[Galaxy Note 3 General] BarryH_GEG:
You guys are expressing your individual opinions (which you're certainly entitled to) as if they apply to the masses. They don't. If they did, and premium construction and elegant but feature-less interfaces sold phones, HTC wouldn't be heading for the scrap pile. Using HTC, the One, Sense, or any of the other things they've conjured up like a 4MP low-light capable camera as an example for other smartphone makers to follow is just plain senseless (pun intended).

And don't blame marketing. The One was available in more stores and on more carriers than any HTC device before it. So when people looked at the One and held it in their hands comparing it against other phones they still continued to choose other phones.

Which is why HTC's financial performance looks like this.

The N3 will easily outsell the N2; it's a better device in every conceivable way. It's more powerful, has a breathtaking display, does more, is equally power efficient while doing more, and its design makes it easier to handle and more comfortable to hold. And in quite a few markets the subsidized price for a 32GB N3 with 3GB of RAM is the same as last year's launch price for a 16GB/2GB N2.

Here's my view of other's opinions on lag. I could care less. My benchmark for the N3 was how it compared to my N2 running the same exact configuration (apps, settings, syncs). There's absolutely no comparison - the N3 blows the N2 away. My i7 Extreme desktop lags occasionally and shouldn't. Why? I have no idea and I don't really obsess about it because it happens so infrequently. I feel the same way about my smartphones. I edited a video using Samsung's Video Editor on my N3 the other night. I was blown away by how fast it performed. That, at least to me, means more than carouseling the home pages until I get dizzy trying to prove the N3 lags. I'll be the first to admit there's an occasional stutter or inelegant transition. But like my i7 desktop it happens so infrequently I don't care. YMMV.

And let's talk HTC build quality. The One mini with its metal/plastic construction is a disaster with the plastic that comprises the outside edges of the device cracking. While trying to resolve the issue HTC's only able to build 200K a month. The One max has a removable back cover to (finally) offer expandable storage. It's the thickest device that's been launched this year and the reviewers are questioning its quality and lack of premium feel. I want a removable battery, expandable storage, and a thin and light phone. Those things are more important to me than "elegance." If someone else manages to deliver all those things in a far better way than Samsung I'll be the first to pick up a pitchfork or torch and storm Samsung's gates demanding better.

Stock Android phones are boring, the interface bland, and they have far fewer features than overlaid phones. People also don't buy them. If they did, on a site like XDA, the SGS4 and One forums would be 85% GE and 15% TW/Sense. It's the opposite. I use many of the features Samsung's included in TW because they make me more productive. Some are just fun. I love the new watercolor effect on the N3's lock screen. And if people that buy GE devices and then load them up with third-party crap (some of questionable quality) from Play to replicate the functionality offered by TW/Sense their "clean" phone isn't so clean anymore and will experience occasional lags and stutters just like their overlaid brethren.

LG's kicking butt. So is Sony. They both gained market share last quarter (Q2). LG's aping Samsung's s/w in their UI and providing the same features and adding some of their own like Knock-on. Sony's UI also adds a ton of features over stock Android. Sense as it launched on the One actually removed features. HTC's heading for oblivion and LG and Sony are on the rise.

So ladies and gentlemen, the market has spoken and its opinion obviously differs from some here.