HTC One vs Samsung Galaxy S4 vs Nexus 4

[Wildman107]

Reviews
http://www.anandtech.com/show/6914/samsung-galaxy-s-4-review
http://www.anandtech.com/show/6747/htc-one-review
http://www.anandtech.com/show/6440/google-nexus-4-review

Galaxy S4
Biggest Wins: Fastest phone available, camera quality (outdoors), plethora of exclusive UI features
Biggest Con: Cheap plastic feel
Other: Does have SD expansion and removable battery

Recommendation: Buy the SGS4 if you want the TouchWiz UI and features, or must have SD expansion and removable battery.

HTC One
Biggest Wins: All metal unibody construction, front facing stereo speakers, camera quality (indoors)
Biggest Con: HTC has been inconsistent with keeping their phones up-to-date.
Other: No SD expansion or removable battery

Recommendation: Buy the HTC One if you value construction quality and usability and don't care for software gimmicks.

Nexus 4
Biggest Wins: Vanilla Android experience with the latest updates, price
Biggest Con: Camera Quality
Other: No SD expansion or removable battery

Recommendation: Buy the Nexus 4 if you want the vanilla Android experience with the latest updates or if want the best bang for your buck on a phone out of contract.


Please feel free to chime in and give your input. Which phone do you feel is the best deal for someone looking to upgrade?

 

[lopri]

Nexus 4 for myself.

Considering the S4's to replace my parents' aging iPhone 4's. But I will avoid early-adopter tax/risks.

HTC One doesn't interest me for some reason. I will have to see it for myself to understand the lavishing praises from the critics because frankly I don't know what distinguishes it from other Android phones. I was interested in HTC Butterfly, though.. 6 months ago.

 

[SpongeBob]

Razr Maxx HD for me. None of those phones have good enough battery life for my needs.

 

[jacktesterson]

See Sig for my Answer

Had a HTC One in my hands yesterday to compare it too - I liked the ZL better, but that's My taste.


Out of thoese 3 though - I'd go the One (Or Nexus 4 if was on a budget)

They are all good phones.

 

[you2]

What about the usage as a phone (reception, clarity, volume, ....). Crise - you're willing to buy something that can't even receive a signal if it has a better camera ?

 

[CrystalBay]

I really wish Samsung would put some high traction surface areas on critical gripping points.Also some nice Stereo speakers.

 

[jacktesterson]

What about the usage as a phone (reception, clarity, volume, ....). Crise - you're willing to buy something that can't even receive a signal if it has a better camera ?

What or who are you referring too? All of them in general not being commented on?

 

[lothar]

What about the usage as a phone (reception, clarity, volume, ....). Crise - you're willing to buy something that can't even receive a signal if it has a better camera ?

Which of the phones there can't receive a signal?

 

[poofyhairguy]

Which phone do you feel is the best deal for someone looking to upgrade?

For the "I like Android for everything I can't do with an iPhone (ie MicroSD and bigger battery)" crowd: SGS4

For the "I have had two iPhones before but I am willing to go Android if the quality is the same" crowd: HTC One

For the "I absolutely must have software updates, or I must be able to buy it outright" crowd: Nexus 4

 

[AustinInDallas]

i think the GS4 with dual front facing speakers would be the winner

 

[vshah]

i have a nexus 4 and just got an HTC one. the construction is great, has to be held to be believed. the speakers are incredible as well. I'm missing the stock camera app/photospheres already though...hopefully those will come with the 4.2 update. I plan on selling the N4 and using the One for a few months until the N5 or whatever comes out, at that point i'll sell the One and return to stock android.

 

[Connoisseur]

OMG I need to buy one of these THIS WEEK. My Galaxy s3 with the official extended battery pack was stolen last week and I'm trudging along with an iphone 3gs in the meantime. LOVED the S3 with extended battery pack since it lasted me a day and a half with medium/heavy use and was still pretty thin. I didn't use any of the gimmicky options. While the HTC One looks sublime, i'm debating between that and a chance for an extended battery (and SD storage). If I eventually get an extended battery for the s4, it might make it too uncomfortably chunky... first world problems

 

[Red Storm]

I'd go S4. I found the interface on the One a little annoying (open app drawer, launch app, press home, you go back to app drawer, not home) plus the odd button placement, and the multitasking method is a lot worse than stock android (weird looking pages that swipe sideways if I remember right). Plus the metal body requires a case or you're going to scratch it. And it has a smaller screen than the S4 while the device is bigger and heavier overall.

