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Ok so I have owned the S4 for about a week, the HTC One for about 3 weeks and the G pro for 2 days lol. I get myself familiarized real quick with phones so 2 days is already enough for me to give a good opinion. Before I give you guys my opinion let me just say that I am very unbiased, I could care less who makes these phones as long as the product is good but I have used Samsung phones more than any other phones and I do like them a lot. Anyways, here's my take ( my opinion) on these 3 phones:
Build/design/choice of material:
I will say that the HTC One takes this category. I have never really cared on how good a phone looks, I always pay more attention to functionality but the HTC One really deserves a lot of praises. Not necessarily because it uses metal but because of the design. It really does looks stunning with its curved back and the 2 front facing speakers. Talking about the material now, it looks and feels great especially when you pick it up in the morning and get that cold feel, really nice. Overall amazing looking device.
The galaxy S4 also has a very nice design. Yes it looks pretty much just like the S3 but its thinner, a little lighter despite having a bigger screen. The polycarbonate is just fine as it serves its purpose to provide a removable battery. The galaxy s 4 is the phone that feels the best in the hand, sooooo comfortable.
The G pro also has a very nice design, its thin, light for its size ( although I wish that it was just a little lighter but no big deal at all) and overall looks really nice. Much more comfortable in the hand than its competitor, the Note 2.
Button placement:
The HTC One is horrible in this category. I hate the power button at the top left with a passion. I despise it so much, it is so uncomfortable to reach. The volume rocker on the right hand side is just fine. Also don't like that there's no menu button.
The S4 is almost perfect, love the power button on the side as always, I also like the volume rocker on the left but I wish that it was just a little bit lower. Love that there's a menu button.
The G pro is the winner here, power button is perfect, volume is perfect on the middle left plus we get an extra button to access any app we want. Simply perfect. Menu button is great although i'm used to the back and menu the Samsung way ( the other way around) but no big deal, ill get used to it. Love the LED home button!
Display/screen size:
The HTC One display is OUTSTANDING. It is such an amazing display, I cannot emphasize it enough. It is absolutely jaw dropping. Sharp, nice colors ( maybe just a tad bit saturated but I love it). Overall its just an amazing display. You do need however to have the display at least at 50% if you want to see anything in direct sunlight. I like the 4.7 inch size but always prefer bigger displays.
The S4 display is the best Super Amoled display ever. If you're a fan of over saturated colors and deep blacks, this one is unbeatable. It is sharp, blacks are great, whites have a little blueish tint on them but not that big of a deal. Personally I think this display is easier to read in direct sunlight even at 0 brightness because the colors pop regardless. This size display is the best for an average smartphone in my opinion. Samsung did an amazing job at fitting a 5 inch screen on pretty much the same body size as the S3 and it doesn't feel big at all.
The G pro display is also INSANE! Despite having a lesser ppi than the 2 other phones, it is insanely sharp, text is crystal clear, colors are super accurate, viewing angles are excellent ( all 3 displays as a matter of fact). As far as screen size, this is my personal favorite ( im a sucker for big screens). It has the same 5.5 inch screen as the note 2 but doesn't feel too big, its just perfect!.
Overall all 3 displays are great, its just a matter of preference. If you take the display alone then I would give the ever so slight edge ( and I mean so slight that you cant measure it) to the HTC One, followed by the G pro and 3rd the S4 but again all are absolutely amazing. I f you consider display plus screen size, G pro takes it.
Performance:
The HTC One performs so well. It is super quick. Opening apps, exiting apps, swiping through the home screens, browsing the web, performance is nearly flawless ( literally). Once in a blue moon there can be a very slight hiccup but the average person wont notice it. ( Im pretty good at noticing these things).
The S4 performance is good but it does stutter...quite a bit. ( not lag where it completely stops but the animations can stutter a lot). My guess is that android 4.2 and the gazillion sensors are responsible. 4.2 is known to have quite a few bugs, as far as the sensors go they are always activated waiting for the user's gestures/movements so I think it might contribute to the stuttering. There has been a software update the past few days and I think it solved many issues. Don't get me wrong the S4 performs well but stutters a lot ( its hard to explain really).
The Optimus G pro performance is AMAZING. It is so fluid, I never had a device as fluid as this. Just an hour ago I was at work and I showed the phone to one of my co-worker who owns a nexus 4 and talks about how smooth and fast his phone is, I asked him to play with my G pro, you should have seen his face. First thing he said was " Holy sh*t this is so cool" referring to the lock screen animation and then " OMG this is so smooth and fast" as his fingers were gliding through the home screens. Seriously the G pro is INSANELY smooth, by far the smoothest device I have owned yet and I mean it.
If I had to pick a winner it would be G pro followed by the One and S4. The One might be a little quicker than the G pro but the G pro is so smooth and is also quick.
Sense 5/ Touchwiz/ LG's UI:
I like sense 5. Its very nice. Its very simple, in fact sometimes its too simple but it performs well. I thought that I would hate blinkfeed but I fell in love at first sight thanks to the impressive display. What I don't like is that people cant completely remove it if they don't want to use it, I don't like the fact that you have to double tap the home button to access the multitasking and have to close each apps individually. That is just stupid HTC, dumb. Love the music player, don't like that to add an app to the home screen you have to go in the app drawer, hold the app, drag it all the way to the top and then it lets you put it on the home screen, another dumb move. But still sense 5 is very nice nonetheless.
I always liked touchwiz. I thought that it brought many features to the table, I still think it does. But touchwiz is getting old, really old and needs a UI revamp ASAP!!!! Its pretty much the exact same as it is on the S3 and not too different from the S2 except the features. Speaking of features, the S4 has anything possibly imaginable. The bad is that many of them are really gimmicky but the good is that you can turn off whatever you want and I respect that, thank you Samsung for at least giving us the option to remove things unlike HTC lol. My favorite features on the S4 are Airview and multiwindow. Both extremely useful. Airview to access sub menus, preview emails ( don't have to open every email), works as a magnifier glass, works really well. Multi window takes multitasking a step further. Yes it is available on other Samsung devices but it is something that the S4 has over the G pro and HTC One. Air gestures, smart pause are fun for 15 min but then you wont find any use to it ( except for moving apps from one home screen to another with air gesture, pretty useful).
Lg's UI is awesome in my opinion. Starting with the lockscreen, love the animations, in fact I love all the animations of the UI. That's what I love about this device, you can pretty much customize ANYTHING YOU WANT. Colors of folders, lockscreen animations, settings in tabs or list, icons... you name it. Q slide is very nice but doesn't even come close to multi window. LG's UI is very close to touchwiz but they kinda created their own lane and they're doing a very nice job. Once again everything is so smooth, love the quick access button to access any apps on the phone. This UI is like a touchwiz refresh and feels very familiar but different and I love it.
The Gpro UI is my favorite because of the animations, the smoothness and the features. Touchwiz would have tied it if it wasn't for the stutter. Love sense 5 as well.
Camera:
S4 WINS HANDS DOWN, NO DEBATE EVER!!! Such a fantastic camera. The G pro camera is second and the One 3rd although the One is very impressive in low light.
