police officer"? At least my thread could be helpful, yours is more of a waste of writing IMO.
FanDroid09 said:
Duuuuuuuude! This is very very detailed,
But its probably gonna get closed man. Comparison threads like this have been closed multiple times in the One forums already.
That being said I agree with most of the points you've covered except for a few.
- You mentioned the button layout and said the One is missing the back button... I'm sure you meant the menu button though. Like it or not "menu" buttons are gonna die out. Googles design philosophy opts for the on screen 3 dot menu buttons inside apps.
- I'm not sure how your s4 managed to match the One in speed. In my time comparing the two directly, the S4 has noticeable lag compared to the One. The One is much smoother in real world use. Benchmarks are completely useless imho.
- Also I know its subjective but the consensus around here seems to be different when it comes to Sense vs Touchwiz. You said both are easy to use, and that Sense has more features. Actually, Touchwiz definitely has more "features" to the point of being bloated and gimmicky. Sense is much leaner and easier to use imo. Sense isn't bloated with things nobody will ever use, part of why its a cleaner faster experience I think.
- Not sure what you mean by the s4 being a good choice if you want a more vanilla android experience... Touchwiz is about the furthest away from vanilla android you can get. If your referring to the legacy menu button then as I've said before, that is actually against googles design philosophy, look at nexus devices. No menu button.
Good write up for the most part, and I agree with your conclusion. :thumbup:
Sent from my HTC One using xda app-developers app
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Thank you, and I am glad you agree with my conclusion. I think Touchwiz is a lot more like vanilla Android, but opinions are just that. As far as looks go, for behavior sure it is nothing like Google's version of Android. The extra button makes it easy to navigate for me. But as I said, I am just far more used to it (plus my S3 had the same.)
I totally agree, the S4 seems the slower of the two devices in use, especially when just using the interface itself. The S4 seemed to lag a lot out of the blue, maybe because they just have so much junk running in the background? I have been running custom ROMS (much cleaner) with overclocked kernels so my S4 was snappy and lost the lag problems, but with the HTC One I did not even have to do that.
ricsim78 said:
It is not meant as a comparison thread, rather my own experience with the phones and to help choose between the two as choosing a device is difficult. For one, what do you care if I write this, does it interfere with your day to day life? Are you a "thread police officer"? At least my thread could be helpful, yours is more of a waste of writing IMO.
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This is definitely a comparison thread. I mean its pretty much the definition of a comparison thread haha.
He is not a thread police officer but he is right. And this thread is going to be closed once an actual "thread police officer" notices it. Sorry man, these threads are just plain against the rules.
Sent from my HTC One using xda app-developers app
Just an fyi....
Gorilla glass has nothing to do with how easily a screen breaks, it is a coating which makes it scratch less easily
crixley said:
Just an fyi....
Gorilla glass has nothing to do with how easily a screen breaks, it is a coating which makes it scratch less easily
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I understand that, but some people may be under the illusion it is strong. I did...before I had the S3 and it broke being dropped less than 3 feet onto an office carpet.
FanDroid09 said:
This is definitely a comparison thread. I mean its pretty much the definition of a comparison thread haha.
He is not a thread police officer but he is right. And this thread is going to be closed once an actual "thread police officer" notices it. Sorry man, these threads are just plain against the rules.
Sent from my HTC One using xda app-developers app
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I guess things have changed here, I have not really used the forums much in a long time. I am not trying to break any rules or do a direct comparison thread, I just know it is hard to pick a phone (I had a heck of a time choosing one more than once) but IMO there is no comparison (hence why I own a HTC One now and had a S4 )
Mods, if this is against the rules please close it and sorry. But even if 1 person finds it useful, it is no waste. I also have seen a few other threads like this on here and they were not deleted (hence why I thought it was okay).
ricsim78 said:
I understand that, but some people may be under the illusion it is strong. I did...before I had the S3 and it broke being dropped less than 3 feet onto an office carpet.
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Glass is glass....
They never ever marketed it saying it would survive falls better.
So I think to say it doesn't live up to its name is fallacious
crixley said:
Glass is glass....
They never ever marketed it saying it would survive falls better.
So I think to say it doesn't live up to its name is fallacious
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While Samsung did not (they DO list it as a feature), Corning, the makers of Gorilla Glass, DO market it is the strongest glass you can buy that comes on a phone. If you do not believe me, Google it. It can give you false impressions about it's strengths, but I have dropped my HTC Evo and my Evo 3D (in fact, the Evo 3D fell out of my pocket and rolled down concrete steps) and they both survived without a scratch. I think it is the design of the S4 (glass covers the whole front of the phone) that contributes to this.
Thread closed.
As stated this is a comparison thread and these are not allowed under forum rules. The forum moderators have discussed this and decieded to have the thread closed.
I got my Nexus 6 yesterday and I just wanted to say I love this thing. It's so snappy and feels amazing in the hand. The screen is ultra crisp. The sound is also very good and the stereo sound sweet. The battery isn't the best I've had (though I've only had it one day) but it's not bad by any means. I'm glad I got it.
I'm coming from a Galaxy Nexus so for me the initial battery impression was.... "Wait, i've been using the phone for 10 minutes how do i still have 98% battery and not 85%?"
