Almost ever since Android was released, hardware manufacturers have been putting their own spin on the mobile operating system. Most hardware manufacturers have made skins for Android to differentiate themselves from other companies. Some of these skins improved Android in its early years, but they have been lagging behind stock Android lately. Most of the skins that companies put on their Android smartphones today are cartoonish, drastically different from stock Android, and slow down the phone itself. These faults with skins have made many people, tech savvy and not, want companies to do away with skins on their Android smartphones and let stock Android's light shine. Installing a stock Android ROM is a way to solve this problem, but you should not have to go through the troubles that come with flashing ROMs to get stock Android on your phone. Samsung, Google, and HTC have attempted to solve this problem by releasing versions of their flagship devices, with stock Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean. Are these devices better than their skinned counterparts? Does having stock Android come with any hardware compromises? Scroll on to find the answer to these questions and more.
Samsung Galaxy S4 Google Edition
The Samsung Galaxy S4 was the first of the two "Google edition" phones. The stock Android version of the Galaxy S4 was a surprise when it was announced at Google I/O, and it was one of the highlights of the show. It has the same specs as the TouchWiz-infused version, 13 megapixel rear-facing camera, 1.9GHZ quad-core Snapdragon 600 processor, five inch 1080p Super AMOLED display, 2GB of RAM, and LTE on AT&T and T-Mobile in the United States. Most importantly, the Google edition of the Galaxy S4 has completely stock Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean. You will not see a trace of Samsung's TouchWiz skin on this Galaxy S4. Since the Google edition of the Samsung Galaxy S4 has stock Android, you will lose Samsung's nifty camera app that the Touchwiz version has. Having stock Android also makes the phone slightly faster than its skinned brother, since all of Samsung's extra software features are not slowing it down. Overall, the Samsung Galaxy S4 Google edition is an impressive version of the phone. Even though it still has the same slimy plastic and slightly inferior AMOLED display compared to LCDs, this version of the Galaxy S4 is very well done and we would say better than the skinned version. If you do not mind the $649 price point and slimy plastic, then this Google edition is a great smartphone for you. If you were set on buying the HTC One, this version of the Galaxy S4 will not change your mind. Google has released a stock Android version of the HTC One to satisfy those of you set on buying one (no pun intended).
HTC One Google Edition
The Google edition of the HTC One came out very quietly compared to the Galaxy S4 Google edition. Google's Sundar Pichai revealed the news to everyone at the D11 conference earlier this week. This was a great surprise, but it was not as surprising as the Galaxy S4 since HTC hinted at it after the Google Galaxy S4 was announced. The Google edition of the HTC One will come in silver, have 32 gigabytes of storage, and be SIM unlocked. It will also have the same specs as the regular skinned HTC One, 4.7 inch 1080p Super LCD 3 display, 1.7GHZ quad-core Snapdragon 600 processor, four megapixel Ultrapixel camera, and 2GB of RAM. The Google edition of the HTC One will have quadband LTE, triband HSPA+, and quadband EDGE/GSM. In the United States this lets you enjoy LTE and HSPA+ on T-Mobile and AT&T. You can enjoy HSPA+ anywhere AT&T has it, but only in their refarmed 1900MHZ markets with T-Mobile. This is a slight disadvantage for the HTC One Google edition compared to the Samsung Galaxy S4 Google edition, but you will not mind that much if you live in one of T-Mobile's new LTE markets. Since this edition of the HTC One runs stock Android, it does not have any of HTC's special software. This means that you will not get Blinkfeed, Zoe, or the other features of Sense 5. The stock Android One also uses the stock Android camera app, which means it might not have the Imagesense software that HTC uses to enhance the camera. We are not sure how the Ultrapixel camera will work with the stock Android camera app, so we will have to wait to see how the quality of its pictures compares to the skinned HTC One. The new Google edition of the HTC One lets you get an amazing design, stellar camera, blistering fast internals, and stock Android in one phone. Some of you might prefer the One over the Galaxy S4, but you will definitely be satisfied with both phones.
