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[Q] Nexus S upgrade over Vibrant? Advice

I am relatively new to the whole android thing but after having acquired my Vibrant, when it first came out, i have grown tired of how slow it is due to samsungs cancerous coding. This makes me even more displeased when i see how fast my brothers Nexus One is compared to my phone. So i am wondering if the Nexus S would be an upgrade to my vibrant or if it still suffers from samsungs cancer.
Thanks in advance

I went from a vibrant to a sns and its somewhat of a lateral move. Yeah sns is pure google, has ffc, flash etc....but I did like my vibrant, gf just wanted it more than me.
Sent from my Nexus S

Having owned both the nexus one and now the nexus s, the nexus s is just as quick. I believe Samsung's main issue is the filesystem (rfs if I recall correctly) they chose to use. This is not an issue with the nexus s as it uses ext4, an improvement over even the nexus one which was still using yaffs.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App

I went from a Vibrant to a Nexus S.
Nexus S pros: Gingerbread. Front camera. Near field thing. LED flash.
Vibrant pros: HD video recording. Expandable SD.
Things I have discovered I never use: front camera, near field thing, LED flash.
Things I do use and wish I had: HD video recording, expandable SD.
Is Nexus S worth it just to have Gingerbread? I don't know. Gingerbread's awesome, but if you have an Android phone, you're just going to root it and hack it and apply a new launcher, anyway, so does it really matter what it ships with? Thanks to amazing devs, it seems like it's pretty much all hackable.
If the Galaxy S 4G ran stock gingerbread, it would be a perfect phone.
Don't get me wrong. The Nexus S is nice. I'll keep using it for a while. But I already have my sights on the Incredible S.

willentrekin said:
I went from a Vibrant to a Nexus S.
Nexus S pros: Gingerbread. Front camera. Near field thing. LED flash.
Vibrant pros: HD video recording. Expandable SD.
Things I have discovered I never use: front camera, near field thing, LED flash.
Things I do use and wish I had: HD video recording, expandable SD.
Is Nexus S worth it just to have Gingerbread? I don't know. Gingerbread's awesome, but if you have an Android phone, you're just going to root it and hack it and apply a new launcher, anyway, so does it really matter what it ships with? Thanks to amazing devs, it seems like it's pretty much all hackable.
If the Galaxy S 4G ran stock gingerbread, it would be a perfect phone.
Don't get me wrong. The Nexus S is nice. I'll keep using it for a while. But I already have my sights on the Incredible S.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks!
I must admit that besides using the Flash as a flashlight and its "cool factor" i really dont care about it nor would i use it.
And then the front camera i have considered just modding onto my existing vibrant.
The near field thing i will never use and with our amazing devs the Vibrant is bound to get Gingerbread sooner rather then latter.
BUT the thing i really care about is its system speed and if it has, as our devs put it, "samsungs cancer code" in it, because after all the shiny new addons the OS speed is really my determining factor.
Who know, maybe just switching off Launcher pro will alleviate my lag.

willentrekin said:
Is Nexus S worth it just to have Gingerbread? I don't know. Gingerbread's awesome, but if you have an Android phone, you're just going to root it and hack it and apply a new launcher, anyway, so does it really matter what it ships with? Thanks to amazing devs, it seems like it's pretty much all hackable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it does.. the kernels have to be open-sourced to expand development
kernels most likely get open-sourced after the OTA has been released.
and we all know how OTAs go for manufacturers

zephiK said:
it does.. the kernels have to be open-sourced to expand development
kernels most likely get open-sourced after the OTA has been released.
and we all know how OTAs go for manufacturers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hadn't known that. I'm new to Mods and such.
I will note, I rooted my Vibrant and applied the lagfix and etc., and then it was fine. Before that, it sucked.
And I admit, I honestly don't even know what a kernel is. I just put cyanogen mod on my Nexus, and I don't see much difference between it and stock. All of which I mention for perspective on my comments.
The Galaxy S4G might be more worthwhile than the Vibrant. At least the GS4G runs froyo, right?

willentrekin said:
Hadn't known that. I'm new to Mods and such.
I will note, I rooted my Vibrant and applied the lagfix and etc., and then it was fine. Before that, it sucked.
And I admit, I honestly don't even know what a kernel is. I just put cyanogen mod on my Nexus, and I don't see much difference between it and stock. All of which I mention for perspective on my comments.
The Galaxy S4G might be more worthwhile than the Vibrant. At least the GS4G runs froyo, right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
CyanogenMod is using the stock kernel.. lol, if you want to see the differences of kernels. Try out Netarchy's 1.2.4 or Trinity, I personally use Netarchy. I dislike morfic's boot screens added ontop.
Voodoo sound and Voodoo color are amazing (they're features in kernels) you need the app to control them as well.
Vibrant & Galaxy 4G both run Froyo. Vibrant has official 4G + source released for it now, but it took way too long imo.
If ur gonna try netarchy, make sure its CM7 compatiable (it says it on download link). CFS or BFS, either shouldn't disappoint.

Bronk93 said:
I went from a vibrant to a sns and its somewhat of a lateral move. Yeah sns is pure google, has ffc, flash etc....but I did like my vibrant, gf just wanted it more than me.
Sent from my Nexus S
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
x2. the only thing i truly miss from the vibrant was the extra storage space. i had 14gigs of internal space and i also added another class 4 32 gb external sd card. i know some people don't use a lot of space but i do (movies and music and a ton of nandroid backups).