Storage:
Definitely the G pro. Let me explain. Every android phone since ICS can only install apps on the internal storage except the S4 which just had an update to be able to install apps to the sd card. The problem with the S4 move to sd card is that the maximum size app is 40 mb. ( that's what I read) So considering all 3 phones entry models at 199$, the HTC One gives you 32 gig of storage but no possible way of sd cards, the S4 comes in 16 gig with half of it taken by the system and move to sd card only support apps that are 40 mb and under. The G pro comes with 32 gig AND has expandable memory.
Battery life:
Definitely the G pro but everybody knows that, no surprises here with its 3140 mah battery. Not too far behind is the S4 ( GT-I9500 exynos 5 octa version). Plenty of screen time as well and 3rd is HTC One with also great battery life but not better than the other 2. All of them get you through a day with normal use no problem but the G pro is the star of the show.
Music/sound/Speakers:
You already know, the HTC One is UNBEATABLE right now. I don't know if any of you had the privilege to hear the sound that comes out of the One speakers. The sound is so good and loud and clear that it literally puts a smile on my face, literally. It is so crisp, really HTC has Set the bar when it comes to sound quality on a smartphone meaning every new phones that come out will have to beat it to be impressive. Music through the headphones is also great, Beats audio is supported and HTC provides a nice pair of ear buds. Second place goes to the S4. The speakers are plenty loud, just not as clear as the One plus the placement is in the back so it can easily be muffled. Sound through earbuds is nice and loud but again doesn't match the One. Last but not least is the optimus G pro. The sound through the speakers is good ,not great but the volume isn't very high with the headphones. Plus the G pro doesn't come with any earbuds.
Development:
HTC One without a doubt. Not only that HTC provides a method to unlock the bootloader, but the One has S-off now. As you may know, S-off gives you pretty much complete control of your phone and lets you write things on the "write system partition". You can change boot animation, flash radios ect... plus it has super CID which lets you change the ID of your phone from for example an AT&T to the international version so when HTC pushes an update you'll get it on your AT&T phone despite it not being the international version. And the cherry on top of the cake is that any roms on the international HTC One can be flashed to the T-Mobile, AT&T and sprint versions ( some for the sprint versions). That is so amazing. The S4 (Gt I9500 octa core) has an unlocked bootloader, I love Samsung for that. Super easy to root and tools like Odin and CF root by chainfire are awesome. Development is good and will get better. G pro has an easy root method but as you all know the bootloader is locked ( damn you AT&T !). Thanks to thecubed, the bootloader unlock is just a matter of time and once that's done, everybody needs to step back cause the beast will be unleashed!
Call quality
No complains really, all 3 perform pretty well although the advantage goes to the One cause of the speakers for speakerphone calls.
Overall, all 3 phones are amazing. The One offers a quality device, amazing sound, nearly flawless performance and a fantastic display. The S4 is a worthy upgrade to the popular S3, pretty much same body frame but with a bigger screen, lighter, thinner and a bigger battery. Also the best Amoled display and the best camera on a phone yet.
And now the G pro, an optimus G on steroids just like the Note 2 is to the S3. Smoothest experience on a phone, so fast, incredible 5.5 inch 1080p display, fantastic battery life, customizable to the core, nice LED home button, very nice performing camera. My new favorite phone. Cheers!
That was one heck of a comparison... Great job!
Sent from my Xolo_X500 using Tapatalk 2
Nice review...
Thanks for the review! Just wish we had the community the note ii has
Sent from my LG-E980 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
vivebatu said:
That was one heck of a comparison... Great job!
Sent from my Xolo_X500 using Tapatalk 2
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Teardrop45 said:
Nice review...
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ethanemc505 said:
Thanks for the review! Just wish we had the community the note ii has
Sent from my LG-E980 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
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Thank you very much fellas, really appreciate it!
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barondebxl said:
Thank you very much fellas, really appreciate it!
Sent from my LG-E980 using Tapatalk 2
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Just a query... Can you also post the average (I mean ball park without any usage qualifications) SCREEN ON times you for with the 3 phones before the battery ran out?
Tks again
Sent from my Xolo_X500 using Tapatalk 2
vivebatu said:
Just a query... Can you also post the average (I mean ball park without any usage qualifications) SCREEN ON times you for with the 3 phones before the battery ran out?
Tks again
Sent from my Xolo_X500 using Tapatalk 2
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Sure thing. Don't have an S4 screen shot though.
HTC one:
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G pro:
It's pretty good although I was on WiFi all the time. It takes time to charge though.
For the S4, getting 5hours of screen time with constant use is so easy and I wasn't on WiFi all the time so it's definitely better than the HTC one. Also battery charges pretty fast.
The G pro is amazing, it's better than the S4 (exynos version) but not by much, I would say maybe 30 to 45 min more of on screen time. (Note that I had a custom kernel on the S4). The G pro has excellent stand by time plus the battery charges SO FAST!
Sent from my LG-E980 using Tapatalk 2
Do you think that the G Pro has the most reflective screen out of the bunch? It would make the screen hard to see outdoors and even under strong artificial light.
Sharpshooterrr said:
Do you think that the G Pro has the most reflective screen out of the bunch? It would make the screen hard to see outdoors and even under strong artificial light.
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Maybe yes but again I think everything is Crystal clear from 50% brightness and above in outdoors conditions. All 3 displays are phenomenal.
Sent from my LG-E980 using Tapatalk 2
GPro's got a nice big battery, but honestly, it's got NOTHING on the Note II. I've easily done 48+ hours with 5 hours of screen-on time on my Note II.
If the OGPro were out same time as the Note II, it would've been a tough choice between the two phones. I bought the Note II because I wanted the biggest, highest-powered phone you could buy in December.
raduque said:
GPro's got a nice big battery, but honestly, it's got NOTHING on the Note II. I've easily done 48+ hours with 5 hours of screen-on time on my Note II.
If the OGPro were out same time as the Note II, it would've been a tough choice between the two phones. I bought the Note II because I wanted the biggest, highest-powered phone you could buy in December.
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The note 2 does have a better battery life yes but the G pro isn't too far behind. Right now I'm at 16 hours off charge with a little over 4 hours of screen time with extremely heavy use, only 1 hour of WiFi use, lots of iron man 3 and granny Smith gaming, lots of web browsing and tapatalk and 30% left so battery life is definitely not an issue on this phone but yes the note 2 is a bit better. What I like about these phablets is that they charge so freaking fast ( yesterday my phone charged in 1h20 min from 9% to full charge) and the phone never gets hot/warm. The G pro is the best phablet until the note 3 comes out.
Sent from my LG-E980 using Tapatalk 2
Fast Charging is definitely my favorite feature of the NII and OGPro.
As for that battery info from my Note II, that day I played CSR Racing for about 2 hours, listened to music for 6 hours (about an hour with the screen on) and was on wifi for 90% of the time. Of course I had a smattering of text, maybe 20 minutes of calls and 5 or 10 minutes of browsing. I wasn't using any of the phone's radios heavily that day. The absolute best I pulled out of it was 35 hours off-charge, with 8 hours of screen time, and 12% left.
