yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Galaxy S 4 General] pack21:
Simple, you've ever wondered why they have not touched on this subject, one of the most important for those who spend $ 700 on a phone?

Samsung Galaxy S4 teardown shows it is very easy to repair VS HTC One smartphone worst-ever 'repairability' score

"Interestingly, it turned out the Galaxy S4 is extremely easy to fix."

" HTC ONE very difficult to open the device without damaging the rear case. This makes every component extremely difficult to replace"

Did they offer you these devices for free like they give to these reviewers?

Open your eyes and think for youself. :)

If you break the S4 screen , you can fix easily by replacing yourself for 150$, if you break ONE screen is better to buy a new one....this is not talking in this reviews, just design and ****s........ interesting and very unbiased.
[Galaxy S 4 General] GTRagnarok:
Seems like reviewers are putting too much emphasis on the build/material, like it accounts for 80% of how good a phone is.
[Galaxy S 4 General] Pointlol:
The One being hard to repair has already been debunked, they were being idiots and didn't think of removing the speakers (under which are screws) to open it...
[Galaxy S 4 General] pack21:
that is not true, where are the screws that someone wants to give us to eat?

If that were true, there would be a video to show .... the more we ask about this question, more silence we see.

dis u see any screws here? coz i don't.
[Galaxy S 4 General] AndreiLux:
How exactly is that problematic? Reflectance has nothing to do with the test, neither contrast. Your arguments are meaningless in an indoor scenario.

AAST and adapt display are also irrelevant, the end result is what matters.

You have a fair comparison where all the phones are in the same circumstances. Do you want an oranges to oranges comparison, or do you like comparing apples to oranges?
[Galaxy S 4 General] pack21:
Yes, different photos, but not anyone tell me how to open the ONE without risk.

If it wasn't very hard, there were already plenty of testimonies. As there is too much silent about this, for me continues to be difficult any repair = Expensive services.
[Galaxy S 4 General] BoneXDA:
But AMOLED is apple compared to IPS's oranges, what it loses in white brightness it can compensate with deeper blacks and more vivid colors, so white can be dimmer and power saving and still produce the rival's contrast to be similarly legible while browsing. Picking one attribute for comparison is like picking one lighting condition to compare a camera or horsepower when comparing cars, it's not the whole story. At least in my view.
[Galaxy S 4 General] -]Megacharge[-:
As much as I love the HTC One's design, I have to agree with you here, "some" (though, not all) reviewers seem to be putting far too much emphasis on form/design, and praising it like it's the single most important part of the phone and the biggest deciding factor. It's important, but realistically it's down the list a bit.
[Galaxy S 4 General] AndreiLux:
The battery tests are about browsing a website and displaying it, how exactly is that an apples to oranges comparison? The websites don't darken themselves if you're on an AMOLED screen, do they?

You're taking about black levels of 0.04 cd vs 0, sure it's an infinite contrast, but it's meaningless unless you are in a pitch black room.
[Galaxy S 4 General] BoneXDA:
BTW [MENTION=4167023]AndreiLux[/MENTION], you're pretty deep into the S4 SW. Did you manage to unlock the camera sensor mystery? Asian/Russian reviews on the Octa keep mentioning the Sony Exmor RS (IMX135), while Anandtech lists the IMX091PQ (slightly older Exmor R). The Exynos photos do seem to have just a tiny bit more detail and less noise, but it's there. Can you share us anything on the possible differing sensors or post-processing subject?
[Galaxy S 4 General] BarryH_GEG:
The SGS3's design was lambasted compared to the One X. As was its display. Most of the SGS4 reviews I've read lead off with the same discussion about the design and materials; especially because the SGS4 is repeating the same formula as last year to the letter. Almost all the reviews also mention the removable battery and expandable storage as a benefit of Samsung's design. The new s/w features get mixed reviews with some loving the customizability with others saying it's too complicated. Pretty much what was said last year too.

