Database Info

[Q] Upgrade to which phone?

Hey guys,
I really want to upgrade my phone. Currently I have a Desire S but the screen is far to small for my needs :/
So i want to upgrade. There are 3 phones were i'm interested in: the Galaxy S2, the Galaxy Nexus and the normal Sensation.
I really like the speed of the S2 and the hardware home button, but the resolution is incredible low on this device Against that there is the Nexus, its a bit slower from what i've heard but has a beautiful screen in my opinion. Did any of you guys know if the decrease in speed is noticeable in daily use? I really like that it is also supported directly from Google and get the updates asap.
There are also the Sensation because i like the aluminium case from HTC.
I prefer the Nexus and the S2 a bit over the Sensation. So which phone you recommend for me?
- Cheers Jahai

Jahai said:
Hey guys,
I really want to upgrade my phone. Currently I have a Desire S but the screen is far to small for my needs :/
So i want to upgrade. There are 3 phones were i'm interested in: the Galaxy S2, the Galaxy Nexus and the normal Sensation.
I really like the speed of the S2 and the hardware home button, but the resolution is incredible low on this device Against that there is the Nexus, its a bit slower from what i've heard but has a beautiful screen in my opinion. Did any of you guys know if the decrease in speed is noticeable in daily use? I really like that it is also supported directly from Google and get the updates asap.
There are also the Sensation because i like the aluminium case from HTC.
I prefer the Nexus and the S2 a bit over the Sensation. So which phone you recommend for me?
- Cheers Jahai
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm sorry to tell you, but I think you are at the wrong place. Everyone here likes his desire s.
If you need a big screen, try galaxy note or use pc
Sent my thoughts to your head with XDA App

Jahai said:
Hey guys,
I really want to upgrade my phone. Currently I have a Desire S but the screen is far to small for my needs :/
So i want to upgrade. There are 3 phones were i'm interested in: the Galaxy S2, the Galaxy Nexus and the normal Sensation.
I really like the speed of the S2 and the hardware home button, but the resolution is incredible low on this device Against that there is the Nexus, its a bit slower from what i've heard but has a beautiful screen in my opinion. Did any of you guys know if the decrease in speed is noticeable in daily use? I really like that it is also supported directly from Google and get the updates asap.
There are also the Sensation because i like the aluminium case from HTC.
I prefer the Nexus and the S2 a bit over the Sensation. So which phone you recommend for me?
- Cheers Jahai
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would advise you to wait for the Mobile World Congress before upgrading... you'll have many more options within a couple of months...
But if you still want to upgrade now, here's my input :
1. Sensation : ? Why would you want to consider that? It's an average phone, and from whatever time i've spent on it on my friend's phone, it's nothing to write hone about. Does anyone even remember the original Sensation anymore (Especially after the XL and the XE?)
2. The SGS2 is a very very fast phone, with great hardware, but i have two issues with it : The screen has a bluish tinge to it, and colour reproduction is inaccurate across the spectrum. Secondly, it looks like a plastic business card holder
3. The Galaxy Nexus is a lovely looking device, the form factor is very attractive. In my discussions with zeekiz (who bricked his DS and migrated to the GN) he says he loves the phone and it's not slow or anything like you mentioned. Plus, you'll be the first person to get the next Android version update (Jellybean). Thirdly, it always makes sense to go for the newer device, both for the gains in hardware, as well as company support that comes more easily and lasts longer for newer (especially) flagship phones.
Best of luck choosing your next device!!

Jahai said:
Hey guys,
I really want to upgrade my phone. Currently I have a Desire S but the screen is far to small for my needs :/
So i want to upgrade. There are 3 phones were i'm interested in: the Galaxy S2, the Galaxy Nexus and the normal Sensation.
I really like the speed of the S2 and the hardware home button, but the resolution is incredible low on this device Against that there is the Nexus, its a bit slower from what i've heard but has a beautiful screen in my opinion. Did any of you guys know if the decrease in speed is noticeable in daily use? I really like that it is also supported directly from Google and get the updates asap.
There are also the Sensation because i like the aluminium case from HTC.
I prefer the Nexus and the S2 a bit over the Sensation. So which phone you recommend for me?
- Cheers Jahai
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just a small note here, with my experiance the 3.7' of the Desire S is the largest screen size for a mobile that I can -almost- fully use with one hand, whenever you go beyond that, you may have to get used to work with both hands, and that made me drop the sensation in favor of my DS
Sent from my HTC Desire S using xda premium

I came from a HTC Sensation to the Desire S as i found the Sensation too big. Surprisingly i have found the Desire S not much slower.

I would also wait for the MWC...but if you can't wait, IMHO Sensation is a good device especially after it's rooted and equipped with the custom ICS based roms made for the XE version (with CPU at 1.5 Ghz)...i think capy's work.
Anyway you have a lot of roms to try even with ICS out there.
Regarding the SGSII it's ok if you want a plastic phone....
Galaxy Nexus has a good screen and it's not slow but i think it's a little big, you will clearly need 2 hands if you want to use it properly.

cpx07 said:
Regarding the SGSII it's ok if you want a plastic phone....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No-go for me... Plastic toy feeling
Sent my thoughts to your head with XDA App

eyahl said:
No-go for me... Plastic toy feeling
Sent my thoughts to your head with XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Right on! Exactly my thoughts about the SGS2. It feels like a business card holder!

