Google Edition phone; Samsung S4 vs HTC One

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Zorachus

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Well the big news this month, was that both Samsung and HTC will be releasing stock vanilla Android versions of their top high end phones next month. They both go on sale on the Play Store June 26th. Google also mentioned this week, that the "Nexus" line is still active, and will not be cancelled just because these Google Editions are coming out. So a Nexus-Five phone, is still in the cards for release this Fall, the N5 most likely made by LG again, per rumors.

Samsung Galaxy S4 G.E. @ $649
http://www.androidcentral.com/samsung-galaxy-s4-google-edition-real

HTC One G.E. @ $599
http://www.androidcentral.com/htc-one-google-edition-official

Curious if any of the [H] smartphone geeks here, plan on buying one of these ? If so, which one do you like, and why ? Word is that HTC will have extremely limited quantities available at launch, not sure about Samsung, they should have much more ready at launch hopefully.

Which G.E. phone will be better ? Hardware wise I think both phones are pretty similar, with the One having the better screen. But the S4 should have better battery life ? Plus the S4 is upgradable in the battery and storage department.
 
Don't be surprised if more get announced. A "friend" of mine says that we're going to see a G.E. of the Xperia Z around or shortly after the T-Mobile Xperia Z launch.

My preference between the two GEs is the S4. But, I have very unique tastes. You have to consider numerous things and what is relevant to you. For example:

Screen - 1080p 5" AMOLED vs. 1080p 4.7" IPS
Camera - Samsung does better in the day, HTC's does better in low light.
Storage - 16GB internal + up to 64GB MicroSD, or 32GB internal
Button layout beneath the screen
Built materials and quality - I've gone on record as stating that the One has better materials but in build quality, I prefer the S4. Fewer gaps and ridges. But I've noticed that most prefer the feel of the One in their hand. For me, it's irrelevant, as I'll only feel the TPU case in my hand :)
Which carrier? - The S4 GE works on almost all north-american GSM carriers for Edge/HSPA, while the HTC One lacks proper HSPA+ support for T-Mobile, but more LTE support for Canadian carriers. (would be stupid to only sell the One in the US)
 
I think the HTC One G.E. will be near impossible to get your hands on it, will be sold out in minutes, and then restock based on when HTC gets around to it again. Where as Samsung's S4 G.E. should have larger quantities available, at least I would hope more than HTC will have ? And Samsung should be able to replenish stock much quicker than HTC.

I would choose the S4 myself, I wonder if both colors will be available, black and white ?

Would love to see a Note 3 Google Edition this Fall, with official S-Pen App support through AOSP, could we see that happening ?
 
Just reading XDA for the carrier versions of the S4 and One, it seems the development community is much larger for the S4 compared to the One ? Is that just due to there being twice as many S4's sold and in the market ? Or are Samsung phones known for having better development support over HTC phones ?
 
Zorachus said:
Just reading XDA for the carrier versions of the S4 and One, it seems the development community is much larger for the S4 compared to the One ? Is that just due to there being twice as many S4's sold and in the market ? Or are Samsung phones known for having better development support over HTC phones ?
Click to expand...

I don't see that at all...


Also, HTC One is not available in some carrier......while S4 is on most of the carrier....

But on general wise, HTC One have twice larger of community than S4...
 
This is interesting;

http://www.theverge.com/2013/5/30/4379796/htc-one-google-edition-announced-stock-android

HTC also provided another interesting tidbit: it's currently "examining the best way to support early adopters of the carrier bought stock One" that may prefer the stock Android experience over Sense, perhaps by way of an AOSP ROM. The company isn't providing specifics on that front just yet. Still, if you're a One owner feeling burned by today's announcement, there may be hope.
 
shansoft said:
I don't see that at all...


Also, HTC One is not available in some carrier......while S4 is on most of the carrier....

But on general wise, HTC One have twice larger of community than S4...
Click to expand...

:confused::confused:

I am pretty sure Zorachus was referring to numbers man, like this
 
I don't think there'll be a shortage of CM devs on either the GS4 or One. CyanogenMod was available for the GS4 within a couple days.
 
ChronoReverse said:
I don't think there'll be a shortage of CM devs on either the GS4 or One. CyanogenMod was available for the GS4 within a couple days.
Click to expand...

That's true. Just good to see that HTC made the One on ATT and Verizon easier to root and unlock the bootloader, vs. how the carriers locked down the S4 :rolleyes: Maybe HTC will go out of their way to help developers on the One, they know that helps their status in the community, where as Samsung is so popular, they don't really care, they'll millions of S4's regardless.
 