 

[s44]

For the "I like Android for everything I can't do with an iPhone (ie MicroSD and bigger battery)" crowd: SGS4

For the "I have had two iPhones before but I am willing to go Android if the quality is the same" crowd: HTC One

For the "I absolutely must have software updates, or I must be able to buy it outright" crowd: Nexus 4

Pretty much exactly. But also
"recommend to parents": S4

Bigger screen (this matters, and the reviewers' silliest move this round is pretending it doesn't), supported by every app developer, best overall camera, and best accessory selection.

If I eventually get an extended battery for the s4, it might make it too uncomfortably chunky...

Huh? The S4 is actually thinner than the S3.

 

[jacktesterson]

i have a nexus 4 and just got an HTC one. the construction is great, has to be held to be believed. the speakers are incredible as well. I'm missing the stock camera app/photospheres already though...hopefully those will come with the 4.2 update. I plan on selling the N4 and using the One for a few months until the N5 or whatever comes out, at that point i'll sell the One and return to stock android.

haha

Funny - I love AOSP Stock Android but hate the 4.2 Camera App.

 

[Connoisseur]

Huh? The S4 is actually thinner than the S3.

That's true. I think from the reviews I've read, the S4 has a worse in-hand feel than the s3 because it's not tapered on the edges. I guess i'll have to hold it to see for myself.

That night shot performance on the One is also pretty sick. I def. take more night pics on the phone than daytime pics...

Any word on when the S4 will be in stores for AT&T?

I'll be the one sitting at the store looking at both phones in my hand crying softly.

 

[blackangst1]

I went for the One on TMo. From what Ive read HTC has less bloat than Samsung, and I didnt the bigger screen. Plus, the build is amazing. Kinda tired of plain black plastic phones. Already familiar with touchwiz and the usual 3 button operation, Im ready for a change.

Plus, the One got the first ever anand editors choice award for a cell phone. That says alot I think.

 

[s44]

That's true. I think from the reviews I've read, the S4 has a worse in-hand feel than the s3 because it's not tapered on the edges.

That was just the very odd Verge review. Maybe he has a tiny hand or something? Literally everyone else I read said it feels better.

Death Star stores are supposed to have it by Friday, but it's not clear whether they'll be able to sell before Saturday or not. Check XDA Friday morning.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

That was just the very odd Verge review. Maybe he has a tiny hand or something? Literally everyone else I read said it feels better.

Death Star stores are supposed to have it by Friday, but it's not clear whether they'll be able to sell before Saturday or not. Check XDA Friday morning.

The Verge has horrible reviews. They gave the HTC One an 8 for camera yet they gave the Nexus 4 an 8 for camera too... really?

 

[s44]

The Verge has horrible reviews.

Yes. And their hitwhoring last week shows that they're not really particularly interested in being a tech site.

 

[QueBert]

While it sucks, I hardly use the Camera so to me the biggest con of the Nexus 4 is the speaker. I cannot use it as a speakerphone, it's just so low and distorted at max value. I installed Awesomebeats v.5 thinking it might help. It made it louder, but not much and it still sounds all distorted. I'm glad I don't use the camera, because it's wtf bad.

 

[AMDZen]

HTC ONE. This is a tech forum with tech people and I don't see how some of the advantages play out in the coming months for the other two phones. IMO of course.

GS4 advantages over the ONE: Faster processor? Well its the same processor clocked to 1.9 vs. 1.7 GHz. I've read reviews already that say the interface on the HTC ONE is more fluid. Is this because of Sense vs. TouchWiz? Unclear but I do know that the HTC ONE can be unlocked right out of the gate and all you need to do is clock your processor to 1.9 if that extra 200 MHz really matters to you. May not be something everyone does but again, this is a tech forum and a lot of us are going to mess around with that.

SD Card slot: Understandable to a certain degree but this is not an issue for me. I already have 20 GB of storage through PogoPlug free for life (check CNET for that promotion) and you also get 20 GB through DropBox in a promotion with HTC. Add on the 5 GB you get from Google Drive and the 5 GB I already had through DropBox and I have 50 more GB on top of the 64 GB of my HTC ONE. I prefer to have a lot of things like Pictures and videos on the cloud any way. This is a non issue for me in this day and age.

