[T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII] saranhai:
HTC One & Samsung Galaxy S4: My Thoughts

I was blessed with the opportunity today to visit the T-Mobile store after school, and there i was able to check out the latest devices on the market, the HTC One, and the Samsung Galaxy S4. The HTC One sells for $99.99 to new customers or "eligible" customers up front, while the Samsung Galaxy S4 sells for $149.99 (same as Note II) both of course, with the $20 down payment. Both are very nice devices and great upgrades, below are my thoughts on both.

HTC One:

Instead of having a great big display section like the Galaxy Devices did, the HTC One (at least in the store i was in) was placed with all the other devices, and it was rather hard for me to find this device (thought they didn't carry it at first). Hmm...interesting.

The moment i saw the device, i discovered what all the reviewers have been saying was true, the HTC One truly was, a beautiful phone. However, due to the constraints they always put on these phones to keep them stuck their display boards and from getting stolen, i wasn't able to get the full feeling. Still though, i saw how beautiful of a phone it was. The device felt heavier than Samsung's devices, but in a good way, making the HTC One feel like a premium device. Software-wise, i was also very impressed. HTC Sense 5 was a major overhaul from previous versions, HTC really did manage to slim down the UI and the over all feel and fluidity was back. Absolutely no lag was experienced on this device, it really is wonderful. The camera was so-so, still was confused on how HTC Zoe worked so i kinda just gave up, but the camera took very nice pictures, especially in low light, like advertised. The last thing i want to mention, is Boomsound, the dual front speakers. This was rather disappointing, for while the speakers had great pros (didn't have to worry about covering the speaker when holding the device, sound was directed at me), the sound that came out was just a little above average, definitely not as good as what HTC advertised. So overall, a worthy competitor of Samsung's latest flagship device, very impressive powerhouse, but however, along with no expandable storage or removable battery, i'll pass this time around.

Samsung Galaxy S4:

Like mentioned already, the Samsung Galaxy S4 was placed smack in the middle of the big and shiny Samsung Galaxy display area of the store. It surprised me how strikingly similar the Galaxy S4 looked side by side with it's two year old brother, the Galaxy S II, SGH-T989. I was able to play with a white version (pity, didn't have black one out), and it was very impressive. Although not as sturdy feeling and beautiful as the HTC One, this massive, 5-inch screen device defined beauty in it's own way. Although (like many of the reviewers said) not a big change from its predecessor the Samsung Galaxy S III. Bigger screen, better camera, thinner, lighter, not very many hardware changes were seen. However, big strides were made over on the software side. The slight lag sometimes experienced on the Galaxy S III (or U.S variants at least with the dual core processor) was completely gone on the new flagship phone, everything just felt more fluid and smoother. Of course, knowing Samsung, it's probably just the beginning, and over time, everything slows down and that's when you want to throw the phone against a wall. Notable features of the Galaxy S4 that i was able to play with was Air Gesture, which worked wonderfully in the Gallery app, the camera (tried the dual view thing, good to have, but not very useful IMO) was wonderful, the 13 MP took very clear and sharp pictures that looked very nice on the 1080p HD display. I did not notice a big difference between the displays of both the HTC One and the Galaxy S4, but it did seem like the S4 had a brighter and more vivid display (that could be of course, maybe because the brightness was turned up).

Unfortunately, the store i went to had neither of the two devices in stock, so didn't pick up anything, but they said they were going to get shipments of the Galaxy S4 in May 8th. However, while both devices are still wonderful and great, with their own unique plethora of features, they are not quite worthy upgrades yet from the Galaxy S III. This device still packs a bunch, and i feel personally, that it would be a waste of money to upgrade now. But, we'll see, come May 8th.

Thanks for reading.