I just switched 2 days ago and so far I'm really happy. I sold my Vibrant to a friend and was able to get a Nexus for a price that didn't hurt too bad.
I have to admit that I was hesitant at first. I dislike how Samsung has handled the SGS line and was loathe to reward them by purchasing another one of their products. But after playing with the Nexus for a while I caved. Its the phone I wish the Vibrant had been on the first place. No RFS, no TouchWiz......Never going back to a non-stock Android phone again.
Performance wise it feels noticeably faster than the Vibrant. The build quality is better too. My Vibrant used to creak a little, but not this. I have made a few video calls and though I probably wont use it often it is nice to have the option. I love having a camera flash; I'm often out with friends at night. NFC should take off this year but right now I can't really say anything about it.
Mostly I bought it because the other phones ive seen coming out this year don't impress me too much. Dual core is awesome but until the software support is there it isn't going to do much. Guaranteed updates and CM support are great also. The 4 inch SAMOLED screen hits the sweet spot in my book as well.
Just remember, either way you'll have a nice phone. I enjoyed my Vibrant but at the end it just wasn't what I had hoped for. Good luck.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App

ryan562 said:
x2. the only thing i truly miss from the vibrant was the extra storage space. i had 14gigs of internal space and i also added another class 4 32 gb external sd card. i know some people don't use a lot of space but i do (movies and music and a ton of nandroid backups).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Only thing I miss is video codecs. 720p playback lags on RockPlayer
RockPlayer handles everything else pretty well.
Overall, my opinion is that Nexus S > Vibrant. Wish it had SD though, not a deal breaker for me though.
Was just sick of the lack of CM7 support for SGS and constantly using lagfixes and unapplying them to flahs a new ROM.
I went from a vibrant to a sns and its somewhat of a lateral move. Yeah sns is pure google, has ffc, flash etc....but I did like my vibrant, gf just wanted it more than me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
P.S. don't call the Nexus S a SNS. Its NS. They didnt call the 'Nexus One' HN1/HNO (HTC Nexus One).

You should wait for the HTC Pyramid. It will be out in first half this year and it is going blow both away.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App

pittphan said:
You should wait for the HTC Pyramid. It will be out in first half this year and it is going blow both away.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Pyramid doesn't features Tegra 2. With a phone using tetra 2, you'll have access go tegra 2 zone.
Plus, its rumored that quad core phones will come out at the end of this year or early next.
Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk

I agree with the lateral move. I like the hardware on the NS better than the Vibrant as I'm not into hardware modifications. I do prefer touchwiz apps to stock Google apps. I also prefer video codecs and 720p video recording over not having them either.
What I can tell you is that in terms of speed there are only a few things where I've noticed the Nexus is actually faster at, a quadrant benchmark because of jit, and usb connection speed. Side by side the tasks are almost identical, so much so that I can't tell the difference. My Nexus is running CM7 RC build #2 overclocked to 1.2Ghz and my Vibrant is running Bionix-V 1.2.1 with no overclock.
I have the luxury of being able to use either one whenever I want, so if I know I'm going to take a video I'm taking the Vibrant, and if I'm going on a trip and want to watch some movies on a plane ride I'm taking the Vibrant...every day use the Nexus is fine but it isn't an upgrade by any means.
In the end it's your choice so make sure if you do make the choice to change phones that you can live with it at least until someone makes some nice software modifications.

pittphan said:
You should wait for the HTC Pyramid. It will be out in first half this year and it is going blow both away.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1
If leaked specs are correct, this phone should be a killer......
ps. as i said this many times before....Team Wiskey Vibrant > SNS > stock Vibrant
Vibrant has much more then just HD playback and HD recording.....3.0 Bluetooth, TV-out, Gorilla Glass, SD-slot, many extra/cool features of Touchwiz (music player, all-share, camera, better sms and email clients), support for car and home docks, etc....i am probably missing something. And with TW ROM you cant even tell it apart from SNS running Gingerbread...

kolyan said:
+1
If leaked specs are correct, this phone should be a killer......
ps. as i said this many times before....Team Wiskey Vibrant > SNS > stock Vibrant
Vibrant has much more then just HD playback and HD recording.....TV-out, Gorilla Glass, many extra/cool features of Touchwiz (music player, all-share, camera, better sms and email clients), support for car and home docks, etc....i am probably missing something. And with TW ROM you cant even tell it apart from SNS running Gingerbread...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lots of biased statements there. Coming from a Guy who is from team whiskey.
You can paint something to look like something else but it's still Froyo. Not to mention the vibrant is using RFS filesystem that requires lagfixes.
With the Nexus S, Google releases source for kernels almost immediately which is a huge plus for Nexus S development. Whereas the vibrant kernels are based off I9000 kernels which result in poor battery life.
Waiting for Samsung to release source is mindblogging and I'm sure a lot of people who went from a vibrant to a nexus s would agree with me.
Basing roms off otas < basing roms off AOSP source.
Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk

If video playback of anything you can throw at it is important, or large amounts of removable sdcard storage, or even 720p recording, then the Vibrant is the clear choice. There are a significant number of media-related activities the Nexus S can't do, that the Vibrant can.
If a more solid build, with a sexier to look at and easier to hold in the hand shape, with the alleged promise of getting newer versions of Android first are important, then the Nexus S is the choice.
OP - you can easily vastly improve the Vibrant's performance with any of the custom ROMs are kernels that implement the voodoo hacks.
I've called the move from any of the existing Galaxy S variants to the Nexus S a "side-grade", it's definitely not a major "upgrade" unless you'll never run root or custom kernels (to fix the infamous "lag" of Samsung's RFS filesystem).

zephiK said:
Lots of biased statements there. Coming from a Guy who is from team whiskey.
You can paint something to look like something else but it's still Froyo. Not to mention the vibrant is using RFS filesystem that requires lagfixes.
With the Nexus S, Google releases source for kernels almost immediately which is a huge plus for Nexus S development. Whereas the vibrant kernels are based off I9000 kernels which result in poor battery life.
Waiting for Samsung to release source is mindblogging and I'm sure a lot of people who went from a vibrant to a nexus s would agree with me.
Basing roms off otas < basing roms off AOSP source.
Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am not a dev, but i am pretty positive that Vibrant with TW uses VIBRANT kernel, not i9000.....shouldn't you know this being from Team Wiskey ?
dont have poor battery life......after several cycles with new ROM, I am back to my usual which is 12-14 hours of use. RFS doesn't bother me anymore thanks to Voodoo. And as far as 2.3 vs 2.2 goes......its just a minor upgrade, not as big as 2.1 to 2.2.
at this point SNS is history already......its very clear that the phone was released to make quick cash....not much longer wait for S-II, LG 2X, and Pyramid....
development-wise points go to SNS......

