Tag: comparison

HTC One Vs Samsung Galaxy S4 – Battle For Android Supremacy

We may only be three months into 2013 but it’s already been a big year for phones. One of the biggest stories so far is that of the HTC One – a no-compromise handset from the Taiwanese firm that aims to make amends for the last couple of years and bring HTC back to the top of the Android heap, where they once stood with the help of the HTC Legend.

It’s a remarkable phone in so many ways, but now it faces its biggest threat yet – the Samsung Galaxy S4, the latest flagship phone from the current king of Android.

How do these 2 fare against each other? Let’s find out!

1. Build Quality And Design

Do we even need to discuss this one? Even the most ardent Samsung fanboy would agree that the HTC One is much better in terms of design. On one hand, we have the light, plastic body of the Galaxy S4, and on the other – the heavy, metal one of the HTC One.

The disadvantage of this design, though, is not only that metal will get slightly hotter than plastic, but that the unibody design also prevents the handset’s battery from being removed.

Samsung took a step in the right direction by utilising a little bit of metal around the edge of the phone, but it’s still mostly plastic and still nowhere close to the quality of the HTC One’s build.

Verdict – HTC One

2. Display

This is a tough category, as both the Samsung Galaxy S4 and HTC One have excellent screens. The Samsung Galaxy S4 features a 5″ HD 1080p Super AMOLED touchscreen, which on first impressions proved pretty impressive, while the HTC One features a 4.7″ HD 1080p Super LCD3 touchscreen.

Going purely on numbers, the HTC wins here since its pixel density is 469ppi against the Galaxy S4’s 441ppi. In real life this difference is not noticeable by the human eye.

Put simply, these are two of the best displays on the smartphone market. However, Samsung’s AMOLED displays have been criticized in the past for having a blueish tint on them, but the contrast and deep blacks on this display are amazing.

Another difference is that the Galaxy S4 uses Gorilla Glass 3 which its maker, Corning, says is up to three times more damage resistant than Gorilla Glass 2 which the HTC One offers.

Depending on how you plan to use each smartphone, there are clear advantages to some of the screen technology. It’s hard to pick an overall winner here, one has a slightly bigger screen the other has a slightly higher pixel density, but both are fantastic through and through so it’s a draw and really just comes down to a matter of personal preference.

Verdict – Draw

3. Software And UI

The Samsung Galaxy S4 and HTC One are pretty evenly matched when it comes to software too, with both running Google’s Android Jelly Bean operating system. Saying that, the Galaxy S4 has a later version, Android 4.2.2, while the HTC One has Android 4.1.2.

There is a vast difference between the custom user experiences found on both devices.

The Samsung Galaxy S4 comes with the latest version of Samsung’s Touchwiz UI, giving a horde of custom features. As well as a barrage of software features such as Air Gesture and Smart Scroll, Samsung’s Touchwiz UI offers a fairly heavy custom skin, which is not good for those who are fans of the vanilla Android 4.x Jelly Bean.

The HTC One, on the other hand, offers a much simpler user interface skin. Blinkfeed is its standout feature – a unique take on Flipboard – and beyond that, the HTC Sense 5.0 UI is fairly stripped back and easy to use.

However, Samsung clearly wins this one with its onslaught of software tricks and custom features.

Verdict – Samsung Galaxy S4

4. Processor

The HTC One packs a lot of power under its shiny metallic shell, with a 1.7 GHz quad-core processor and 2 GB of RAM. But impressive as it is the Samsung Galaxy S4 goes one better with a 1.9 GHz quad-core processor, though it merely matches the HTC One for RAM. Both phones are true next generation handsets and both have more power than you’re likely to know what to do with.

Early benchmark results of these 2 smartphones reveal that they’re neck to neck in performance.

So it’s a draw for us!

Verdict – Draw

5. Memory And Storage

Memory is another win for the Galaxy S4, as while the HTC One comes with up to 64GB of on-board memory (a 32GB version also exists), there’s no micro SD card slot, so no way to expand on it. The Galaxy S4 meanwhile matches its on-board memory with 16, 32 and 64GB versions up for grabs, but also includes a micro SD card slot on top of that.