Zorachus said:
That's true. Just good to see that HTC made the One on ATT and Verizon easier to root and unlock the bootloader, vs. how the carriers locked down the S4 :rolleyes: Maybe HTC will go out of their way to help developers on the One, they know that helps their status in the community, where as Samsung is so popular, they don't really care, they'll millions of S4's regardless.
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HTC just made custom kernel and rom possible even with the bootloader on. You don't need to unlock the bootloader to do it. The only thing you cannot do with the One with the bootloader on is modifying the radio, which unless you're a mobile phone radio engineer or Qualcomm employee, you won't be able to do anyway. So that's a very smart way of locking down the device.
 
I am leaning towards the HTC One, more on principle, I like to suppor. the underdog, and not give money to the uber powerful companies like Samsung or Apple right now. HTC needs support, and the One looks like a great phone, sure the S4 may be the better device, more options for removable battery, and upgradable storage, which are big deals, but I rarely changed out my batteries in other phones, and 32GB ha been plenty for me before.

Might go with the ATT One, it is easily rooted and unlocked it seems ? Would most likely flash CM10.1 on it, and then the "Google Edition" ROM once it gets ported over, which I guess will happen shortly after release.

If the One gets equal or better battery life than my Nexus 4, I'm in. On my N4 I get approx 4h - 5h at best On Screen time, and overall maybe 10h to 14h total battery life during a workday.
 
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Zorachus said:
I am leaning towards the HTC One, more on principle, I like to suppor. the underdog, and not give money to the uber powerful companies like Samsung or Apple right now. HTC needs support, and the One looks like a great phone, sure the S4 may be the better device, more options for removable battery, and upgradable storage, which are big deals, but I rarely changed out my batteries in other phones, and 32GB ha been plenty for me before.

Might go with the ATT One, it is easily rooted and unlocked it seems ? Would most likely flash CM10.1 on it, and then the "Google Edition" ROM once it gets ported over, which I guess will happen shortly after release.

If the One gets equal or better battery life than my Nexus 4, I'm in. On my N4 I get approx 4h - 5h at best On Screen time, and overall maybe 10h to 14h total battery life during a workday.
Click to expand...

You could consider the 64GB Developer Edition as well, if storage is of ANY concern.

If the HTC One was as easy to disassemble and get to the battery as the Nexus 4, I'd be leaning heavily towards it myself.
 
Zorachus said:
This is interesting;

http://www.theverge.com/2013/5/30/4379796/htc-one-google-edition-announced-stock-android

HTC also provided another interesting tidbit: it's currently "examining the best way to support early adopters of the carrier bought stock One" that may prefer the stock Android experience over Sense, perhaps by way of an AOSP ROM. The company isn't providing specifics on that front just yet. Still, if you're a One owner feeling burned by today's announcement, there may be hope.
Click to expand...

That's pretty cool of them.
 
Zorachus said:
This is interesting;

http://www.theverge.com/2013/5/30/4379796/htc-one-google-edition-announced-stock-android

HTC also provided another interesting tidbit: it's currently "examining the best way to support early adopters of the carrier bought stock One" that may prefer the stock Android experience over Sense, perhaps by way of an AOSP ROM. The company isn't providing specifics on that front just yet. Still, if you're a One owner feeling burned by today's announcement, there may be hope.
Click to expand...

Now if only it ever comes out on Verizon... But honestly this would be great to see this be a new standard on android phones.
Looks like HTC is really trying to improve what people think of them. Kickass phone with totally new tech (ultrapixel etc) and now trying to appease the hardcore phoneys who care about a stock android experience. If they can do both that would be killer, seems like they are moving in the right direction in leaps and bounds while Samsung just makes small little steps in the right direction.
 
I think one of the most exciting things with this new collaboration between Google + Samsung / HTC on these Google Editions, is the promise of timely updates just like a Nexus.

That is amazing right there, because for so many years Samsung and HTC non Nexus devices took forever to get updated, sometimes 9 to 12 months after a big Android OS update, now no more :cool:

And I'm not talking about having to own these specific Google Editions phones, with the XDA development community the standard carrier editions will get the ROM ported over pretty quick, giving everyone the chance to install the newest vanilla Android update right away, if they like to root and install ROM's.
 
Zorachus said:
That is amazing right there, because for so many years Samsung and HTC non Nexus devices took forever to get updated, sometimes 9 to 12 months after a big Android OS update, now no more :cool:
Click to expand...