kolyan said:
+1
If leaked specs are correct, this phone should be a killer......
ps. as i said this many times before....Team Wiskey Vibrant > SNS > stock Vibrant
Vibrant has much more then just HD playback and HD recording.....3.0 Bluetooth, TV-out, Gorilla Glass, SD-slot, many extra/cool features of Touchwiz (music player, all-share, camera, better sms and email clients), support for car and home docks, etc....i am probably missing something. And with TW ROM you cant even tell it apart from SNS running Gingerbread...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed, not even really a contest unless your just a blind fanboi like most people in this section.

zephiK said:
With the Nexus S, Google releases source for kernels almost immediately which is a huge plus for Nexus S development. Whereas the vibrant kernels are based off I9000 kernels which result in poor battery life.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Vibrant source was released days ago and there are already three OC kernels out built from source.
I would say if you want to break it down, the NS is better as a pure phone/smartphone, whereas the SGS is a better media device. I would not sell my Vibrant because it's like an Android-based iPod Touch (but better).

Why don't sense roms port well to Nexus S

Hey guys, why is there only one (with many problems) sense rom for the nexus s? what is it that makes it so hard to port?
Having come from the HTC Dream where there is always an abundace of (insert random sense phone here) sense rom ports, it seems very odd that the Nexus S doesn't have them.

Htc sense is proprietary code. The only way to port is in smali and aosp devs don't like smali. I don't mind working with it but no plans on working with it (sense).
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using Tapatalk

Another question is why isn't there any touchwiz port yet? Sgs and ns are very similar phones both made by samsung. There is a sense rom which is pretty functional, but no touchwiz? COMON!
Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk

Maybe because stock Android is better and faster than these bloated third party UIs?

tekkitan said:
Maybe because stock Android is better and faster than these bloated third party UIs?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed most of us are on aosp to escape all that bloat if you want the latest touch wiz interface I suggest the samsung within
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using Tapatalk

asb123 said:
Hey guys, why is there only one (with many problems) sense rom for the nexus s? what is it that makes it so hard to port?
Having come from the HTC Dream where there is always an abundace of (insert random sense phone here) sense rom ports, it seems very odd that the Nexus S doesn't have them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your Dream was made by HTC.
Sense is made by HTC.
The Nexus S is made by Samsung.

tekkitan said:
Maybe because stock Android is better and faster than these bloated third party UIs?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have heard this so many times that it turned into a pathetic cliche...
Your statement has no sense btw, it would be a ROM with root acces so system apps can easily be unninstalled. I would use touchwiz for the graphic acceleration alone, in the browser.
You can even get rid of it's launcher, you can delete absolutely everything you want and you would still have the features from touchwizz, like codec support out of the box and maybe the cool camera app. But I repeat, the browser alone would be the biggest feature.
Edit: Touchwizz is not an UI, its a ROM with extra features.

generally people that would buy a nexus dont want the propriatary UIs. thats why they bought a nexus, to avoid that extra bloat.

lvnatic said:
I have heard this so many times that it turned into a pathetic cliche...
Your statement has no sense btw, it would be a ROM with root acces so system apps can easily be unninstalled. I would use touchwiz for the graphic acceleration alone, in the browser.
You can even get rid of it's launcher, you can delete absolutely everything you want and you would still have the features from touchwizz, like codec support out of the box and maybe the cool camera app. But I repeat, the browser alone would be the biggest feature.
Edit: Touchwizz is not an UI, its a ROM with extra features.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The hardware is different the camera alone wouldn't work for us
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using Tapatalk

dreamsforgotten said:
The hardware is different the camera alone wouldn't work for us
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The closest similar phone to the NS on the market is SGS. There is a port for HTC Sense which comes from a totally different phone, totally different CPU and GPU and touchwizz can't be ported? I really, really doubt it.

lvnatic said:
The closest similar phone to the NS on the market is SGS. There is a port for HTC Sense which comes from a totally different phone, totally different CPU and GPU and touchwizz can't be ported? I really, really doubt it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No once said it can't be ported, my statement was addressing the end of your previous post having the codexes and camera app. You can't because the hw is different. The camera in the sgs, is capable of 720p recording, ours is not. Just because porting touchwiz is possible I would never expect to see it I promise no dev has the interest in it. You should have went with the sgs2 a newer updated tw than on the sgs.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using Tapatalk

The Perfect Rom (HTC One S)

Hi All:
Did you ever think how the perfect rom should be ?
a Perfect rom for me is a rom which
1- Have CM settings and options .
2- Have the Sense Image Camera App working as stock rom.
3- Heavy duty Battery serving.
4- No bugs or force close.
5- Stable with No mistakes.
What else ??
Is such a rom even exist ??!
I don't know if this wish is so hard to achieve for HTC or any other mobile band company.
for me my problem with the stock sense rom is stability and little amount of setting available for the user, App keep crashing .....
and some thing driving me crazy which it is that I can't turn vibration off when I answer a call because there is no option to do that , HTC team think that every one like this option and they forget that people think in different way and what you love must I hate it.
Come on HTC think again about what you are doing.
Samsung , Sony , HTC ....ect the only thing they care about is to distinguish from each other " I'm using Android but my Android is different than your Android" ..... Just Like Children
In the end I'd like to say that I respect Huawei so much, they offer for the user to use stock Android system and other Huawei UI in case that you don't like the stock Android, other companies should check and learn how to satisfy the customer

I would love a cm10+ Rom with sense camera.. best of both.. don't know if it can be done though.. no bugs etc is a given..
Sent a from Jellyrolled One S

Why don't you try the Viper ROM?
It has the Sense Cam (CM will probably never have it) and you can enable the CM-like quicksettings in the notification bar. It also has pretty good battery life and is also close to having no bugs.

No bugs? Yea dream on, thats never gonna happen as long as its humans who writes the code.

I switched from Viper to CM a few months ago and have been extremely happy with the product. Viper was unfortunately too slow, even when OC. CM10 is extremely smooth and fast, even without a custom kernel for OC. The camera for CM, however, is extremely disappointing. It is not nearly poor enough where I would switch ROMs, but it definitely needs considerable improvement to been anywhere near that offered by any Sense-based ROM.
My vote is for CM with good camera, too.

