Need an honest answer about the Galaxy S4.

Kerti

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I'm currently patiently waiting for the arrival of my Galaxy S4 from UPS. I just switched to T-Mobile and ultimately decided to order this phone. However, I have a question and would like an honest answer to this: Did I make the right choice? I'm coming from an iPhone 5 and I didn't like iOS anymore and put the beta of iOS7 on my phone and it made my phone look hideous, thus making me switch to an Android. Enough with my rant, let me get to the point:

I've been reading reviews of this phone and I saw on multiple sites that the HTC One would've been a better option for me. I really hope that's not the case because I don't want to exchange my S4 and pay the stupid and ridiculous restocking fee. I need to know if I should immediately take my S4 to a local T-Mobile store and swap it out for the HTC One or would I honestly like the S4.

If anyone can give me a comparison between the 2 phone's I would really appreciate it.

Thank you!
 

SpookDroid

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No one will give you that answer but yourself. I've played with both devices and I still love my GS4. There IS a lag sometimes in the interface (and anyone that tries to deny it is outright lying), so the One does feel snappier when handling the UI, but I still prefer the screen, the features, the 'feel' of the S4 over the One. However, THAT'S JUST ME. Maybe you'll value the unibody design over plastic or you won't mind the lack of SD card in the One. Or maybe you'll miss the AirView or Camera features of the S4 if you go with HTC's phone. Personally, I prefer the S4's camera over the One's, UltraPixel crap and all.

My advice? Don't overthink it if you already made a purchase. If you still want to scratch the itch, better go to a TMo store and ask to play with both of the phones and then decide.

BTW, I've been an Android user for many years now (since Moto's OG Droid), and I recently bought an iPad... Boy, do I get frustrated from the restrictive system that is iOS. You'll definitely love the great sharing options and how well you can tailor the phone to your liking and how much better multitasking works (like actually being able to EXIT apps).
 

Golfdriver97

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I'm currently patiently waiting for the arrival of my Galaxy S4 from UPS. I just switched to T-Mobile and ultimately decided to order this phone. However, I have a question and would like an honest answer to this: Did I make the right choice? I'm coming from an iPhone 5 and I didn't like iOS anymore and put the beta of iOS7 on my phone and it made my phone look hideous, thus making me switch to an Android. Enough with my rant, let me get to the point:

I've been reading reviews of this phone and I saw on multiple sites that the HTC One would've been a better option for me. I really hope that's not the case because I don't want to exchange my S4 and pay the stupid and ridiculous restocking fee. I need to know if I should immediately take my S4 to a local T-Mobile store and swap it out for the HTC One or would I honestly like the S4.

If anyone can give me a comparison between the 2 phone's I would really appreciate it.

Thank you!

Both phones are solid choices. The screen is better on the HTC, but personally, I like having removable storage, i.e. SD cards. Something you could do is call TMo and ask if they could take the return if possible. Or go into a store and ask one of the personnel if they can take it and while you are there, play with the devices.

Any other questions, by all means, ask.
 

Murph5150

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I've owned my Verizon S4 for a month and couldn't be happier. The HTC doesn't come with a removable battery (if memory serves me correctly) and that is a huge selling point for me; to do soft resets. The S4 has a quicker processor too. I get a full day easy on 1 charge which I couldn't get with my Nexus.

The S4, according to CNET, is the best phone on the market, and I agree. You'll be happy with the S4. I'm extremely picky about my phones and the S4 doesn't disappoint. The only "bad part" of this phone is the learning curve. There is a lot to learn about this device. But other than that, gaming, call quality, and battery life are all top notch. Good luck with your new phone and post any questions you have regarding your new device on the forums when you get it.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using AC Forums mobile app
 

Kerti

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Thank you so much for the answers guys! I REALLY appreciate it.

I'm going to give this phone a shot and use it for a good week. Throughout the week at some point I'm going to run over to a T-Mobile store and play with the HTC One. I honestly don't see why I won't like this phone, I think it's going to be a perfect phone for me. I'm VERY picky when it comes to my electronics so I just want to make sure I'm making the right choice.

I would still like to see more opinions on both phones though, Pro's and Con's. The memory storage can be a big thing for me, I don't like the idea of not being able to add more memory to the HTC One. We'll see.
 

OhAlfie

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I can't stand the button layout of the One..it is horrendous IMO. Between that and the lack of SD killed it for me. I'm plenty happy with my S4.
 

rajeshr68

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I can't stand the button layout of the One..it is horrendous IMO. Between that and the lack of SD killed it for me. I'm plenty happy with my S4.

This! The phone is awesome, but the ergonomics are the worst I've seen so far. I hated using it and gave up on and moved to the S4 (and now the Moto X).
 

famouzstarz#AC

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Ive gone back and forth from an i5 > S4 and will be making the switch again tomorrow back to a S4 which is where i will staying (for now :) )

Pros:
S4 hands down has one the nicest displays out there
removable battery
SD Card
Battery life is pretty good usually average a day with full use
IR Blaster

Cons:
Touchwiz / Samsung gimmicks make the phone lag
almost too many features for anyone to use on a daily bases
looks like a s3 :/

Other:
Run a different lanucher ( i prefer nova) makes the phone a whole lot snappier / and you can still use touchwiz widgets
turn off all the gesture junk smart pause etc.. saves battery life
root if possible install CM 10.1 and profit!


