All Things Android - Apps, Phones, Tablets - Discussion

The heat issues... I've never encountered. Though for benchmarks and tests, it gets a little warm. The battery, I've honestly not seen a change between the Nexus 4 and the HTC One. Depends on which firmware I'm running.

 

Thank you. I guess I'll decide between the One and S4 tomorrow. What color One, though? Black or silver?

 

NP! Black all the way. It looks beast.

 

I've used both (although I have neither), and prefer the S4. For me, it's mainly a mix of better battery life, smaller physical size, AMOLED screen, and a more familiar button and OS layout.

Haven't seen the black HTC One in person, but it does look a lot nicer in pictures.

 

Yeah, I've never used much of my phone's storage. I think I hit 8GB on my Nexus 4.

I was a little surprised at how similar the battery life is. Expect 4-5 hours of screen time when connected to WiFi, and 2.5-3.5 while on mobile data.

Here's my usage on 4G LTE. Light web surfing, Facebook, and Tapatalk.

Edit: I do have power saver enabled. The phone is still very fast and battery life is improved.

View attachment 98030

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 2

 

Such a tough decision guys. I appreciate all your help. I'm kind of leaning towards the S4 right now due to me being used to samsung devices, better battery life, and a bigger screen. I plan on using the phone stock so not sure how I'll like blinkfeed since I'm not much into that stuff.

 

The only other major thing to consider is the camera. Galaxy S4 is the clear winner here, ESPECIALLY in well-lit/outdoors shots. 13MP is a LOT more detail than 4MP.

The only tradeoff with the camera is that the One has HDR mics and they work amazingly. The S4 doesn't really record that great of sound with video.

 

I'm rather confounded with the Active's KNOX at the moment. We have two stock AT&T S 4's running on the latest OTA and we are able to push our APK just fine. Do the same thing on the Active and it continuously nags about detecting an unauthorized software and it needs to reboot. Letting it reboot doesn't do anything and the notification message continues to pop up.

How did HTC become the easier devices to manage?

 

Is the Active running 4.2? If so, uncheck the box in the security settings that makes it validate APK's with Google.

 

Thank you. I really don't take that many pictures with my phone. I also still have no idea which phone I'm going to choose. So is the general concensus the One over the S4?

 

Yes, 4.2.2. I've got Install from Unknown Sources enabled and Verify Apps disabled, same as the plain Jane S 4.

 

If the camera and no SD storage don't bother you... I'd go with the One. The screen is amazing, the sound is amazing, it's aluminum and glass, and it's insanely fast.

Plus, it has a great developer community. The One is kind of made like the iPhone in that there's really only one hardware model, so you can flash an AT&T model to an international firmware or vice versa, and CM10.1 works beautifully on it. The bootloader ships locked, but is unlockable from HTCDev.

All in all, the Galaxy S4 is great as well, but all those Samsung proprietary blobs don't work all that great with AOSP/CM. Waiting on a ROM/Bootloader dump from the Google Edition S4 to see if they're keeping the Samsung recovery or if they're going with Fastboot.

Interesting.

 

If you listen to music on your phone a lot, whether it be from the speakers or headphones, that will definitely tip the scales in the One's direction. It is one of the very few phones on the market that will sufficiently drive high-end headphones with 40mm+ drivers without an external amplifier.

Not so much when I may have to tell three associates that they need to return their newly bought phones for something else in order to use their app.

 

Thank you, Hal and Micaiah. You all have convinced me to get the One. I'll pick it up later. I'll let you all know how I like it.

 

My late reply to the thread.

I prefer the One over the S4 mainly because of UI and feel of the phone. I am not a huge fan of Touch Wiz or the generic look of the Galaxy/Note/Tab line. All too similar.

The One had great battery life for me, was extremely fast running Android Revolution HD. If I get another One I would probably go with black and convert to a developer edition for.OTA updates. The black is really nice but not as durable ad the silver. I actually may look to pick up a One Mini with 720P on a small screen.

Regarding the Active. I actually prefer that over the S4. I don't like Amoled and 13MP/8MP is close enough. Also looks better.

Good luck on your purchase.

Sent from my white C6603 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

 

I like you. Please do plan to stick around.

 

I'm going to use the Apple argument to answer TearTaker's question.