Funny thing though, in spite of being dinged for its design, materials, and display the SGS3 sold 40MM units. The One X which was a beautiful phone with the best display of 2012 sold 10MM. This year the SGS4 is as evolved as any other high-end 2013 phone in the specs department. Samsung's once again betting on s/w features as a differentiator and has piled them on. HTC's betting on design, dual front facing speakers, an alternative camera approach, and BlinkFeed and Zoe. HTC's projecting 20MM One's sold this year and Samsung's projecting 80MM SGS4's. The winner will be the one that meets or beats its sales goal by the largest margin. The One X got great reviews last year and HTC went from 8% to 4% market share. Moral of the story? Reviews mean pretty little in the greater scheme of things.

---------- Post added at 12:56 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:48 PM ----------

The One forum is pretty much sticking to this story. But here's the deal, iFixit rated the One the lowest in repairibility that they've ever seen and it was picked up by pretty much every tech media outlet and some mainstream pubs like the LA Times and WSJ. For the "screws underneath the speaker cover" to be true, one of two things happened:

After iFixit tore the phone completely down they realized there was an easier way and intentionally didn't mention it just so they could harpoon HTC and the One intentionally.

There is no easier way.

If there were an easier way, after their 2013 flagship got negative front page news, wouldn't you think HTC would have issued some sort of response to the iFixit report disputing it? The silence is in fact confirming number two above.
[Galaxy S 4 General] allmine1976:
I agree reviews mean nothing and as I said in another thread the HTC one is mutton dressed as lamb . Personally I will take great software/functionality over looks .
[Galaxy S 4 General] Strategist:
Reviewers tend to over-emphasize design because they use the phone for a few days/weeks and without cases. Regular users of high-end phones generally put cases which hide most of the design.

If you don't use a case and like metal designs, then you should seriously consider the One. Otherwise I think the S4 is the winner.
[Galaxy S 4 General] AndreiLux:
The kernel doesn't have any camera firmware payloaded with it. And even if it did, I can't extrapolate sensor codenames from binary firmwares.

Also interestingly enough, they removed the 9500 sources from the OSRC. They probably realized the defconfig was incomplete.
[Galaxy S 4 General] BarryH_GEG:
I'm a productivity user and actually use Samsung's s/w features a lot. It would be really hard moving to another phone that didn't have them. But from posts on XDA I think I'm in the minority. Regardless of whether they are used or not after the sale they must mean something to the masses for Samsung to sell as many devices as they do. The big difference between Samsung phones and other better looking phones comes down to:

SAMOLED

Removable battery

Expandable storage

Software features

So if it's not s/w, one (or more) of the other three seem to get people's attention.
[Galaxy S 4 General] randombirt:
So are you saying that the one x generally came out on top in last years reviews yet the sgs3 still went on to outsell it?

---------- Post added at 12:56 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:48 PM ----------

The One forum is pretty much sticking to this story. But here's the deal, iFixit rated the One the lowest in repairibility that they've ever seen and it was picked up by pretty much every tech media outlet and some mainstream pubs like the LA Times and WSJ. For the "screws underneath the speaker cover" to be true, one of two things happened:

After iFixit tore the phone completely down they realized there was an easier way and intentionally didn't mention it just so they could harpoon HTC and the One intentionally.

There is no easier way.

If there were an easier way, after their 2013 flagship got negative front page news, wouldn't you think HTC would have issued some sort of response to the iFixit report disputing it? The silence is in fact confirming number two above.[/QUOTE]
[Galaxy S 4 General] CLARiiON:
I would like to know the source for this information.

IDC says HTC sold mere 32.6 million phones in 2012. Based on this and the fact that HTC had countless models, I doubt a single model sold 10 million units. I know you are good with statistics, so not doubting your figures. Just want to know where this claim comes from.

BTW, it will happen just like last year. Samsung will sell even more, HTC will sell even less. The basic ideology that drives Samsung's phones is sales. They are not worried about what reviewers want. I have seen editors literally gyrating seductively over WP7/8. Yet they are not popular with common folks. Samsung is doing something right obviously, else they won't be the leader in possibly every parameter now.