You're right when you say battery life is not an issue. I have no problems leaving it off the charger for a long time. My S2, I didn't like being more than 20 feet from a charger, and used to have it plugged in, in my truck for the drive to work (30 minutes each way, screen on with music playing).
raduque said:
GPro's got a nice big battery, but honestly, it's got NOTHING on the Note II. I've easily done 48+ hours with 5 hours of screen-on time on my Note II.
If the OGPro were out same time as the Note II, it would've been a tough choice between the two phones. I bought the Note II because I wanted the biggest, highest-powered phone you could buy in December.
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Honestly, my easily lasts 3 days with 6hrs of screen time, for example now I have 50hrs spent with 57% left and 3hrs of screen time. My advice: don't push brightness over 40% and turn off everything you don't need as explained here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2292012
Billy Madison said:
Honestly, my easily lasts 3 days with 6hrs of screen time, for example now I have 50hrs spent with 57% left and 3hrs of screen time. My advice: don't push brightness over 40% and turn off everything you don't need as explained here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2292012
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It's definitely possible. I use my g pro heavily because I know the battery can handle it. 7 hours on screen time is more than doable.
Sent from my LG-E980 using Tapatalk 2
G Pro Wins!!
I work with 5 guys that have the S 4. My friend and all his employees att the Att store where he is a manager all have the G pro. Without a doubt I think the G Pro is the better phone. It seems way faster. I was concerned about not being to connect my G Pro to the Tv but I just found a slim port adapter that is supposed to work.
BUT!!!!! Be careful the G Pro glass is weak. I shattered it in the first week with a 2 foot drop waiting for my case from South Korea. Ballastic or Otterbox please get a case out asap!!!
drrandall1 said:
BUT!!!!! Be careful the G Pro glass is weak. I shattered it in the first week with a 2 foot drop waiting for my case from South Korea. Ballastic or Otterbox please get a case out asap!!!
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Broke my Note II's screen from about a foot-ish drop to concrete. That's how I got a OGPro. No phone is immune.
barondebxl said:
Ok so I have owned the S4 for about a week, the HTC One for about 3 weeks and the G pro for 2 days lol. I get myself familiarized real quick with phones so 2 days is already enough for me to give a good opinion. Before I give you guys my opinion let me just say that I am very unbiased, I could care less who makes these phones as long as the product is good but I have used Samsung phones more than any other phones and I do like them a lot. Anyways, here's my take ( my opinion) on these 3 phones:
Build/design/choice of material:
I will say that the HTC One takes this category. I have never really cared on how good a phone looks, I always pay more attention to functionality but the HTC One really deserves a lot of praises. Not necessarily because it uses metal but because of the design. It really does looks stunning with its curved back and the 2 front facing speakers. Talking about the material now, it looks and feels great especially when you pick it up in the morning and get that cold feel, really nice. Overall amazing looking device.
The galaxy S4 also has a very nice design. Yes it looks pretty much just like the S3 but its thinner, a little lighter despite having a bigger screen. The polycarbonate is just fine as it serves its purpose to provide a removable battery. The galaxy s 4 is the phone that feels the best in the hand, sooooo comfortable.
The G pro also has a very nice design, its thin, light for its size ( although I wish that it was just a little lighter but no big deal at all) and overall looks really nice. Much more comfortable in the hand than its competitor, the Note 2.
Button placement:
The HTC One is horrible in this category. I hate the power button at the top left with a passion. I despise it so much, it is so uncomfortable to reach. The volume rocker on the right hand side is just fine. Also don't like that there's no menu button.
The S4 is almost perfect, love the power button on the side as always, I also like the volume rocker on the left but I wish that it was just a little bit lower. Love that there's a menu button.
The G pro is the winner here, power button is perfect, volume is perfect on the middle left plus we get an extra button to access any app we want. Simply perfect. Menu button is great although i'm used to the back and menu the Samsung way ( the other way around) but no big deal, ill get used to it. Love the LED home button!
Display/screen size:
The HTC One display is OUTSTANDING. It is such an amazing display, I cannot emphasize it enough. It is absolutely jaw dropping. Sharp, nice colors ( maybe just a tad bit saturated but I love it). Overall its just an amazing display. You do need however to have the display at least at 50% if you want to see anything in direct sunlight. I like the 4.7 inch size but always prefer bigger displays.
The S4 display is the best Super Amoled display ever. If you're a fan of over saturated colors and deep blacks, this one is unbeatable. It is sharp, blacks are great, whites have a little blueish tint on them but not that big of a deal. Personally I think this display is easier to read in direct sunlight even at 0 brightness because the colors pop regardless. This size display is the best for an average smartphone in my opinion. Samsung did an amazing job at fitting a 5 inch screen on pretty much the same body size as the S3 and it doesn't feel big at all.
The G pro display is also INSANE! Despite having a lesser ppi than the 2 other phones, it is insanely sharp, text is crystal clear, colors are super accurate, viewing angles are excellent ( all 3 displays as a matter of fact). As far as screen size, this is my personal favorite ( im a sucker for big screens). It has the same 5.5 inch screen as the note 2 but doesn't feel too big, its just perfect!.
Overall all 3 displays are great, its just a matter of preference. If you take the display alone then I would give the ever so slight edge ( and I mean so slight that you cant measure it) to the HTC One, followed by the G pro and 3rd the S4 but again all are absolutely amazing. I f you consider display plus screen size, G pro takes it.
Performance:
The HTC One performs so well. It is super quick. Opening apps, exiting apps, swiping through the home screens, browsing the web, performance is nearly flawless ( literally). Once in a blue moon there can be a very slight hiccup but the average person wont notice it. ( Im pretty good at noticing these things).
The S4 performance is good but it does stutter...quite a bit. ( not lag where it completely stops but the animations can stutter a lot). My guess is that android 4.2 and the gazillion sensors are responsible. 4.2 is known to have quite a few bugs, as far as the sensors go they are always activated waiting for the user's gestures/movements so I think it might contribute to the stuttering. There has been a software update the past few days and I think it solved many issues. Don't get me wrong the S4 performs well but stutters a lot ( its hard to explain really).
The Optimus G pro performance is AMAZING. It is so fluid, I never had a device as fluid as this. Just an hour ago I was at work and I showed the phone to one of my co-worker who owns a nexus 4 and talks about how smooth and fast his phone is, I asked him to play with my G pro, you should have seen his face. First thing he said was " Holy sh*t this is so cool" referring to the lock screen animation and then " OMG this is so smooth and fast" as his fingers were gliding through the home screens. Seriously the G pro is INSANELY smooth, by far the smoothest device I have owned yet and I mean it.
If I had to pick a winner it would be G pro followed by the One and S4. The One might be a little quicker than the G pro but the G pro is so smooth and is also quick.
Sense 5/ Touchwiz/ LG's UI:
I like sense 5. Its very nice. Its very simple, in fact sometimes its too simple but it performs well. I thought that I would hate blinkfeed but I fell in love at first sight thanks to the impressive display. What I don't like is that people cant completely remove blinkfeed if they don't want to use it, I don't like the fact that you have to double tap the home button to access the multitasking and have to close each apps individually. That is just stupid HTC, dumb. Love the music player, don't like that to add an app to the home screen you have to go in the app drawer, hold the app, drag it all the way to the top and then it lets you put it on the home screen, another dumb move. But still sense 5 is very nice nonetheless.
