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HTC One vs Samsung Galaxy S III

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Posted: , by Daniel P.

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HTC One vs Samsung Galaxy S III
Introduction

Samsung's last year finest is still one of the most popular Android handsets around, which says a lot, and we are therefore pitting it against HTC's latest and greatest to ease your choice in the quest for the perfect fit.

HTC One sports a few novel features, like the UltraPixel camera with optical image stabilization, and the frontal stereo speakers setup. Samsung, as usual, bets on its unique AMOLED display technology, stuffed in a thin and light body, so which one is for you? Read on to find out...


Design

The polycarbonate Galaxy S III is slightly shorter and thinner than the One, but the aluminum-clad HTC is narrower and more elongated, thus easier for one-handed navigation.

The polished aluminum chassis of the HTC One goes rather edgy and slippery in the hand, compared to holding the curvy Galaxy S III, yet there is no denying that the precision-crafted metal unibody HTC has come up with looks and feels great in the hand. The other metal accents, like the one-piece volume key on the right, only contribute to the premium feeling.

The HTC One (left) and the Samsung Galaxy S III (right) - HTC One vs Samsung Galaxy S III
The HTC One (left) and the Samsung Galaxy S III (right) - HTC One vs Samsung Galaxy S III
The HTC One (left) and the Samsung Galaxy S III (right) - HTC One vs Samsung Galaxy S III

The HTC One (left) and the Samsung Galaxy S III (right)


HTC One vs Samsung Galaxy S III
HTC has also equipped its phone with a dual stereo speakers setup in the front, and integrated an IR blaster into the power/lock key, which lets you control TVs and set-top boxes, which are features the Galaxy S III doesn't possess.

HTC has placed the capacitive back button on the left under the display, though, which requires a lot more thumb stretching, unless you are a leftie. Kaji tuk I za power buttona on top koito pri tozi razmer ne e lesen za one hand?

Left sides - The sides of the HTC One (bottom, left) and the Samsung Galaxy S III (top, right) - HTC One vs Samsung Galaxy S III
Right - The sides of the HTC One (bottom, left) and the Samsung Galaxy S III (top, right) - HTC One vs Samsung Galaxy S III
Top - The sides of the HTC One (bottom, left) and the Samsung Galaxy S III (top, right) - HTC One vs Samsung Galaxy S III

Left sides

Right

Top

Bottom - The sides of the HTC One (bottom, left) and the Samsung Galaxy S III (top, right) - HTC One vs Samsung Galaxy S III
Backs - The sides of the HTC One (bottom, left) and the Samsung Galaxy S III (top, right) - HTC One vs Samsung Galaxy S III
Rear cameras - The sides of the HTC One (bottom, left) and the Samsung Galaxy S III (top, right) - HTC One vs Samsung Galaxy S III

Bottom

Backs

Rear cameras

The sides of the HTC One (bottom, left) and the Samsung Galaxy S III (top, right)



Display

The HTC One sports a pretty great 4.7” Full HD S-LCD 3 display with 1080x1920 pixels of resolution, ensuring the highest 468ppi pixel density. The colors are accurate, and viewing angles are some of the best we've seen. It is not as bright as the displays on the HTC One X or the iPhone 5, for instance, but the difference is not big, so it's still pretty visible in direct sunlight, albeit could be less reflective.

The Galaxy S III is equipped with a 4.8” HD Super AMOLED display with 720x1280 pixels, which ring in a lower, 306ppi pixel density. It is still more than enough for your daily tasks, plus we get the typical for OLED screens wide viewing angles and deep blacks, but calibration is a weak point. Colors on the Galaxy S III are quite oversaturated by default, and appear pretty cold as well.

These are not major gripes, unless you are a display nut, but brightness is, and the S III doesn't deliver in that respect. Its low screen reflectance can't compensate for sub-400 nits luminance, which makes it difficult to tell anything outside, unless you shade the screen with your palm, while the HTC One screen perform much better in sunlight.



HTC One 360-Degrees View:



Samsung Galaxy S III 360-Degrees View:



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1. alterecho posted on 20 Mar 2013, 07:43 16

The S4 look bigger than the One, even though its actually the converse... Hmm...

13. JaM1977 posted on 20 Mar 2013, 08:08 10 5

S4 is smaller than S3... so it cant look bigger than ONE...

35. amiroo posted on 20 Mar 2013, 15:48

I only laghing to this comprision..its clear one smock s3 even next repeation s4 or s3$.

41. Jillxz posted on 22 Mar 2013, 21:35

HTC One is long like the iPhone. I prefer the S4 myself

37. MrJerry posted on 20 Mar 2013, 19:31 1

That's because GS4 has bigger screen 4.7" vs 5"
So basically GS4 is smaller than One with much bigger screen.

Do you need any more explaination?

2. tiara6918 posted on 20 Mar 2013, 07:46 29 11

No doubt HTC one is the winner here

30. abdane posted on 20 Mar 2013, 10:57 1 16

no sd card ? non removable battery ? no android true multitasking because sense lags alot ? i dont think so, GS4 wins, IMO

but HTC wins design, no arguments in that :P

33. bbblader posted on 20 Mar 2013, 12:52 6

dude this isnt the GS4 its the GS3 dumbass
read first then comment

43. PlazmicFlame posted on 23 Mar 2013, 11:51

Just goes to show how Samsung has confused their own customers, lol

36. tha.fox posted on 20 Mar 2013, 16:31

abdane Im running sense 5 on my phone as we speak and I also Have the Nexus 4 rooted overclocked and they are the same speed only sense 5 destroys stock. Also i might want to add that the sense 5 im running is a unofficial base and still in beta3. pretty dam good if you ask me.