Well, nobody can say Samsung paid off the reviewers from the general review trend I have seen in last 2 years. Atleast I have seen that most US-based reviewers love to take a dig at Samsung. I have rather seen most European/Eastern reviews to be much more accommodative in that regard. Well, that's just my observation and I could be very wrong. But I think we have overwhelming evidence that most US-based reviewers love to hate Samsung.

BTW, GS3 sales crossed 50 million mark in March.
[Galaxy S 4 General] randombirt:
[/QUOTE]

Seriously, fixability? You sure are scraping the bottom of the barrel. If it breaks i either fix it, get it fixed or buy a new one. My wifes bmw costs twice as much as my ford to repair, she loves it though, i quite like it too.
[Galaxy S 4 General] BarryH_GEG:
I guess it depends on what you consider "on top." Every comparison between it and the SGS3 last year said the One X had the better display, felt better in the hand, was more attractive, and was made from better materials. Even those that said the SGS3 "won" for other reasons. The biggest issue the SGS4 faces in reviews is the same issue the SGS3 faced - its design and materials. Maybe even more so this year because the same reviewers *****ed last year and Samsung ignored them. Outside of that I haven't seen a review (yet) that's faulted it in any other way except for individual reviewers subjectively reacting to the ton of s/w Samsung's added. That and the AMOLED exaggerated colors comments which have been the same since 2010.

So if history repeats itself Samsung will sell 80MM this year in spite of the same faults being called out again. HTC’s addressed the two biggest faults of last year by providing a minimum of 32GB of storage (it was 16GB on the XL) and an ample battery. They hyped sound and the camera last year and are doing it again this year. We’ll see how the One does with that taken in to account and its beautiful premium design. If I were to bet I’d say the One will be strong out of the blocks but sales will start to dissipate after two or three months on the market because of Samsung’s brand appeal and marketing as well as newer phones being launched by LG, Motorola, and Apple (which will have a 12MP camera). I went to an AT&T store to play with a One and it was wedged off in a corner with the N2 and iPhone being front and center as you walked in. It takes more than design and features to sell phones. Time will tell as it always does.

---------- Post added at 01:32 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:30 PM ----------

Personally, I could care less as I'm not buying a One because I use S Note/S Pen and Samsung's other s/w features too heavily to be without them. The answer to your question will come in a couple of months when people have to pay to get things repaired that aren't covered by warranty where they are personally footing the bill.
[Galaxy S 4 General] randombirt:
No, you see what i was asking was are you saying that the one x came out on top generally?

Edit

The reason i ask is because your original post suggests that even though reviews panned the sgs3 and hyped the one x the samsung went on to outsell the one x by considerable numbers. I find this misleading as i remember the reviews generally liking the one x but placing the sgs3 as top dog.

Edit

Oh and i still say the fixability card is bs. I mean come on. Really?
[Galaxy S 4 General] BarryH_GEG:
In comparison reviews most sites picked the SGS3 as the "winner." But I don't think that's what drove either Samsung or HTC's sales numbers.

This from GSMArena pretty much sums up the sentiment:

Anyway, back to where we started. Two superphones, one Android crown. The HTC One X managed to come to the market first, while the Galaxy S III is a little late, but has plenty to show for it. We're tempted to play it safe and split it equal. The HTC One X: this is what a droid flagship should look like. The Samsung Galaxy S III: that's what a droid flagship should perform like. But that won't be fair to either of them. They didn't get where they are by playing it safe.