I always liked touchwiz. I thought that it brought many features to the table, I still think it does. But touchwiz is getting old, really old and needs a UI revamp ASAP!!!! Its pretty much the exact same as it is on the S3 and not too different from the S2 except the features. Speaking of features, the S4 has anything possibly imaginable. The bad is that many of them are really gimmicky but the good is that you can turn off whatever you want and I respect that, thank you Samsung for at least giving us the option to remove things unlike HTC lol. My favorite features on the S4 are Airview and multiwindow. Both extremely useful. Airview to access sub menus, preview emails ( don't have to open every email), works as a magnifier glass, works really well. Multi window takes multitasking a step further. Yes it is available on other Samsung devices but it is something that the S4 has over the G pro and HTC One. Air gestures, smart pause are fun for 15 min but then you wont find any use to it ( except for moving apps from one home screen to another with air gesture, pretty useful).
Lg's UI is awesome in my opinion. Starting with the lockscreen, love the animations, in fact I love all the animations of the UI. That's what I love about this device, you can pretty much customize ANYTHING YOU WANT. Colors of folders, lockscreen animations, settings in tabs or list, icons... you name it. Q slide is very nice but doesn't even come close to multi window. LG's UI is very close to touchwiz but they kinda created their own lane and they're doing a very nice job. Once again everything is so smooth, love the quick access button to access any apps on the phone. This UI is like a touchwiz refresh and feels very familiar but different and I love it.
The Gpro UI is my favorite because of the animation, the smoothness and the features. Touchwiz would have tied it if it wasn't for the stutter. Love sense 5 as well.
Camera:
S4 WINS HANDS DOWN, NO DEBATE EVER!!! Such a fantastic camera. The G pro camera is second and the One 3rd although the One is very impressive in low light.
Storage:
Definitely the G pro. Let me explain. Every android phone since ICS can only install apps on the internal storage except the S4 which just had an update to be able to install apps to the sd card. The problem with the S4 move to sd card is that the maximum size app is 40 mb. ( that's what I read) So considering all 3 phones entry model at 199$, the HTC One gives you 32 gig of storage but no possible way of sd cards, the S4 comes in 16 gig with half of it taken by the system and move to sd card only support apps that are 40 mb and under. The G pro comes with 32 gig AND has expandable memory.
Battery life:
Definitely the G pro but everybody knows that, no surprises here with its 3140 mah battery. Not too far behind is the S4 ( GT-I9500 exynos 5 octa version). Plenty of screen time as well and 3rd is HTC One with also great battery life but not better than the other 2. All of them get you through a day with normal use no problem but the G pro is the star of the show.
Music/sound/Speakers:
You already know, the HTC One is UNBEATABLE right now. I don't know if any of you had the privilege to hear the sound that comes out of the One speakers. The sound is so good and loud and clear that it literally puts a smile on my face, literally. It is so crisp, really HTC has Set the bar when it comes to sound quality on a smartphone meaning every new phones that come out will have to beat it to be impressive. Music through the headphones is also great, Beats audio is supported and HTC provides a nice pair of ear buds. Second place goes to the S4. The speakers are plenty loud, just not as clear as the One plus the placement is in the back so it can easily be muffled. Sound through earbuds is nice and loud but again doesn't match the One. Last but not least is the optimus G pro. The sound through the speakers is as loud as the S4 but the volume isn't as high with the headphones. Plus the G pro doesn't come with any earbuds.
Development:
HTC One without a doubt. Not only that HTC provides a method to unlock the bootloader, but the One has S-off now. As you may know, S-off gives you pretty much complete control of your phone and lets you write things on the "write system partition". You can change boot animation, flash radios ect... plus it has super CID which lets you change the ID of your phone from for example an AT&T to the international version so when HTC pushes an update you'll get it on your AT&T phone despite it not being the international version. And the cherry on top of the cake is that any roms on the international HTC One can be flashed to the T-Mobile, AT&T and sprint versions ( some for the sprint versions). That is so amazing. The S4 (Gt I9500 octa core) has an unlocked botloader, I love Samsung for that. Super easy to root and tools like Odin are great plus there is CF root by chainfire. Development is good and will get better. G pro has an easy root method but as you all now the bootloader is locked ( damn you AT&T !). Thanks to thecubed, the bootloader unlock is just a matter of time and once that's done, everybody needs to step back cause the beast will be unleashed!
Overall, all 3 phones are amazing. The One offers a quality device, amazing sound, nearly flawless performance and a fantastic display. The S4 is a worthy upgrade to the popular S3, pretty much same body frame but with a bigger screen, lighter, thinner and a bigger battery. Also the best Amoled display and the best camera on a phone yet.
And now the G pro, an optimus G on steroids just like the Note 2 is to the S3. Smoothest experience on a phone, so fast, incredible 5.5 inch 1080p display, fantastic battery life, customizable to the core, nice LED home button, very nice performing camera. My new favorite phone. Cheers!
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I disagree on camera quality. HTC One pictures look better overall, even if they are lacking a little detail. The G Pro tends to blur the photos a bit much and you lose a lot of detail that you should have on a 13mp camera.
The GS4 definitely wins on quality, however the camera is slow. Like the rest of the UI, it lags and takes significantly longer to launch and take a picture. This translates to missed opportunities and blurry action shots. I don't have this issue with either the One or the G Pro, although the One is the champ in the fast camera department. Honestly, if Samsung could optimize Touchwize and speed up the GS4's fluidity, it would be boss.
greyhulk said:
I disagree on camera quality. HTC One pictures look better overall, even if they are lacking a little detail. The G Pro tends to blur the photos a bit much and you lose a lot of detail that you should have on a 13mp camera.
The GS4 definitely wins on quality, however the camera is slow. Like the rest of the UI, it lags and takes significantly longer to launch and take a picture. This translates to missed opportunities and blurry action shots. I don't have this issue with either the One or the G Pro, although the One is the champ in the fast camera department. Honestly, if Samsung could optimize Touchwize and speed up the GS4's fluidity, it would be boss.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is your opinion but I definitely disagree with you, the S4 is the best camera on a phone at the moment. The one does not even come close and really lacks detail. If you talk about shutter speed then yes the One is quicker but the S4 excels in detail and the pics looks absolutely stunning.
I don't think it's fair to call the One camera better because it has a faster shutter speed. What about the picture quality (the thing that really matters after all)?
Sent from my LG-E980 using Tapatalk 2
barondebxl said:
It is your opinion but I definitely disagree with you, the S4 is the best camera on a phone at the moment. The one does not even come close and really lacks detail. If you talk about shutter speed then yes the One is quicker but the S4 excels in detail and the pics looks absolutely stunning.
I don't think it's fair to call the One camera better because it has a faster shutter speed. What about the picture quality (the thing that really matters after all)?
Sent from my LG-E980 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You basically reiterated what I said, but camera launch and shutter speed are important because it doesn't matter how good the picture quality is if you miss the moment completely or get a blurry shot due to movement. The whole point of a smartphone camera is speed and convenience, otherwise, you might as well use a DSLR for the best quality.