Wait for mwc and HTC edge if price isn't the big deal
Otherwise, i personaly would buy a sensation, the gs2 is sure a nice device, but like mentioned above the screen isn't the best and the plastic body feels weird.
The galaxy nexus isn't a device for me, there are 2 dealbreakers at my opinion, even if the resolution is better than at the gs2 the grapic chip is wors and there is no sd slot.
The update cycle is sure a point and the nfc also, but for my opinion it's a pure developer phone.
The sensation is from hardware almost the same like the sensation xe and every rom can be exchanged between those 2 devices, there is no nfc, for sure, but the gs2 also haven't got one, so this isn't a point of interest for you i think.
Also even if all of them have them same frequenzies the sensation runs at a stock speed of 1.5 ghz with an xe rom, so it got the highest frequency of those phones.
Swifted from my Desire S far away from my PC

yeah i'd wait for MWC but if not galaxy nexus for all the reasons above. It is definitely not a slow phone, especially since google probably built ICS for the nexus. The only thing i hate about the nexus phones is the fact that they're always released at awkward times. By awkward, i mean right before all the new hardware comes out. My brother has an S2 and it does have a horrible plasticky feeling. While the galaxy nexus is the same, it seems to hide it better. The white S2 is even worse! It has no grip on the back which makes it absolutely horrible to hold, not to mention a liability too.

It's been a while since I did a megga-post.....
From what I'm hearing about HTC's line-up for MWC, I hope they also announce a sensible phone. At the moment I really don't know what I'll get, as the current rumours all seem to have several problems for me.
1. Screens too big.
I have a non-upgradable 2.5" thumb. I've spoken to my network provider but they wont give me a larger one. I do not want to have to change grip or use two hands to turn screen on/off. The DS screen size is perfect. It is fine watching films on Netflix.
2. Quad core. Really?
Does anyone remember the Coca-Cola/Sprite stunt yo-yo's from the eighties? (Bear with me here, work is a little slow today and I feel a rant coming on.) They were a massive craze when I was at school. They came in two versions. "Standard" and "Pro". The Pro ones cost nearly twice as much. Why was that? It was because the Pro version had "Pro" written on the side. That was it. They were the same size and weight as the standard version. But every kid in my class practically sold a kidney to get the pro version, because to show up in the playground with the standard version stood you out for ridicule, and everyone was certain the Pro version could do better stunts. What is quad core going to give us? How often is it going to be running on more than 2 cores? Can it do better stunts? My single core phone can render web pages quickly, run any game I've asked it to, record 720p video at 30fps, and has a smooth and lag free UI. It just doesn't have "Pro" written all over it. That word seems to brain-wash kids into doling out dosh! Kids love the idea of being "Pro". Look at what every premium version of any app on the Android Marketplace is called.
3. Skinny form-factors
Leading to phones being bendy and having a non-removable battery. I like my solid aluminium DS. I've held the SGS2. It feels like a kinder surpise egg. Squeeze it too hard and I worry it'd break. Plus if we are having to have a (pro) Quad Core phone don't we need a bigger battery? Did you know the HTC Edge has a fifth core (super pro) that is a very low power companion core for when the phone is off in your pocket? Turn your phone on (without dropping it changing your grip to reach the button) and expect laptop battery life from the 40nm chip. Will it come with a Pro Charger?
4. No SD Card slot.
OK most of the phones with these also claim built-in 32GB storage which is fine for capacity, but what if I brick my phone larking about on XDA? What if it just packs in? Currently all my music/photos/documents would simply be removed and put into another phone. If it's built-in and your phone wont boot.....Are the cloud-storage sites encouraging phone manufacturers to do this?
5. Build Quality.
HTC seem to have really dropped the ball with this one. They used to be fantastic. However I know 3 people who have bought the DS since September (on my recommendation) and all of them have been back for repair at least once. One of them died for the second time two nights ago with the dreaded eMMC chip failure again! WTF? Did they replace the faulty board with another one prone with the same weakness? She also waited 6 weeks to get that phone back the first time. I feel guilty now. Also check Amazon for the reviews of the DS. Since September it's started getting a load of 1 star reviews and they all read the same. It seems I was lucky in buying my DS on it's release, before it seems HTC moved production to the local wine bar/crack house. There is no way I'm spending £450 on something I'm not confident will last a year or will take me 6 weeks to get repaired.
If HTC...no if ANYONE announce a phone that has: A screen under 4", solid build, removable battery, SD card slot, improved camera optics, decent amount of RAM, reasonable battery life and justifiable processing power, then I'll get my wallet out. Or if it comes with a free Pro Yo-Yo. They do better stunts.
Basically I want a DS with a nicer camera and bigger battery. And a sticker that says "Pro" on it.

wnp_79 said:
It's been a while since I did a megga-post.....
(Bear with me here, work is a little slow today and I feel a rant coming on.)
Basically I want a DS with a nicer camera and bigger battery. And a sticker that says "Pro" on it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Brilliant!
Love the rant (and i thought i was the only one with this illness)
I agree on mostly everything you've said above... especially HTC screwing up on its strengths... build quality, sub-par components, and progressively bloat-ier (i know that's not a word) Sense... Though i'd still buy an HTC instead of a Samsung, all things set aside, they do better stunts!!

Yeah. Your words seem to come right from my mind.
a desire s pro would be really cool
Sent my thoughts to your head with XDA App

If i had the choice, i'd choose the sensation in a heartbeat.
First, it has the beat build IMO. The SGS 2 is too plasticky and since it's far too thin, it feels weird in my hand. The galaxy nexus is waaaaaay to big. The sensation is perfect
Second, HTC Sense. It is just too good and i can't get a device that has no chance of getting Sense. Besides, touchwiz sucks and the stock experience on the nexus can be acieved through an AOSP ROM.
That said, the super amoled screen is quiet good ad a plus point of both sammys.
That said, i recommend you wait till MWC. Something awesome will surely come up. There is a thread, full of leaks on the two upcoming htc devices, the One X and the One S.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1476788

it has to be the htc amaze, i think its a great phone, in addition to that htc has quality in its build, as in our desire s the aluminum feel is way better than the plastic in most samsungs

