Trying to find the best mobile phone can be tough these days. There are just so many different models to choose from that mobile shopping can be a little overwhelming. Given the vast amounts of money that you’re spending, a least a few hundred pounds, you’re looking to make a wise investment. After all, not only is a mobile one of the most expensive devices you’ll buy all year, but most people only buy a new phone once every two years or so, so you’ll be living with your decision for quite some time. A decent, reliable hand set is a must these days, since so many of us depend on a mobile for both personal and professional reasons. And that means that you need to research your choice carefully. Unfortunately, mobile feature lists can be so laden down with technical jargon and big numbers that knowing what you’re getting for your money can be pretty tough. And that’s where we come into the picture. We’ve taken an in depth look at some of the hottest new phones on the market. We then match phones up in a head to head battle so that you can clearly see how two different models compare and differ. If you’re interested in knowing which phone comes out on top of today’s competition, then you’d better keep reading…
The Two Contenders…
HTC have released some amazing phones lately. The manufacturer are proving to be particularly popular with the business phone market, making some high featured office compatible phones that retail for some pretty high prices. The 2013 flagship phone from the company is the HTC One, not to be confused with the HTC One X or any number of other HTC mobile that contain the word One. And the HTC One is a pretty impressive device, with lots of great features, and a sleek, sexy design. Samsung are another huge name on the mobile market. The Samsung Galaxy series is one of the best-selling series of phones of all time. The Galaxy S III was probably the best mobile released in 2012, and the Galaxy S4 is shaping up to be the best release of 2013. However, the highly featured Galaxy S4 comes with a huge price tag. That’s why Samsung have released several mini S4 versions that sacrifice a few features but come at a much more reasonable price. The Samsung Galaxy S4 Active is one of these. It’s a nice little phone, but have Samsung given up too many features to get that low price tag?
The Two Prices…
To get the best pay as you go deals on the HTC One you’re going to be paying for the phone full price up front, which means you’re looking at spending around five hundred pounds. If you prefer to get the HTC One as a contract phone with a mobile operator, then your best bet is with Vodafone, who will give you the hand set for free on a £37 a month contract. The best pay as you go deals on the Samsung Galaxy S4 Active will mean paying around four hundred and fifty pounds for the hand set up front. And unfortunately no major UK operator is currently offering the S4 Active on contract.
Why You Should Choose the HTC One…
The HTC One is a little more expensive, so as you might expect it has a few solid advantages over the Samsung Galaxy S4 Active. You do get more internal storage, since the HTC One has a 32 GB memory as compared to a 16 GB memory on the S4 Active. That means you get double the space in which to store your music, photos, games and other data. You also get slightly better screen quality. The HTC One has around ten per cent PPI (pixels per inch), so the picture definition is a little sharper. The camera on the One is capable of shooting high resolution HD video, whilst the one on the Active is not. And the HTC One is around ten per cent lighter than the S4 Active, weighing in at around 143 grams versus the 151 gram Active, so it’s a little more comfortable to carry around with you all day. Finally, the HTC One does have a built in FM radio. This isn’t really a necessity these days with so many great radio and music apps around to download, but some people do prefer that built in radio.
Why You Should Choose the Samsung Galaxy S4 Active…
However, that doesn’t mean that the Samsung Galaxy S4 Active can’t compete against the HTC One. For starters, the Active has a far better camera in general. For some reason, HTC only equipped the One with a 4 MP camera, whilst the Galaxy S4 Active gets the standard 8 MP camera. That means that you’ll capture more fine detail and that your pictures will be of higher quality. The screen on the Active is larger than that of the HTC, being a full five inches as compared to 4.7 inches. That extra screen space means a more comfortable viewing experience as well as the fact that typing on the on screen pop up keyboard is just easier. Battery life on the Active is better too, since it averages around seventeen hours of active use for each battery charge cycle versus thirteen and a half hours on the HTC One, so you’ll be charging your phone less often. The Active runs the more recent 4.2 version of the Android Jelly Bean operating system, whilst the One has the 4.1 version. Generally the newer the operating system version the faster and more stable a device is. And finally, the Active is a rugged phone, meaning that it’s both waterproof and dust proof.
The Better Buy…
It’s a tough choice, these are both great phones. However, given that both phones have the same processing power, we’re choosing the one with the larger screen. That makes the Samsung Galaxy S4 Active the phone of choice.
Phil Turner thought that the best pay as you go deals were already known to him. After a few minutes online with sites like uSwitch he found that there were plenty of other great offers out there.
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