Samsung Galaxy S4 vs. HTC One: Battle of the 2013 Flagship Smartphones

Which phone is the best android smartphone 2013? Samsung Galaxy S4 or HTC One? In terms of smartphone quality, the difference between HTC and Samsung is minor. The HTC One and Galaxy S4 both boast impressive specs and some of the most innovative technology currently available, but can we determine which the better phone is? Which Smartphone is right for you? Let’s compare them and decide if you have a phone plan.

Size
The Galaxy S4 and One are roughly the same height. The One, though, is 2 mm narrower and about 18 percent thicker.

Build materials
While the Galaxy S4 is made of plastic, the anodized aluminum HTC one may set a new benchmark for smartphone design. With that said, many customers prefer plastic to metal in a phone, so you might want to experiment on your own to find your preference.

Weight
HTC one weighs 143 grams and The Galaxy S4 is over 9 percent lighter than the One.

Display
Both phones have absurdly-sharp 1080p displays. Compared to HTC One’s 4.7inch screen, Galaxy S4’s screen is a bit larger, which features a 5-inch screen. The Galaxy S4's display uses Super AMOLED technology, while the One sports a Super LCD 3 screen. Expect some hyper-saturated colors in the S4.

Processor
Both versions of the Galaxy S4 should be faster than the One. But as high-end smartphone engines have outpaced the performance requirements of most apps, right now the difference may not show anywhere but in benchmarks.

RAM
Both handsets are power with 2 GB of random-access memory (RAM) to make sure device runs smoothly.

Storage
The base model of the One doubles the internal flash memory of the base Galaxy S4. But Samsung’s handset makes up for it with an expandable microSD card slot.

Wireless
If your local carrier supports LTE, both phones should be able to take advantage of the speedy network.

Battery
The Galaxy S4 features a removable 2,600 mAh Li-Ion battery and the HTC One features a non-removable 2,300 mAh Li-Polymer battery.

Cameras
On paper, this looks like utter dominance for the Galaxy S4. But the notion that megapixel count is an absolute and direct measurement of camera quality is misguided. HTC’s One may demonstrate this better than any other smartphone. The company put less pixels in the phone's sensors, but the pixels are bigger (HTC calls them “Ultrapixels”). The One also has f2.0 aperture and a 1/3-inch backlit-CMOS sensor, which HTC says will mean better performance in low light.

Detailed Camera comparison, check:  HTC One vs. Samsung galaxy s4 vs. iPhone 5 vs. The Latest Smartphones: Camera comparison

Software
In terms of Software, Samsung galaxy s4 runs on the latest 4.2.2 operating system, ahead of the HTC One.

Much more obvious, though, are the custom manufacturer UIs sitting on top of Android. Samsung is pushing its TouchWiz as hard as it can, trying to distance itself from Google’s underlying OS. This means a ton of “innovative new features” that are almost overwhelming to recap, such as Air Hover (preview select tasks by hovering your finger over the display), Dual Camera (combine front-facing and rear-facing stills or video), and Smart Scroll (scroll through emails and web pages via facial recognition). They might be more gimmicky than revolutionary, but you have to hand it to Samsung for trying new ideas.

HTC’s new Sense 5, meanwhile, scales itself back a bit. While it previously succumbed to feature creep (which Samsung may now be stepping into), the One’s version of Sense simplifies things a bit.
One of Sense’s more memorable features is Blinkfeed, which puts a Flipboard-like news hub on your homescreen. In addition to the familiar grid of app icons, your phone greets you with a tiled view of social and news feeds.

Bottom Line
The Galaxy S 4 is a wonderful device. I doubt many will “regret” buying it. It's jam-packed with new camera features, it's fast, and it has all-day battery life. Beyond all that, its software enhancements – not those gimmicky waving and tilting ones, but the other ones -- make it standout among all other Android phones and even the iPhone.

But on the other hand, I just wish Samsung had put that same attention into the design of the physical phone. The HTC One and the iPhone 5 are simply better-designed and crafted pieces of hardware. So which is your choice? Welcome to share your comments below.

• See also:  How to play MKV, AVI, iTunes M4V Videos on Samsung galaxy s4