It seems obvious that the Samsung Galaxy S III wouldn't have raised as the new standard-setter without a powerful challenger like the One X. There's no consolation prize here, no second-best. A fair fight and a win-win for Android.​

http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_s_iii_vs_htc_one_x-review-759p9.php
[Galaxy S 4 General] randombirt:
Already read it last year when you were annoying the sammy guys, guess i now know how they felt;)
[Galaxy S 4 General] Derpston:
So according to Brian Adobe RGB is the good old 'Natural' mode but renamed. Hmm I did expect some more from it though.
[Galaxy S 4 General] gtg465x:
Same applies to other markets as well. Cheap, uninspired looking cars don't often come out on top in comparisons either, regardless of how well they perform or how many features they have.

If no one appreciated design, the iPhone never would have become so popular. Windows Mobile trounced the iPhone for years when it came to the amount of features / functionality it offered, yet it still fell. I think Samsung will eventually fall from their high if they don't start seriously investing in design. If in the know reviewers are complaining about the complexity and convolutedness of the S4, average users may become downright frustrated with the S4 eventually, and that won't bode well for Samsung in the long run.
[Galaxy S 4 General] BarryH_GEG:
A Taiwanese analyst that covers HTC. That's who's projecting 20MM One's also.

10MM One X's against a base of 32MM is 32%. Samsung sold 80MM SGS3's and N2's combined so out of 215MM that's about 37% of their total sales being in the "high-end." Not too far off.

---------- Post added at 02:38 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:32 PM ----------

Nor would it be having its lunch eaten by a feature-rich plastic competitor if design was paramount. The iPhone's suffering sales against Samsung are either because people are bored with it, they see the features Andorid users have and feel deprived, they want larger displays, they want out of the "walled garden," or some combination. Not one person chosing a Samsung device over an iPhone is doing so for its design. You might even say they're doing it in spite of it. ;)
[Galaxy S 4 General] Sarcron:
What big investment in design would Samsung need to make? According to every one of these reviews and comments, if they slapped on an aluminum back cover and repositioned the internal antenna so there wouldn't be a hit to signal, then that would make the design "Innovative/5 star/premium/gorgeous/awesome!". If it really comes to it where aluminum is in such a high demand, Samsung will switch to it. They're a Capitalist business same as anyone else, and they'll follow the money.

But that's just the thing...the aluminum fetish isn't being reflected in the real world. Take a group of consumers, remove the amount who would put a personalized skin/case on their phone anyway, remove the people who actually prefer polycarbonate, and then remove the people who don't give a crap either way. What you're left with is a niche category, who have seemingly already made up their minds and gone with the HTC One/iPhone, so they won't give Samsung business anyway.
[Galaxy S 4 General] gtg465x:
The iPhone HAD good design. Now it's just old and boring, so some are moving away. It has hardly changed since the original iPhone. Still, its a bit of stretch to say its getting its lunch eaten. Still the best selling smartphone by far, at least where I live in the US.
[Galaxy S 4 General] gtg465x:
You're only considering hardware design. Software design is the bigger issue for them at this point I think. I have seen far more complaints from reviewers about software design.
[Galaxy S 4 General] BarryH_GEG:
But, for Samsung to have sold 80MM high-end devices last year those folks could have chosen an iPhone and didn't. So what the iPhone's doing is less important than what it could/should be doing which is why Apple's stock is in the crapper. If you think about it Apple's cult following always used to accept what the mother ship told them was good. Samsung's success has made a lot of Apple loyalists start to question the mother ship even if they don't leave the cult. Samsung's disrupted Apple's formula which is a bigger issue than just sales figures. And Cook saying on the Q1 earning's call that a "four inch display is perfect for our users" shows they don't really get it.
[Galaxy S 4 General] Sarcron:
I'm talking about the complaints of the "feel and appearance" of the phone. As for software, yeah, techblogs don't like TouchWiz. But once again, in the real world, very few people at all flash custom ROMs and most stick with what comes to them. From that pool of people I've heard varying responses. Some hate it altogether, some love it, and some like bits and pieces and dislike other bits and pieces. The GS4 comes with the "easy mode" this time around to better walk people through everything.