HTC ONE:
isnt realsed for vzw so i havent had a chance to check it out but some build aspects have people second guessing the unibody design :/
 

garublador

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The memory storage can be a big thing for me, I don't like the idea of not being able to add more memory to the HTC One. We'll see.
That and the removable battery are the only differences that I see as being anything but trivial unless you use your phone in some specific way. Even those two things might not matter depending on how you use your phone.
 

hallda01

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I have an S4, the wife has a One, and either would make you happy. Samsung has a lot of stupid extra features, but if you wade through them and turn off ones you'll never use then you find some real gems in there.

Quick settings are also awesome, but you can get those with a third party app on the HTC One and they work well.

Build quality and speaker quality are exponentially better on the One. The speakers on the One kill it. I can't say about the camera or screen, because I have the Active, so they're different then the standard S4.

But I have, and have used the extra battery, and have a 32GB SD card in mine, so I hold tons more data. If you use services like Google Play Music, Plex, Netflix, things like that where internal storage doesn't matter much then this is less of a problem, but I like to keep my most listened to/watched music and videos natively. Not to mention comic books and e-books.

Coming from a BlackBerry, I personally like having physical buttons, so with the Active it's been great having all three but one button on the regular S4 is good too. The button layout is dumb, but serviceable on the One. You get used to it, but you'd rather not have to. Though I do like the double tap to get to the recently used apps list.

I find the S4 to be just a tad bit too big for one handed use. On the One I can still functionally hit things on the far side of the screen, but with the S4 I have trouble. But I do like that the power button on the S4 is on the side rather than the top, because the One is a tad taller than the S4 and it's a stretch.

It's going to be a big change from the iPhone to something this substantial, and you'll probably have to try a few different keyboards to get used to typing on such a big screen. If you were a one handed typist on your iPhone (as the keyboard is designed for) you'll probably want to make sure to get one that uses swype or something to better facillitate that. I came from a BlackBerry so I was a two handed typist and just wanted one that was the approximate size of the Bold 9900 keyboard. But different strokes for different folks on that one.

You really will probably be happy with either. I wouldn't worry about it. If you don't like the S4 try out a One. If you don't like either then you have like 30 days right? Maybe the LG G2 will be out by then :p
 

scorpiodsu

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I'm currently patiently waiting for the arrival of my Galaxy S4 from UPS. I just switched to T-Mobile and ultimately decided to order this phone. However, I have a question and would like an honest answer to this: Did I make the right choice? I'm coming from an iPhone 5 and I didn't like iOS anymore and put the beta of iOS7 on my phone and it made my phone look hideous, thus making me switch to an Android. Enough with my rant, let me get to the point:

I've been reading reviews of this phone and I saw on multiple sites that the HTC One would've been a better option for me. I really hope that's not the case because I don't want to exchange my S4 and pay the stupid and ridiculous restocking fee. I need to know if I should immediately take my S4 to a local T-Mobile store and swap it out for the HTC One or would I honestly like the S4.

If anyone can give me a comparison between the 2 phone's I would really appreciate it.

Thank you!

Honestly, having all 3 phones no one can tell you if you made the right choice but you. What is great to one sucks for someone else. There are people who love Sense but hate Touchwiz and vice versa. You have to actually use it yourself and decide if it works for you. What everyone else thinks really doesn't matter.
 

asanatheist

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I owned the HTC One before the S4 before I sold it. Had both of them to play with, and decided to keep the S4. Here's how I break it down:

Samsung s4
Pro's
* Micro SD card lets me get 80 GB Of storage, while it isn't the same as internal storage most large games or applications can be sent to the SD card in entirity. Bard's tale, Modern combat 4 (I think it's combat), Need for speed if I remember correctly also went to my SD card.
* Removable battery: Single battery is far less space consuming than the S4's charge/cable. Takes 3 minutes to swap and you can easily slide the battery into back pocket and forget about it.
* The Screen on the S4 is definitely better overall. I consider my self a screenphile. Love my high quality IPS panels. However the S4 does have some major advantages. Contrast, response time, and appeared brightness (Doesn't require diffusing films). Lastly since the Amoled's dont require backlighting, they appear brighter than LCD's which have significant light dispersal from the diffusing films.
Many people including my self do not like the unnatural colors of the S4 but we're forgetting that the S4 is a wide gamut panel. It isn't that it's saturated but the fact that applications are not managing the color reproduction properly. Professional monitors require wide gamut to accurately represent ALL colors not just some and suffer from this saturation just as easily as the Amoled panel in Samsung smartphones.
* Way better camera. The HTC One may take okay shots but when you compare them side by side it's impossible to pick the HTC One's camera over the S4.
* Battery life is way better on the Samsung S4. On the HTC One I constantly had to carry my charger and charge the device by about 3pm. On the S4 even with heavy use I made it out of work with about 20% left. During lighter to medium usage, I leave work with about 40% to 50%.
* Lastly while the One should be more comfortable in the hand, the light weight feel of the S4 really makes the comfort level on the S4 and HTC one kind of even.

