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Anyone else have second thoughts on getting a S4 now that HTC One is getting rave reviews?

As Mr. Ed only indicated his settings state, and hasn't been back on yet to clarify my query as to what his question really was, and because he a fair guy, maybe holding off on calling BS on the handset until we understand his question is best.

The screen caused the camera exposure problems making the room in the background look darker than it actually was, it was a bright sunny day, check the next picture when the screen was dulled down.

Yes.

It's a probably a good idea to mention that digital cameras are not designed to take pictures of blooming digital light sources and that the photo by Mr. Ed may be getting biased in the digital photography process due to one being substantially brighter - as measured by GSMArena in the comparison article that's been quoted so often here.

Until Mr. Ed clarifies, I don't even know if he's asking how to take a better picture, or why the picture didn't match what he saw or what all he had in mind.

But - that's just me. :)
 
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Does the One's display get taken up by a fixed navigation bar? If so, a BIG reason for me to not want anyway. That would mean for apps & games it is closer to a 4.2" display than 4.7". I do not see the point of a fixed nav bar taking display space on small devices. One of the few things Apple got right with the iPhone & iPad and their OS design.
 
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Well one thing that comparison picture reminds me of is how ugly a case can make an otherwise beautiful phone. (sorry if that offends anyone) but wow that is horrible. In any case, sometimes the galaxy's get momentarily stuck on that in between brightness level and that looks to me what is shown in that compare pic. I did an in the sun test of the HTC One and G3 on full brightness and the HTC was better, but not way better. Still very glare prone.
 
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Does the One's display get taken up by a fixed navigation bar? If so, a BIG reason for me to not want anyway. That would mean for apps & games it is closer to a 4.2" display than 4.7". I do not see the point of a fixed nav bar taking display space on small devices. One of the few things Apple got right with the iPhone & iPad and their OS design.

Just as on the previous One X, the answer is mostly yes.

It's dynamic and won't appear if the app is following Google's standards to provide an overflow method.

Problem is - few do that.

And just as on the One X, root it and use a rom that overloads one of the existing buttons to serve as overflow/menu and that goes away.

Latest trick in the pipeline and developing rapidly is a kernel that recognizes the logo in the center of the One as the third button.

Many aren't bothered by losing screen real estate to the nav bar - with just one function, overflow (lmao) - but it drove me up a wall with mine last year.

My three buttons on my LTEvo now serve as six (tap + long-press) and that's fair enough for me, I've hated the three button approach all along, I don't care who does it.

I represent the rooting community in that regard - no one is going to build the phone I want anyway, so all I can do is pick a reasonable platform and then customize it.

That is certainly not a valid approach for everyone though.
 
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The fixed bar alone zaps it for me. Not seeing the point of space being used in such a static way, but respect those that prefer it.

Other than the confusion of having an on-screen bar and a lower button area, it's the same proportion of real estate lost by all phones with on-screen buttons only, beginning with the Galaxy Nexus.

I can see how it wouldn't bother many as well.
You can also just turn the recent apps button into menu in settings and it goes away.

Thats available on unrooted one x phones, id be suprised if an optio isnt there for the one

Ah, yeah - thanks, that's right - on the One X in Jellybean, they added that. Wasn't there at the launch.

And, could be wrong, but so far as I recall from reading at the One forum, just like last year, that setting is missing at the One launch.

Anyway - custom roms and kernels for the win, I don't care what it is, they made it wrong. :) ;) :D
 
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Other than the confusion of having an on-screen bar and a lower button area, it's the same proportion of real estate lost by all phones with on-screen buttons only, beginning with the Galaxy Nexus.

I can see how it wouldn't bother many as well.


Ah, yeah - thanks, that's right - on the One X in Jellybean, they added that. Wasn't there at the launch.

And, could be wrong, but so far as I recall from reading at the One forum, just like last year, that setting is missing at the One launch.

Anyway - custom roms and kernels for the win, I don't care what it is, they made it wrong. :) ;) :D

Yes with the DNA and the One they removed that again for some reason.
 
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Something rarely mentioned, HTC sense historically eats a lot of processor power.
Benchmarks were always slower in the HTC phone by a fair margin with similar processors. It's overhead added to the OS.

O buys cars that are user friendly, I want my phone to also be the same... Limiting what battery I use such removes variability and uses.

Apple products lots of pretty shiny things that in turn limit in other ways.... Hopefully HTC won't adopt that poise.

I like having a week of usage if I want and don't mind the weight, I can go hiking, hunting, camping and not sweat the battery.

Bright screens are great in bright sunlight, but when do you use your phone?
I prefer the deep rich colors of amoled screens for my movies, pictures etc.

The s4 processor also has more mustard and lots more software enginuity.

Dont forget who's the leader here.
 
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Sorry, but the old saw that Sense eats a lot of power is just that, an old saw.

Compare to modern Sense, Touchwiz or stock Android with complimentary apps on a modern platform and it's a total wash.

Here's Sense from last year, note the 8 hours of screen on time while streaming video on wifi.
 

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I really cant see this 'fixed' navigation bar you guys talk about on the ONE.