42. Jillxz posted on 22 Mar 2013, 21:39

At 32 GB , It doesn't need an SD Card slot. That's plenty big for most people.

3. Esf_Kid posted on 20 Mar 2013, 07:48 11 2

One vs S4 vs XZ
biggest comparison of year.
please make it PA.

4. tiara6918 posted on 20 Mar 2013, 07:52 3 3

If they made that comparison it would be beauty and the beast if you know what I mean

6. Meleagru posted on 20 Mar 2013, 07:56 3 10

It would be more like The good, the bad and the ugly.

10. ajac09 posted on 20 Mar 2013, 08:01 2 10

htc paid for this its why they did it. Putting the htc one against those it would die

19. nlbates66 posted on 20 Mar 2013, 08:33 1 1

rubbish, phonearena have always been doing comparisons between phones like this, including different generations(they did various HTC's vs others, newer galaxy vs older galaxy etc), and this is no different.

5. drpain posted on 20 Mar 2013, 07:54 10 22

Lol what kind of comparison is this?

GS4 will crush HTC One

Htc one delayed
Htc one has manufacturing defects, check xda
Htc one has worse ddr2 vs ddr3 in gs4-- graphics way faster on gs4

Gs4 better battery too

Htc president gonna resign, htc RiP

24. yudi.nemesis posted on 20 Mar 2013, 09:18 8 1

don't worry men your GS4 is gonna win any comparison
even if XP Z VS HTC ONE VS GALAXY Y, galaxy y will win the comparison
for phonearena samsung is the best
just look what phonearena did to XPERIA Z AND LUMIA VOTE
XPERIA Z from 6000+ vote to 1300
LUMIA 920 from 8000+ vote to 3100
i wonder how much samsung pay this site

27. ghmina posted on 20 Mar 2013, 10:24 2

htc one uses ddr3
galaxy s4 isn;t launched

31. chocolaking posted on 20 Mar 2013, 11:18 1

Samsung spent 70% of their budget at marketing, and the rest 30% for factory production. that's why they never have any innovations. never have any sense of designing. But people are brain washed by their advertisement. and think samsung is the best!
consumers really needs to wake them self up.
They are just paying money to help samsung makig more Ads, but they do not put in effort on making good product for customers.

44. chocolaking posted on 05 Apr 2013, 13:08

HTC One is better in every aspect. It's better than S4 no doubt.
But you GS4 is will win always on Phonearena.com .

7. mydi.maus posted on 20 Mar 2013, 07:57 10 5

THE ONE and only....BYE GS3

11. ajac09 posted on 20 Mar 2013, 08:02 6 6

I would hope the htc one would beat a phone from 2012..

8. ajac09 posted on 20 Mar 2013, 07:59 4 3

lol gs3 vs htc one? lol why not htc one vs gs4?

17. mf2hd posted on 20 Mar 2013, 08:17 3 2

gs4 is out?

23. Jack58221 posted on 20 Mar 2013, 09:09

Does it need to be out? All they did was ready the specs then fondle the phones. Didn't they get to touch the gs4 or red the specs?

22. tiara6918 posted on 20 Mar 2013, 09:08

They probably made the comparison for those people owning an sgs3 interested with the one or some one who's after good value for their money,if they're not after the latest gadgets they would go for the sgs3

9. ajac09 posted on 20 Mar 2013, 08:00 4 14

"This article brought to you buy HTC"

14. ahmed_ali_yossef2010 posted on 20 Mar 2013, 08:11 13 3

"this comment is brought to you by samsung fanboy "

12. ahmed_ali_yossef2010 posted on 20 Mar 2013, 08:02 3 3

HTC One vs Xperia Z please

15. g2a5b0e posted on 20 Mar 2013, 08:15 5 2

It's way past time to stop comparing the S3 to the latest flagships.

16. moe53 posted on 20 Mar 2013, 08:16 5

Guys you should compare it with the Samsung galaxy s4 and not the s3

18. terabyteRouser posted on 20 Mar 2013, 08:20 4 1

they don't care, they just want the clicks

20. bubbadoes posted on 20 Mar 2013, 08:34 3

stop with the boring comparisons..HTC One can only be compared to the GS4 and that's it until Motorola/Google comes out with their X development this summer...and save the Z10 the iphone 5,5s from comparison also-not needed

21. PhoneArenaUser posted on 20 Mar 2013, 08:51 5 2

HTC One win!

25. preet27in posted on 20 Mar 2013, 09:44 3 2

hahahaha phone arena comon. r u seriously comparing sammy crap junk to this beautiful beat HTC ONE? now whole world know OFFCORSE HTC ONE IS FAR FAR MORE BETTER . its best among all even gs4. btw what have they changed in gs4? NOTHING LITERALLY!!!!!! same old story from samsung. HTC ROCKS . CHEERS

26. Taters posted on 20 Mar 2013, 10:20 4

The HTC One is huge.

28. zippolite28 posted on 20 Mar 2013, 10:25 5

htc one sexy looks

29. henrickrw posted on 20 Mar 2013, 10:50 2

Agree. HTC One is better but I'm still lovin my S3

32. som posted on 20 Mar 2013, 12:40 3

HTC = Hard To Catch up with others.

34. moolotovzz posted on 20 Mar 2013, 14:22 2

HTC = "how to call" :)

39. g2a5b0e posted on 21 Mar 2013, 07:57 1

(My Phone) Has To Charge.

40. TempUse posted on 21 Mar 2013, 12:31 1

HTC = Harm To Copycat (S...ang)

38. jshan posted on 21 Mar 2013, 02:16 2

cant tell which is the best .. but htc one owns dazzling look which does not own by s3

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