HTC One Pro:
* Aluminum chassis looks great, and feels premium but to me having spent 2 years testing and researching what I could about laptop constructions understand that Plastic>Aluminum when it comes to exterior shells. It's better in terms of protection first and foremost, and secondly cost and servicing.
* The speakers are the best in smartphones right now. People need to stop saying their loud. They are NOT loud, chances are you will NOT hear while showering or somewhere loud. They are just far more defined, clear, and have more dynamic range and bass than other phones, less artifacts and sound issues.
This makes it seem louder because you hear far more details at lower volumes but they are NOT louder. They are just perceived louder. As I tell anyone who doesn't understand why I have $180, $250+ headphones.. You need good quality speakers capable of reproducing most if not all ranges of frequencies used in music regardless of volume (current) going through the headphones.
* HTC Android Sense UI is quite a bit more stable and lags less (not much difference but it's definitely more stable as there are less crashes) than the S4's, although it is outdated (4.1.2 versus 4.2.2 on the S4 versus 4.3 currently on Nexus devices). The experience I had with the HTC one for the month was nothing short of excellent. Very iOS like in terms of stability and responsiveness, again the S4 is no slouch and keeps up fine 98% of the time once you update firmware. I can't really find a good analogy because the lag on the S4 is not as significant as some make it out to be, at least for my S4 (Stock firmware, stock 4.2.2 stock everything).
* Better Internet browser on the HTC one.

That's about all I could come up with for now.
 
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digitard

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^

What he said.

Also I second the camera. While I don't own either yet I ultimately chose the S4 (hopefully this week) when advised I could pick an Android phone for a business thing. The above pretty much sums it up, but the camera comment further up is a sealing deal. I have kids so while I don't expect pro quality photo's I do want something in my hand worth using, and when I saw the ONE's overall photo's in comparison it was hands down much worse.

Comparing Nokia Lumia 1020, Samsung GS4 and HTC One Camera Quality - CIO.com

That was a huge reason why I'm ordering the S4.
 

rfortson

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Pick one. They're both nice phones. I've used the S4 for a few weeks now and I'm not lying when I say I've never seen it lag. I guess I could load up a bunch of crap and slow it down, but then you can do that with any phone. I like the extra storage and support for 64GB cards. I can now carry all my music with me. The extra battery is nice, but ironically, this is the first smart phone I've had where I don't need the extra battery. I bought a dock for my desk, so I'm rarely pushing the battery, but as a test I ran it for over a day without charging and still had power to spare. Still, for traveling or heavy usage, I like having the extra battery.

The HTC One really looks nice, and supposedly it takes better low light photos. The camera on the S4 is pretty slick, though. I like all the extras that Samsung throws in, though I did sort through and turn several off.

Don't get bogged down in all the comparisons and such. Pick one of the phones and stick with it. Go have fun with either one.
 

benhmadison

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As stated it is completely a personal choice. I struggled between the two for far too long before ultimately deciding on the ONE. I don't regret my decision one bit but that's not to say the S4 isn't an awesome phone.

The things it came down to for me were the following:

The removable battery and sd slot on the S4 are the main 2 selling points. I found that even though I bought a spare battery I never ended up actually using it. To me, popping the case off then the back then removing the battery then reversing that process and then having two batteries to charge at night was just to much work. I just ended up plugging the phone in when it got low. They do make external battery chargers so you can always have one charging and then just swap them when it's time.

As far as memory goes I found the 32gb internal storage of the ONE to be much more valuable than the 16 gb internal plus micro sd setup on the S4. If you are getting a 32gb S4 then hands down that would be better but again it's all about the user.

It's been mentioned that the screen is better on the S4 and technically speaking that may be the case but visually there is no better display than that of the ONE. It is better in sunlight, it's colors are more accurate and it's just superior. That's not to say the S4 doesn't have an awesome display, but it's just not quite as good.

The build materials are superior on the one but the build quality may be better on the S4. People tend to confuse the two but rather than one being better, it's all about preference.

The button layout is really all opinion as well. I definitely think the placement of the power button is far better on the S4. You may also prefer having the physical home button that the S4 has since you are coming from the iphone.

As far as UI's are concerned, most will agree when I say Sense 5 which runs on the ONE is much smoother and more visually appealing. At one time I was a fan of Touchwiz(S4's ui) but they have just overdone it on the S4. If you are planning on eventually getting into rooting and changing roms then this may not matter to you.

Ultimately it's what you like. I would definitely recommend (as was recommended above) going to the store and playing with them both. Sure the restocking fee sucks, but look at it this way. Chances are you will keep that device for a decent amount of time, wouldn't it be worth 35 dollars (or whatever it is) to have the device you really want vs saving that money and not being happy?
 

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