What people forget is that Android is just a base layer. The intent behind Android was never to be like a Windows for mobile phones where every device offered a similar experience. The intent behind Android was that there would be a consistent application compatibility layer, giving smaller OEMs the scale to compete with the iPhone by sharing an ecosystem, without having to give up their own identity.

People often forget just how much is added to the phone by Sense, Touchwiz, and other OEM-branded interfaces. I suspect that there is going to be a large outcry over these Google Editions when people finally realize just what is missing.

When you're on an oem-branded device, the underlying Android layer doesn't matter as much as the software provided by the OEM. When I got my HTC Incredible back in 2010, it came with Android 2.1 and Sense 1.0. By the time that Android 2.3 had come out, Google was STILL playing catchup with features implemented by Sense.

Even now we see Note users constantly asking - how can I get AOSP but with stylus support to the degree that Samsung has implemented? You can't. So I really think that the people who want a truly vanilla Android experience are in the minority. My next upgrade at this point looks to be my first Nexus experience device. We'll see how well it fares for my needs.
 
I only want vanilla for development purposes.

I will probably get a nexus 4 for that purpose, have zero interest in romming my next phone, will root.
 
I'm in the market for these, undecided on which to get, but I'm unsure when they'll be available. I know the date is June 26th, but are we looking at 12:01 AM Pacific time or something else?
 
Medion said:
My next upgrade at this point looks to be my first Nexus experience device. We'll see how well it fares for my needs.
Click to expand...
I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. You will very quickly realize how buggy OEM devices are. You mention that people will be disappointed by what's missing and as a Nexus user I'll go the other way and say that people will be glad it's gone. I've had a lot of people tell me that their OEM phones work well and I'm full of it only to buy a Nexus device and recant their statements when they realize what a proper phone should perform like.
 
For me it's simple... removeable battery and expandable storage vs. not.

Take your pick.
 
zamardii said:
For me it's simple... removeable battery and expandable storage vs. not.

Take your pick.
Click to expand...
Good speakers that will actually be used on a daily basis.

Better built quality and feel in hand.

vs

things that might theoretically be useful when you need it...
 
CHANG3D said:
Good speakers that will actually be used on a daily basis.

Better built quality and feel in hand.

vs

things that might theoretically be useful when you need it...
Click to expand...

As long as most people can hear their phone ring, speaker placement is mostly irrelevant. What obnoxious person is playing their music all the time and streaming netflix on their phone in public places so much that they actually need high quality front-facing speakers on a cell phone? It doesn't matter.

Better build quality is completely a moot argument given the fact that if you drop any one of these phones you will more than likely break the screen or crack it since the screen takes up the most real estate on phones these days. If you scratch up the back of the S4, you can just replace the back door. You scratch up ANY part of the One and that scratched aluminum will stand out like a donut in the middle of a crowded Ethiopian village.

Most people put cases on their phones these days anyway. Better build quality means nothing... and when people say that, they just mean the phones look better and feels better where at the end of the day that does not affect functionality.

The battery being replaceable is the most significant piece of the phone that should be user replaceable precisely because batteries don't last forever, and replacement batteries are really cheap on ebay. I got two replacement batteries and a wall charger for my S3 for $10. Expandable memory is the least OEMs could put in their phones now that our storage needs are higher than ever unless you feel like constantly swapping out content on your phone and deleting apps.
 
Form isn't as important as function. But it isn't irrelevant, as you seem to think. The One is better built and higher quality, end of story. That might not be important to you. It is to me, and many others.
 
I think there is a big difference between real high build quality, and just perceived build quality.

Yes the HTC One on paper, seems like the better built phone, being metal and aluminum, solid construction, but in reality is still just glued together pieces, not screwed together and true industrial build like an iPhone 5. And lots of threads talking about poor quality on the HTC One, with gaps, and sharp/rough edges, and poor corners, etc...

Yes the S4 is polycarbonate or "plastic" to most, but it's "build quality" might actually be better than the HTC One, with Samsung's very professional manufacturing process, sure it might be plastic, but it's very well put together.
 
The Materials of the One might feel better and higher quality, but the construction isn't necessarily better and the internals of the GS4 are clearly less shoddy.

Look at the teardowns of the GS4 and the One. It's ridiculous that there's copper tape stuck all over the place in the One. A well engineered device shouldn't have to rely on copper foil wrap to provide grounding and heatsinking. It also shouldn't be held together with glue.
 
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wabbitseason said:
Form isn't as important as function. But it isn't irrelevant, as you seem to think. The One is better built and higher quality, end of story. That might not be important to you. It is to me, and many others.
Click to expand...

Actually, he was stating his opinion before someone told him his opinion was wrong.