Their connectivity options are identical as both handsets provide Wi-Fi, 3G, 4G/LTE, GPS, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC and an infrared port. It’s about as comprehensive set of options as you could hope to see.

Verdict – Samsung Galaxy S4

6. Camera

HTC has gone in new direction with the One’s camera. The Ultrapixel camera is only 4MP in resolution but captures 300 percent more light than a regular smartphone camera. The camera is good especially in low light situations.

HTC’s bold move makes it pretty difficult to compare with the Galaxy S4’s 13Mp camera which we expect to be a good camera. Each rear camera can record video in Full HD 1080p quality.

Things are almost identical in terms of front facing cameras between the Galaxy S4 and HTC One. They have 2MP and 2.1MP cameras which can each record video in Full HD.

HTC Zoe is the big camera feature that is grabbing the headlines when it comes to the HTC One. When you record a ‘Zoe’, the HTC One takes a 3 second video and 20 single frame shots. Not only do you then have the Zoe clip itself, but also the functionality for some very impressive features: remove unwanted people and objects from the background of a shot, make sure everyone is smiling and has their eyes open for group shots and combine several frames in a sequence shot to create a ‘slow-motion’ photo.

The S4 also has some nice camera features and some that are similar to the HTC One. Eraser also let’s you remove unwanted photo elements, sound and shot lets you record a sound clip with a photo and drama shot will take 100 photos in 4 seconds. There are plenty more features to talk about for both these handsets and you’ll have a great experience with either.

So while the HTC One is likely to fare better in low light conditions, the camera in the Samsung Galaxy S4 seems the better bet overall.

Verdict – Samsung Galaxy S4

7. Audio

When it comes to sound the HTC handset wins without doubt. You will have heard HTC BoomSound mentioned by now, which is the technology that makes the HTC One so loud. It’s the first handset to feature dual frontal stereo speakers, plus it has Beats Audio technology built in. This results in louder music playback, ringtones and notifications.

The S4 speaker is also of a good quality and is a close second to the HTC device.

Verdict – HTC One

Conclusion

Both of these handsets are truly remarkable and it’s a tough call picking one out as the best. They both have incredible displays, loads of connectivity options, great cameras and a lot of horsepower.

There is no real winner in this article, and it should only be used as a reference to how the devices perform in each of the sections discussed above.

This will be one of the most exciting fights in the premium segment this season.

Which one will you choose? Let us know below!

April 1, 2013

Smartphone Camera Shootout – Galaxy S3 vs Xperia S vs One X vs Xperia P vs iPhone 4s

No matter how many specs a phone has to offer, one of the biggest factors that affect our choice when we’re buying a new phone is the Camera! We put 5 smartphones to the test! Here they are (We rank them in 3 categories) –

Warning: Images are in Original size and may take long to load.

Outdoor- Close-up, Brightly Lit, Macro

Whoops! Something went wrong! — Xperia S

5/5

4.5/5

4/5

3/5

2.5/5

Indoor- Dim Lighting, Macro

4.5/5

4/5

3/5

2.5/5

2/5

Outdoor- Far focus, Brightly Lit

5/5

4/5

3.5/5

3/5

1. Outdoor – Close-up

Undoubtedly the best, the Xperia S with its 12MP camera produced an image that even Bharat Nagpal was proud of! Rich in colour and detail, it was hard to flaw the image. A close second was the Xperia P which clicked the image with a sharp focus and brilliant colours. The S3 delivered an image that was nicely detailed and sharply focussed, though the colours seemed a tad bit brighter than normal. The iPhone 4s captured a rather off-focus image but the colours and detailing were top-notch! On the bottom of the pile was the One X, not too surprisingly producing a dull and off-focus image.