I'm sure it will continue to amaze me. I had no problem activating on Verizon either. Unfortunately no speed tests yet as i'm 48 stories above manhattan and service up here is terrible on the best days. I'm hoping i can get XLTE speeds but I'm not crossing my fingers on VoLTE though.
Yeah, I just got mine earlier today. The tap setup from my N5 worked beautifully, although not EVERYTHING came over. I still had to setup my widgets, and a few apps, but it was no big deal. I think the only app I lost was Redbox, which is weird because it worked just fine on my N5 with lollipop, but it doesn't even show up in the Play Store on my N6.
Otherwise, I love everything about this phone. I haven't had it long enough to really say what works and what doesn't, but first impressions are fantastic. I'm really digging that the screen is now 5 icons wide. Enabled me to reorganize things a bit and drop down to 2 home screens (from 3). Nice surprise there.
At the moment, my only gripe is that it's a fingerprint magnet. I thought my N5 was bad, but the N6 (both front and back) makes the N5 look downright fingerprint-proof. I'm going to be wiping this thing down... a lot... I can already tell.
Does the phone feel premium? Does it feel solid in your hand? I feel the N4 was nice and solid vs the N5 being light. How is the weight in your hand?
jackdonogy said:
Does the phone feel premium? Does it feel solid in your hand? I feel the N4 was nice and solid vs the N5 being light. How is the weight in your hand?
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I played with one at tmo today and I just say it feels solid, albeit heavy.
jt3 said:
Yeah, I just got mine earlier today. The tap setup from my N5 worked beautifully, although not EVERYTHING came over. I still had to setup my widgets, and a few apps, but it was no big deal. I think the only app I lost was Redbox, which is weird because it worked just fine on my N5 with lollipop, but it doesn't even show up in the Play Store on my N6.
Otherwise, I love everything about this phone. I haven't had it long enough to really say what works and what doesn't, but first impressions are fantastic. I'm really digging that the screen is now 5 icons wide. Enabled me to reorganize things a bit and drop down to 2 home screens (from 3). Nice surprise there.
At the moment, my only gripe is that it's a fingerprint magnet. I thought my N5 was bad, but the N6 (both front and back) makes the N5 look downright fingerprint-proof. I'm going to be wiping this thing down... a lot... I can already tell.
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Yeah it seems some apps haven't clicked whatever needs to be clicked to show up for Nexus 6. I was looking forward to trying out TiVo streaming on my 6 before rooting (since it doesn't work on my rooted 5), but there is no version that shows up for this device.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using XDA Free mobile app
jackdonogy said:
Does the phone feel premium? Does it feel solid in your hand? I feel the N4 was nice and solid vs the N5 being light. How is the weight in your hand?
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It feels premium to me. Very solid with appropriate weight for a device this size. It feels great in the hand, after initially being a bit shocked by its size after my second day with it, its pretty boss!!
Anyone notice that the power control widget is missing/gone? I use it all the the time like auto brightness and sync.
Haha the red box app wasn't available on my note 4 either ( I'm here because I'm still in my 14 day window) so i uses an apk. I played with it at the store today and was impressed.
htowngator said:
I played with one at tmo today and I just say it feels solid, albeit heavy.
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I keep reading how people are saying its heavy. I actually love that about phones. Not saying I want to carry a brick around, but I want to know its there. I loved that about the OPO. Not neccesarily heavy but it had a weight to it that said, "HEY, I'm right here!!"
jackdonogy said:
Does the phone feel premium? Does it feel solid in your hand? I feel the N4 was nice and solid vs the N5 being light. How is the weight in your hand?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In my opinion it feels very premium. The curved back makes it very comfortable despite being so big. It feels very solid as well.
It really feels good in hand. It's big but not too big for a phablet. I can get my hands around it for use. As for any negatives. Coming from a LG G2, not having tap to wake is really killing me considering it has this feature and Google turned it off. I hope they can turn it on for a future update. Other than that it's fantastic!
rjrobins said:
It really feels good in hand. It's big but not too big for a phablet. I can get my hands around it for use. As for any negatives. Coming from a LG G2, not having tap to wake is really killing me considering it has this feature and Google turned it off. I hope they can turn it on for a future update. Other than that it's fantastic!
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in the past, custom kernels have added double tap to wake so i'm sure it'll be available.
Would be nice to have it natively but yeah.
rjrobins said:
It really feels good in hand. It's big but not too big for a phablet. I can get my hands around it for use. As for any negatives. Coming from a LG G2, not having tap to wake is really killing me considering it has this feature and Google turned it off. I hope they can turn it on for a future update. Other than that it's fantastic!
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Nexus has dt2w but it got disabled for now.
http://www.phonearena.com/news/Nexu...-feature-before-launching-the-handset_id63014
eep2378 said:
It feels premium to me. Very solid with appropriate weight for a device this size. It feels great in the hand, after initially being a bit shocked by its size after my second day with it, its pretty boss!!
Anyone notice that the power control widget is missing/gone? I use it all the the time like auto brightness and sync.
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I've seen similar reviews saying the phone was hevay. I wouldn't say it's heavy but that the weight is very centered. it feels really nice in the hand. The M dimple also helps with one handed use as I find myself using it to hold the phone in portrait.