[Galaxy S 4 General] puremind:
If I understand correctly, you took offense at my saying that the S4 is "a box of wonders for kids" and a more mainstream phone. And further, you took offense (for whatever reason) at me saying that the HTC One is the phone "for style-craving successful adults".

This is because I believe that the core clientele of these phones is different. I think it takes the curious mind of a kid to open up to the many innovative tricks and gimmicks of the S4 while older users (outside of the slightly nerdy xda faction) will likely not revel in those niceties as much.

I also believe that the HTC One projects more allure and style and it has a more premium feel (e.g. is not a fingerprint magnet) that is likely to appeal to style-craving successful adults, because it seems more effective as a status symbol (just like the iPhone has been a better status symbol than a Samsung phone).

All of this is down to brand positioning. I am not inventing it, this is just what those two brands have chosen to project. One more mainstream and understated and the other more premium and stylish.

My words should not have offended you that much, considering I was just commenting on the respective target groups of those two brands and their respective flagship devices. Of course, as we all know Apple has not only attracted style-craving successful adults, it has also attracted many "would-be-successful" users and the HTC One will likely also do the same. Likewise, while the S4 will likely appeal to young kids more than the HTC One, it doesn't mean that the S4 will not attract adults with a passion for gadgets and gimmicks or OLED lovers or older people concerned with their health or megapixel addicts.

Two two phones have completely different DNA and what they project is completely different. I think this is the key to answering the OP's question. He should think about his values and life aspirations and decide which phone best epitomizes these.

---------- Post added at 05:35 AM ---------- Previous post was at 05:12 AM ----------

I also had the S2. My main reasons for change:

HTC has finally gotten both aspects right: performance and not only design and build quality

I skipped the S3 because of no style improvement (I actually preferred the S2) and the S4 still doesn't deliver premium gorgeous style to me

I have become fed up with dim screen in bright sun light. I travel a lot to Thailand and Brazil and this has really been an annoyance on the S2 and the S4 behaves the same in direct sunlight (my S2 has 285cd/m² in film mode, about the same as the S4)

The S4 has better colors than the S3 and S2 for sure, and can pull off higher brightness in some settings, but the brightness for web browsing in the sun hasn't moved (and if it had, my battery would be poorer).

I would have enjoyed the voice translation into Japanese, Thai and Portuguese as I am still learning these languages (but actually not sure it will work right most of the time) and I would also have enjoyed the hygrometer, but the other factors above are too strong for me.

I just happen to care a lot about mouth-watering design, great sound and display. With all factors being equal (in my eyes), I don't really have a choice.

But that's just me. Others will place an emphasis on megapixels or a marginally larger screen or just love TouchWizz more than Sense.