2. Indoor – Dim Lighting

The iPhone 4S was the best in this category, with an image which had had perfect focus, brilliant colours and amazing detail! Out of the rest the One X surprised us by clicking a near perfect picture, which was lagging just a bit in detail. The Xperia P and Galaxy S3 followed with images which were didn’t have accurate colours but decent detailing. Last came the Xperia S, which disappointed us a lot as we expected more from it’s camera.

3. Outdoor – Far Focus

The Xperia S was once again the best, evenly focused, accurate colours, perfect image. Tied for second place were the One X and the Xperia P, with high detail images which were slightly off-colour. The Galaxy S3 produced an image which even though wasn’t as detailed as the rest, was perfectly focused. And at the bottom was the iPhone 4s, with an image which wasn’t focused or detailed, only the colours were accurate.

Summary

Xperia S (12/15)

With its 12-megapixel camera, the Xperia S is THE best of the lot when it comes to outdoor shooting, though indoor shooting could have been better.

Xperia P (11.5/15)

A close second was the S’s sibling, the Xperia P, which produced images that were sharply focused and amazingly detailed.

iPhone 4S & One X (10.5/15)

While the iPhone performed excellently indoors, it let us down in outdoor shooting with slightly off-focus images. The One X too was not as impressive as we would like it to be.

Galaxy S3 (10/15)

The biggest disappointment was the Galaxy S3 which boasts of an 8-MP camera but did not produce any exceptional image.

June 18, 2012

Samsung Galaxy R i9103 Second Review ( Price Drop Version)

We got over a thousand requests to review the Samsung Galaxy R especially after the price drop. The device originally launched at Rs. 27000, just a little shy of the price of the Galaxy S2, but now the phone is priced at a mere 20,800 , also available at online retailers for a discount of 1000 using a coupon. Making it the best under 20k handset, here is why.

Build Quality and Design

Not the best build quality by Samsung, the Galaxy R lacks precious looks and precious materials. The back panel especially fades away after just light use, the scratch resistant front display is not so scratch resistant after all. We did face some issue with the power button and it turned out to be really fidgety. Apart from the downsides, we did like the look of the handset and it does feature some great elements, including a nice sized, tactile home button along with a nice chrome bezel.

The design is identical to the S2 but is much fatter than the powerful predecessor. The back of the device makes it look a bit ugly, and since it fades easily the look worsens day by day.

Hardware and Multimedia

Now that the price is so different, we see that there is a slight difference b/w the specs of the S2 and the R.


COMPARISON	Samsung Galaxy R I9103	Samsung Galaxy S 2 I9100

Platform
Operating Freq	GSM – 900, 1800	GSM – 850, 900, 1800, 1900; UMTS – 2100
OS	Android v2.3 (Gingerbread)	Android v2.3 (Gingerbread)
User Interface	TouchWiz	TouchWiz 4.0
Java
Processor	1 GHz ARM Cortex A9, Dual Core	1.2 GHz ARM Cortex A9, Dual Core
Graphics	ULP GeForce	Mali-400 MP

Display
Type	Super Clear LCD	Super AMOLED Plus
Size	4.2 Inches	4.27 Inches
Resolution	WVGA, 480 x 800 Pixels	800 x 480 Pixels
Colors	16 M	16 M

Camera
Primary Camera	5 Megapixel	8 Megapixel
Secondary Camera	VGA	2 Megapixel
Flash	LED	LED
Video Recording	1280 x 720	1920 x 1080, 30 fps
HD Recording	HD	HD, Full HD
Other Camera Features	Geo-tagging, Smile Detection, Auto Focus, Image Editor	Auto Focus, Shot Mode, Photo Effects, White Balance, Geo-tagging, Face and Smile Detection
Zoom		Digital Zoom

Dimensions
Size	66 x 125 x 9.5 mm	66.1 x 125.3 x 8.4 mm
Weight	135 g	116 g

Battery
Type	Li-lon, 1650 mAh	1650 mAh
Talktime		18 hrs (2G), 8 hrs (3G)
Standby Time		710 hrs (2G), 610 hrs (3G)

Memory and Storage
Internal	8 GB	16 GB
Expandable Memory Slot	Micro SD, upto 32 GB	Micro SD, upto 32 GB

The camera on the device is a 5MP snapper and it gives out decent image quality and 720p video, the LED flash is also good enough to illuminate low lit subjects, but don’t expect it to fill a room. Images are as crisp as can be from a 5Mp sensor, the quality when compared to a 5MP snapper from the iPhone 4 is a bit lower. 720p video is smooth and without jitters and we will soon upload a video sample to demonstrate that.