Coming from Galaxy Nexus

Just received the htc one s today,I must say im impressed even coming from a galaxy nexus which i still have.The one s is so smooth and i must say i like sense 4, stock android got a little boring after awhile.Hate it if you want but sense brings some useful features to the table and it looks professional unlike touch wiz and the cartoon icons.Even tho its pentile amoled the screen looks much better than the galaxy nexus hd amoled screen reason mostly because of the blobs and lines on the nexus.Im huge on music and htc seems to always have better sound cards/drivers than sammy.Overall im happy with both phones i will occasionally switch back and forth when im bored now all i have to do is order a micro sim adapter =( and root but ill hold out till dev picks up

I too came from a Galaxy Nexus, and thus far, I'm happy I made the trade (equal swap, Galaxy Nexus with box and accessories new condition for a new condition One S with box and accessories).
The main reason I made the trade was because my Nexus had the worst case of the blues (and yellows). It had the worst blue-ish/yellow-ish tint/hue I've seen on any S-Amoled phone I've owned. The SGS2 I have is a lower res, but the S-Amoled Plus made a big difference in regards to generating accurate whites without a yellow layer looming over.
Ultimately I'm happy I made the swap and I actually realized that I prefer the 4.3 inch display with the soft capacitive buttons over the 4.65. I'm also one of the rare folks who prefers the pentile qHD display due to everything looking a bit sharper, which has been much easier on my eyes.
Glad you like the One S, I'm completely satisfied with mines so far and for the first time in 6 months of switching back and forth between phones, I've got a keeper, and have found the "One".

I havent really found the right one yet there seems to be flaws with all the phones in the past 6 months iv'e owned (iphone 4) lack of hspa+ speed on tmobile (sensation 4g)dust under screen over heating(amaze 4g)horrible battery life(galaxy s2)blobs and lines on screen,call echo with case on(galaxy nexus)i got lucky had minimal lines on screen only on extremely low lights.And now the one s.I love both the nexus and one s maybe i'll sell both and get the galaxy s3 when it comes out.But for now im enjoying it while my nexus gathers dust.

HigherSensation said:
I havent really found the right one yet there seems to be flaws with all the phones in the past 6 months iv'e owned (iphone 4) lack of hspa+ speed on tmobile (sensation 4g)dust under screen over heating(amaze 4g)horrible battery life(galaxy s2)blobs and lines on screen,call echo with case on(galaxy nexus)i got lucky had minimal lines on screen only on extremely low lights.And now the one s.I love both the nexus and one s maybe i'll sell both and get the galaxy s3 when it comes out.But for now im enjoying it while my nexus gathers dust.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haha, we're all almost identical in the phone's we've owned in the past 6 months.
I had (still have) an iPhone 4 (I know, dirty right? The games are still great, despite the smaller screen), and I also couldn't use it due to lack of 3G and running on slow ass edge. Also had an HTC Amaze with HORRIBLE battery, SGS2 had blobs, but the colors were great and battery life wasn't as bad once I flashed a great ICS Rom on it (shout out to TDJ for Darkside Evolution ICS port), Galaxy Nexus, which I actually liked, but personally, thought it was a bit too big and the screen color issues killed it for me, and now the One S, which I have yet to put down to be honest. My wife has been berating me about the time I spend with this phone (or all phones for that matter) as opposed to you know, couple things, but I can't help it, there's just so many choices!

The galaxy S2 wasnt bad at all i only jumped ship when i seen the nexus for 400.I ended up selling my white t989 for 450 and getting the nexus for 442 tax and shipping included..The t989 forums has little dev activity but they do have great devs most notably Eugene373 for his cm7 and muiu kangs..Since you've had the One S a bit longer than I is there any issues?And also hows the battery life so far.Its on par with the t989 on my end but i've only received the phone today..

HigherSensation said:
The galaxy S2 wasnt bad at all i only jumped ship when i seen the nexus for 400.I ended up selling my white t989 for 450 and getting the nexus for 442 tax and shipping included..The t989 forums has little dev activity but they do have great devs most notably Eugene373 for his cm7 and muiu kangs..Since you've had the One S a bit longer than I is there any issues?And also hows the battery life so far.Its on par with the t989 on my end but i've only received the phone today..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So far battery imo has been better then the Nexus, and about on par with the SGS2, slightly better. I use Juice Defender to boost battery life, and it's helped. I've gotten up to 11 hours of very very heavy usage on the One S playing Temple Run for long periods of time, surfing the web, playing more temple run, texting, emailing, phone calls, navigation and gps, downloading apps, fiddling with the OS, etc, and this is all stock. I haven't rooted or installed a rom, I'm strictly stock as of right now. There's a few animation glitches here and there.
For example, when scrolling through the Gmail widget, the widget will think I'm trying to resize it, which gets annoying, but if you scroll slowly, you won't have that issue. I'm sure the carrier will send a fix for these minor mishaps.
Otherwise I've had a few data connectivity issues, and I live in a pretty good HSPA+ location where I get 15-22mb down and about 5-7 up. It sometimes goes into airplane mode on it's own only to turn back on, and I realize this because I'll get the notification for the same voicemail I haven't checked for 2 days. It doesn't happen very often and when it does, you probably won't even notice.
That's pretty much all I've spotted thus far, it's been great otherwise and I'm having fun playing with the stock build until I end up rooting it and flashing a rom (if I end up doing so, I'm enjoying stock enough to not feel it necessary to do so).
Plus, been getting great benchmarks, roughly 5000 on quadrant, which is much higher then stock ICS on the G-Nexus and the SGS2.
It's zippy, it's quick, it works well, Sense 4.0 isn't overbloated or cartoonish like TouchWiz, and it's thin enough to catch people's attention and ask me what it is.
So ultimately, I think you'll end up enjoying this device. It's really much cleaner and more fluid of an experience over the Amaze, and has just about the right battery life to get you through the day with moderate to high use.

Nice review ...How about cases,which do you have? I see they have the cruzer lite for the one s.

