HTC One or Galaxy 4 ?

this talk of a "mini pc" reminded me of my cassiopeia days running windows ce.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casio_Cassiopeia

 

Put in my order for a GS4 through Newegg last night. They have it for $159.99 + free next business day shipping. Unfortunate timing with the holiday, but it will be here soon enough.

Either phone is great. I made the decision to stick with Verizon due to how often I travel, so that was really the deciding factor for me at this time.

 

Anyone returned their GS4?

I'm returning mine today. Coming from a beautiful HTC One X+, this device just looks pitiful. I've never been part of the whole "Samsung is cheap plastic , blah blah blah " crowd, but I guess now I am. I swear I feel like I own a Samsung Droid Charge (that POS verizon device from 2011) and the color scheme of Touchwiz is downright annoying. (Yes, I replaced the launcher with Nova)

I might add I own the Galaxy S4 Active (at&t exclusive) which might add as to why I think it's so ugly.

 

still happy with my HTC One

 

I'm probably going to end up with the HTC One Google Edition. I'm impatient and don't want to be on Android 4.1.1

 

I honestly have no idea why people want to get the Google edition. It's like having your phone hamstrung for no good reason. The couple of minor features you get with 4.2 (which has already been released for many One models) is not worth losing IR functionality, crap camera and email apps etc. in the name of "stock". Sense 5 is absolutely awesome and I wouldn't want it any other way, and this is coming from a long time hater of manufacturer skins who can't stand touchwiz to this day.

 

If you are eligible for an upgrade with your carrier DO NOT go a buy the GE HTC on google play store. It is a huge waste of money. Buy the phone with the subsidized price through ATT/T-mobile if you are eligible and install the GE rom yourself.

 

Have you read some of the reviews? All of them seem to say go with Sense 5 over stock android on the One.

 

As an owner of an HTC One, I have used sense 5 for a solid 2 months and switched over to a google edition rom and have to say the ge rom is much better. The UI just makes more sense(pun intended) and is much more aesthetically pleasing. The two things someone would miss from Sense 5 is blinkfeed(which I never used) and the IR blaster(which I never used).

 

I agree that Sense is pretty good now, my ONE X+ (international edition) had Sense 4 and I was really happy with it. I never even rooted it. I just slapped Nova on it.

Believe it not, I don't root my devices anymore. I used to be heavily involved in that community, especially when I had my Galaxy Nexus.

I do prefer timely updates though, and if I choose to not root and go with a carrier device, that isn't going to happen. I personally don't care much for the IR blaster. The one on my S4 sucks, i literally have to hold my device a certain way and it's really uncomfortable. Plus, I'm okay with just being able to control my DirecTV receiver (can do that via wi-fi) . As far as e-mail apps go, yes I agree that the Sense e-mail app is the best application I've ever used for Microsoft Exchange activesync. The stock one is horrid but I can likely fix that by using Touchdown if I were to go that route

I wish more flagships were coming out. At this point, I'm just going back to a flip phone until I can decide.

 

I currently have a postpaid AT&T account without the contract.

 

i just leave blink feed blank since I don't even have a fb.. it doesnt even cross my mind

sense has been pretty good so far. no real complaints.


dunno what the stock android would offer me

 

I picked up a new Galaxy S4 Active yesterday, and I took it paddle boarding with me today! Can't believe they made a water resistant phone - awesome!

A few thoughts moving from my iPhone 4 to this one:
- I don't like how big it is; it is a bit awkward in the pocket
- the screen is much nicer to look at
- internet speed improvement is awesome
- if someone doesn't want to spend a lot of time customizing their phone, iOS is an excellent system
- I don't like how many bloat apps from AT&T and Samsung are already on the phone e.g. what's the stock music player or video player on 4.2.2? Are they the Play Music & Play Movies apps?


I'm glad I've joined the customization community but have plenty of questions. One of the big things I liked about the iPhone was that it used very little battery if I wanted it to. I like having a powerful device but I want it to use as little energy as possible when it's sitting idle (call me semi-earth-conscious), and in the iPhone it was easy to do that by just double-tapping the home button and holding an icon for a few seconds, then force closing open apps. E.g. I could make sure the GPS was off when I killed maps apps. How do I go about doing that for my Android phone?

I watched some videos on Tasker for this purpose - do you guys have experience with that? I like the idea of writing my own scripts to control my phone e.g.
- turning on/off the Wi-Fi when I'm within range of particular cell towers
or
- turning on the GPS when the phone and car connect over Bluetooth

Are there apps for this kind of energy saving profiles or do I have to write my own in Tasker? Also, is Tasker safe to use in terms of not messing up the OS on the phone?

The other question I have is about launchers: Is this basically like the 'skin' of the phone? or is it like a different version of the same OS? Right now I have 4.2.2

Thanks!

 

Still very happy with my HTC One, but any news on when the latest Android update will be out for us US folks?

 

To close apps you just need to hold down the home button for a few seconds this will show you a preview of all apps. You can just swipe them to close them. This is also a great way to switch between open apps.

Launches are basically like a skin for the phone. I recommend Nova Launcher. Lets you do some cool things. It's way better than the stock launcher. If you don't like it you can always switch back to the stock launcher. Just download an app called "Home Switcher"

Tasker is cool, but might be a bit complicated for new users. There are many apps you can use to save battery. Couple years ago I used an app called "Juice Defender" which is pretty good, but I don't even bother trying to save my battery anymore. The best thing about having a samsung is the removable battery. For $20 you can buy this:

http://www.amazon.com/Onite-2600mAh...=1374998879&sr=8-4&keywords=galaxy+s4+battery


High ratings on amazon and these batteries work great. I never leave home without an extra battery. This way I never have to worry about my phone dying or having a charger with me at all times. Soooo much better.

 

Thanks Hydhypedplaya,

Nova Launcher seems to be one of the more popular launchers; I'll keep the stock version for a month or so and then try out Nova.

I played with Tasker last night, and it is an incredibly powerful app. I wrote a few profiles e.g.
- the WiFi relation to cell towers
- opening a certain app along with my morning alarm
- having the voice say the weather out loud about a minute after my morning alarm

but the more useful stuff requires rooting and I'm not prepared to do that to a brand new phone just yet. Rooting allows Tasker to access the full set of settings of the OS even if it's unofficial. An interesting workaround Google's restrictions is to use something called the D-Pad, where Tasker can open up a particular menu and you tell it to move down three steps and then select that option - you literally program it in as "down, down, down, press". An example would be to turn on the GPS when I open the Navigation app: open Location settings > step down > step down > select - this can toggle the GPS on/off.

I found another app similar to Tasker that is more user friendly: AutomateIt. This one is nice because people have already written their scripts and you can simply download them to the phone. Functionality is less, but the UI is more clear.

I'll probably invest in the extra battery you recommended, but I still want to explore low electricity usage options - It's nice to have high functionality when it's needed but I still want to keep my daily carbon footprint low.

Thanks for the suggestions!

 

Can't you swype? That blows away letter by letter texting.

 

Yeah you have to get Swype. The default HTC one kind of sucks.

 

Swiftkey