The screen is not anything like the Super AMOLED Plus display on the S2 but the SLCD display is the same size and same pixel resolution, also the same color density and is a exceptionally bright display with great outdoor visibility. The display is try capable of playing good video and the device supports unto 1080p video playback without any issues.

Audio on the device is loud, a bit louder than the S2 we presume, the earpiece did give us some problems as we mentioned in the unboxing, but somehow the volume keeps going up and down in the earpiece and we suspect its a software thing. Mic works great without any problem.

The NVidia Tegra 2 chipset is well supported in the gaming developer community, so expect to find more games work on this device than were supported on the S2 initially. Let us mention that all sort of games play brilliantly.

Call Quality and Messaging

The network is great and no breakages in sustained network, even while traveling. We did however face low signal in key areas like flyovers and tower changes. Audio is good, but like we mentioned the earpiece can get a bit bothersome.

The device also supports video calling over 3G networks which is a great add-on to those who want to use this feature, although we prefer services like Skype and Fring which work great too.

Messaging works great on the nice and large screen, with the ability to switch to Swype which is inbuilt into the system you can enhance the experience of typing. You can also switch to a flurry of available keyboard replacements in the Android Marketplace to best suit your needs of typing.

Battery Life

The battery life on this device is varied out of the box you will struggle to pass a few hours with the device, you will need to charge it at least twice a day if not more. But we found easy fixes, and we have discussed these with Samsung and we believe that a software update should rectify the problem soon. Turn off Wifi, background data sync and Mobile data, when not in use and here are the results

Talk time 2G : 5 hours

Talk Time 3G : 4-4.5 Hours

Standby Time : 2 Days- 3 Days

Internet usage : 8 Hours over Wifi

Video Playback : upto 6 hours constant video

Conclusion

The device is an exceptional device especially after this price drop, it does lack proper construction, but has a set of features that are difficult to match at this price. The only thing that comes close to this device is the LG Optimus 2X with almost the same price and the same chipset. The Galaxy R has a newer built of Android and will definitely get the ICS update. The Galaxy R also has TouchWiz UI which we prefer over the one on LG. We also believe that the device is well supported in the developer community and has a larger user base.

Samsung Galaxy R is a great purchase and a brilliant holiday gift.

We Rate it 4.0/5.0

Images

Unboxing Video

New Review

December 27, 2011

Spice Mi 350n Unboxing and Comparison with A75 Superfone

The Spice Mi350n is an answer to the Micromax A75 Superfone, with dual sim and Android 2.3, the device offers similar specs and a cheaper price of Rs 7700 check out our Video Unboxing and quick comparison b/w the two devices.

December 26, 2011

Samsung Galaxy R Unboxing and Review

The Samsung Galaxy R is the company’s attempt at making their success story with the Samsung Galaxy Slcd move over to the higher segment. Read on through to understand why we don’t recommend this device.

Build and Hardware

The i9103 is build in traditional samsung fashion, making “plastics feel like metals” look, which makes the device look great and feel great in the hand. But what makes it better is the fact that its styled almost along the lines of the Galaxy S2, which is Samsung’s Flagship. The overall use of materials and build quality is good if not better than the S2.

In terms of Hardware Specs the Galaxy R fails to stand up to serious competition that the S2 gives.