HigherSensation said:
Nice review ...How about cases,which do you have? I see they have the cruzer lite for the one s.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks
I haven't bought a case yet, I went to a kiosk in our local Galleria called "Gadget Guard", they went ahead and installed a complete body cover, great quality, perfect installation on the front and back, doesn't compromise the speaker grills, camera, or the flash. It also doesn't have the quasi-ridges that you see on Zagg protectors. So I'm content with this thus far until I see a nice case. Thing is, the phone is so elegant as is, so thin and feels great in the hand, that I feel somewhat bad casing it up. But on the other end, it's cash in my hand, so I have to protect my investment!
I hadn't seen those Cruzer cases, just googled it, those look sweet.

check this post http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1622006

HigherSensation said:
check this post http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1622006
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah man the clear one is nice, but so is the black one. Think I'm gonna order one of both. Thanks, I've been searching for cases, and I think I'm done searching now.
---------- Post added at 05:14 AM ---------- Previous post was at 05:12 AM ----------
HigherSensation said:
check this post http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1622006
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://store.androidandme.com/cruze...rlite-androidified-a2-tpu-case/4A54A11361.htm

They have buy 2 get one free!!!

HigherSensation said:
Just received the htc one s today,I must say im impressed even coming from a galaxy nexus which i still have.The one s is so smooth and i must say i like sense 4, stock android got a little boring after awhile.Hate it if you want but sense brings some useful features to the table and it looks professional unlike touch wiz and the cartoon icons.Even tho its pentile amoled the screen looks much better than the galaxy nexus hd amoled screen reason mostly because of the blobs and lines on the nexus.Im huge on music and htc seems to always have better sound cards/drivers than sammy.Overall im happy with both phones i will occasionally switch back and forth when im bored now all i have to do is order a micro sim adapter =( and root but ill hold out till dev picks up
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm in the EXACT same position as you. Love both and will be switching between the two. Hate touchwiz and Samsung and love HTC. Oh well.
Sent from my HTC One S using XDA

It came down to the One S or the Galaxy Nexus for me and I am glad that I went with the One S. The design of the phone is just too beautiful. I've had the AOSP experience on ICS and I'm okay with Sense being on top. A phone that is 5 months ahead of another phone really proves what it can improve on and the One S is proof of that.

I too came from the Nexus Prime, and I like the screen of the one S better than the nexus, especially considering that the nexus had an HD screen. I also had the international one X and that screen is just AMAZING but unfortunately would not get T-Mobile 3G or 4G so I got the one S instead & I'm loving it. Slim design, excellent battery life and great screen. Only thing I would like would be a 32GB version like the one X and on screen keys like the nexus but overall I like it. The battery last way longer than the nexus.
Sent from my HTC One S using xda premium

Ditch One S for Nexus 4?

I placed an order for the Nexus 4 16GB on the Play Store last week for around 380 including tax and shipping. It will still take two weeks before it ships, and now I am having second thoughts. I like my One S and am not too impressed by the Nexus 4 specs. Any personal thoughts / opinions?
Sent from my HTC One S using Tapatalk 2

The only things it has over the one s is double the speed/ram and stock android updated by Google, other than that the one s has a better build quality better camera
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app

I've heard bad things about the N4's battery life. And I am very sceptical to any phone with a back made of glass. That said, it is really cheap for the specs it has. Snapdragon S4 Pro is pretty sexy.

Yea I'm not into the back being made of glass, the galaxy note 2 to me is the best on the market but until I get onto a new carrier which won't be for awhile I'm stuck on the one s
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app

Wait everyone.....
Does the HTC one S have lte technology?

cannondale0815 said:
I placed an order for the Nexus 4 16GB on the Play Store last week for around 380 including tax and shipping. It will still take two weeks before it ships, and now I am having second thoughts. I like my One S and am not too impressed by the Nexus 4 specs. Any personal thoughts / opinions?
Sent from my HTC One S using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cannondale, it is only thanks to you that I stuck with the One S. I only had it for 2 days and thought I had bricked it until I found your post on repairing a soft brick.
My opinion is that a LG phone will never have as good a build quality as a HTC phone, also camera is way below HOS spec. I have heard that the battery life is very poor. The only current phone I would possibly swap for is the Galaxy Note 2!
Change your mind and stay with the better phone for now.

I don't know, I see all this praise over the One S, only from the owners of one, I have the Galaxy Nexus and the HTC One S unrooted stock (for now) and I always prefer to use my GNex. Bigger and better display makes a big difference for the better and the customizations and support. The HTC One S is more powerful but the freedom of the Nexus is a wonderful thing! I haven't rooted my One S yet cause I can't find a Cincinnati Bell Wireless RUU for it, I guess there isn't one. So when I use my One S I miss all the things I can do with my Nexus. I suppose I can do the same things with the HTC it just doesn't seem easy or practical. The Nexus is a developers phone and if you are a flash addict like me thats what makes Nexus users always go back to Nexus. Once you go Nexus you never go back! Lol. I loved my Nexus S and love my Galaxy Nexus even more and I am sure I would love the Nexus 4, just don't have any reason to give up on my GNex yet. So if you are happy with the development for the HTC One S then I would probably stay, I still need to root mine to find out. From what I have seen, especially since there is no RUU for my network it seems to much of a hassle.

