Samsung S4 comes second to HTC One ?

[AnotherJoe]

The first reviews of the S4 are now in and a lot the hardware sites are placing it second to the HTC One, but ahead of the 920, Iphone5 + Experia Z.

Whilst they like the screen, and the SD slot, the camera (in good light), Android 4.2 etc - other aspects they are not so keen on.

Most of Samsungs added features like Smart Stay, Smart Scoll, Air Gestures and so on are being called unneccessary or even glitchy. Other areas of the UI and Samsung Hub, media sharing also lag behind its competitors.

The plastic feel is not liked, battery life seems lower (or on a par) with the One, and the UI is being called overcomplicated compared to Sense. The low-light camera performance is well below the One/Lumia 920, and the video camera is also not as good, and rear speaker is poor compared to the One's stereo front speakers.

And despite benchmarking slightly higher than the One (its CPU+GPU are clocked around 12% higher) - the HTC One seems to be smoother in general use due to Touchwiz.

Perhaps HTC is on for a comeback with the One.

 

[chebby]

Perhaps HTC is on for a comeback with the One.

Ok...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2013/apr/11/htc-profit-slump-samsung-apple-smartphone

 

[Joe Cox]

If only they had the marketing spend...

We have our Galaxy S4 by the way and have been working on our review for a few days, should be online in time for the weekend. I like the box...

/sites/whathifi.com/files/images/2013/April/SamsungGalaxyS4box.jpg

 

[Sliced Bread]

If only they had the marketing spend...

We have our Galaxy S4 by the way and have been working on our review for a few days, should be online in time for the weekend. I like the box...

/sites/whathifi.com/files/images/2013/April/SamsungGalaxyS4box.jpg

Be careful.

If you turn the box 50 degees to the right you'll be at risk of never finding it again.:shifty:

 

[landzw]

Perhaps HTC is on for a comeback with the One.

Ok...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2013/apr/11/htc-profit-slump-samsung-apple-smartphone

HTC have been struggling for a while now, well before the HTC One and the S4

Profits go up and profits come down a lot quicker, as long as HTC keep it together and continue making quality phones they may have there day again being number one again.

Samsung maybe top now but there is always the chance things could turn and probably will just like every other must have item.

 

[daveh75]

Can't get excited about either.

One's plastic tat full of crapware, the others a nice case with poor battery, an out of date OS and also full of crapware

 

[bigboss]

AnotherJoe is a huge HTC fan. Even since the Galaxy S4 was announced, all his posts are against the S4 in favour of HTC One (even though initial processor specs were wrong, & Samsung's is actually faster than HTC).

The fact remains; with Samsung's massive advertising spend, it is unlikely for HTC to make any impact on its sales.

 

[The_Lhc]

AnotherJoe is a huge HTC fan. Even since the Galaxy S4 was announced, all his posts are against the S4 in favour of HTC One (even though initial processor specs were wrong, & Samsung's is actually faster than HTC).

That doesn't stop the One from being the better phone though.

The fact remains; with Samsung's massive advertising spend, it is unlikely for HTC to make any impact on its sales.

And neither does that...

 

[bigboss]

I never said HTC isn't better. I'm not in the market for a high end phone, so I'm not really bothered. I merely stated my observations. The best things in the market aren't always best sellers.

Although I am in the market for a simple phone for my mother, not more than £100 and has a decent camera and whatsapp functionality... :?

 

[AnotherJoe]

AnotherJoe is a huge HTC fan. Even since the Galaxy S4 was announced, all his posts are against the S4 in favour of HTC One (even though initial processor specs were wrong, & Samsung's is actually faster than HTC).

The fact remains; with Samsung's massive advertising spend, it is unlikely for HTC to make any impact on its sales.

I'm neither pro or against HTC or Samsung, having both a HTC One X (personal) and an SG3 (business).

I'm pro Android if anything - well pro Linux really, but thats more to do with supporting Open Source and not wanting what I can/can't do with my phone/computer decided for me by either a monopolistic company (Microsoft) or would-be-monopolistic company(Apple) thats just trying to screw more money out of me.

 

[grdunn123]

I had a short play with a Galaxy 4 today and it appears to e a big step up from the SG3 (which I have) - build quality is better, still light for it's size but feels better put together, display is a big step up with much richer colours and almost a 3D depth to the screen.

Had a lok at some of the new features and they actually appear to work quite well - the obvious benefit to the Air Gesture is that you don't have to have finger prints all over the screen quite as often as before.

It'll be a huge seller regardless, HTC appear to still have to many glitches in their hardware and software to make it as real market leaders, Appl need to come up with something soon to rescue the iPhone - an iPhone 5S probably won't cut it.

 

[Frazer1979]

I have to say I am a huge fan of the android OS but one thing I really hate about it is when the various companies butcher it and throw in loads of crap that 90% of users really have no interest in using. My current phone is an off network HTC one X with none of the extra rubbish orange/EE normally put on it and I really love it. All the Samsung phones I have looked at not only have operater software on them but also a version of the software that has been adapted by Samsung too.

Give me a naked android OS on HTC any day of the week.

HTC was the only brand that took me away from the old Symbian nokia phones and I haven't looked back since.

 

[Andy Madden]

Just in case you guys are interested I should flag up that we've got a huge smartphone supertest coming up in the July issue of the mag where we'll be pitching the S4 against all its key rivals...

 

[AnotherJoe]

One of the annoying things with the HTC One is it only has 2 buttons.

However, If you choose to root your phone (note that any DRM videos such as Skygo, HTC Watch etc will then not work), there are already mods that turn the HTC logo into the missing 3rd button and add the menu button fix found in the One X/S/V.

Hopefully HTC will take note and make these standard in a future software update.

 

[Joe Cox]

Sneak preview of that Supertest, draw your own conclusions! TBC...

Samsung Galaxy S4 vs HTC One vs iPhone 5 vs Xperia Z

 

[bigboss]

Having had a play with the S4, HTC One & Sony Xperia Z, I must say I was quite underwhelmed by the S4. Boring design and plasticky build. I was quite surprised at the lag, especially considering the S3 didn't have any! I'm sure a software update should sort that out. HTC One & Xperia Z are definitely the better phones. Given my previous experience with HTC, I would prefer the Xperia Z (of course, I'm enjoying my Lumia 920 right now ).

 

[AnotherJoe]

With the s4 turn off the smart stay/smart scroll. Thats what causes the lag.

 

[Anonymous]

With the s4 turn off the smart stay/smart scroll. Thats what causes the lag.

They're still laggy even with those feautures turned off, try playing Subway Surfers on one.

And there's only 8GB of memory available as the system takes up the other 8.

 

[bigboss]

Yes, when I tried the phone, there was a distinct stutter and lag, even with the smart scroll / smart stay turned off.

 

[AnotherJoe]

And there's only 8GB of memory available as the system takes up the other 8.

put a 64GB SD card in it then. But yes, Samsung are as bad as Microsoft in that respect.

 

[bigboss]

As expected, Samsung Galaxy S4 is selling more than any of its competitors, regardless of its performance.