What about Snap Camera - haven't used it but I've heard good things about it.

Thank you for your replies guys
For me I'm using Viper One S 2.1.0
It is cool rom but .............. still there is no real CM like settings.
In the first place , why we selected an Android phones ............... there is Windows Phone 8, iOS Apple , Nokia Symbian and more....
But our choice was Android, the ability to fully control & customize the mobile.
Stock roms specially sense make alot of limitation and even also with alot of bugs and unstable performance after long process of destroying the real And pure Android !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I believe that Google should put a condition to any mobile company want to use Android which it is offering the customers the freedom between using the Stock company rom (sense ,touch wize samsung ....ect..) or the pure Google Android.
Then we will see how many users will keep using a rom like sense

Liquidsmooth by Droyd is my favourite right now. Fastest rom I've ever used. And it looks stable so far!
Regards!

Sounds like you want a Nexus 4 instead of a One S.
Sent from my HTC One S using xda app-developers app

Simco80 said:
Sounds like you want a Nexus 4 instead of a One S.
Sent from my HTC One S using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To be honest I don't trust LG and all Nexus 4 issues and I don't think that one day I will buy any thing from LG except the washing mashine :laugh:, the HTC hardware is amazing but............... software is below average.
It is a matter of open source, all what HTC should do is to provide a fix for camera app in CM and well known roms to satisfy their loyal customers

one-option said:
Thank you for your replies guys
For me I'm using Viper One S 2.1.0
It is cool rom but .............. still there is no real CM like settings.
In the first place , why we selected an Android phones ............... there is Windows Phone 8, iOS Apple , Nokia Symbian and more....
But our choice was Android, the ability to fully control & customize the mobile.
Stock roms specially sense make alot of limitation and even also with alot of bugs and unstable performance after long process of destroying the real And pure Android !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I believe that Google should put a condition to any mobile company want to use Android which it is offering the customers the freedom between using the Stock company rom (sense ,touch wize samsung ....ect..) or the pure Google Android.
Then we will see how many users will keep using a rom like sense
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
name a setting in cm that doesn't exist in viper..... besides quiet hours...
you have quick settings, you can change battery icons, you can change carrier txt, you can do MORE than what cm offers actually....
PS since sense is closed source you'll never see sense camera on AOSP it's impossible to do since every app that you see in sense is tied to the framework.
and if you don't like sense go buy a nexus phone... seriously.. sense is great and with dev's like torx he gave you more options than half the AOSP roms have.. and what limitations you're speaking of i'd really like to know, all the included sense apps have 10 times for thought and convienence set that stock aosp.. though i do agree that google should make all oems allow users to choose aosp or oem provided there's a reason they dont.. THATS WHY GOOGLE HAS THE NEXUS BRAND!!!!!
... jus sayin

"If you dont like sense buy a nexus"... What kind of bullsh*t is that?
The HOS is superior in every way except for sense - which can easily be solved with an AOSP rom...

Goatshocker said:
"If you dont like sense buy a nexus"... What kind of bullsh*t is that?
The HOS is superior in every way except for sense - which can easily be solved with an AOSP rom...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
how would you say that the HTC One S is better than the nexus 4?
keep in mind.. i build aosp roms... i like them both, i have an htc phone for the build quality and the option to have sense and aosp.. aosp is very basic.. i love sense for work and how easy it is to use.. i know the ins and outs of both os's very very well..

evol4g said:
name a setting in cm that doesn't exist in viper..... besides quiet hours...
you have quick settings, you can change battery icons, you can change carrier txt, you can do MORE than what cm offers actually....
PS since sense is closed source you'll never see sense camera on AOSP it's impossible to do since every app that you see in sense is tied to the framework.
and if you don't like sense go buy a nexus phone... seriously.. sense is great and with dev's like torx he gave you more options than half the AOSP roms have.. and what limitations you're speaking of i'd really like to know, all the included sense apps have 10 times for thought and convienence set that stock aosp.. though i do agree that google should make all oems allow users to choose aosp or oem provided there's a reason they dont.. THATS WHY GOOGLE HAS THE NEXUS BRAND!!!!!
... jus sayin
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK I will name you a setting it is the vibrate on connect check for details in internet
I know sense camera is only available in sense based rom , and this is the reason that I still use sense...................
I don't like sense at all but I like HTC and the good hardware, I like Nexus but i don't trust LG hardware...
As I said Huawei offer AOSP beside their own UI so where is the problem ?

one-option said:
OK I will name you a setting it is the vibrate on connect check for details in internet
I know sense camera is only available in sense based rom , and this is the reason that I still use sense...................
I don't like sense at all but I like HTC and the good hardware, I like Nexus but i don't trust LG hardware...
As I said Huawei offer AOSP beside their own UI so where is the problem ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
didn't even know that existed... but that's very minute.. you're right htc does make the best hardware, and just because one OEM allows you to choose aosp doesn't mean all will. That's the reason there's a distinction in phone brands... And if you don't like it thats what us developers are here for so we can make tons of aosp options for ya'll

Looking forward to your sense rom evol4g......

evol4g said:
how would you say that the HTC One S is better than the nexus 4?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Form factor. The whole point of the One S for a lot of people is to have a slightly smaller phone that allows you to browse comfortably one-handed without adjusting your grip (I'm sure someone will claim they can do the same with a One X or Nexus, but come on... 4.7" is a bit much for a lot of people, let alone 5" in the Galaxy S 4).
Also, build quality in the One S might be a bit better than the Nexus 4 and certainly anything by Samsung. Would love to have an HD screen in this size but the QHD isn't bad. Anything over 250 ppi is fine for my eyes.