Unfortunately the one S is a highly under rated phone, people right it off straight away before even using one for more than a few minutes (even though pretty much every expert review has spoken very highly of it and the only disadvantages they mention of it, is the screen sharpness and limited storage), you don't get to appreciate just how good it really is in 10-20 minutes of usage. IMO the only phones that are truly better overall are the:
- XL and the X+
- GS 3 and note II
- RAZR HD/MAXX
Plus having virtually no advertisements for the phone means average joes etc. will think that it mustn't be that good and therefore won't care, advertise/market the phone as good as the GS 3 and iphones and people will be interested.
The galaxy nexus display is nice, definitely sharper/clearer than the S, however, IMO it is too dull for SAMOLED panel, the one S is the best when it comes to calibration for colour settings, whites are the best I have seen on a SAMOLED screen, view ability in sunshine is far better from my usage with both. The display isn't "much" bigger due to the on screen buttons, iirc the height is pretty much the same but the galaxy nexus is a bit wider, I would have liked the screen on the S to have been a bit wider.
I was going to get the nexus 4 if HTC didn't get the JB update out by the end of this month, however, after reading reviews and loads of users comments, I will probably stay with the S till the butterfly comes out here. Seems more like a side/down grade overall:
- Mixed opinion on the screen, some say it is as good if not better than the X display, but others say the screen is washed out and poor viewing angles, which I can't stand, personally I prefer SAMOLED screens overall
- camera overall isn't as good
- build/perceived quality and design IMO isn't as good (still a lovely looking phone though)
Main advantages of the nexus 4 over the S:
- battery life once they fix the problems with the drivers/software
- nexus device so will get updates

I didn't get the N4 simply because it's too big. I have a one S with AOKP JB ROM and it works like a charm--fast internet, data, no problems with any apps I've tried. I recognize I'm probably in JB 4.1 for the life of the phone but JB finally realizes the promise of Android and I'll probably be happy with it for the next couple of years. And on eBay the one S, rooted and all, was a third cheaper than the N4.
Sent from my HTC One S using xda app-developers app

I had the two phones side by side the other day, and after turning both screens on my decision was made. After being spoiled by the true blacks and rich colors of the one s screen, I couldn't stand the nexus 4 screen.
As far as the specs go, yeah, you get more processing power and ram, but do you need it yet? Does screen size outweigh screen quality? And as far as updates go, if you're rooted, you got 'em.
Sent from a baked One S
If I've helped hit the thanks button

I want to thank everyone for your sensible responses and advice. I decided to sell my Nexus 4 to a colleague. It was very, very difficult to give it away. I had only opened the box one time before, and when I opened it again to give it to him, I almost went back on the deal to keep it. But my resolve was strong
Sent from my HTC One S using Tapatalk 2

I have a N4 and One S. I haven't had it long enough to give a full review. I've been waiting for the successor to the Galaxy Nexus for a while and was turned of at first to hear it was produced by LG. Now that I have one I don't care who made it. He's some simple observations.
Build quality: Very Good - My phone has no creeks or blemishes it's a perfect example.
Screen: Looks great, I don't have much experience with color accuracy but the colors/brightness/clarity are good.
They did speed binning on the SOC and I also got lucky there and got a "Fast" one. I think it just means the kernel will under-volt it by 50ma vs a "Normal" chip
I flashed CM on both phones as fast as I could so there isn't really any difference in terms user experience.
I don't use any of the new 4.2 features.
While it feels thicker laying the two phones flat on a table side by side they seem the same thickness overall. The One S is slimmer in the middle of course.
HTC One S has USB OTG. The Nexus does not, I'm really bummed about that.
Speed wise they are the same to me.
Turns out the 3g/4g switching that alarmed us when the One S came out is hear to stay. It's just more honest reporting of phones connection. Both my phones drop to H when not pulling down data and switch up to H+ when there is actual through put.
I thought I would like the buttons drawn on the screen but they seem to close. I don't like it now that I have it.
That's it for now. I need a little more time to get a better feel for it.

I am getting HTC One S with S4 processor for $180 and Nexus 4 16GB for $280
which one should i choose at this price ? Help experts ....

Wait
Wait for nexus 5

Trying to decide between S4 HTC One and LG Optimus G Pro

These seem like the three hottest phones right now, and i know i throw this up in the S4 forum so i am sure to get a bit biased replies, i am curious about comparing all 3.
To me it seems like the One has better sound quality and screen, the S4 supposedly has a bit better speeds (and probably best development) and the OGP has biggest screen size.
I don't love the interface design on the One, specifically no menu button or ability to see recently used apps, could be a deal breaker on it's own. The LG phone is an interesting one...seems like a nicely designed phone, and if you don't really have a need for most of Samsung's zany apps and stuff, it might be a great phone. Biggest problem i am worried about is - lack of development. I got burned on an OG Note when the Note 2 arrived and Samsung basically moved on, never to release an official JB version. I would hate to buy into another great phone only to get burned by lack of a following or something.
I'm sure anyone would be happy as a clam with any of these three bad boys, but anyone have an opinion when comparing them first hand?

Dillsnik said:
These seem like the three hottest phones right now, and i know i throw this up in the S4 forum so i am sure to get a bit biased replies, i am curious about comparing all 3.
To me it seems like the One has better sound quality and screen, the S4 supposedly has a bit better speeds (and probably best development) and the OGP has biggest screen size.
I don't love the interface design on the One, specifically no menu button or ability to see recently used apps, could be a deal breaker on it's own. The LG phone is an interesting one...seems like a nicely designed phone, and if you don't really have a need for most of Samsung's zany apps and stuff, it might be a great phone. Biggest problem i am worried about is - lack of development. I got burned on an OG Note when the Note 2 arrived and Samsung basically moved on, never to release an official JB version. I would hate to buy into another great phone only to get burned by lack of a following or something.
I'm sure anyone would be happy as a clam with any of these three bad boys, but anyone have an opinion when comparing them first hand?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I owned the One for a week and switched it for GS4. The Audio on the One sounds better(double front facing stereo speakers > single backfacing speaker) although the volume is about the same, and the screen is brighter, However the 4MP camera couldn't get enough detail for me and the photos looks really fuzzy on my 1440p screen. The AMOLED screen on the GS4 is beautiful and not too bad in sunlight either(One'LCD is better under the sun, but not much better).
Another benefit of GS4 is that the battery life is significantly better than the One, even when I run the GS4 at max brightness(Dynamic Mode) at all times,