I regularly miss photos with my GS4 because by the time the screen unlocks and the camera loads, the moment has passed. This is never an issue on the One and rarely on the G Pro.
Sent from my LG-E980 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
greyhulk said:
You basically reiterated what I said, but camera launch and shutter speed are important because it doesn't matter how good the picture quality is if you miss the moment completely or get a blurry shot due to movement. The whole point of a smartphone camera is speed and convenience, otherwise, you might as well use a DSLR for the best quality.
I regularly miss photos with my GS4 because by the time the screen unlocks and the camera loads, the moment has passed. This is never an issue on the One and rarely on the G Pro.
Sent from my LG-E980 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
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Click to collapse
Well once again I have to disagree with you. " the whole point of a smartphone camera is its speed and convenience". What if the pic quality isn't that great?
I don't know about you but most pictures I take are still pics, people posing stuff like that. Yes shutter speeds are great, but ill take the image quality of the S4 with its slower shutter speed over the fast shutter speed of the One but with far less picture quality anyday. I don't understand your point about carrying DSLRs since we are comparing smartphones here. So if I understand correctly, you think the HTC One's camera is better because of faster shutter speed to capture that "moment" while I prefer the S4's camera because its picture quality is absolutely superior. And its not like it takes 10 seconds for the S4 to launch the camera plus capture a pic.
Your quote to my huge post was " I disagree with camera quality", well this isn't even a point to be argued since everybody knows the S4 captures more details with its camera.
Review
Ok, so I got New Note 3 T-Mobile version SM-N900T which is the latest version of the note. As one of the forum moderators I have always been a pretty big fan of the Samsung phones owning the Galaxy Vibrant, the Nexus, S2, S3, S4, Note 1, Note 2 various tablets and now the Note 3. That said, this is just a 1st blush review for people who might find my views helpful.
The Note 3 compared to the Note 2 is close to an ounce lighter , it is 1/16 inch narrower @ 3-1/16" versus 3-1/8" Both are just under 5 inches. My Hands are big and I am used to the size, the fact that it is lighter really makes it way easier to manipulate
The 1st impression is its lighter weight does not give the impression of feeling cheap. Gotta say I kinda like the back texture. Didn't think that I actually would but it has a nice secure feel.
The screen is remarkable, booting up faster than the Note 2 the Color is much richer than anything else I have experienced shy of a BluRay on my computer (which is a top end setup). Some new stock adjustments allow you to set the standard screen color setting e.g. dynamic, movie...etc.. Also it has a USB 3 socket on the phone for higher transfer rates and of course, it works with a USB 2 as well.
There is a on phone a search feature that is kinda novel phone though I am not sure how useful it is provides features as search last week, last 30 days.... etc
The Camera that is stock does have some nice on-board custom shooting and editing features. The Still Camera is noticeably better than the S4 camera, and the Video like most of the latest phones is excellent. One improvement on the still camera is its Infinity camera shooting. Much Much Sharper now, which was one of my common gripes the phone cameras all seem to suffer from. So this a real plus ! Like All the latest phones the Video is excellent tracks movement pretty well. Better than my Canon in fact.
The phone is pretty responsive and the new software provides custom touch sensitivity and a host of other interactive adjustments that let you make just about every custom tweak you can think of......... Remember this is a stock Rom only rooted...........
Most of the other things on it are incremental improvements compared to the Note 2. FYI the Note became the longest phone I ever have owned and consistently used--- The Note 3 Blew it off the top spot without doubt ....
For those who care Antutu got a 30394 and Quadrant was a 22580.. one thing I did notice is the fps are very consistent @ 60-65 at all vdo benches.
The Things I found I do not like that much are NO Custom Roms ...YET ☺ Battery life is not as good as the note 2 but that was a custom Rom so really not a fair comparison.
The HTC does have the 2 speakers the Note... still 1 speaker. Music on speaker the quality is a bit thin and a bit on the 2 dimensional side, but, For speakerphone calls it is just fine. With the Head phones/buds or Bluetooth speakers it really excellent. That said, if you are a headbanger for over driven bass then use Beats or something like that with this thing that would allow you to over boost the bass in a way some ppl like. This phone is really something it really rocks !
In closing, I am really glad I got this new note 3 if you need a business phones there really is not anything better than this phone.
I have included some photos to show how it takes a shot that is a long distance focal point... This was a rainbow tonight Around 7:10 pm the trees are 45-55 feet away .....
Comments welcome........
How did/do you like the S4? I love the Note 2 on 4.1.2, it's smooth and basically lag free. However I found the S4 a bit clunky and laggy. Could you perhaps comment on how they did with the Note 3? Mainly I remember on the S4 there being some stutter in the UI, and lag in the gallery and Touchwiz browser.
Thanks for any thoughts!
lmemma16 said:
How did/do you like the S4? I love the Note 2 on 4.1.2, it's smooth and basically lag free. However I found the S4 a bit clunky and laggy. Could you perhaps comment on how they did with the Note 3? Mainly I remember on the S4 there being some stutter in the UI, and lag in the gallery and Touchwiz browser.
Thanks for any thoughts!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Note 3 has enough CPU power and RAM to handle even all those additional features Samsung added to the TW without any delay or lag.
It's a super fast smartphone. :good:
ArborRes said:
Note 3 has enough CPU power and RAM to handle even all those additional features Samsung added to the TW without any delay or lag.
It's a super fast smartphone. :good:
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Click to collapse
Very true, but that's what I thought about the S4, lol! Although the S4 has perhaps even more fluff and fancy features.
I'm glad to hear it runs well tho, thanks :thumbup:
oka1 said:
Gotta say I kinda like the back texture. Didn't think that I actually would but it has a nice secure feel.
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Click to collapse
So many of the early hands-on reviews have spoken ill about the new textured plastic back saying that it "doesn't feel like real leather". I've failed to understand the point they were trying to make in that statement. I don't think Samsung intended to fool a single person into thinking that the back was made of leather. They went for a new unique aesthetic that had a functionality benefit as well. In that regard, I think they succeeded greatly.
After getting my hands on one of these in store, I can say that my initial impressions from pictures and videos was reaffirmed. Aesthetically, it's great. I like the looks of the textured back a lot. The feel, however, is far better than I imagined. I expected it would feel like a cheap plastic cover. It is a cheap plastic cover, but it has a unique feel to it. It doesn't feel like leather, and I never once expected it to. It does, however, feel unbelievably better than the previous galaxy line back covers.
lmemma16 said:
How did/do you like the S4? I love the Note 2 on 4.1.2, it's smooth and basically lag free. However I found the S4 a bit clunky and laggy. Could you perhaps comment on how they did with the Note 3? Mainly I remember on the S4 there being some stutter in the UI, and lag in the gallery and Touchwiz browser.
Thanks for any thoughts!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The S4 stock was not that good but the S4 with Carbon or any other custom was equal or better than the note 2 but not enough to want to change so I gave it to one of the other employees.... I am kinda lucky I buy all the phones for the company so I get to pick which one I want and try them all out.....
