Sprint Store Visit, Camera and Data Questions, My opinions S4 vs HTC One

brianphrack

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Just got back from the Sprint Store, went to check out the Galaxy S4 and HTC One.

First, to S4 owners (if there are many yet):
Can the Camera shutter sound be turned off?
I couldn't find the option; then I turned off media and system sounds globally on the device, that didn't work.
I am often at events where no flash, no sound is required. This could be a big problem for me. I was in a rush at the store, so please let me know.

Second, on my OG EVO I can toggle 4G:
I found no way to toggle 4G on either the S4 or the One. Can this be done?

Dropbox on S4:
Is a 50gb account included?
If so, can I add/link this to my existing dropbox account?

Overall I was much more impressed with the S4 over the One, which is not how I felt walking into the store.

The screen on the S4 looks nicer to me, I found the HTC One screen to be dim and constrained.
The speakers on the One are a gimmick, but I'm an audiophile.
The eye scrolling on the S4 is a gimmick, I have thumbs.

A concern of mine was lag on the S4: I didn't really see any. (Certainly nothing that stood out.)
Another big concern was lag on S4's camera: I took one picture, everything processed fine. I tapped the image capture button as fast as I could and.. It is a bit, a tad, minisculely, slower than the One; but still snapping pictures as fast as I could demostrated no negitive use issue.

I did not hate touchwiz as much as I thought I would. (Nova could fix this anyway)

Hands down the S4 feels better in the hand.
The HatchTC One, not so much, pretty awful actually.
(But I'll be using a case with either. A fact which completely nullifies the One's clearly more attractive build)

Battery replacement and expandable storage are important to me:
S4 16gb = ~8gb usable + expandable SD.
One 32gb = ~25gb usable, that's it.

Battery replacement on HTC:
Sprint quoted me $200
HTC said, "We don't know, it hasn't happend yet."

Battery replacement on S4:
Market price for a battery. (Which is much lower than $200, and will only go down.)


Disclosure:
I am a long time and happy HTC user. I walked into the store biased, I wanted the HTC One. Perhaps, I am just in the mood for something new.
I really did want to want the HTC One, in my opinion, it just doesn't deliver.
 

meyerweb#CB

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Just got back from the Sprint Store, went to check out the Galaxy S4 and HTC One.

First, to S4 owners (if there are many yet):
Can the Camera shutter sound be turned off?
I couldn't find the option; then I turned off media and system sounds globally on the device, that didn't work.
I am often at events where no flash, no sound is required. This could be a big problem for me. I was in a rush at the store, so please let me know.

Unfortunately, this seems to be a Sprint thing. The answer is yes, if you root the phone. And there are 3rd party apps camera apps that allow this on the S3; don't know for sure if they'll work on the S4, but they probably will.

Second, on my OG EVO I can toggle 4G:
I found no way to toggle 4G on either the S4 or the One. Can this be done?

On the S3 it's buried in the Settings menu, and reboots the phone afterwards. I think this may be a reflection of differences between LTE and WiMax.

Dropbox on S4:
Is a 50gb account included?
If so, can I add/link this to my existing dropbox account?

Sorry, don't know.

Battery replacement and expandable storage are important to me:
S4 16gb = ~8gb usable + expandable SD.
One 32gb = ~25gb usable, that's it.

In fairness, you can't put apps on the SD card, so if you're a gamer with a bunch of really huge games, you might want to wait for the 32GB version of the S4.
 

brianphrack

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Thank you meyerweb.

In fairness, you can't put apps on the SD card, so if you're a gamer with a bunch of really huge games, you might want to wait for the 32GB version of the S4.

I can't put apps on the SD card? At all? Or is it app specific, as in apps with the write to sd permission?


(Edit)
I think I found the answer. No I can't put apps on the SD card.

This is a huge problem for me.
 
Last edited:

meyerweb#CB

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This is a conscious design decision from Google for ICS and above. Maybe Honeycomb, too. It will affect all recent Android phones. But remember that your Evo had only a couple of GB of on board storage. Modern Android phones have 16, 32, or even 64GB. Is 32 GB really not enough storage for apps? (You can still put music, videos, backups, and other data on the SD card.

If putting apps on the SD card is truly critical, it can still be done, if you root.
 

JHBThree

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The screen for the one was probably on power saver. The sprint store I was at today to look at the s4 did the same thing. The brightness of the S4 is DEFINITELY leaps and bounds better than the S3 though.
 

lafester

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dropbox does add the 50gb to your current account.
You can also disable 4g its in network settings.
 
Last edited:

brianphrack

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Thanks everyone!

Meyerweb, said the camera shutter sound seems to be a Sprint thing.
Is this not the case with AT&T?
(I'm probably switching to AT&T for better LTE coverage, as Sprint LTE is currently non-existent in the Philly area.)

RG129, thanks for the info: muted phone = muted shutter.
This is a half-fix for me during normal use, and certainly a full fix during the events I attend.

As to the One's screen, I thought about power saving modes affecting the screen after I left the store.
Glad a few of you mentioned that, I'll have to stop in a store again when I have more time.

