HTC One or Galaxy S4

[Krandor]

Since you mentioned it, I will say that the Note 3 is pretty goddamn awesome. It's absolutely loaded with bloatware (thankfully most of it can be removed even without root) and can take awhile to setup because of that. That said, touchwiz has improved alot and phone is almost face meltingly fast. The shear size of it can be a turnoff though, pretty much forces two handed operation.

[Prothescar]

I'd wait a week or two after the Nexus 5 is announced to see if it's any better ;o

would but I've got a window in which to upgrade my phone before I'm locked in for a while longer. unfortunately have to stick to things that are out right now

Since you mentioned it, I will say that the Note 3 is pretty goddamn awesome. It's absolutely loaded with bloatware (thankfully most of it can be removed even without root) and can take awhile to setup because of that. That said, touchwiz has improved alot and phone is almost face meltingly fast. The shear size of it can be a turnoff though, pretty much forces two handed operation.

Yeah I looked it up, not into the whole phone tablet thing. Thank you for the information though!



After reading through this comparison overview that I was referred to, I'm still a bit on the fence. Both have really nice features, wish there was one that combined them both (srsly, I can't wait until the day that hardware manufacturers work together to make better, unified products so that these issues don't exist!). LG G2 is much more powerful (almost double by the looks of those benchmarks) and has a bigger screen/camera, but the HTC One has seemingly a much, much better media experience as well as larger storage for less money (bigger deal than I thought since you can't use an SD card for either of these phones), plus it looks sexier (well, as sexy as a lump of machined aluminum can look). It's honestly a very hard choice for something I'll be locked into using for a while. Guess the question is, will I need the extra power that the LG G2 affords in the next year or so? Or will I get more out of the fact that I use my phone a lot for media consumption (netflix, music, browsing the web)?

Thanks much all for all of the input and I welcome any more that anyone has.

[Seshat]

No one's mentioned the ridiculously superior speakers on the HTC One compared to any other phone on the market (G2 included). The S4 also felt like a cheap piece of plastic compared to the awesome build quality of the One. The HTC One is also on Android 4.3, the S4 is on 4.2 (I think? Or is it still on 4.1 in the US?).

I had an S4 for three days before swapping for an HTC One. I have zero regrets. The G2 is a nice phone but it physically looks lame and LG's android skin kind of blows compared to Sense 5 and TouchWiz.

My S4 is on 4.2.2 (Verizon) but it depends on carrier. The HTC One is on 4.1.2 unless you're on Verizon's network since it was released with it 5 months after the original.

Honestly, modding a UI is simple, doesn't require rooting unless you want a full wipe (and loss of certain features). Download a launcher, some icon packs, maybe widgets if you like. Mycolorscreen.com has thousands of Android silkscreen and HI layouts to try, so don't worry much about sense or touchwiz. I have an S4 and hate touchwiz, but I don't want to root and accidentally destroy my phone. Nova launcher has been a saint.

Good luck with whatever you choose. If it were me, I'd be looking at the note 3 since I need expandable storage for my music. Love the HTC one but I have 60gb of music in my phone.

[bluefan]

I recently got the S4 and it's a very nice upgrade from my iPhone 4. Did prefer the HTC One over it, but my carrier didn't have any and didn't know when they would get more. If you're still on the fence, HTC has a new version of the One coming out named HTC One Max. It's pretty much the exact same phone but with a bigger screen, bigger battery and fingertip sensor.

[Tymon]

Largely, the speaker is a software thing.

The HTC One has a great speaker because of the great equalizer that comes with the software. This can be put onto the G2 or any other phone with a little tweaking. Of course, if you just want it to work out of the box, then the One is going to sound better.

the Nexus 5 specs are mostly out. It's the same, except for a weaker camera and smaller battery. Thus, if you use a ROM on the G2, it's a better Nexus; they would be running the same thing.

TL;DR

Willing to flash a ROM? The G2 is bar none the best choice.

If not, get the One. The speed difference is not that large, and you probably won't notice it for a while. It might be significant in a year or two though.

[Serra]

I'm incredibly wary of LGs since the debacle that was the G2X. That said, I have a One, and I love, except for the fact that the back is not removable, and there's no removable storage. I don't know how much of an issue it is for you, but I would have liked to be able to use an SD card and swap out the battery if needed. I don't know if this new LG allows you to change the battery/has an SD card slot, but it might be something to consider.

[Krandor]

The One Max that's coming out soon added in a removable backplate and an sd card slot, battery still can't be removed though.

[Prothescar]

I ended up going with the HTC One because they offered me an upgrade to Max once it comes out as long as I pay the difference

[tyven]

I ended up going with the HTC One because they offered me an upgrade to Max once it comes out as long as I pay the difference

Wow that's a nice deal. Do you get to keep the One once you upgrade? Should be able to Craigslist it and make out like a bandit

[Prothescar]

Not sure, probably not ):

[Tymon]

That's a pretty nice deal, I'd have done that too.