Like I said the Note 3 is such an awesome phone especially for business there is nothing else like it
oka1 said:
The S4 stock was not that good but the S4 with Carbon or any other custom was equal or better than the note 2 but not enough to want to change so I gave it to one of the other employees.... I am kinda lucky I buy all the phones for the company so I get to pick which one I want and try them all out.....
Like I said the Note 3 is such an awesome phone especially for business there is nothing else like it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I would have run Carbon or Slim on the S4 all day, except for some audio issues that I don't think they have ever solved (it worked but not as well as on TW)... in the end I couldn't get happy with the S4 lol(well I also like the biggest screens now).
The Note 2 I am still using, and still love, and am glad to hear they got the Note 3 running nice and smooth. Will probably pick it up once I figure out the logistics thanks
Just traded my Tmo S4 for a Tmo Note 3 and wow, this thing is a Beauty and the Beast. It's a bit larger than my S4 but after 10 mins of setting it up, it feels like the size of my S4 and not big at all. Doing some reading tonight on the Note 3 and playing w settings tomorrow. My movies look incredible on this phone. The only thing that I have issue with, is the tiny speaker and low volume at max.
Ian B
Sounds funny but when I pick up and use the Note 3 I handle it just like all my previous phones with one hand unless using the pen of course, only when I look at it do I say holy crap this is big lol. I have regular non gargantuan hands but no struggling to reach a button as on the Htc One or mistakenly hitting power trying to lower volume on the G2. I had an S4 as well and the first thing to go was the stock launcher in favor of Nova Prime, glad to say I haven't even thought of using it with the Note 3, its just so fast and no lag whatsoever. I've even played around opening windows of other apps inside some games I play, writing a document out with the S-pen while inside Total Conquest plundering a village is mighty cool to me.
Today I flashed Darthstalker not because anything in particular was bothering me but I like the little changes he implements and some tweaks plus removing bloat is always a good thing. About that back cover, I love the way it looks and imo this phone does not look cheap at all. I never saw it in black but the white is quite elegant, my daughter thinks its not manly enough but I love my first white phone. I really liked the grip and feel of the back cover, it doesn't feel like plastic, I feel bad hiding it in a case but a phone this size is easy to lose hold of during the hand to pocket transition if you get distracted.
Flashed Darthstalker as well
This did improve the sound, and of course got rid of the bloat..... lame tmo sounds etc......
After using it a day ... I noticed battery about the same, volume is more, and there are some custom screen functions that are cool.
This phone is sizing up to be a real Rock Star
Hi,
My first Jump is coming up in a few weeks and as I'm something of a phone whore I'm starting to look at my options.
I really like the Note 3, but I use literally none of its whiz-bang features (auto scrolling, s-pen, hovery finger crap, etc.). The reason I like it so much are its display, speed, and battery life. I used to think a lot of its camera features were silly and gimmicky, but after putting many of them to use on a trip to the Caribbean side of Mexico a couple months ago I found a whole new respect those as well. The only thing I can point to that I really don't like is that it's plastic, and the faux-leather is really cheesy IMHO.
Has anyone gone from the Note 3 to the M8? What are your impressions of the M8 by comparison, specifically regarding the display, speed, battery life, and camera functionality? Is Boom Sound all it's cracked up to be? Zoe? How is the IR blaster and associated software compared to the N3 solution?
I'm not looking for someone to tell me the M8 is "better" per se, more along the lines of whether anything about the experience is disappointing coming from the N3.
Thanks!
I decided to make the transition from the Note 3 to the M8. I honestly can't begin to describe how happy I am with this phone.
The only noticeable difference for me in the display is when viewing the color black. On the Note 3's display, black is just turned off pixels, so it's a true black (kinda miss that). In every other regard, I think the displays are comparable.
The M8 is definitely faster than the Note 3 IMO. Touchwiz was so bloated and laggy, whereas Sense seems more lightweight and optimized. Apps open faster and the overall performance is beter.
Surprisingly, I don't notice much of a difference in battery life. HTC must have really optimized their software in this device because it seems about the same as the Note 3.
The camera is the main downfall of this phone, but not a huge one. I really enjoyed the Note 3's camera quality and took it for granted. The M8's camera isn't bad, but the quality just doesn't compare except for when using the front facing camera. There is a plethora of options available in the camera app, though, so having the features shouldn't be a problem.
To wrap this up, I'll just say that boom sound is amazing (seriously the best speakers I've ever had in a mobile device), I've never used Zoe, and my experience with the IR blaster has been about the same as with the Note 3
I did merely cuz I was tired of touchwiz. Also the big screen novelty worn off. Better battery life too
Sent from my HTC One_M8 using XDA Free mobile app
Same here got tired a little of TW .... Both are great phones ...
Sent from my HTC One_M8 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
I changed as well because I wanted the speakers. I had the HTC one before the note 3 as well. I will also get the note 4 when that comes out. so you might want to wait for that shouldn't be much longer.
Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk
So after using the G3 for about a week, I picked up an S5 also to compare it to. My G3 will be replacing my HTC One M8.
Performance initially was disappointing, seemed to microstutter everywhere which gives a perception of a laggy device. At first I was very upset but after putting all 3 devices side by side and running and opening apps ect., the G3 is just as quick, if not quicker then the S5 and M8 when opening and switching apps, the key difference here are in the animations.
The S5 and M8 are very consistent with smooth app opening, closing and switching animations. Always seems to run fluid 90-100 percent of the time, the G3 struggles to render them smoothly consistently. The animation stutters, stutters, then closes and vise versa when it opens on many occasions. Drove me insane! In-app performance are pretty much identical between the 3 with scrolling a tiny bit smoother on the S5 and M8.
Screen quality, I would have to give the win to the HTC M8 out of the box, because of the weird over sharpening high contrast setting LG decided to use, text on the G3 looks lower resolution than the HTC as a direct result. Colors on the G3 also looks a little washed out compared to the M8 and S5 out of the box, BUT...you can change the contrast ratio on the G3 in the accessibility menu and make the colors pop to your hearts desire. Very nice.. M8 also has better black levels than G3.
Don't get me started with the S5's screen, I can't believe one report actually gave it the "best display ever tested" title. Looks like garbage compared to the G3 and M8. No matter what setting I chose, adapt display, professional, cinema ect, it was way over saturated to the point where the colors look almost neon like. Everything looks lower resolution also, I blame TouchJizz mostly because once you switch to a different launcher like Nova, the icons look sharper but still not on par with the M8 or G3. The S5's display looks "Okay" once you crank the brightness past 75 percent, anything under that and the screen just looks terrible. Maybe my eyes have gotten accustomed to IPS LCD, I can't see myself going back to AMOLED. If this is the best that AMOLED can offer at the moment.. NO THANKS!
Camera, lets make this simple. The S5 takes the best pictures overall. It also records the best video with options for full 60fps in 1080p. G3 is a close second but the colors just doesn't seem to look as nice as the S5's, clarity and details are similar but the S5 exposes the picture better. HDR is also better on the S5. M8 takes very nice close up and macro shots but sucks big time when you try and take a scenery shot I really haven't tried much night time photography so I can't comment on that.
Battery life, S5 and G3 seems to be neck and neck lasting my entire work day with heavy use, the M8 trails behind and needs to be plugged in for my drive home.