Haven't used an Optimus G Pro, but I have both the One and S4. You're right about the button placement on the HTC, it's infuriating. There are custom kernels that allow you to sweep the capacitive buttons or hold the HTC logo to wake and sleep the phone, but they don't work as reliably as I'd like. The S4 is much better in that sense, in my opinion anyways. I prefer the screen on the HTC. I do a lot of Web browsing and I find it's much easier on the eyes. I've done a factory reset, turned off animations, and disabled S-Voice, but my S4 is noticeably more laggy than the HTC. It's actually shockingly laggy given the hardware. I don't take a ton of pictures, but when I do it's almost always in good lightning conditions, so for me the S4 camera trounces the camera on the HTC.
At this point you honestly can't really go wrong. Battery life is similar for my usage, maybe marginally better on the S4. If you can live with 32gb of storage (realistically about 26gb) I'd go for the HTC.
Sent from my SGH-I337M using xda premium

I used the Optimus G Pro (OGP) for 2 days before exchanging for a GS4. I exchanged because the battery life on the Optimus G pro was horrible. I had a NOTE II before and that battery would go all day & some. The screen did get a little brighter than the Galaxy S4, but that was the only benefit for me. I changed because of the battery drain, the lack of assessories, and the predicted lack of development. Both have locked bootloaders, but I figured I would get that unlocked sooner on the GS4 and have more ROMS available to me. I did like the customizable options included with the OGP, but I would choose the GS4 over it again if I had a chance.

I have all 3 phones. I use the LG Optimus G Pro as a daily driver at this point as my sgs4 lags big time and battery life sucks. My batter life on LG Optimus G Pro is very good and I have a note 2. I can go two days with heavy usage no issues. The screen is the best on LG Optimus G Pro compared to HTC one and sgs4.
HTC one build, look and feel is the best it is the iPhone of the android world. However I had the capacitive buttons they suck. The sound is better then any phone out there and I think screen looks good but battery life sucks. Will have decent dev support and comes in 64 or 32gb. No removable battery or sd card.
Sgs4 has nice big screen, 16gb storage total crap as 9gb is only use bale, you can get 32gb now. Cheap plastic build feels worst from all 3 phones. The phone is not as smooth as HTC one or LG Optimus G Pro unless you use a custom rom like CM. The size and screen is perfect if you want a bigger screen but not a big phone. Will have decent dev support. Removable battery and sd card slot.
Lg Optimus G Pro comes in 32gb with micro sd and Removable battery. Has best screen from all phones I have. It is super fast and battery is great. Boot loader is locked with no info if it will ever be unlocked so development is none at this point. Screen is 5.5 and 1080p. I like note 2 so this is a direct replacement for it until note 3 comes out. The phone is actually lighter and not as wide as note 2 so easier to hold single handed.
Hope this helps.
Sent from my LG-E980 using xda premium

Galaxy s4 Octa is better than all others... GRAPHIC CPU SCREEEN RAM MEMORY DDR2 ETC ETC
Sent from my GT-I9500 using xda app-developers app

ardianow said:
Galaxy s4 Octa is better than all others... GRAPHIC CPU SCREEEN RAM MEMORY DDR2 ETC ETC
Sent from my GT-I9500 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To bad it's not lte and costs a lot in US to folks like negri or expansys but yeah I agree the intl sgs4 is better always is the case with samsung they give us in US the crap version.
Sent from my LG-E980 using xda premium

Of you are looking for development then the answer is simple, GS4. Reason being is Google is releasing an S4 with stock Android and it is supported by Google, not Samsung. We should have the best of both worlds. Pretty easy decision if you ask me
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using xda app-developers app

Have all three, imo its S4, G Pro, One in that order. Ever since development took off for the S4 and the lag was removed, S4 hands down is the best phone on the market (again, imo)...Optimus G Pro was a huge surprise as its an EXCELLENT phone with a great screen and decent battery (nowhere near as good as Note 2, right on par with S4)...the only issues I have with G Pro is reversed capacitive buttons and the screen is impossible to see outdoors, which is when I simply grab my S4 and go...the One is a great phone, I just got too used to physical home button and multi-tasking (through multi-window or Q Slide), plus I really, REALLY don't care for Sense in any of its iterations...G Pro volume is low even with an aux cable in my car, but fine with Bluetooth, S4 is loud, and One is loud. Clearly One wins design, but if functionality is what you want, I'd go with S4 and G Pro every time.
Sent from my SGH-I337 using xda premium

jev3gs said:
Of you are looking for development then the answer is simple, GS4. Reason being is Google is releasing an S4 with stock Android and it is supported by Google, not Samsung. We should have the best of both worlds. Pretty easy decision if you ask me
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HTC one is also releasing a Google edition this summer so choice is narrowed down again.
Sent from my LG-E980 using xda premium

I was another one of those guys on the fence between these three phones. Ended up ruling out the LG for two reasons: I can't stand the gov't issue LG phones they gave us to use at work and I really don't think I can handle lugging around a phone with a 5.5" screen in my uniform all day.
So that put me between the One and S4. While the one is favored for its front-facing speakers and LCD3 screen, it features no removable storage or user-accessible parts. Have a failed battery? Too bad, need to replace your entire phone. Need more space? Too bad, you only get what's on it (even though 64GB isn't too shabby). So, yes, the One is basically the iPhone of the Android world that just so happens to already have a decent amount of development now, but what will it be like when HTC moves on to whatever new phone it chooses to support? Those of us who owned an Evo knows exactly what I'm talking about.
That being said, the consumer-level development on the One is impressive. They've managed to remove the menu bar for apps that aren't ICS-compliant (Viper will, for one) and allowed you to finally bring the clock speeds back up to be comparable to (if not better than...at your own risk) the S4.
I will personally stick with the S4. There's always a bigger push for development for Samsung's phones, they tend to have better resale potential, and I will actually benefit from a user-accessible battery and SD card storage. Since the S4's SD slot is SDXC-compatible, should they manage to find an ability to have a cards' size in excess of 64GB, you've got MONSTER potential for storage.
One more vote for the S4, and not one from a Samsung fanboy. I was reluctant to decide on it after my Epic 4G was an Epic FAIL, but I feel it's the superior phone for me.

