Even though this is the gazillionth review/comparison I've read of the HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S4, it was still a good read. For the record, I picked up the HTC One, three weeks ago, and I'm super happy with that decision. It is quite an awesome phone and a head turner in the looks category.

Great article and well-written, with one exception....
I was the first fully digital professional photographer in the state of Wisconsin, and I can guarantee you those images do NOT show greater detail for the GS4. Check the minute background details...the pebbles, the stucco and such. The One's resolution is much finer and shows greater detail. I'll get the One, NOT the GS4. This article convinced me, particularly because of the images, although my professional opinion is in direct contrast to the author's.

I am not all that technically savvy but the indoor photos I have taken with an older HTC come out all orange in color. Do these have an advantage over one or the other in that environment?

Wow, look at what Steve wrought!
And it depends upon whether or not you have a scientific bent. If you do, there is absolutely no question about the iPhones, loaded with the i41CX+ nothing beats it. Absolutely nothing. And remember that WoZ worked in the Calculator Department at HP when it was invented. He may have contributed besides stealing chips.
Now there is no question Will, that your articles will have forced Apple to come up with slightly larger phones, but none of this humungo phones junk. Older folk will enjoy that more because having to pull out your glasses to read the phone is a bit annoying.
And there will always be people preferring things made out of frozen snot as L. Francis Herreshoff would say.
Some people simply dislike aluminum, stainless, steel, and real glass.
So it is calcs and programming that you are up to there is actually no choice but the 41. And forget that I did some of the skins. I never got paid anything for my contributions to the classic.

I'm not trying to bash the One, it's an awesome device. But I've been unable to re-create the great low-light shots I'm seeing everywhere. It's either in such low light that it struggles to focus, or it turns out grainy if the light *is* sufficient, or it just labors so hard and moves so slowly it's simply difficult to get a good shot. The other thing that's never mentioned anywhere is that if you have a shot that's too low light where you have to use the flash, the flash will NOT go off to focus, and therefore the phone will never focus and the shot will come out blurry EVERY time.
The overall camera experience on my S4 has been head and shoulders above my experience on the One. I don't care if I have to use flash in a low-light shot of the photo comes out crisp and clear and takes no effort - and that's what the S4 does, every single time. And don't discount the lower megapixels - it wasn't as obvious in the examples in this article, but the graininess that comes with 4mp shows up more than you would think. The One does an *excellent* job overall, but you can still tell in a lot of scenarios.

yea the one seems to take better photos, but because the sg4 is more rounded sold me.

Granted that the One doesn't have convenient quick settings when it comes out of the box, but a user can get them with AntTek Quick Settings Pro (available from Google Play). Virtually any setting you can think of can be placed on a menu that is available with a single swipe from the top of the screen (you can set how wide the swipe area can be, so it doesn't interfere with swiping to expand the notification bar), very much like the feature in the S4. I think the developer claims something like 75 built-in settings. The free version limits the number of quick settings you can place on the menu, but the Pro version ($1.99 in US) does not have a restriction. The quick settings can also include launching an application, sending an SMS message, phoning a contact, shortcut to Web site (I may not be remembering all the possibilities).

Got the htc one. Great phone. A lot more simplified than the s4. Both awesome phones. ,Ian difference is the camera. The s4 is far superior plain and simple. If you want a high high quality shot, go with the s4. The cam on the htc one is definitely adequate for everyday shots as long as your not concerned about extreme detail that the s4 offers.

You said, "The GS4’s Super AMOLED screen has more vibrant colors than the One. Is that a good thing, or a bad thing? Well, if you want realistic colors, go with the One. If you want larger-than-life colors, go with the GS4."
From other reviews i see the S4 has a number of different selectable display color profiles, with the out-of-the-box default being set for extra-gaudy for maximum sales effect. Someone (Anand, Ars Technica?) recommended that you select the Movie profile for a more natural look.
You said, "Would you listen to Sgt. Pepper while sitting behind your favorite pair of subwoofers? No? "
Humans are unable to localize really low frequencies such as are put out by sub-woofers, so you can put them anywhere in the room. :)

Hello, i reckon the galaxy s4 feels much more complete than the HTC One which let's be honest has got a great audio quality but that's unfortunately not enough. Look at the image quality difference, don't forget about those other cool options which the HTC One does'nt offer !