Are yous meaning the capacitive buttons? If so they are not part of the screen.

Nope.

On many apps, not from Google or HTC, you'll get a bar at the bottom of your screen with 3 dots on it. With older apps, you'll recognize it as a "menu button" - the name for the 3 dots is really overflow and the entire space is called the navigation bar.

With apps like the built-in browser or mail, the 3 dots appear as a small button in the upper right instead.

So it's not fixed. But it's very frequent.

Fun fact - I believe you'll find that rather than being capacitive, the buttons are simply pre-set points on the digitizer. Not part of the screen, agreed, but the digitizer extends below the screen to the buttons. Last I checked, that's how the kernel mentioned earlier is allowing the logo to also work as a button.

Ninja'd lol
 
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On-screen buttons in a navigation bar first appeared on the Galaxy Nexus with ICS.

The first mod for the Galaxy Nexus was to change that button layout. People went for that mod like crazy.

We never understood what Google was thinking - they were software buttons that you couldn't configure.

Months later, HTC ignored that trend and recreated those same 3 buttons at the bottom of the screen on the One X, expecting to conform to the Nexus way, and abandoning their traditional 4-button setup. Except on the Nexus, sometimes the 3 buttons became 4, adding the 3-dot overflow to the right, something that off-screen buttons couldn't do.

One of the first One X mods was to modify the buttons.

See where this is heading? :D
 
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I just think the buttons should be a user choice. If you do not want static stuff taking up space on the display, configure so they pop up as needed or provide the function in another way.... like on the iPhone and iPad. IMO, it is not "really" a 4.7" display if you can not use content on it durectly for apps. Ditto for tablets.

This reason alone trumps the One and makes the S4 supreme overlord. Presuming we get a 32GB version, which BTW even more media folks are picking up on this- and consumers. Significant in that the device just launched and still in not too many hands yet.

Added: I thought I read where KLP was going to provide options for the nav bar, but I may have read into it what I wanted to.
 
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Supreme overlord? :rofl:

If screen real estate = supreme overlord then you want a Note.

The Note 3 won't be very long coming and will no doubt be quite fabulous. The Note 2 certainly is.

As for the nav bar on a 4.7" screen detracting from supreme overlord status, there are a lot of really happy Galaxy Nexus and Nexus 4 owners who would argue with you on that.

But if that's your criteria, fine, even without the nav bar, the SGS4 screen is larger.

And that will be sufficient cause for many. Sounds fair enough to me.

I was going to go spend some time with one today if time allowed. "Honey, I'm out the door, I have to go see the supreme overlord!" I don't think so. :rofl:

PS - the nav bar on the One pops up as needed and goes away when not needed. And may go away on an update from HTC, just as it did last year. It's already gone away for most people rooting it.

Question - if I remove the nav bar from the One, does the SGS4 stay supreme overlord or will it just be the supreme lord at that point? :rofl:
 
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I look at it as 4 - multiply by 2 for rooted. While waiting for 64 GB models, I'll be taking an interest in all mods for each.

For a great many, the choice is likely going to come down to screen size vs speaker sound.

Setting aside esoterica, that's the real choice they're giving on two faces of roughly the same area, and that's what stares back at you in every side-by-side photo or in-hand comparison -

Bigger display on one, stereo speakers on the other.
 
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The thread has two: One or S4. A big device with a 4.2" display for apps or the same size with a much bigger 5" display for apps. The S4 is the master! :) ;)

The 32Gb S4 would make the One seem second tier!!!! ;)

I am obviously kidding, since the One is better IMO than the iPhone 5 and that has LOTS of lovers.


I've since owned both the iPhone 5 and now the ONE. And something I really miss from the iPhone 5 is the rock solid LTE signal.

The one doesn't have that same rock solid signal, not by any stretch of the imagination.

Another thing I miss is the crazy charge time that the iPhone 5 has. Lol, that phone charges to 100% in like an hour ...My One takes about 3 hours...no joke.

With that said I've all of a sudden become some what interested in the S4 because I've heard some rumblings that the signal is really really good on the S4, as well the phone also charging really quick along with also having exception call quality...hmm..
 
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......

For a great many, the choice is likely going to come down to screen size vs speaker sound.

Setting aside esoterica, that's the real choice they're giving on two faces of roughly the same area, and that's what stares back at you in every side-by-side photo or in-hand comparison -

Bigger display on one, stereo speakers on the other.

screen size and quality vs speaker sound seems like a very odd trade off. i listen to a good amount of music on my phone. however, 99% of the time it's with headphones. at the gym, in the yard, at my desk at work...there's very few places i can play music without headphones (without being inconsiderate) and actually enjoy it. i can respect that the one has great speakers, but how often can you use them? the speaker function for me is pretty much only used as a hands free convenience or while on a call.

screen size vs physical size of the device speaks for itself. everything revolves around the screen.
 
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I think that this thread was one thing when the One released and the SGS4 hadn't - but now that both are out, all of the One talk is likely going to become noise in a Samsung forum if it hasn't already.

Moved to Device/Carrier Comparisons where hopefully others can join in the fun and use the info here to their best advantage in choosing a new phone. :)
 
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