I would opt for the Samsung Galaxy S4 just because there is more development in it other then the other two phones. Also IMO the phone is much easier to use and has a smaller learning curve then the HTC One. The lag on the S4 truly sucks but for some reason I feel the lag is going away with time or as apps update so maybe the problem is getting taken care of. I primary feel the lag when receiving text messages. I use the iPhone as my benchmark for software and smoothness and the Galaxy Note 2 was the closest android phone to iPhone in terms of stability lack of lag and reliability. I thought samsung was taking things in the right direction but I feel they took a step back with the S4. Hopefully they redeem themselves!

For me, it came down to how I was going to use the device. Rarely do I play games or watch movies/tv on my phone, so why would I need front facing speakers anyway? I have a bluetooth stereo speaker if I want to listed to music with friends (jawbone). The ability to replace the battery, sd-card, and the lack of a MENU button pushed me over the top for the ONE. With the LG, it ended up just plain being too large, I have enough tablets in my life. The S4 actually isn't that big, the screen is just bigger because there's a smaller bezel. That left me with one choice, the S4, as much as I hate the rounded corners and plastic feel, the first thing we all do is put a case on it anyway.

sabre31 said:
HTC one is also releasing a Google edition this summer so choice is narrowed down again.
Sent from my LG-E980 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Really? Cause there's no proof of that rumor. HTC denied it anyways so yeah.
Sent from my SGH-1337 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
---------- Post added at 09:46 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:43 PM ----------
thdaddy34 said:
I would opt for the Samsung Galaxy S4 just because there is more development in it other then the other two phones. Also IMO the phone is much easier to use and has a smaller learning curve then the HTC One. The lag on the S4 truly sucks but for some reason I feel the lag is going away with time or as apps update so maybe the problem is getting taken care of. I primary feel the lag when receiving text messages. I use the iPhone as my benchmark for software and smoothness and the Galaxy Note 2 was the closest android phone to iPhone in terms of stability lack of lag and reliability. I thought samsung was taking things in the right direction but I feel they took a step back with the S4. Hopefully they redeem themselves!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The note 2 was laggy as first too. It'll be fixed.
Sent from my SGH-1337 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

S4 is a piss poor release from Samsung. Let's all get our fanboy hats off for a minute. It will be a good phone do to custom roms and devs supporting like CM. People jumped all over apple for releasing iPhone 5 which was similar to iPhone 4s. Samsung copied and did same thing with s4 compared to s3. Note 2 was stable and lack free from day one I had it and used it every day from first day of release until sgs4 was released. I do have an sgs4 and samsung could have done much better.

sabre31 said:
S4 is a piss poor release from Samsung. Let's all get our fanboy hats off for a minute. It will be a good phone do to custom roms and devs supporting like CM. People jumped all over apple for releasing iPhone 5 which was similar to iPhone 4s. Samsung copied and did same thing with s4 compared to s3. Note 2 was stable and lack free from day one I had it and used it every day from first day of release until sgs4 was released. I do have an sgs4 and samsung could have done much better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The gs4 and gs3 was a pretty decent jump. you talk about it so negatively... why do you have it
Sent from my SGH-1337 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

jetlitheone said:
The gs4 and gs3 was a pretty decent jump. you talk about it so negatively... why do you have it
Sent from my SGH-1337 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have all the newest phones but I also am unbiased and don't stick to one brand or phone and call it like it is. With time and with custom roms sgs4 will be good. It is not my daily driver until cm10.1 comes out for it.

It just blows my mind how Samsung got it so right with the Galaxy Note 2 and couldn't replicate it with the Galaxy s4. I would assume all they had to do was take a product or software that was one of their best and improve it but instead they made it worse. I am really hoping for an update to be released soon to fix many of the software glitches. I am also wondering if this is more of an American galaxy s4 problem that's the international version does not suffer from or A cross-platform problem. But other than the occasional lagginess the Galaxy s4 blows away the competition.

sabre31 said:
I have all the newest phones but I also am unbiased and don't stick to one brand or phone and call it like it is. With time and with custom roms sgs4 will be good. It is not my daily driver until cm10.1 comes out for it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same for me. I had the One IPhone 5 and the galaxy note 2 and this is my favorite by far. The lag isn't too bad at all especially with custom kernels and such. Why use cyanogenmod with this though?
Sent from my SGH-1337 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

jetlitheone said:
Same for me. I had the One IPhone 5 and the galaxy note 2 and this is my favorite by far. The lag isn't too bad at all especially with custom kernels and such. Why use cyanogenmod with this though?
Sent from my SGH-1337 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To be honest my phone is really lagging I may have a bad unit to be honest I am hoping cm10 will fix this or some custom tw rom. But phone is perfect screen size and size for phone.
Sent from my LG-E980 using xda premium

Is it worth it to upgrade? (Galaxy S4)

I wanted to know if anyone regrets his/her decision to get a Nexus 5 since im kinda stuck. My S4 is fine but i saw 2friends getting this weird break in the screen, where the gorilla glass is all fine, but the amoled behind it is broken. So I'm really scared that, that will happen to me.
I was wondering if its worth to upgrade? what do you think?
thanks in advance

I don't someone else can answer this for you. It's really all about personal preference, necessity, financial feasibility, etc.
Are you happy with your S4? Does it suit your purposes or not? Do you just want to have the latest/greatest? Are there features of your S4 that you may not be able to live without by switching to a pure Google device?
As for the break in the screen, that doesn't happen on its own. It would require pressure to break. So long as you treat your device right I wouldn't worry about it.

Toxina said:
I wanted to know if anyone regrets his/her decision to get a Nexus 5 since im kinda stuck. My S4 is fine but i saw 2friends getting this weird break in the screen, where the gorilla glass is all fine, but the amoled behind it is broken. So I'm really scared that, that will happen to me.
I was wondering if its worth to upgrade? what do you think?
thanks in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The S4 has far better speakers (soundquality and volume level), better camera, higher storage capacity, and some usefull TW features as well (apart from the bloatware). So i wouldn`t change personaly. The 4.4 stock UI looks awfull imo if you don`t slap a custom launcher and icons on it.

