Find out which handset gets the Android Central recommendation
We're six months down the road from our last "best Android phones" roundup, and the smartphone landscape has altered dramatically. Back in December we crowned the Samsung Galaxy S3 king
of all Android phones, on account of its responsiveness, broad
availability and excellent performance across the board. A generation
later, the Android space is dominated by two new heavyweights -- the Galaxy S4 and HTC One, with other contenders including the Xperia Z and ZL from Sony and LG's Nexus 4.
In mid-2013, buttery-smooth performance, beautiful screens, high-quality cameras, 4G LTE connectivity and Jelly Bean
out of the box come as standard at the high-end. Competition is more
fierce than ever, and that's resulted in some of the best Android
hardware we've ever seen.
But there can be only one winner. Join us after the break to find out which phone takes the prize.
The best of the best - HTC One
We really have reached the point where the top of the Android
smartphone market is blanketed by some highly impressive devices. It's
tough to go wrong. There's something for everyone, be it form factor or
features or gimmicks and gizmos. But for our money, there's currently no
better phone available than the HTC One.
There's a lot to like here. The (mostly) all-aluminum body looks and
feels more sophisticated than a plastic phone, and the gentle curve fits
the hand nicely. While we've still got our quibbles with the Sense user
interface, Sense 5 is the most stylish version yet, and most important
is that it doesn't exhibit the lag that we've seen in the Samsung Galaxy
S4.
The front-facing stereo speakers change the way you experience music
and videos on a smartphone. Games and movies are much more immersive and
are a downright pleasure to play and listen to. There are a few times
when the speakers may be too loud, but there are many more times when
you're amazed you're getting that sort of sound from a smartphone.
HTC's camera also brought forth a bit of a paradigm shift. It's not the best all-around camera
-- it suffers from contrast issues, and if you need something with a
higher total resolution for enlarging pictures, you'll need to look
elsewhere. But the introduction of Zoes
-- the 3-second video clips -- and the introduction of automatically
composed Video Highlights are something that nobody else is doing, and
they make up for a lackluster camera application.
The HTC One also has been released on three of the four major U.S.
carriers, as well as seeing wide availability worldwide -- and we're
expecting Verizon to get its own variant this year as well.
In the months we've been using the HTC One, it's continuously caught
the eyes of those around us and continued to impress us with its
performance -- and for that it ranks as our best smartphone for first
part of 2013.
The runner-up - Samsung Galaxy S4
If ever there was a phone to beat, it was this one. Samsung took
everything that was good in the Galaxy S3 and made it better in its
successor, the Galaxy S4.
Well, maybe not
quite everything. The plastic body remains a
turn-off for many, and it's certainly not as chic as the aluminum HTC
One. It's also lost a bit of the curve of the Galaxy S3. And while
Samsung has managed to squeeze a 5-inch display into the same size as
the slightly smaller Galaxy S3, the IPS or Super LCD displays on other
phones perform better in sunlight and seems to better handle shifts in
brightness. The TouchWiz user interface has been refined a bit, but it's
still flat in places and doesn't match the sophistication of other UIs.
Samsung's camera, however, remains the best in the business,
as far as everyday use is concerned. It's filled with features, and the
camera app itself is a joy to use, having been adapted from the
high-end Samsung Galaxy Camera.
You might not use features like the animated gif creator every day, but
they're fun to have, even if they're not all that innovative.
But what landed the Galaxy S4 as our No. 2 is the laggy user
interface -- we've experienced delays and stutters on a number of
versions of the phone -- as well as the anemic storage situation.
Samsung's 16-gigabyte version of the GS4 only has about 9 gigabytes of
storage available to the end user. And while Samsung likes to say you
can add another 64 gigabytes with a microSD card, that's a different
kind of storage. Good luck keeping your larger games and apps on there.
The sin isn't so much that Samsung's using all that space for the
hundreds of features on the phone -- and it's got some really good
preloaded apps and settings. The sin is that in 2013, that sort of
deceptive marking and, for many, a lack of larger storage options, is
unacceptable.
Would we recommend someone buy the Galaxy S4, which is available on
just about every carrier on Earth? Absolutely. It just might not be the
first phone we suggest.
The best oversized phone - LG Optimus G Pro
The other South Korean manufacturer -- LG -- has a bit of a dark
horse on its hands with the Optimus G Pro. It's a 5.5-inch phone -- in
the same class as the wildly popular Samsung Galaxy Note 2, but without
the pen input. It also improves on the Note with a higher-resolution
display, updated internals and a slightly narrower body.
LG's user interface still leaves a bit to be desired, but it's also
come a long way in a short time. The Optimus G Pro has a
more-than-capable camera, and it's the first outside of the Nexus line
to sport the Photosphere feature.
Hamstringing the Optimus G Pro, however, is availability. In the
United States, it's only available on AT&T, and it's seen limited
release worldwide as well, though that's beginning to change. We're also
expecting Samsung to at least match the Optimus G Pro's specs and
features later this year. But for now, it's a pleasant addition to the
oversized phone market.
Honorable mentions
It's not fair to just focus on the top three. Here are a few other
contenders that are worth a look if the latest Samsung, HTC and LG
handsets don't float your boat.
Sony Xperia Z and Xperia ZL
The Xperia Z for Europe and Xperia ZL for North America put Sony back
in the game. The Japanese manufacturer might be something of an outcast
as far as U.S. carriers support goes, but its latest Android
smartphones have a lot to offer. Speedy performance, a clean UI and
great camera software are highlights for both the Z and ZL. The Xperia Z
also offers water resistant capabilities, though at the cost of
ergonomics -- it's a blocky handset that can be uncomfortable to use.
And both phones suffer from poor viewing angles, though on-screen images
are crisp and clear when viewed head-on. Overall, both the Xperia Z and
Xperia ZL are decent phones, but not without their share of niggling
issues.
LG Nexus 4
Despite the recent trend towards "Google Editions" of popular phones
like the Galaxy S4 and HTC One, there's only one real Nexus, and LG and
Google's collaboration remains the best value Android phone you can buy.
(As ever, we'd recommend you spend a little extra and pick up the 16GB model.)
In mid-2013, the Nexus 4's main weakness is its lack of
(official) LTE support. We don't know whether the dormant T-Mobile
LTE capabilities will be reactivated, but we can't help thinking if that
was going to happen, it would've happened by now. So with the Nexus 4
you're going to top out at DC-HSDPA (42Mbps) data speeds. For some
buyers, that's no big deal; for others, it's a deal-breaker. Aside from
that, you're looking at a very speedy phone with stock Android,
lightning-fast updates from Google and recently a new white color option,
if the standard black model isn't doing it for you. Even now, we'd
struggle to think of a better phone for the $300-350 contract-free
asking price.
Samsung Galaxy S3
Now 12 months old, the Galaxy S3 is positively geriatric by
smartphone standards. But the GS3 is still being sold by carriers around
the world, and some are even just getting around to launching it.
Much of the praise we heaped upon the GS3 back in December still
applies today -- it's still fast, feature-packed, LTE-capable and
eminently available wherever in the world you happen to be. The one part
of the S3 that hasn't aged so well is the screen -- compared to the
current crop of smartphone displays, it's not great. If we were being
unkind, we might even call it below-average. But if you're looking for a
good, solid mid-level phone that won't cost you much on-contract, the
GS3 fits the bill -- just be aware that you're already a year into its
life cycle at this point.
source:
androidcentral.com
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