Last month, following the release of the HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S 4 for sale in Australia, we asked you — our readers — to tell us which one you thought was the smartphone of 2013. We might have left off a couple of options (like Sony’s Xperia Z, which many told us in the comments they liked) but we truly feel that the best flagship of 2013 so far is going to be one of these two.
Bearing in mind Ausdroid’s audience, which has been described in the past as a bit more technically literate than the average consumer, we weren’t really all that surprised with what we’ve seen in the results. We’ve had over 1200 votes, and 60% of you think that HTC’s One is the better handset.
This view has certainly been matched by us at Ausdroid HQ as well — while our reviews of the One and Galaxy S 4 were both positive, I think you’d have to say we were happier with the One. It’s design is better, and it feels better. It’s less cluttered with gimmicks than Samsung’s, and while it is arguably let down by a lack of expandable storage and a non-removable battery, neither are particularly uncommon ‘features’ these days. These two hurdles have done nothing to hurt the users of Apple’s iOS devices, and there are a good number of Android devices that have either or both of these features as well.
For these minor shortcomings, the HTC One is certainly the more popular device. If you’d like one so you can see for yourself, there’s still time to enter our Win a HTC One competition which we’re running with Vodafone.
I have the HTC one and my brother has recently bought the s4 and to be honest I’m so glad I didn’t get the s4.
The one is so much more attractive and stylish. It feels like a more premium and expensive phone. The display and sound are also gorgeous.
The speakers aren’t only loud but have a bit of bass to it & sound a bit like a tv. The user interface (sense 5) is also far ahead of bloaty & cartoony touchwiz. Touchwiz is for little kids
Have owned both and sold both after about a week, neither impressed me, they both feel like they fell short of the mark, Sticking with my Nexus 4 for now. I think it is the pure google experience thats beats the rest hands down
Haven’t used an S4 but I have an S2 on 4.1.2. When I played around with my friend’s HTC1, I got the same feeling as when I use an iPhone: Trapped. I’m sure I could get used to it, but coming from Touchwiz it just felt like the OS was forcing you to use it a certain way. Friend asked me if I could try removing Blinkfeed. 45minutes later, I just told her to install a launcher.
I have no idea how HTC One camera is better than S4’s camera.
Even blind test between One, S4, Z showed S4 has best image quality than One and Z( Z had worst image quality even with 13MP).
Even though One used aluminium for premium quality and I agree it feels better and looking better, how about defects? gaps between screen and body to keep your business card inside, sharp cuts on plastic bezel etc. I wouldnt risk $700 for picking defect or normal phone
I have the HTC One and I don’t understand why people don’t like it. The battery is pretty phenomenal really, it destroys the battery in my previous HTC One X. I get a whole day of usage in and when I plug it in at night it still has 30% to spare. The design is beautiful, it feels so thin and light, and the screen can only be described as gorgeous. By all means, if you are a Samsung fan you can keep your bloatware, gimmicky features and crappy plastic. I’ll stick to a phone that feels, works and looks… Read more »
I’ll wait for the 6.3″ Mega …
I love my HTC One (I didn’t vote). In daily *use* though I think the battery should have been a little bigger, but also I get worse photos than my old SGS2.
I haven’t yet had a proper play with the One or the S4 but that said I love how the One has the two front speakers, that for me is my reason for getting one in the next few weeks. Aside of that, I do wish that it had a removable battery (or at least a higher capacity one) and a Micro SD card slot. But just for the two front speakers I’m willing to put those two aside…guess I’m never too far from a charger.
Pity for HTC that the results of your poll aren’t reflected in the real world.