ChrisAG said:
Form factor. The whole point of the One S for a lot of people is to have a slightly smaller phone that allows you to browse comfortably one-handed without adjusting your grip (I'm sure someone will claim they can do the same with a One X or Nexus, but come on... 4.7" is a bit much for a lot of people, let alone 5" in the Galaxy S 4).
Also, build quality in the One S might be a bit better than the Nexus 4 and certainly anything by Samsung. Would love to have an HD screen in this size but the QHD isn't bad. Anything over 250 ppi is fine for my eyes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well said....+ 1....
Sent from my HTC One S using xda app-developers app

Goatshocker said:
No bugs? Yea dream on, thats never gonna happen as long as its humans who writes the code.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm using it for two weeks now and I got no problem with it. No bugs, fc just pure awesomeness.
Sent from my HTC One S

ChrisAG said:
Form factor. The whole point of the One S for a lot of people is to have a slightly smaller phone that allows you to browse comfortably one-handed without adjusting your grip (I'm sure someone will claim they can do the same with a One X or Nexus, but come on... 4.7" is a bit much for a lot of people, let alone 5" in the Galaxy S 4).
Also, build quality in the One S might be a bit better than the Nexus 4 and certainly anything by Samsung. Would love to have an HD screen in this size but the QHD isn't bad. Anything over 250 ppi is fine for my eyes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That was my thoughts when buying the phone last year. The One S looks and feels unique, and the screen size is perfect for normal phone & texting usage. I had the option to pickup the Galaxy S III for $50 more, but the Sense UI felt smoother to me - not to mention the camera app.

Why do people choose pure stock Google over other UIs?

I have been wondering about this for awhile now and can't seem to understand why so many people are crazy about stock android on their devices. I do understand why people buy nexus devices only due to timely updates n all. I guess not just for updates but I'm pretty sure that's one of the main reasons. My main question is why do so many people prefer it even on their devices that aren't running stock? I look at Sense' UI and to me personally, I like their setup of how fast and easy it is to add apps or widgets to a home screen. Or how good the camera is, far better then any nexus device IMO. And a couple other things. Or touchwiz. I still haven't owned a device that had touchwiz but I've played around with the Note 2 and GS3 and tbh, I'm not really crazy about their UI. But the features, holy smokes they are awesome! And then there is just plain ol stock. I have a Galaxy Nexus and when I first bought it I was super happy and excited. I'm running a 4.2.2 ROM on it and its OK n all. But to me, it just feels naked and kinda boring now. Sure, I can flash all sorts of added features and what not but still I'm just like shmeh. I feel the skins over stock makes it so much better IMO. With so many more options to choose from when it comes to features. I look at all the features the Note 2 has and people buy it, root it, then bam CM10 is now running on the device with less features then what the phone comes with. Anyways that's my rant for today. And by no means am I doggin on pure stock or hate it. Just sharing my opinions about what I think is better but don't understand why so many people choose it on their devices that have a skin on top. I would love to see some feedback on this. Thanks
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app

I have an s3 and if you've used touchwiz for an extended period of time, you'd see how bad it is. Sure the camera features are awesome, but it's a really heavy firmware with a lot of bugs, lag, and bloatware. Your phone will easily average 1 gb of ram with touchwiz. As for why I switched to stock Android (cm 10.1), I guess it was one of the more popular and well known custom roms when I decided to flash. I wouldn't be opposed to trying an AOKP ROM because all the extra options, but I'm not sure if I need it. What I'm trying to say is less is never a bad thing. Well this is my opinion at least. Hope it helps.
Sent from my GT-P3110 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

Because stock android is beautiful and clean while overlays like sense clog it up and slow it down
Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk 2

Personally, I like AOSP, but it's not a deciding factor for me. I prefer an S3 and especially my Note 2 over any Nexus device. Why?
1. Touchwiz adds useful features.
2. S-Pen and huge screen are more than enough to win me over.
3. In the case of the Nexus 4, I like the huge REMOVABLE battery in the Note 2 and expandable storage (yes, they're a big deal to me).
4. I can flash AOSP if I want. Yes, on a lot of devices, there are usually more bugs running CM/AOKP/PA than if you just bought a Nexus device, but it's still an option.
5. Samsung releases quick updates. Quicker than any other OEM, besides Nexus devices. Hell, there's even a leaked 4.2.2 (or .1, I forget) update floating around.
6. Alternative launchers and mods for stock ROMs can remove ugly OEM themeing. Look up Jelly Bean Domination for the Galaxy S3 i9300. It looks EXACTLY like AOSP. Here's a screenshot of JBD running on my retired Galaxy S3. This is Touchwiz. Also look up JKay mod; it's a framework mod with an app that lets you change SO many features, it's like being on a Nexus device: https://www.dropbox.com/s/o7r0xpl0zdm03x8/2013-04-01 21.11.03.png
7. For me at least, I don't like on-screen buttons unless you have a Note 2-sized device, because it takes up screen real-estate. I'm aware of PIE-menu for CyanogenMod, but I find it impractical because it requires more button presses than just hitting a button.
8. Ridiculous battery life, even with heavy usage. After 3 hours of screen-on time and data usage pretty much every time the screen is on, I still have 65% battery life after 8 hours off the charger. That's with the stock 3100 mAh battery and the 5.5 inch screen. On top of that, I have the LTE radio on at all times because you can't turn it off on the AT&T model (the modem is locked by AT&T). And at any time I can replace the battery with another one or use an extended one.
To me the hardware comes first, because it can't be changed after the fact. The software...Well that's why we're all on XDA. Because we want to and we can change it. I'm not saying that Nexus devices are inferior or vice versa; I'm saying that having tried a Galaxy Nexus and Nexus 4, I wasn't completely satisfied with them. For most people they're perfect. But I demand more, and that's why I love my Galaxy Note 2.