Seems to me that Samsung's Galaxy line is the most widely supported Android line by 3rd party accessory makers. Given that, I would go with the S4 just for availability of accessories.

I also prefer the lighter polycarbonate (aka "plastic") construction because if I want to add a case (even a metal one for you One likers) it doesn't weigh too much more.

And there is the age-old expandable SD and removable battery reason. I like having options, and that gives it to me. I'll be going on a 5 hour flight next week, and I like that I can move the micro SD card between my phone, my Galaxy Tab and my notebook so me and my family can watch different movies as needed. And, I can pop in an extra battery if they use it up on my phone watching video during the whole flight.

My experience with my Galaxy Note II has been so positive, my family might switch off entirely from iPhones. Their big con is what I just mentioned above, which the One also has (no SD, no removable battery)... but since the S4 is approaching the same accessory saturation as the iPhone and Apple has yet to come out with a bigger screened phone, whatever Apple announces this year may not be enough to keep us.

So... Apple-like primary and 3rd party support combined with Android/memory/battery expandability/flexibility favors the S4 for me.

 

Ha ha. Thanks. I will try to pop in every once in a while.

Sent from my white C6603 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

 

I appreciate your input mlee1999. Those were my thoughts exactly. I ended up going with the Black One though. Looks awesome. I decided just to try something new as I always went with Samsung. Loving it so far. Definitely enjoy Sense ui more than touch wiz.

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 4 Beta

 

Ugh. The HTC First suffers from the low Bluetooth bitpool size issue. Completely destroys treble. MASSIVE difference in the Intel BT 4.0 on my notebook vs. the First... even though the First supports BT 4.0+HS from a Broadcom adapter.

Kernel source cannot come fast enough. I want to get CM up and running and /system write protection DISABLED!!

 

You're welcome and congratulations on your new toy. Be careful with cases. Heard they can scuff or mark up black. I usually use my phones naked without a screen protector or case.

Sent from my white C6603 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

 

Brave man. But coming from an Xperia Z... extra brave. Glass in all the places!!

 

You probably saw my HTC One listing on CTO, but it had wear marks on the top and bottom on the front from the previous owner removing and installing an Otterbox. I'm not sure if that's only an issue with the black version though. The black version definitely looks sick without a case.

 

I got a case for my new One. It feels a lot like an iPhone naked being that it can break easily from a drop. I may have to go naked though as black does look sweet. How durable are these Ones?

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 4 Beta

 

Speaking of the devil... I'm about to sell my HTC First. (Which is also black.)

Nice choice! The black One is no different than the "slate" iPhone... you have to put a case on that thing, or else risk making silver marks in the chassis. Black is only skin deep.

 

I gotcha. Guess I'll keep one on it for a while then. It's certainly weird going from a note 2 to the One. Refreshing though. Much more manageable. Anything I should know about my One?


Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 4 Beta

 

Other than it's one of the top 5 best supported phones on XDA... nope.

Enjoy.

 

I the silver one to be pretty durable. Did not seem to scratch easily. Someone told me the black One is a little different than the iPhone 5. The color is part of the metal but not 100% sure.

I would probably run a custom ROM like Android Revolution or convert to a developer edition. It ran a lot better without the ATT bloat and stock ROM.

Yeah, used the N4 and Optimus G naked too. I don't like to ruin the lines of the phone and just try to be careful. Most of the time I don't have a phone for long anyway.

Sent from my white C6603 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

 

Damn it, I am so wanting the One now haha... Can't sell my Note 2 because the chrome part is decaying for some reason, even tho I clean it every day... It has random black spots all over the frame... Bah

 

You can get a new housing set for, like, $20.

 

HTC One Mini coming

I think this phone is going to end up with the First's LCD screen and SoC but with the One's BoomSound and Ultrapixel camera.

 

Same thing happened to mine. Though I gave my Note 2 to my sister so it worked out well. The chrome is pretty cheap on the note2. Scuffs easily.

 

I am actually interested in the HTC Mini when it comes out. A smaller version of the One.

Sent from my white C6603 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

 

It'll definitely be an interesting device if the audio bits and pieces from the One makes it over. My two concerns for the Mini is the reported battery size (1700 mAh) and while the phone's width is considerably thinner, it's still fairly long so now it has that elongated look like the iPhone 5.