Toxina said:
I wanted to know if anyone regrets his/her decision to get a Nexus 5 since im kinda stuck. My S4 is fine but i saw 2friends getting this weird break in the screen, where the gorilla glass is all fine, but the amoled behind it is broken. So I'm really scared that, that will happen to me.
I was wondering if its worth to upgrade? what do you think?
thanks in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've had the S4, HTC One, Moto X and now the Nexus 5 in the past 4-5 months. I personally didn't like having a physical home button or the back button setup on the GS4 and I couldn't stand TouchWiz. I honestly wish there was a high end Moto X. I would buy that in heartbeat.
Just like Tony said, it's all based on personal preference.

I have just received my Nexus 5 as a replacement for the S4 (international) that I have had for the past nine months.
The S4 has had CM10 for as long as I have been able to, and so I can't comment on Touchwiz, which I thought was a design abomination.
The drivers for change were:
Cheap exterior on S4
Annoying placement of butttons
Poor battery/network issues due to the proprietary bits hacked into CM
Camera issues for the same reason
Slow uptake on new ROMs due to there being 72 different versions of the phone (no OmniROM for example)
Wanting the Google experience unadulterated
Samsung's stance on custom ROMs (Knox implementation and so on)
I will report back in a few days but first impressions of the Nexus are that it feels like a much higher quality device.

gee2012 said:
The S4 has far better speakers (soundquality and volume level), better camera, higher storage capacity, and some usefull TW features as well (apart from the bloatware). So i wouldn`t change personaly. The 4.4 stock UI looks awfull imo, so slap a custom launcher and icons on it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am actually liking the 4.4 look and the white status bar. I was never a fan of the blue.
As far as changing, if you like your S4 keep it. If you dont then try the N5. You have to weigh what is important to you.

gee2012 said:
The S4 has far better speakers (soundquality and volume level), better camera, higher storage capacity, and some usefull TW features as well (apart from the bloatware). So i wouldn`t change personaly. The 4.4 stock UI looks awfull imo, so slap a custom launcher and icons on it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The N5 speaker is fine for me as is the camera; I never even came close to utilizing the storage capacity on my S4 and I absolutely despise TouchWiz. I think that stock 4.4 looks absolutely fantastic and wouldn't change a thing about it as of yet.
So you see how personal preference really drives a decision like this. If you like the Google Experience and aren't keen on the crap customizations that other OEMs put on their devices, I really think that the N5 is a fantastic option and am really loving mine so far.

I own the GE S4 and did purchased the N5. The GE S4 does have ridiculous battery life and also swappable battery and a SD card. I only reason why I went back to the nexus line up is the nexus forum. I am praying the N5 does have better bettery life then the N4(one of reason why I sold it)
Sent from my GT-I9505G using xda app-developers app

In terms of usability I think that the S4 is just as good as the Nexus 5, no real point in spending money on something you don't *really* need.
Then again, if you can sell your S4 for about the same price it would cost you to get a Nexus 5, and you really dig the Nexus 5, then why the heck not?

rivlez said:
I've had the S4, HTC One, Moto X and now the Nexus 5 in the past 4-5 months. I personally didn't like having a physical home button or the back button setup on the GS4 and I couldn't stand TouchWiz. I honestly wish there was a high end Moto X. I would buy that in heartbeat.
Just like Tony said, it's all based on personal preference.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
my few cents, i've got my N5 today and I am really torn between it and my old SGS3 with 1 GB ram (the crappy version)!
Design and Build quality:
My first impression was that this is the coolest and sexiest mobile phone i ever held in my hands. Feels awesome and looks awesome, much better than you would imagine seeing the pics online.
Display:
N5 display is certainly sharper, but also a bit washed and kinda unimpressive compared to IP5 or HTC one. What surprised me is that the SGS3 amoled produces whiter whites unless i really crank up the brightness on N5, which makes it really annoyingly bright and hard to look at. Viewing angles are much better on amoled of course. N5 Soft keys take too much screen estate imho, but that can be fixed.
UI:
N5 is extremely responsive and fast. Feels very good. No Lag at all, but tbh the difference to TW is not that bad as 4.2.2 and some modded kernels and frameworks make TW smooth and acceptably lagfree.
Camera:
Big advantage for the SGS 3 and probably much more for the S4. Unbelievably ****ty and laggy camera app on the N5, picture quality is disappointing, much worse than S3. Video is unbearable, permanent refocusing and overreaction on bright/dark areas, massive overexposure. I really hope google fixes the software.
Speaker:
Ok, no difference for me.
Battery Life:
My crappy S3 survives more screen-on time while browsing with wifi, kinda unimpressive tbh for a new generation device. Maybe 4 hours of screenon time for N5, 4.5 to 5 on S3. Let's see what tweaking can or cannot do.
Big Letdown: Chrome. This crap browser is notably slower than the samsung browser, probably a lot slower than s4 browser. Chrome on the N5 loads faster but it is lagging and just a huge disappointment, really bad experience.
I will think about it for a few days, currently I tend to returning the N5.
Hope this helps.

Knox was the last straw so selling my s4 before the 4.3 TouchWiz releases in Canada. I don't like a device that if I root + custom recovery, I can not return to default state. No more Samsung for me.
Sent from my SGH-I337M

This crap browser is notably slower than the samsung browser, probably a lot slower than s4 browser. Chrome on the N5 loads faster but it is lagging and just a huge disappointment, really bad experience.
I will think about it for a few days, currently I tend to returning the N5
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can anyone recommend a browser similar to the AOSP/Touchwiz one? It's the only thing I miss on my N5 after switching from a Note II. Boat browser crashes, flash doesn't work in firefox...