On storage space.
I was all set to order the S4 the night of my orig post. Then meyerweb enlightened me to the fact that I would not be able to move apps to the sd.
8-10gb free on the 16gb S4 would just scrape me through at my current level of use. One to two years from now? I have serious doubts with 8-10gb
of app space. I am currently juggling apps on and off my EVO, which is extremely counter productive for me.

I think the 32gb S4 would suit me. But when is that coming? Ever? Neither AT&T nor Sprint could offer me any information regarding a 32gb S4.

Thanks again to everyone, much appriciated!
 
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fwinst

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None of the carriers have announced a release date for the 32gb GS4. If I had to guess, I'd say later this summer.
 

Almeuit

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Yeah, I am surprised you feel the HTC ONE has a dimmer screen. Like JHB said, it might of been put into power saver mode.

To really compare screens between phones, you should load the same image and them compare side by side. By all accounts, both the ONE and S4 have very good screens,

Agreed.

Sent from my Sprint S3 using AC forums.
 

ortam

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Thanks everyone!

Meyerweb, said the camera shutter sound seems to be a Sprint thing.
Is this not the case with AT&T?
(I'm probably switching to AT&T for better LTE coverage, as Sprint LTE is currently non-existent in the Philly area.)

RG129, thanks for the info: muted phone = muted shutter.
This is a half-fix for me during normal use, and certainly a full fix during the events I attend.

As to the One's screen, I thought about power saving modes affecting the screen after I left the store.
Glad a few of you mentioned that, I'll have to stop in a store again when I have more time.

On storage space.
I was all set to order the S4 the night of my orig post. Then meyerweb enlightened me to the fact that I would not be able to move apps to the sd.
8-10gb free on the 16gb S4 would just scrape me through at my current level of use. One to two years from now? I have serious doubts with 8-10gb
of app space. I am currently juggling apps on and off my EVO, which is extremely counter productive for me.

I think the 32gb S4 would suit me. But when is that coming? Ever? Neither AT&T nor Sprint could offer me any information regarding a 32gb S4.

Thanks again to everyone, much appriciated!

LTE actually just started launching around Philly last month. I'm not sure of the speeds, but on sensorly you can see most of the city is at least getting some signal.
 

gabbott

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Dropbox on S4:
Is a 50gb account included?
If so, can I add/link this to my existing dropbox account?

I can answer that because I just got a gs4 yesterday. Yes, you can sign into your dropbox account on the gs4 and it'll give you an extra 48gb for 2 years. This is added on top of any free dropbox space you may have accumulated. (I now have about 72gigs of free dropbox space now)
 

Jaimeg123prmt

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Jan 7, 2011
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Just got back from the Sprint Store, went to check out the Galaxy S4 and HTC One.

First, to S4 owners (if there are many yet):
Can the Camera shutter sound be turned off?
I couldn't find the option; then I turned off media and system sounds globally on the device, that didn't work.
I am often at events where no flash, no sound is required. This could be a big problem for me. I was in a rush at the store, so please let me know.

Second, on my OG EVO I can toggle 4G:
I found no way to toggle 4G on either the S4 or the One. Can this be done?

Dropbox on S4:
Is a 50gb account included?
If so, can I add/link this to my existing dropbox account?

Overall I was much more impressed with the S4 over the One, which is not how I felt walking into the store.

The screen on the S4 looks nicer to me, I found the HTC One screen to be dim and constrained.
The speakers on the One are a gimmick, but I'm an audiophile.
The eye scrolling on the S4 is a gimmick, I have thumbs.

A concern of mine was lag on the S4: I didn't really see any. (Certainly nothing that stood out.)
Another big concern was lag on S4's camera: I took one picture, everything processed fine. I tapped the image capture button as fast as I could and.. It is a bit, a tad, minisculely, slower than the One; but still snapping pictures as fast as I could demostrated no negitive use issue.

I did not hate touchwiz as much as I thought I would. (Nova could fix this anyway)

Hands down the S4 feels better in the hand.
The HatchTC One, not so much, pretty awful actually.
(But I'll be using a case with either. A fact which completely nullifies the One's clearly more attractive build)

Battery replacement and expandable storage are important to me:
S4 16gb = ~8gb usable + expandable SD.
One 32gb = ~25gb usable, that's it.

Battery replacement on HTC:
Sprint quoted me $200
HTC said, "We don't know, it hasn't happend yet."

Battery replacement on S4:
Market price for a battery. (Which is much lower than $200, and will only go down.)


Disclosure:
I am a long time and happy HTC user. I walked into the store biased, I wanted the HTC One. Perhaps, I am just in the mood for something new.
I really did want to want the HTC One, in my opinion, it just doesn't deliver.

I actually bought the HTC One, but after a week,I returned it to the store. First, let me start by saying that the phone looks amazing;however, it is too heavy. That's not the main problem though. The main problem I had with the phone was the battery. Having to constantly be close to a wall outlet was very inconvenient. Also,I felt like the screen was a downgrade from the s3 as far as the size goes. My third major issue is that the phone seems to have less features than the s3. The camera was not great. It looked grainy, almost.
 

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