At Digit Test Labs, the Samsung Galaxy S4 lost the contest to the HTC One, without really putting up too much of a fight.
High-end, top-end, flagship devices…whatever name you give them, they basically signify the best that a brand has to offer in its lineup of products. In this case, we are talking Android smartphones. The much talked about duel between the Samsung Galaxy S4 and the HTC One.
At the Digit Test Labs, the unanimous decision is that the HTC One is a better flagship Android smartphone than the Samsung Galaxy S4. While my colleagues at the Digit Test Lab can’t wait to draft out a laundry list of comparisons to support our stand on the HTC One being a better Android flagship device, what follows is my personal opinion on why I would recommend the HTC One over the Samsung Galaxy S4.
Looks and Build Quality are Quintessential for a Flagship Device
Personally, for me, the HTC One emerged as a clear winner after 30 minutes of using the Samsung Galaxy S4 and I never felt the need to go back to the HTC One for any clarifications. A flagship device that costs 40K and claims to give me more than what any smartphone can ever offer for the next decade, the Samsung Galaxy S4 looks and feels like a very, very ordinary device. Yes, it’s about the looks, feel, finish, build quality and the first impressions. Without even getting into any kind of comparison mode with the Samsung Galaxy S III, as a standalone smartphone that costs 40K, the Samsung Galaxy S4 is a poorly crafted device. The slimy plastic back is reminiscent of a zillion other budget smartphones in the market and no amount of convincing will get you past the fact that a premium smartphone cannot be deemed premium on the basis of the sheer amount of software features and tricks it houses to keep you busy for a lifetime. The HTC One, is clearly the best looking smartphone today, a device that reeks class, attention, finish and build that makes it worth its price tag.
Ironically, this opinion comes from a Samsung Galaxy user. My Samsung Galaxy Nexus gives me all the more reason to believe that Samsung should have done more with the Samsung Galaxy S4’s design and build. For its time (announced late 2011), the Galaxy Nexus was unique in terms of design, well-built (even with an all plastic body), offered some nifty real-world benefits in the form of a curved all glass front and a tapered body. It was a device which looked and felt premium all the way and it was jointly developed by Google and Samsung engineers.
In its defense, Samsung has explained its philosophy behind the design of the Samsung Galaxy S4. Samsung wants to make it easier for Samsung Galaxy S III users to easily move to the Galaxy S4, without having to grapple with a steep learning curve. I spoke to a bunch of Samsung Galaxy S III users and they were in fact disappointed (or perhaps, dazed) on why they were denied a nicer looking smartphone and they obviously expected their next upgrade to look, feel and be built better than their existing smartphone. To further add to their pain (with maybe a little schadenfreude in the mix), I offered them the option of the HTC One, quizzing them on what if the Samsung Galaxy S4 was offered with the design, build and looks of the HTC One. “Is it possible?” they enquired…“not in the near future”, was my ‘assuring’ response.
Screen Quality and Camera, HTC One Delivers the Knock-Out Punch
I am a sucker for good screens, IPS to be specific. I found that the IPS screen on the HTC One was better for reading and it also produced true colours as opposed to the Samsung Galaxy S4. The colours on the Samsung Galaxy S4 “pop- out”, i.e. they appear brighter and more vivid compare to the HTC One. The extra vibrancy surely helps in making everything on the screen look richer, but, personally, I prefer my colours to be more real. At 441 ppi pixel density, the Pentile arrangement of the S4 display isn’t a worry, but the colour tint across the display (which I have been cribbing about on my Samsung Galaxy Nexus) along with slightly lower brightness levels and sub-optimal sunlight legibility puts the HTC One display over the Samsung Galaxy S4 in my books. Though, on the flip side, those deep/infinite black levels from the Super AMOLED display is a big plus with the Samsung Galaxy S4.
Coming down to the camera quality, in bright daylight situations, there is very little to choose between the Samsung Galaxy S4 and the HTC One. The extra pixels on the Samsung Galaxy S4 help in delivering a sharper image, albeit with a slightly over-exposed result. But, when it comes to low-light situations, the HTC One delivers significantly better results compared to the Samsung Galaxy S4, making it rank higher than the S4 in terms of overall camera performance. Though, I personally am disappointed with both of these Android flagships in terms of pure image quality. Flagship Android smartphones are currently offering minimal improvements in pure image quality compared to where they were in 2012. I hope the upcoming Apple iPhone 5S or the next Nokia Lumia PureView device will set a new standard for smartphone cameras in 2013.
Would I Buy Any of the Two Devices? Not Likely…
As a Google Nexus device user, I was looking forward to Google I/O for the next Nexus smartphone announcement. I still have my hopes pinned on the next Nexus smartphone announcement happening around October/November 2013. If none of that comes good, I shall be swiping my card for the Google Nexus 4, the best upgrade option for my Samsung Galaxy Nexus at this point.
P.S: Our decision on the HTC One being better than the Samsung Galaxy S4 should not come as a big surprise to our regular readers. We conducted a poll of our website readers and our 1,21,000 strong Facebook community. We received a strong response, 45% of which favoured the HTC One while 39% of responses were for the Samsung Galaxy S4.
Note: The HTC One is the #1 on our list of the Top 10 Android Smartphones.