Design and in hand usage. This is very subjective, I find the S5 the most comfortable to hold but it's also the most godawful looking. There's no denying it, the S5 is one ugly phone compared to the other two. Looks and feels terribly cheap, huge bezels giving the phone a very dated look. M8 looks great, build quality is nice but it's also very uncomfortable to use. It's slippery, the edges are sharp and it's just a pain (literally) to hold on to. It just doesn't give you a reassuring feel when using it especially over any hard surface. It also feels a lot heavier. The G3 is the perfect blend between the two, it looks beautiful, perfectly weighted, comfortable to hold, feels solid in the hand and has just enough "grip". Hands down I think it looks the best, just gorgeous.
Audio, as you guessed it the HTC One M8 tops it here, it sounds great with the Boom sound external speakers and with headphones plugged in. Bluetooth audio streaming also sounds very clean with the M8, the G3 matches the M8 in headphone audio output and bluetooth streaming quality but obviously gets smoked when it comes to external speaker quality. G3 still sounds very loud and pretty full for having only one rear firing mono speaker. The S5 is the worst performer here, headphone audio performance is just dismal compared to the other two even after playing with the built-in EQ. Bluetooth audio streaming on the S5 is also weak, audio tracks sound very degraded over bluetooth. Another weird issue I had with the S5 was it didn't play nicely with my Lexus Mark Levinson system, I had to crank the volume to twice the level to get the same output as the M8 and G3. (Yes, the bluetooth output volume was set to max on the S5) The S5's external speaker is also the tinniest, almost painful to listen to at higher volumes. It has piercing highs with no mids or lows. I guess when you make the phone IP67, sacrifices must be made.
Conclusion, as you can see all the phones have their pros and cons but overall I think we all made the right decision with the G3. I've been on a search for the "perfect" phone since I can remember, for me at the moment, the G3 is the closest one yet. I'm sure performance will improve with updates so I am excited for the G3's future. I'm also glad I gave it a second chance, I literally had it all boxed up with the return label slapped on it back to T-Mobile. Looks like it will be sticking with me for a little bit longer.
Woot
Here's my copy and paste from another site reviewing the same three phones. This may be a good thread for people to detail their experience with the three big players.
"Alright so I've had it a few days now and here's what I think of it. Out****ingstanding.
Hardware - The metal looking plastic back is actually pretty nice. I think it actually has some metal in it, it doesn't feel plastic and cheap in the hand like the GS5 does. It doesn't have the heft of the M8 but it's also not as slippery as the M8 either. It's just about right. It's removable so it's easy to throw a spare battery in your car or camera bag or pocket or whatever if you're going to be out all day. That being said, the battery life is surprisingly good given the resolution/size of the display. Which brings me to the display. It's also outstanding. The first G3 I got had a weird yellowish tint to the display, did a little research and it seems there's some inconsistency among the displays from manufacture, I took it back to T-Mobile and they swapped it out without any hassle. It's huge, it's bright, it's incredibly sharp. There really isn't much bad I can say about the display. The buttons on the back took a little getting used to, but after a day you're used to them and it's actually quite natural to use them. The camera is awesome, I think it's bright light capabilities are on par or better than the M8 and definitely better than the S5. Under lower light it's at least on par or slightly better than the S5 and ****s on the M8. The OIS and "frikkin laser" focus is awesome, makes it really easy to pull it out and snap a pic really quick without the fuss the other two give. Wireless charging is available with an appropriate back cover, but more on that later. The single rear speaker is similarly placed to the S5 but it's much louder and your hand doesn't muffle it in regular use. Clarity is much better than the S5 as well. The M8 destroys all comers in this area with it's front facing speakers.
Software - The LG overlay is actually quite nice. I think it's just as good as HTC's Sense and kicks Touchwhiz in the grundel. It's easy enough to disable most stock LG apps if you want to. There's a faint touch of lag to the OS, not as bad as Touchwhiz but just a hair worse than Sense. If you kick the animations down to 0.5x from 1x in developer options it goes away. There's a health app, the people on xda seem to like it a lot but I don't use it.
Daily use - This thing really shines. The size is marginally bigger than the others in one dimension or another, but the shape of the back cover makes it perfectly comfortable to use and it doesn't feel at all as big as it actually is. The M8 feels really skinny next to it and the S5 feels like a giant, rectangular brick. Easy to use one handed, especially with the rear buttons. The OIS of the camera is really quite good and it's probably the first Android phone I've used that I think has a camera comparable to the quality output from the iPhones under all scenarios. Battery life has been great, I can easily get through a whole 12 hour shift at work and have plenty of battery to spare and I use the phone quite heavily and have music playing probably 10 of those 12 hours.
Signal strength - So I originally got the AT&T version before realizing those ****s disabled Qi charging in favor of PMA so I actually have some experience with the d850 (ATT) and d851 (TMo). The modems are the same between the two, the only hardware difference between the two devices I believe is AT&T's hardware removal of Qi. Both phones were on the same rev and they picked up signal the same as the S5 and a little worse than the M8 on AT&T. I have all Qi stuff so I said **** it and switched to TMo and have been quite pleasantly surprised. Their service in my area is great (better than AT&T coverage was) and the calls/sms/mms over WiFi is actually awesome, especially at work as most of the hospital is well insulated from outside communication. I also have unlimited everything for about $40/mo less than I was paying for 4gb at AT&T.
Advanced nerdy stuff (root) - If you root the phone, which is available for all variants and most with a one click utility, then the thing outshines the other 2 on all fronts. There's a mod for camera quality that kicks the image quality above the other 2 under all lighting conditions and increases the video recording quality to 1080p/60 and increases the bitrate of the 4k recording. There's a tweakbox that lets you customize the LG overlay to your personal taste and with a couple minor tweaks it is fastest experience of the 3. You can tinker with the volume of the speaker and the volume increments which is needed (30 vs stock 15 options). Then of course you can use Titanium Backup to freeze/uninstall all the carrier bloat. Xposed Framework of course brings hundreds of mods for just about anything you'd want to do.
Overall - Out of the box within confinements of not being rooted 9/10
----------- After root 10/10"
I agree with most of what you said, except I think the S5 has a better screen overall. I came from a Note 2, so I am used to the saturated colors. But regardless of your preference of saturated vs natural colors, I think most people would agree that the S5 has better brightness and viewing angles. I also think text on the G3 is oversharpened/overprocessed.
I think LG got the "feel" of the G3 just right. The S5 is a freaking brick and looks like it was beaten with an ugly stick. The M8 is disproportionately tall, and also heavy & slippery.
As far as sound, the G3 falls in between. The S5 speaker is anemic. The M8 blows everything else out of the water. I always listen to music via headphones or my car system. But if you absolutely *must* listen to audio via speakerphone, then the M8 has no equal. I must admit, sharing videos with friends is a much more pleasant experience on the M8. The G3 speaker does a respectable job, but you still have to cup your hand around the back to hear anything (at least at my age).
Despite its flaws (which are very minor), I think the G3 is the phone to beat this year. The Note 4 will no doubt offer some serious competition, but I think the Note line targets a different demographic. People that don't want or need the Note's special features will probably find the G3 to be an almost perfect compromise of size, features and performance.