My opinion is the same, I don't see the build quality that dreastic between the two. The speakers while cool, I'd probably only use in a severely limited use. Where I use and have cherished the removable battery many times before. The sdhc is just icing on the cake.
 
Reviews comparing the HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S4 gave the HTC One a landslide victory, and the deciding factor is mostly based on build quality, is it not? Correct me if I'm wrong to generalize it as such.

Anandtech is arguably the best review website, and their reviews of the One and the S4 are top-notch IMHO. Anandtech approved the method HTC did to essentially sandwiched the phone together with glue as "the future" (not an exact quote), saying that they cannot believe anyone other than Apple being able to produce something of this quality. HTC One is also the only phone to ever get an Editor's Choice award, and it got it in Gold.

So you guys don't believe that HTC One is better in quality than the S4? You could say HTC One's quality is over-exaggerated, but to say that the S4 is even close makes the One even way more underrated. Although a good phone, the S4 isn't even remotely close in terms of design innovation and quality.

How else could the HTC One win with a landslide if not based on design and quality? The S4 beats the One in almost everything underneath the surface.

Unless I'm missing something, what did you know that they didn't?
 
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Trimlock said:
Actually, he was stating his opinion before someone told him his opinion was wrong.
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Actually, you're wrong:

zamardii said:
Most people put cases on their phones these days anyway. Better build quality means nothing... and when people say that, they just mean the phones look better and feels better where at the end of the day that does not affect functionality.
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Thanks for the valuable contribution to the thread, though.
 
Changed - not sure, I loved the anands review in both phones. I just think htc's quality control is terrible on their phone and let a few ' duds' make it through.

It's not so much saying the build quality isn't better, it's just not by a landslide. It's also good to say that the build quality on the S4 is quite good.

One thing is for sure the htc one looks way better.
 
There's a difference between perceived build quality and actual build quality. It's a shame that manufacturers can fool the entire populace into thinking it's a better built phone by putting an aluminum case on it. I remember this argument about the Nexus 4 and how it's so much better built than the Galaxy Nexus only to find out that the back glass was thin as paper and cracked when you turned the A/C on in the car. Build quality isn't something that's skin deep yet that's how you all are judging it.
 
Blown 89 said:
There's a difference between perceived build quality and actual build quality. It's a shame that manufacturers can fool the entire populace into thinking it's a better built phone by putting an aluminum case on it. I remember this argument about the Nexus 4 and how it's so much better built than the Galaxy Nexus only to find out that the back glass was thin as paper and cracked when you turned the A/C on in the car. Build quality isn't something that's skin deep yet that's how you all are judging it.
Click to expand...

One thing that will probably drive people away from the one is their rating for repair, I think one site gave the phone a 1/10 on repairability.
 
Blown 89 said:
There's a difference between perceived build quality and actual build quality. It's a shame that manufacturers can fool the entire populace into thinking it's a better built phone by putting an aluminum case on it. I remember this argument about the Nexus 4 and how it's so much better built than the Galaxy Nexus only to find out that the back glass was thin as paper and cracked when you turned the A/C on in the car. Build quality isn't something that's skin deep yet that's how you all are judging it.
Click to expand...

Exactly. Just because the One is using a metal design, doesn't make it automatically better than Samsung's Polycarbonate. Look at the reviews of the One's build assembly, uses glue, and cheap insulation inside, looks rather poor inside, and reading of issues with gaps, rough edges, buttons not flush, etc... Not saying the S4 is better, but the One is not the perfect design either as they make it sound.

And for having a fixed battery, other phones that are fixed like the iPhone and Nexus 4, can still access the battery rather easily by taking it apart, and replacing the battery if need be, but the One has the battery buried deep inside and very difficult to get to, is another knock.
 
The issue is how you define build quality and what factors are important to you.

When people say the HTC One has good quality they are focusing on how it looks and feels more like a premium device externally. If you knew nothing else about the S4 and HTC One other than being able to see and hold them which one would you assume is the more expensive and premium device?

If you value how the internals are organized and/or durability (especially in terms of impact) than what you are looking for in the build of a device would be different.

I think at this point generally build quality is more directed at how premium a device feels externally (oriented to most consumers) and durability especially would be another category.
 
Which I always find funny, since most people put the phone in a case, and never feel the "premium" aspect.

As for holding side/side , the S4 appears better constructed, all the "issues" with the ONE have been mentioned. Feel wise, naked, the One does feel better, howeve rin a case that is negligible :D


Loving my S4, cant wait to go pure AOSP end of month D:
 
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