Samsung Galaxy S4 vs. HTC One: Build, Performance and Usability Compared

Now that both phones, the Samsung Galaxy S4 and the HTC One, are available in stores, it is important to see how the two compare.

A detailed review of the Galaxy S4 is on the way, where we will put its offerings in perspective with what the HTC One offers. However, before we do that, it is important to see how the hardware performs, considering the power package on both phones is very different.

A lot of reader queries have come our way of late, asking how the two hardware packages do in comparison to each other.

Specs Compared

Before we get down to the raw numbers, here is a quick glance at the specifications of the two phones – the Samsung Galaxy S4 and the HTC One.

India does not get the Snapdragon 600 powered version, because that is currently available only in the markets where LTE is available, an example being the U.S., with Samsung saying at launch time that once LTE networks are deployed in India, they could look at the Snapdragon version for the Indian market. Also, only the 16GB version has been launched, and no word yet on the 32GB or 64GB version.

Build Quality Compared

Now that that is out of the way, let us take a look at how the two phones look and feel. The dimensions of the two devices make for rather interesting reading.

The numbers make for rather damning reading, considering the feel of both phones, individually, in the hand is very different. Which is why, we are comparing the two phones side by side, to give you a better idea of where each stands. 

Let us take the Samsung Galaxy S4 first. The company has retained the same plastic materials used in the Galaxy S III. Well, improved materials in terms of quality, but not much else! For all purposes, it is still plastic. The designers have done an excellent job in making the S4 slimmer and lighter than the S III, while packing in a bigger screen and a lot more power. However, all that good work is spoilt by not having premium materials to hold them in. Someone remarked, saying “the Galaxy S4 design is essentially derived from a tweak of the S III’s design”. And that pretty much summarizes the general sentiment. Thankfully, while it isn’t any bigger than the predecessor, it just doesn’t feel like a phone worth Rs. 40,000, to be brutally honest. It feels like one of the lesser priced phones feel when you use them, and the back remains as slippery as ever. Slightly sweaty hands, and you just might have the Galaxy S4 all excited about jumping out of your hand and head earthwards. The imprint design, at least on the black mist colour version that we got, is just a visual element, and in no way helps in grip. The phone also has the bad habit of catching even the slightest of fingerprints, and while Samsung claims that it has a non-scratch finish on the back, let us wait and see how the keys, coins and pen assault in the pocket affects it.  

For all the bad points, the Galaxy S4’s build does have its strong points. It feels surprisingly light in the hand. And the user accessible battery has advantages that you will realize when the time comes to change it. It seems that Samsung doesn’t really care about the demographic that has been craving for a metal body on the Galaxy flagship. The idea has been to make up for that with a bunch of features that the rivals don’t offer. We aren’t entirely sure if that will work. 

Mostly because the HTC One has that gorgeous aluminum finish that can set hearts racing, even for those who are already be using an Apple iPhone 5. The well sculpted design, with the unibody aspect, gives the One solidity that cannot really be expected otherwise. The speaker grilles on the front have been carved out with precision that is pretty much unmatched till now. The edge to edge display glass lends it that premium feel, if the One really needed that singular point! The clean design with straight lines and the slab look works well for the wider demographic. No playing around with curves or angles in an attempt to look different, and HTC has pretty much let simplicity do the work. The only necessary curve is on the back, to allow for better nestling of the phone in the hand. While this doesn’t have any special matte finish to help with the grip, the One does not slip around as much in the hand as the Galaxy S4. A couple of issues do creep up though – the volume rocker is a tad too depressed and the aluminum finish will catch nicks and scratches very quickly, if you aren’t careful.

To summarize, the HTC One has a lot more going for it in terms of how the phone looks, feels and is built. For the money that you spend, the One is closer to bliss than the Galaxy S4.

Benchmarks Compared

The hardware on both phones is very different. From the spec sheet comparison earlier in this article, it would be clear that Samsung has the advantage if you are looking at sheer processor specs – GHz and number of cores. However, we wouldn’t assume till we actually scientifically compare the two – with proper numbers. This is where the synthetic benchmarks come in. To not let any device have an unfair advantage, we ran each benchmark test three times, and logged the best score among all three.

These three benchmarks are testing the raw power that the phone packs in. In the Quadrant test, the difference isn’t much, but the Galaxy S4 has a clear lead. That extends further in the AnTuTu benchmark test. Smartbench 2012 pretty much verifies that the Galaxy S4 has the clear lead in terms of raw system performance. Not surprising, considering Samsung has been very confident that the octa-core Exynos SoC is not only up to the job, but will be unmatched. That confidence has been verified in the affirmative here. 

With one aspect verified, it was up to the gaming performance. The Galaxy S4 has the PowerVR SGX 544MP3 chip, while the HTC One has the undeniably powerful Adreno 320.

In the two 3DMark tests, the Galaxy S4 leads by a slender margin, but a lead is a lead nevertheless. The Ice Storm test is the basic graphics test, while the Extreme version is the more stressful one that even crashes on a lot of high-end smartphones. The performance scores thrown up by 3D Mark cannot really be doubted. Yet, we have the GFXBench test to verify those numbers, and the Galaxy S4 is undisputedly the better performer.

Primary Phone Scenario Compared

Benchmark tests are only one part of the entire comparison. We used both phones as primary phones, and both have their positives and negatives. While we are still on the aspect of the performance, let me just clarify this – in a real world usage scenario, it is too close to call between the two. The app opening speed, the smoothness of the UI and how both phones handle the exact same application load is almost the same. Neither of the phones will feel inferior or superior over the other. Hence, benchmark tests are good to compare, but don’t let them be the sole decision making factor before you splash the cash.

The BlinkFeed UI is something that has just come along on HTC phones (well, the One being the first), while Samsung has been tweaking TouchWiz for quite some while now. The current version of TouchWiz retains the familiarity aspect of the previous versions, very useful for someone who may be upgrading to the Galaxy S4 from a Galaxy S III or the first generation Note. The traditional multiple home screens, ability to add and remove widgets – the works. BlinkFeed does seem like a new toy, because it is well…new! And it takes some getting used to. First up, the news feed remains the default home screen. That cannot be changed. The number of homescreens that you can have are also limited. The UI has been modified considerably, at least visually, on the HTC One. Not necessarily better in terms of appeal, but definitely slicker and more matter to fact.

The display quality of the HTC One and the Samsung Galaxy S4 is pretty much at par in terms of crispness and text readability. Despite the slight size difference, both pack in the 1080p resolution. Some may say that the colours are unnatural, but the AMOLED on the Galaxy S4 has the sheer advantage in terms of colour display. The Smart Adapt Display feature works brilliantly, tweaking the contrast and brightness to pander better to whatever you were using the phone for, at that time. For example, open an e-book, and the display changes settings to make it better for readability without straining the eyes over a period of time.

In a Nutshell…

It is still too close to call. The HTC One is undisputedly better in terms of build quality. The Galaxy S4 takes the lead in the benchmark tests. The display quality of the two is pretty much at par, give or take an element. To find which one is better, wait for the detailed review, coming soon!

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Vishal Mathur

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