Sent from my LG-D851 using Tapatalk
Dan37tz said:
Camera, lets make this simple. The S5 takes the best pictures overall.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't have my G3 yet, but based on images I've seen online, I, ever so slightly, prefer the G3's photos as it seems to get slightly better detail. What I mean is that, at least from what I'm seeing, it looks like the S5 is trying to over-sharpen details in software instead of just using what is available through the sensor. For instance, outlines of leaves in front of the bright sky shows a tiny bit extra outlining to me.
Oddly enough, this shouldn't be the case since the S5 has a slightly larger sensor, more megapixels and a slightly wider aperture @ f/2.2. Perhaps that new isocell sensor isn't all it's cracked up to be or maybe they just haven't fine tuned the software for it. However, with the G3 you also get dual flash, which is a feature that might come in handy for macro shots, and there is that laser focus thingy the G3 has. So, I dunno, I was leaning towards the S5 myself, but after seeing test photos and reading reviews about all the other aspects of the phone itself I went with the G3.
Perhaps completely manual shooting with the S5 would render better results than the G3.
In the end though, I just wanted something that could compete with my old T-mobile 4G Slide. My Google Nexus 4 certainly didn't and I'm glad it's paid off and done with.
Dan37tz said:
Camera, lets make this simple. The S5 takes the best pictures overall.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have to disagree there, I think the G3 pictures are better. I took some pics of my car today and was actually quite impressed with how they came out compared to similar shots at the same place and same time of day and same subject matter. I do agree the HDR shots from the S5 are better, but who uses that anyway
boosting1bar said:
Have to disagree there, I think the G3 pictures are better. I took some pics of my car today and was actually quite impressed with how they came out compared to similar shots at the same place and same time of day and same subject matter. I do agree the HDR shots from the S5 are better, but who uses that anyway
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wonder if it is due to the lens itself?
Perhaps the G3 is using a better lens (Sony?) and it is of better quality than what Samsung is using on the S5. There is actually a list of people with cracked and broken S5 lenses, so I'm guessing the glass they are using isn't very good.
From what I've seen, the M8 appears to take cleaner night shots, at least with macro and no flash, However; I do not know how low the ISO settings will go with it. I think the G3 can do ISO 50, so if the image stabilization is as good as LG claims and the focus laser is really fast it should end up taking pretty good night shots in manual mode.
In the end I think all three are good cameras for a cell phone, I just feel like the G3 has more options for covering different kinds of shooting. Then again, I haven't used any of these phones personally yet.:silly:
I suspect with the XPOSED module Viper4Android, you can tweak the sound on the G3 to be on par with boomsound or even better.
Also, have you taken many pictures in low light? It's my understanding that the g3 has a much better camera for low light than the s5. It's not as good in direct sunlight, but better everywhere else making it a better "overall" camera. I don't have an s5 to compare the G3 to, so I'm just going off what I've read. It would be nice to hear from someone that has both.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
I must not be getting the same bluetooth results as you...
This is the worst I've heard in the past few years, as far as bluetooth media pairing goes..
it sounds like the bit rate of a 320 mp3 goes down to 96 or 128.
I'm quite concerned about this...
I'm pairing up to a VW/Dynaudio setup.
Iphone, GS4, lumia 925...all sound 10x better.
did you do any bluetooth tweaks?
sic0048 said:
I suspect with the XPOSED module Viper4Android, you can tweak the sound on the G3 to be on par with boomsound or even better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The M7/M8 have front facing stereo speakers. The G3 has one small speaker on the back, facing away from the user. Sorry, but no amount of mods will make the G3 external speaker sound like the M7/M8.
Sent from my LG-D851 using Tapatalk
Which is preferable? Screen and etc? Anyone's opion is awesome!
Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk
LG shaped better and easier to hold. Battery life seems slightly better on the S3. S5 bloatware seems to negatively affect operation more than on G3 - G3 also has 3gb of ram (S5 has 2gb). G3 keyboard more accurate and convenient. G3 resolution specs look really high on paper, but fonts often seem a bit washed out/blurry...overall I'd say the S5 has a slightly better screen. G3 screen noticeably larger. G3 camera better and more responsive. I'll let others add to this and share their thoughts, but I feel like the S3 is definitely a better overall value.
Sent from my Verizon LG G3 using XDA Premium HD app
Brava27 said:
Which is preferable? Screen and etc? Anyone's opion is awesome!
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S5 has an E-fuse that blows when you root the phone, permanently voiding your warranty. LG G3 can be reflashed to stock rom/unrooted and returned.
I have to say that I love my S5 but finally got to get my hands on a G3 about a half hour ago and it is a beautiful phone. Did not see any of the lag issues or sharpening issues that are being reported but I only got to play with it in store for a little bit. I would be lying if I didn't say that I am having a little envy towards the G3 right now. Developer support would be one worry I would have with the G3 since I do like to flash custom ROMs after having my phone for a while.
Tapped It!
Just came from an S5. The camera and battery are the only benefit, and one of those (battery) can be made much better on the G3. I do have to say I'm largely unimpressed by the ability to take good pictures with the G3. Its not the worst, but the S5 has an amazing camera.
S5 seems a little faster through the launcher, but loading apps and swapping back and fourth between them isn't much difference.
Had battery issues with my G3 until removing carrier IQ, freezing apps, and installing greenify. Now its every bit as good as my S5 on batter (running G3 at 50% auto brightness).
Double-tap screen on/off is a nice feature that I found myself doing after turning on the S5 last night and messing with it again.
Screen goes, hands-down, to the G3. I don't have(or don't see) the sharpening effect that everyone complains about. I also don't see the digitizer like some people say they can.
I think ROM support will come eventually, but its fine just rooted and cleaned up. Great phone and I'm liking it more and more each day.
Be ready for funny reactions/faces when people ask about why you switched from the S5 to some "LG thing".
Had it for a day, traded for the g3, never looked back, this screen, the snappiness, the camera, and the lack of bloat to me just combines together to make the best phone right now
I got the G3 a couple of days ago, my wife has had the GS5 for a couple of months both on Sprint. One of my concerns about the G3 was battery life, but I found them to be about the same. I removed a lot of bloat from the G3, but found it impossible to do the same with the GS5 without root. In use both are snappy, but the SG5 interface feels more cluttered and clunky. Side by side both running Nova, they are equivalent. The same goes for the camera, the G3 feels cleaner and snappier but side by side? They are equally fast, maybe the G3 focuses a teeny bit faster but not of any consequence in my use. Both have outstanding camera output and I couldn't say one better than the other. Both are good overall choices, but the G3 feels cleaner, snappier and more modern although this is more perception than reality. Certainly the GS5 has more gimmick features that we don't use (HR monitor, fingerprint reader, crap load of "S" apps) while the G3 has a few that I find compelling (knock codes, clip tray, ear to answer). I came from a Note 2 which I liked just fine. I thought about upgrading to the GS5 when my wife got hers, but it didn't feel that much different than my N2, just a bit faster. When I bought the G3 I was 50-50 that I was going to return it based on published screen and battery issues. After 2 days of use, I'm for sure keeping it. It made my N2 feel clunky and old.