Thanks for the responses everyone See I personally am getting sick and tired of my galaxy nexus especially the battery. I have an extended battery that's a 2100 mah. I know its not a whole lot more, but its still horrible. I don't want a bulky ext battery. I guess I'm kind of a heavy user. Kinda Lol I don't play games a whole lot other than scramble with friends words with friends. Games like that. I do calls, messages, Facebook, and YouTube but gosh the battery is just terrible on the nexus I don't care what anyone says. I want the Note 2 so bad. I want a bigger screen, a big battery that can easily last me throughout my day no matter how much I use it. SD slot is always nice too. I'm really not a huge fan of touchwiz but you're right. I can use launchers to cover it up and yet still keep the awesome features the Note 2 has to offer. My phone is starting to get a bit sluggish on me lately. I click on an app, it take 2 to 3 seconds to open it up. Drives me NUTS Lol. When I played with the note 2 it was so fast and smooth and, amazing. Again thanks for the responses guys I appreciate it
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app

npainter7 said:
Thanks for the responses everyone See I personally am getting sick and tired of my galaxy nexus especially the battery. I have an extended battery that's a 2100 mah. I know its not a whole lot more, but its still horrible. I don't want a bulky ext battery. I guess I'm kind of a heavy user. Kinda Lol I don't play games a whole lot other than scramble with friends words with friends. Games like that. I do calls, messages, Facebook, and YouTube but gosh the battery is just terrible on the nexus I don't care what anyone says. I want the Note 2 so bad. I want a bigger screen, a big battery that can easily last me throughout my day no matter how much I use it. SD slot is always nice too. I'm really not a huge fan of touchwiz but you're right. I can use launchers to cover it up and yet still keep the awesome features the Note 2 has to offer. My phone is starting to get a bit sluggish on me lately. I click on an app, it take 2 to 3 seconds to open it up. Drives me NUTS Lol. When I played with the note 2 it was so fast and smooth and, amazing. Again thanks for the responses guys I appreciate it
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As another ex-Galaxy Nexus user (though my last phone was the S3), get the Note 2. It's like living a dream. Touchwiz on the Note 2 adds so many features, and the launcher is the only crappy part. I'm using Nova launcher on mine. The notification bar is actually nice with the toggles on top. The S-Pen is crazy in terms of features it adds. It's not a regular stylus. The digitizer and stylus are made by Wacom; you can for example scroll with the stylus just hovering it above the screen. And in terms of battery life, this thing will get you through OVER a day. It's crazy. Get one, you won't regret it. I think this is the best phone I've EVER owned.

Ya I really really want the note 2. I just wish it didn't cost so freaking much. I'm due for an upgrade on Verizon. But I really don't wanna give up my unlimited. Although I'm not to worried about it of I lose it. But I can get the phone off amazonwireless.com for 200. Which is great. I might end up doing that. I too dislike the on-screen buttons. Sometimes they don't work like they should. I love the s-pen on the note 2. I think I'm gonna get it Lol I want to right now
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app

npainter7 said:
Ya I really really want the note 2. I just wish it didn't cost so freaking much. I'm due for an upgrade on Verizon. But I really don't wanna give up my unlimited. Although I'm not to worried about it of I lose it. But I can get the phone off amazonwireless.com for 200. Which is great. I might end up doing that. I too dislike the on-screen buttons. Sometimes they don't work like they should. I love the s-pen on the note 2. I think I'm gonna get it Lol I want to right now
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wait for the Galaxy S4 to come out this month or early next month, the price should go down substantially. The thing is, the Note 2 is super powerful and super smooth, so even when the S4 is out, the Note 2 is still worthwhile.

Product F(RED) said:
Wait for the Galaxy S4 to come out this month or early next month, the price should go down substantially. The thing is, the Note 2 is super powerful and super smooth, so even when the S4 is out, the Note 2 is still worthwhile.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know if I can wait another month Lol. But I'm gonna have to probably. And of course the Note 3 will be out later this year and that is gonna be freakin sweet.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app

npainter7 said:
I don't know if I can wait another month Lol. But I'm gonna have to probably. And of course the Note 3 will be out later this year and that is gonna be freakin sweet.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I still have a Samsung galaxy s1 lol
Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk 2

Well for me it is a matter of developement. I have had every galaxy device and currently own an s3 9300 (until I can sell it for a nexus.)
Wayne Tech S-III

I prefere htc sense over every UI
My very first android device was the htc g2/vision/desire z (call it what you want xD) and it still is alive, but I run CM10.1, cus the RAM there is way too little for sense 4 (and that's imo the best sense ui ever) and now I got the htc mytouch 4G slide (yeees I'm a hw keyboard lover) and here sense 4 is very smooth
Had a galaxy s between but bricked it anyway...but there the first thing I looked for was a sense port
There was one but the devs kinda stopped (guess cus of RAM or sth)
Now I'm on my mytouch 4G slide on a CM10.1 ROM again, cus the sense ROMs lag too much, and the devs are mostly gone, but I themed it with widgetlocker and CM themes as close to sense as possible
Greets Vauvenal7
Sent from my myTouch 4G Slide

Vauvenal7 said:
I prefere htc sense over every UI
My very first android device was the htc g2/vision/desire z (call it what you want xD) and it still is alive, but I run CM10.1, cus the RAM there is way too little for sense 4 (and that's imo the best sense ui ever) and now I got the htc mytouch 4G slide (yeees I'm a hw keyboard lover) and here sense 4 is very smooth
Had a galaxy s between but bricked it anyway...but there the first thing I looked for was a sense port
There was one but the devs kinda stopped (guess cus of RAM or sth)
Now I'm on my mytouch 4G slide on a CM10.1 ROM again, cus the sense ROMs lag too much, and the devs are mostly gone, but I themed it with widgetlocker and CM themes as close to sense as possible
Greets Vauvenal7
Sent from my myTouch 4G Slide
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I used to love Sense before it hit android but what HTC did to it on android is just really sad.

zelendel said:
I used to love Sense before it hit android but what HTC did to it on android is just really sad.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
TouchFlo 3D made WinMo 6.5 great. Sense 3.5 and below is sort of justifiable since GB wasn't exactly great but it was still slow and heavy. Sense 4 was by far the worst for me, it was very slow and added little functionality over ICS. Sense 4+ was alright but didn't add much to Android; at least it wasn't slow. The new sense seems to be very good to me, since it's light and looks good but I don't like Blinkfeed much at all.
TouchWiz - it went from ugly to uglier to unbearably ugly. I personally can live without the features because most of them are gimmicky to me and the few useful ones don't justify the ugliness.
All other UXes don't add anything to Android.
Basically from that I choose AOSP over everything else any day. I love the Holo UI, it's smooth, it's clean, it's fast and it's stable.