COMPARISON	Samsung Galaxy R I9103	Samsung Galaxy S 2 I9100

Platform
Operating Freq	GSM – 900, 1800	GSM – 850, 900, 1800, 1900; UMTS – 2100
OS	Android v2.3 (Gingerbread)	Android v2.3 (Gingerbread)
User Interface	TouchWiz	TouchWiz 4.0
Java
Processor	1 GHz ARM Cortex A9, Dual Core	1.2 GHz ARM Cortex A9, Dual Core
Graphics	ULP GeForce	Mali-400 MP

Display
Type	Super Clear LCD	Super AMOLED Plus
Size	4.2 Inches	4.27 Inches
Resolution	WVGA, 480 x 800 Pixels	800 x 480 Pixels
Colors	16 M	16 M

Camera
Primary Camera	5 Megapixel	8 Megapixel
Secondary Camera	VGA	2 Megapixel
Flash	LED	LED
Video Recording	1280 x 720	1920 x 1080, 30 fps
HD Recording	HD	HD, Full HD
Other Camera Features	Geo-tagging, Smile Detection, Auto Focus, Image Editor	Auto Focus, Shot Mode, Photo Effects, White Balance, Geo-tagging, Face and Smile Detection
Zoom		Digital Zoom

Dimensions
Size	66 x 125 x 9.5 mm	66.1 x 125.3 x 8.4 mm
Weight	135 g	116 g

Battery
Type	Li-lon, 1650 mAh	1650 mAh
Talktime		18 hrs (2G), 8 hrs (3G)
Standby Time		710 hrs (2G), 610 hrs (3G)

Memory and Storage
Internal	8 GB	16 GB
Expandable Memory Slot	Micro SD, upto 32 GB	Micro SD, upto 32 GB

Display, Camera and Multimedia

The device is after all a good spec’d phone, so expect great performance in terms of the display and sound quality. The display is not as vivid as the one on the S2 simply because of the lack of an AMOLED screen. The speakerphone we found was a bit more organized with its audio quality.

The device features a 4.2 Inch SLCD which appears to be washed out in front of the high intensity black of the S2’s Amoled display. Although both rank in at the same resolution the S2 has a slightly larger 4.27 inch screen. Watching videos and browsing websites is great in the combination of the internal hardware and external display. The device fares well agains competition like the Optimus 2X , but then again if you can spend a couple thousand and get the S2 why wouldn’t you?

Phone and Battery

So here is the segment where there is an actual improvement. The earpiece is exceptionally clear, and sounds great when on a phone call, the mic pics up your audio without the effect of any breakage and overall network connectivity is robust.

The device also has a greatly improved battery life over the S2, with a decent talk time of 5-7 hours depending on usage , we were pretty impressed to see that the device delivered upto 24 hours of music playback.

OS and UI

The device runs Android 2.3.5 and atop that is the TouchWiz UI from Samsung, now the interface is the same on the galaxy S2, but somehow it looked really dull on this device, possibly because of color usage and definitely because of the SLCD. the UI also adds a large variety of good widgets which make the daily usage of the phone a wonderful experience.

Conclusion

The device is a great alternative to the Samsung Galaxy S2, but not at this price range(Available for Rs. 27,000). It offers far less features to justify just a 1.5-2k price gap between the R and the S2. Our recommendation is DON’T BUY THE GALAXY R, instead get the S2 or some similar device from another manufacturer.

Video Unboxing and Review

October 25, 2011

Clash OF the Titans : HTC Sensation vs Galaxy S II vs Motorola Atrix vs LG Optimus 2X vs HTC Evo 3D vs LG Optimus 3D Vs Droid Bionic

Single Core cpu on a mobile phone is so passe’, its the break of the new world of technology and we are hitting it with the new dual core processors. Folks over at Engadget assembled the specs to all the dual core goodness available yet. We have it here for you in a tabulated form comparing spec for spec and detail for detail. Which one will you choose?

Click to Enlarge

April 15, 2011
HTC Incredible S Full Review with Video and Images
The HTC Incredible S is HTC’s latest and greatest, But, does it really fit that mark? Lets find out.