Removable Battery: Understandable but I imagine if I really want to swap out the battery because it goes bad before I upgrade again in 2 years that I can. I upgraded the iPhone 4 battery in 10 minutes and it was a cake walk even after being voted one of the more difficult devices to do it with. Besides, I again find it unlikely that I'll need to replace the battery before I replace the phone all together. There are definitely some real world issues regarding this but not for me.

Nexus advantages over ONE: Vanilla Android with updates as Google releases them. This is pretty good if you are the average person who prefers stock android, but what average non-techy person is going to care about vanilla android? Again, this is a tech forum and I myself will be unlocking my bootloader pronto and installing custom ROMs as soon as they are mostly prefected for the ONE. We will have 4.2.2 on ONE via the custom ROM community if not directly from HTC, so this is a non issue for me. Part of my appeal to Android in the first place is playing around with custom ROMs and Launchers so I will be doing a lot of it.

Bottom Line: I think the advantages on the ONE far out weigh the advantages of the other two because there are ways around most of them. Processor clock, cloud storage space, mobile battery if needed, etc.

On the other hand, there is NOTHING you can do about a cheap looking piece of plastic trash. You can't make it metal. You can make the metal plastic with a case. That anand review and others have already said it best. You also can't do much with the speakers if you use speaker phone regularly as I do. Those two things set the ONE apart much further then the other things that supposedly set those other two apart.

"I always start with industrial design and aesthetics, probably because it’s the most obvious superficial thing that hits you when picking up almost anything for the first time. With a smartphone that’s even more important, since there’s so much that revolves around the in-hand feel. I pick up my phone too many times a day to count for better or worse, thus the material quality and in-hand feel really do make a big difference."

"The HTC One’s fit and finish are phenomenal. ... In my books, fit and finish goes, in descending order of quality, metal, glass, and finally plastic. Or instead of plastic, polymer, or polycarbonate, or whatever overly-specific word we use to avoid saying plastic.

"It’s the kind of manufacturing story that previously only the likes of Apple could lay claim to, and the HTC One is really the first Android device which reaches the level of construction quality previously owned almost entirely by the iPhone"

That last bit sums it up best for me. I've been an iPhone user namely because of this. And also because the android community makes ridiculous claims that the iPhone isn't open and there is so much you can't do on the iPhone. True for a stock iPhone as some of these other things are true about stock Android devices. But again, this is a tech forum. I can't be the minority here who is hacking everything I own. I actually have found already something I can do on the iPhone that I've challenged the android community on this forum and around the internet to explain how I would do this on an android device with no answer given. As best as I can tell, it can't be done on Android and is a regular problem solved by people in the iOS jailbreak community.

But I digress.

HTC ONe is the ONe for me and I'm quite happy with the decision.

 

[scott14522]

Front facing speakers should become an industry option.

The one feels good in my hand, I appreciated the rubber ring around the n4 that made me feel more secure holding it. My note 1 is very flat and odd to hold in my hand, the gs4 looks similar.

In a crowded and similar crowd of android phones, the gs4 seems to be differentiating itself through software, while the one does it through hardware.

 

[mike5757]

I can't decide between the One and GS4. On one hand, there's the bigger screen that is also OLED on the GS4, but then there's my innate human attraction to shiny objects for the One. The One does have a pretty darn good screen, though. And of course there's the build quality.

Something that worries me about the One is that none of the pictures from the camera I've seen are really impressive. It looks like a downgrade from my iPhone 4 for pictures taken with good lighting.

The GS4 only has 16GB of storage for the cheapest variant, and I would probably want to go for 32 GB. But I feel dirty paying $100 or $50 for 16 extra GB of NAND. Does anyone know how much it is? I suppose I could use a microSD, but that has its disadvantages. I am confounded that 32GB isn't the standard minimum for flagship smartphones by now.

 

[Red Storm]

The most obvious advantage the S4 has over the One is the bigger screen in a smaller and lighter package. Also the physical build thing depends on who you ask. I again see the S4 having the advantage here as metal is prone to very easy scratching.