Nigeldg said:
TouchFlo 3D made WinMo 6.5 great. Sense 3.5 and below is sort of justifiable since GB wasn't exactly great but it was still slow and heavy. Sense 4 was by far the worst for me, it was very slow and added little functionality over ICS. Sense 4+ was alright but didn't add much to Android; at least it wasn't slow. The new sense seems to be very good to me, since it's light and looks good but I don't like Blinkfeed much at all.
TouchWiz - it went from ugly to uglier to unbearably ugly. I personally can live without the features because most of them are gimmicky to me and the few useful ones don't justify the ugliness.
All other UXes don't add anything to Android.
Basically from that I choose AOSP over everything else any day. I love the Holo UI, it's smooth, it's clean, it's fast and it's stable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh I am sure it is good if you like the sense look but the color skemes to me are just ugly as all get out. Then you get into themeing it and notice that HTC frameworks are a huge bunch of redundent images and coding that slows sense down alot. If they used the android framework for instead of having 6 of the same images for a button on top of the ones in the android framework then it gets crazy. I have not used Sense in a long time or any custom version of android like TW in a long time. I swear they could double the speed of the UI if they just stopped bloating it.

Nigeldg said:
TouchFlo 3D made WinMo 6.5 great. Sense 3.5 and below is sort of justifiable since GB wasn't exactly great but it was still slow and heavy. Sense 4 was by far the worst for me, it was very slow and added little functionality over ICS. Sense 4+ was alright but didn't add much to Android; at least it wasn't slow. The new sense seems to be very good to me, since it's light and looks good but I don't like Blinkfeed much at all.
TouchWiz - it went from ugly to uglier to unbearably ugly. I personally can live without the features because most of them are gimmicky to me and the few useful ones don't justify the ugliness.
All other UXes don't add anything to Android.
Basically from that I choose AOSP over everything else any day. I love the Holo UI, it's smooth, it's clean, it's fast and it's stable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I like touchwiz lol...
Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk 2

The thing is that the android experience given to us by TouchWiz(Though I've never used touchwiz, but the launcher looks crap to me) and Sense UIs have been researched by expert marketing people and psychologists. These people find what an average person is comfortable with. If you're an average person, though no one is an average on xdadevelopers cuz they might never be here if they didn't want a change, then you're comfortable with what those devs over HTC and Samsung give you. They make something that is comfortable to use. Frankly, I used to be a huge fan of Sense in my HTC Desire a few months back. That stopped when I started noticing all the theming sections here on this site, and people's screen shots. That's when I found that there is huge world of change looming here. Now that people are here, including you, my friend, we have started appreciating the change, innovativeness, and uniqueness of Android. Then only we have started theming our phones with so many themes, ROMs, widgets, and what-not. A cousin of mine has a galaxy S2, and he is still using the default wallpaper on his S2, just because he's an average user. When people join xda, they are thinking of a revolution, a change.

alicarbovader said:
The thing is that the android experience given to us by TouchWiz(Though I've never used touchwiz, but the launcher looks crap to me) and Sense UIs have been researched by expert marketing people and psychologists. These people find what an average person is comfortable with. If you're an average person, though no one is an average on xdadevelopers cuz they might never be here if they didn't want a change, then you're comfortable with what those devs over HTC and Samsung give you. They make something that is comfortable to use. Frankly, I used to be a huge fan of Sense in my HTC Desire a few months back. That stopped when I started noticing all the theming sections here on this site, and people's screen shots. That's when I found that there is huge world of change looming here. Now that people are here, including you, my friend, we have started appreciating the change, innovativeness, and uniqueness of Android. Then only we have started theming our phones with so many themes, ROMs, widgets, and what-not. A cousin of mine has a galaxy S2, and he is still using the default wallpaper on his S2, just because he's an average user. When people join xda, they are thinking of a revolution, a change.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well I'm no average user in fact I even build aokp and I'm running CyanogenMod 10.1 but touchwi just seems fluid to me idk why
Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk 2

I think it all comes down to what people prefer personally. That's why I love android and all the options to choose from. But honestly, hardly any main consumers out there that don't know about rooting n all that, don't really care or know perhaps, about theming ect ect. They just want what either everyone else has, (IPhone) and now the s3 or Note 2 or big screen and oh awesome it can do this and that. Not much do people wonder about processors this 1080ppi that Lol. There is a lot more people that don't care about that stuff then there are people who are here on XDA. I wish I was sorta like them cuz I wouldn't be so crazy about flashing ROMS and/or wanting the latest and greatest phone Lol. But I'm proud to be a bit of a nerd and knowing what I have and how good(or bad) my device is.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app

npainter7 said:
I think it all comes down to what people prefer personally. That's why I love android and all the options to choose from. But honestly, hardly any main consumers out there that don't know about rooting n all that, don't really care or know perhaps, about theming ect ect. They just want what either everyone else has, (IPhone) and now the s3 or Note 2 or big screen and oh awesome it can do this and that. Not much do people wonder about processors this 1080ppi that Lol. There is a lot more people that don't care about that stuff then there are people who are here on XDA. I wish I was sorta like them cuz I wouldn't be so crazy about flashing ROMS and/or wanting the latest and greatest phone Lol. But I'm proud to be a bit of a nerd and knowing what I have and how good(or bad) my device is.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are right. We here make up less then 1% of the people that use android. Just have to wait for the hype to die down and then people will go back to their iphones soon enough.

[Q] How good is this phone from an AOSP perspective?