As much as I hate to do this, I probably will have to swap my Active out with another phone. We can't get our in-house application to play nicely with the Active's KNOX for some odd reason and there's already been too much time put into trying to make it work. Mischief mentioned the Optimus G Pro earlier and it piqued my interest as well.

....

Dear Samsung,

Galaxy S 4 Active? Love it. I actually prefer the LCD on this variant over the AMOLED, I love the looks of it and it's interesting how much more premium the device looks when it's not covered in three millimeters thick of gloss coating. Good job on bumping the device's free internal storage space up to sensible numbers (11 GB opposed to 8.5 GB on the S 4). But for the love of all that is holy, what did you guys do with the KNOX software on this device's firmware? So temperamental...

 

That is one solution.

Now, who will fix it for me?

 

Out of all the devices I've ever taken apart... Samsung is BY FAR the easiest to disassemble.

 

So my bro GF need to replace her SDS'd s3, her budget is pretty flexible upward to flagship models.
criteria : unlocked, white preferred , at least 1year warranty
I am not completely phone savvy/updated (I can't live with smartphone design, flip ftw !) so here the list I gave her

HTC One
NExus 4
Sony Xperia SP

Any model out there I miss that I should let her know?

 

That is a very interesting little device. It's got the SoC I've been looking for in a solid midrange device... Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8960T. It's a 1.7GHz DUAL-core Krait with the Adreno 320 and 2GB of RAM. Plenty of power for almost anyone and since it's not a quad-core, it should have pretty amazing battery life with a 2170mAh battery.

 

Haha the list is what i got in 10 min google search . Personally, android cpu/gpu blow me up, their classificaion/nomenculture are worse than the 555m.

 

Well, you have Qualcomm, Samsung, and now Intel that are in smartphones. Tegra, thankfully, isn't in high-end smartphones anymore (with the notable exception of the horrible HTC One X+).

Snapdragon is in all the devices you listed. All three also have the exact same GPU, the Adreno 320. They also all have the same CPU architecture called Krait. (Qualcomm names their architectures like everyone else.) The last generation CPU arch was Scorpion and the new one is Krait. The GPU is Adreno.

Previous Gen:
S4 = Dual-core CPU 1.4-1.7GHz with an Adreno 225. (US Galaxy S III)
S4 Pro = Quad-core CPU at 1.5GHz with an Adreno 320. (Nexus 4)

Current Gen:
S400 = Dual-core CPU at 1.4GHz (can be either Cortex A7 or Krait cores) with an Adreno 305 (HTC First)
S600 = Quad-core CPU (second gen Krait) at 1.6-1.9GHz with an Adreno 320 (Galaxy S4, HTC One, Oppo Find 5...)
S800 = Quad-core CPU (second gen Krait) at 2.3GHz with an Adreno 330 (Xperia Z Ultra, Galaxy S4 LTE-A)

Also, starting with the Adreno 320, Qualcomm is starting to clean up their Adreno naming scheme. Adreno 320, 330... next will be the 340, 350, etc. Then on their budget SoC's, you'll have the 305, 315, 325...

 

What's important to her (screen, camera, size, etc) and what carrier? There are a lot of great options available out there in white from mid-range to flagship.

Sent from my white C6603 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

 

HAL, here's that red phase beam live wallpaper if you are still looking for it:

SunBeamRed.apk

 

Ha. Sunbeam. Nice name.

Thanks!!

 

As far as i know, probably something good around, good reliability, no games. Ultimately, I think she going to pick by look and final price from a list of those that have good performance/price ratio,

 

I'm tempted to get on of those Hisense Sero 7 Pro Android tablets from Walmart... 1280x800 display and it has HDMI out.

For only $149, could be worth it... although I also want to get a Win8 tablet.

 

Got my mom her new phone yesterday. Went with HAL's recommendation of the SGS3 over the Optimus G Pro. So far she loves it as it's way better improvement over her old Inspire 4G.

 

$375 mint condition 32GB AT&T HTC One + Bootloader Unlock + S-OFF + SuperCID + Google Edition ROM =

 

I hate you.

 

Galaxy S4's Snapdragon 600 Variant Outshines Exynos 5 Model in Battery Tests - IBTimes UK

 

That's actually disappointing. The S600 models have MUCH less discrete hardware. IMO, that's showing how good Samsung is at power management on their own SoC's.