HARDWARE AND BUILD QUALITY

The device features one of the most robust constructions yet, a rubberized body , is not only rugged but also the new in-thing. The device is great to hold in the hand and feels really good thanks again to the rubber grip backing. It also sheds some of the added weight that the Desire HD has. No squeaks or rattling from the device. Better buttons in comparison to the Desire HD and a nicer looking display with rotating menu buttons. The build quality is surprisingly good and we were happy with it.

Tech Specs
- Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8255 1GHZ
- 768 MB RAM
- Android 2.2
- 8 megapixel camera with Autofocus, Dual LED Flash and 720p video recording
- 1.3 megapixel front facing camera
- 1450 mAh Battery
- 480 x 800 pixels Capacitive multitouch SLCD display 4.0 Inch
- 1124 MB Inbuilt + microSd expansion
- Proximity Sensor , Accelerometer, AGps, Compass, Ambient Light Sensor
- Bluetooth 2.1
- 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n WIFI
DISPLAY, MULTIMEDIA and CAMERA

The display on the Incredible S is simply stunning, the comparatively high resolution along with the SLCD screen just do wonders for the device. The colors are deep and the text crisp. The Processor may also play a role in the responsiveness of the device, but the basic functionality of the display and touchscreen is simply great.

The speaker on the device is slightly louder than its cousins ( the Desire HD/Mozart etc). But still not up to the mark from a device in this range. The video playback is smooth with zero lag and the fact that almost all formats can be played or play on the device thanks to Android is an added bonus.

The camera is no-where near where we want it to be, the images were bad, and we fail to see what dumping megapixels in a camera would do if the sensor is basically a dud. The camera is a big disappointment, although in crisp clear daylight , you may even get impressive shots, indoor and low light images are just very very poor. HTC should work on the Hardware instead of cramming specs in their devices. The 5MP backlit sensor on my personal iPhone 4 is far superior than this 8MP one from HTC.

PERFORMANCE, PHONE and MESSAGING

The device is a performer when comparing it to earlier versions of HTC devices and even some competition from Samsung. We ran Quadrant and Neocore on the device and we were quite pleased with what we saw. The scores ranged from

Quadrant : 1550-1600 (Highest Rank in the Stats)

Neocore : 56.5-57.0 FPS

The phone call capability of this device sets it apart, we cant stress enough on the crispness of the earpiece or the sensitivity of the microphone, the call quality was just brilliant. We did several hours of testing on the device and we got (get this) NO DROPPED CALLS in areas where we usually get several call drops within a couple of hours.

The messaging is similar to HTC Desire HD with the sense keyboard, the keyboard has navigation keys at the bottom which make it a lot more easy to navigate while in a text compose screen. The typing experience is much better on the Incredible S simply because of the improved responsiveness of the display and the processing capabilities of the device.

CONCLUSION

The Incredible S is a abandoned phone, it comes at a time where devices of its kind are becoming obsolete. The SE Xperia Arc, Nexus S and OPTIMUS 2x are already here and in the market. So a single core processor based device at this price point seems worthless to us. The Incredible S is truly incredible in performance and its built it also has a good set of specs, But its a little too late for the party. The camera is a disappointment, and the price point of 27-28000 makes us reject the device and look at dual core alternatives.

Price: INR 28500/-

[xrr rating=3.5/5 label=”We Rate it” imageset=shiny_yellow_star display_as=fraction_stars]

Check out the Remaining Shots and the Full Review Video Below
April 5, 2011
HTC Incredible S Unboxing and Comparison with Desire HD

Here is the Unboxing Video of the HTC Incredible S, The video also contains a comparison of the device with the Desire HD. Check it out and stay tuned for the Full Review.

March 24, 2011
Tablet Wars : iPad 2 vs. Motorola Xoom vs. HP TouchPad vs. BlackBerry PlayBook

Here you go Guys this is what you will probably need to decide the fate of your hard earned money. The top Tablets so far head to head.

[Engadget]

March 3, 2011