Quick back story: I'm an Android lover for many years who recently finally went Nexus 4 on T-Mobile and I'm very, very happy. To the point where, for the first time ever, I'm running my phone WITHOUT root. Insane, right? But it just works well enough for me that I don't need it. My last phone, a Galaxy S II Epic 4G Touch, was utterly awful on custom ROMs, and at least at the point where I gave up on it, CM builds were still buggy and, most importantly, had horrible battery life.
Current situation: My girlfriend has an iPhone 3GS that she had on AT&T, but just switched to Straight Talk with (using the AT&T SIM that came in my starter pack; I just left them for T-Mobile directly, but she can't do that until she gets a phone compatible with their 3G). She's sick of it and ready to go Android. But she hates, hates, hates the trend of large-screen phones, and isn't interested in spending money on something just to try to get used to it. She's played with my 4.7" screen and finds it absurdly large. Yes, yes, I know, if she uses it for a while she'll surely get used to it, right? She claims no, and I'm not about to be a patronizing ass by trying to tell her she's wrong about her own opinions. So whatever the case, it looks like probably the smallest screen that exists on any phones that aren't crap is 4.3". And it looks like the last good 4.3" phone to hit the US with T-Mobile compatibility is the HTC One S. The Mini currently looks as though it's headed only to AT&T, so that's out.
Now I know the One S is locked forever in 4.1 as far as HTC is concerned. And I know 4.1 really isn't that bad, all said and done. And I know some people like Sense. But I also know I never truly LOVED an Android phone until I got the real stock experience. And I'd love her to have that pure Android experience as well. Or an augmented, improved version of it in CM or AOKP or whatever. But point is, I'd like to make sure that if we get her this phone, it might be possible to switch her to an AOSP experience that's going to be at least as solid as the phone's own stock build.
So here's the question: How, honestly, is the HTC One S fairing in this regard? How good are the AOSP-based ROMs for it as far as stability and especially battery life? My girlfriend really derided the battery life of my SGSII, but has been impressed with my Nexus 4. And while she's not a technophobe by any means, I don't want her to have to constantly tinker and monkey with it like we do. I just want it to work for her. Are any AOSP-based, or AOSP-equivalent ROMs going to provide that on this phone?
Thanks.

AOSP is plenty. Team Cyanogen are also working on Jelly Bean v3 as well for it. There is well over ten different AOSP ROMs, most of them made by $droyd$. I recommend Illusions over all other ROMs on here, or if she fancies Sense 5, she should try my ROM it's called CharmanDroid, it really takes advantage of the deep contracts and rich colours on this screen.
Sent from my GT-I9505 using xda premium

kylepont said:
AOSP is plenty. Team Cyanogen are also working on Jelly Bean v3 as well for it. There is well over ten different AOSP ROMs, most of them made by $droyd$. I recommend Illusions over all other ROMs on here, or if she fancies Sense 5, she should try my ROM it's called CharmanDroid, it really takes advantage of the deep contracts and rich colours on this screen.
Sent from my GT-I9505 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Really love that last sentence :
really takes advantage of the deep contracts and rich colours on this screen.
Our screen is so crap lol! It's something like 960*540 no such thing as rich colours on this display lol... Terrible pentile blue tint
Sent from my HTC One S using xda app-developers app

The camera in aosp is just not usable. Tried 4.3 cam. Its just rediculously Bad. Just try it. Makes my daily a sense Rom..... Sadly
If you don't need the camera, aosp is okay, very clean, fast, smooth and with 4.3 nightlys somewhat stable.
Sent from my HTC One S using xda app-developers app

k1llacanon said:
Really love that last sentence :
really takes advantage of the deep contracts and rich colours on this screen.
Our screen is so crap lol! It's something like 960*540 no such thing as rich colours on this display lol... Terrible pentile blue tint
Sent from my HTC One S using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The greens are good on it, but you know, all salesmen will make their product sound better than it actually is. Despite the fact this is HTC's fault and not mine. :silly:
Sent from my GT-I9505 using xda premium

I am very happy with the phone hardware & form factor. I am also very happy with the usability and stability of CM 10.2. Currently using a stripped down/modified version of it called Codename Lungo. I would recommend CM 10.2 as a daily driver.

as a music lover, i can tell you: the earphone-audio performance on every aosp based rom is crap, not even close to the performance on sense-based roms.

I've always liked aosp better on every phone I've had, but on this one the camera and music sound quality on headphones is so much worse on aosp that I'm probably staying on sense.
Not only that I can't stand the lock screen delay on all the aosp roms since the 3.4 kernel.
Sent from my HTC One S using xda app-developers app

This is good feedback overall. I really appreciate it, guys. The last two, in particular, tell me AOSP likely won't be for her, as she does want to use it for music a lot.
So how tolerable, really, is stock? And I'm asking this especially of anyone who prefers AOSP/CM10. I'm not in the mood to put her through all the aches and pains of custom ROMs, so for me it was pretty much going to be stock Sense (stuck at 4.1, although at least it's Jelly Bean) or a really solid AOSP ROM. We're all a different breed; we enjoy tinkering, and get a thrill from updated ROM versions, bug testing, and tweaking. But most people who don't build their own computers and watch Google's press conferences livestreamed over their phones and surreptitiously patched through their Bluetooth headsets so people can't see they're not working, just want something that works. And especially since this'll be her first Android phone, I want the experience to be one that doesn't have her bringing me the phone to troubleshoot every few days.

AOSP audio is greatly improved using CM DSP Manager. Stock camera is much better than AOSP. Sense is quite tolerable and a must if you want essentially zero issues. With stock you just may want to disable a lot of the bloatware that is installed by default.

Dsp manager still didn't give me audio quality that was good enough for me.
Stock for me would have been fine except that I wanted to change the looks. Now I use Source which is a stock based rom with audio quality tweaks and apps and no bloatware. I have an inverted theme so now it looks the way I want and is stable and fast enough.
Sent from my HTC One S using xda app-developers app

350Rocket said:
Dsp manager still didn't give me audio quality that was good enough for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1
even with dsp manager or "ultimate one sound" the performance was not even close to stock.

Well personally I would point out another perspective. I am a person always after best price/performance devices either on mobile side and computer side. And I was also looking for a device which can be usable with one hand. HTC One S was the device that struck me with price/performance (S4 variant of course) build quality etc. it really worth every single franks I paid for it. But there is an issue. If your girlfriend wants a mobil which she can use with one hand, although HOS seems best bet you can get it's fairly hard to use with only one hand. most of the time you need the help of other hand. And if you already had to use two hands why to narrow your selection? Another thing: It's really hard to use it without a case which provides a firm grip. otherwise our phone is as slippery as a fish.