I don't think it's any secret that I'm fond of the Samsung Galaxy S4. I've spent the past week or so answering as many questions as I could, talking people off the ledge about the "lag", offering insights on what I thought the issues were with the phone, etc. I have also owned the HTC One, a phone often compared, usually favorably, to the S4. Now that I've established that, let me make something perfectly clear:
Some of you are way out of bounds on accusing this site specifically about being biased and pushing the One over the S4. There's absolutely nothing wrong with choosing the One over the S4 and being happy with that choice. Today, Jerry started a thread based on his experiences with the S4 and pointed out a lot of the very same things I've been saying about the supposed lag, why it stutters, etc. He offered up his opinion on the phone, mentioned very briefly that he prefers the One because of the camera and the speakers, and that was it. After a few good responses, the thread turned into an angry mob of people upset that he mentioned he prefers the One. If you've listened to the podcasts, I believe he's vocalized it there, too. So has Alex. You know what? That's their choice and in no way is it being biased.
Do you blame them? The One is the proverbial "wet dream" for reviewers. It covers all the negatives most reviewers complain about and turns them into positives. It's almost as if HTC took a checklist out and wrote down what most reviewers complain about and said "Do the opposite of this" to their team. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that, either, because the One is a great phone. Do I think some review sites piggyback on other reviews and agree for the sake of agreeing? A little. Is this site one of them? Not even close. I would trust any of those guys to be objective and review a phone. It's the reason I post here and nowhere else.
That being said, there's nothing stating that you need to agree with their assessments, either. Personally, I prefer the S4 and would debate it with anyone (ask Kevin). That doesn't mean that I get upset that they don't agree with me. It just means we have different views and different uses on/for these phones.
I believe that coming up soon, as they mentioned in their podcast, they're all going to pick what phone they prefer, even if Phil questioned if they "reeeeeeaaaally have to". Don't get upset if they choose the One. It all comes down to personal preference.
Some of you are way out of bounds on accusing this site specifically about being biased and pushing the One over the S4. There's absolutely nothing wrong with choosing the One over the S4 and being happy with that choice. Today, Jerry started a thread based on his experiences with the S4 and pointed out a lot of the very same things I've been saying about the supposed lag, why it stutters, etc. He offered up his opinion on the phone, mentioned very briefly that he prefers the One because of the camera and the speakers, and that was it. After a few good responses, the thread turned into an angry mob of people upset that he mentioned he prefers the One. If you've listened to the podcasts, I believe he's vocalized it there, too. So has Alex. You know what? That's their choice and in no way is it being biased.
Do you blame them? The One is the proverbial "wet dream" for reviewers. It covers all the negatives most reviewers complain about and turns them into positives. It's almost as if HTC took a checklist out and wrote down what most reviewers complain about and said "Do the opposite of this" to their team. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that, either, because the One is a great phone. Do I think some review sites piggyback on other reviews and agree for the sake of agreeing? A little. Is this site one of them? Not even close. I would trust any of those guys to be objective and review a phone. It's the reason I post here and nowhere else.
That being said, there's nothing stating that you need to agree with their assessments, either. Personally, I prefer the S4 and would debate it with anyone (ask Kevin). That doesn't mean that I get upset that they don't agree with me. It just means we have different views and different uses on/for these phones.
I believe that coming up soon, as they mentioned in their podcast, they're all going to pick what phone they prefer, even if Phil questioned if they "reeeeeeaaaally have to". Don't get upset if they choose the One. It all comes down to personal preference.