The biggest transition is people going from the iOS to android.
[Galaxy S 4 General] CLARiiON:
Yes, not too far off. But that's a weird logic. I am not sure on what basis he projected his numbers.

---------- Post added at 03:46 AM ---------- Previous post was at 03:36 AM ----------

A few more reviews if not already listed in OP:

NBC: It's better than you'll ever notice

Arstechinca: The empire strikes back with a faster, sleeker handset

Weird benchmark numbers in Arstechica!

These numbers look very bad compared to other reviews. Are they checking the right phone??

Time Tech: Gimme One Smartphone, with Everything

Mashable: The Galaxy S4 is easily one of the strongest phones on the market
[Galaxy S 4 General] gtg465x:
Do you get any sense that Samsung is building a cult following that will accept anything as well? I have no doubt people will buy the S4 simply because they liked the S3 and are used to it without even considering alternatives. I think that's the nature of building a good product. You can ride out its success for several generations. The S2 was when a lot of people really started liking Samsung. The original S just sucked looking back. The S2 I loved.
[Galaxy S 4 General] Sarcron:
That's really going to vary by region. In Korea, Samsung is pretty much a second governing body due to being a facet of everyday life. They sell insurance, security, appliances, and a lot of other things, so it wouldn't be unexpected that people go with the home team and just buy Samsung products. In America I just don't see the Galaxy worship. Even with Apple's slow decline, iPhones, iPods, Macs, and general Apple paraphernalia are everywhere. Just like in Taiwan HTC is naturally very popular, and I'm guessing Sony is with Japan.

Countries generally root for the home teams.
[Galaxy S 4 General] cbutters:
We really have reached a strange point in the evolution of technology where people are literally complaining about a device having too many features... What is wrong with half of these reviewers? I'm not a fanboy, I've had HTC phones, iphones, LG, I just go where I think the best device is at. I love having tons of sensors/options/features.

The same reviews that seem to not like the GS4 are still begrudgingly posting benchmarks with the GS4 at the top of the list almost every single time.

The GS4 is jack of all trades, and a master of almost every single category.

If the only complaint I'm seeing out there is the fact that it is made out of durable sturdy plastic, and quote "slimy" then I think I'm going to be quite happy with my GS4 when it arrives.

Yes the HTC One has a nice shiny metal design, it looks like a great phone, however the GS4 plain and simply blows it out of the water in terms of features and expandability.

All these hipsters hating because apparently aesthetic appeal cannot be acheived by using anything other than aluminum can go jump in a lake and bury their heads in the sand like they already are. It is obvious with these current batch of reviews that the GS4 is the best phone available to date, and is going to blow sales records out of the water.
[Galaxy S 4 General] skibadee:
To some degree maybe, but if the HTC One had:

1. An SD card slot

2. The s4s (or even s3s) camera.

I honestly would have bought it instead of ordering an s4. I don't care much for most of Samsung's software but they keep producing the best overall hardware. The pros seem to always out way the cons v other phones, for me anyway.
[Galaxy S 4 General] Sarcron:
Well said. I could understand complaints about "too many features" if they were forced upon you, but they're not. You can disable all of them, or even root your phone and be rid of much of them completely. I would be disappointed if a phone I'm paying $600 for had fewer features and offered less.
[Galaxy S 4 General] fernando sor:
Just kind of mildly lurking here. Just have to comment on one thing you said. Which reviews are you referring to? I know mashables review was good but it literally took me reading a half a dozen reviews to find one that didn't compare it to the htc one in a negative light. All things digital actually stated in the beginning of the review to buy the htc one.

I mean Samsung is clearly the financial winner here but without even trying the phone are you that certain it's the best out? Until I received my one I was in no way certain that I would like it as much as I do. And they're certainly things that aren't perfect about it.

I have to say these reviews are not that great.
[Galaxy S 4 General] beaver2233:
2 main reasons I stick to the Galaxy range; removable battery and micro sd-card slot. I'd love to have a nexus device etc, though the lack of these (especially the sd slot), turns me off.