Wrap-up
Both Google edition phones are very welcome editions to the smartphone world. Finally, you can get an amazing flagship smartphone without the company's annoying skin in the way. Do these new and impressive stock Android superphones mean the end of Nexus devices? We do not think so, because the Nexus devices will always be special. The next round of Nexus devices might continue the aggressively cheap prices, which would be a big appeal for buying them. At $649 and $599 for the Google editions of the Samsung Galaxy S4 and HTC One, the prices are a little too high for the average consumer. With T-Mobile's new Simple Choice plans, the Nexus 4 is a great choice with its inexpensive starting price of $299. The price point of the new Google editions of the Samsung Galaxy S4 and HTC One may not be impressive, but the phones themselves will definitely impress all you tech savvy people out there. Want more coverage on the new almost Nexus phones? Hit up the source links below for more information.
Source: Engadget Hands-On with the Google Samsung Galaxy S4, The Verge Hands-On with the Google Samsung Galaxy S4, Engadget Announcement of the Google Samsung Galaxy S4, Engadget Announcement of the Google HTC One, The Verge Hands-On with the Google HTC One
HTC One Google Edition
The Google edition of the HTC One came out very quietly compared to the Galaxy S4 Google edition. Google's Sundar Pichai revealed the news to everyone at the D11 conference earlier this week. This was a great surprise, but it was not as surprising as the Galaxy S4 since HTC hinted at it after the Google Galaxy S4 was announced. The Google edition of the HTC One will come in silver, have 32 gigabytes of storage, and be SIM unlocked. It will also have the same specs as the regular skinned HTC One, 4.7 inch 1080p Super LCD 3 display, 1.7GHZ quad-core Snapdragon 600 processor, four megapixel Ultrapixel camera, and 2GB of RAM. The Google edition of the HTC One will have quadband LTE, triband HSPA+, and quadband EDGE/GSM. In the United States this lets you enjoy LTE and HSPA+ on T-Mobile and AT&T. You can enjoy HSPA+ anywhere AT&T has it, but only in their refarmed 1900MHZ markets with T-Mobile. This is a slight disadvantage for the HTC One Google edition compared to the Samsung Galaxy S4 Google edition, but you will not mind that much if you live in one of T-Mobile's new LTE markets. Since this edition of the HTC One runs stock Android, it does not have any of HTC's special software. This means that you will not get Blinkfeed, Zoe, or the other features of Sense 5. The stock Android One also uses the stock Android camera app, which means it might not have the Imagesense software that HTC uses to enhance the camera. We are not sure how the Ultrapixel camera will work with the stock Android camera app, so we will have to wait to see how the quality of its pictures compares to the skinned HTC One. The new Google edition of the HTC One lets you get an amazing design, stellar camera, blistering fast internals, and stock Android in one phone. Some of you might prefer the One over the Galaxy S4, but you will definitely be satisfied with both phones.
Wrap-up
Both Google edition phones are very welcome editions to the smartphone world. Finally, you can get an amazing flagship smartphone without the company's annoying skin in the way. Do these new and impressive stock Android superphones mean the end of Nexus devices? We do not think so, because the Nexus devices will always be special. The next round of Nexus devices might continue the aggressively cheap prices, which would be a big appeal for buying them. At $649 and $599 for the Google editions of the Samsung Galaxy S4 and HTC One, the prices are a little too high for the average consumer. With T-Mobile's new Simple Choice plans, the Nexus 4 is a great choice with its inexpensive starting price of $299. The price point of the new Google editions of the Samsung Galaxy S4 and HTC One may not be impressive, but the phones themselves will definitely impress all you tech savvy people out there. Want more coverage on the new almost Nexus phones? Hit up the source links below for more information.
Source: Engadget Hands-On with the Google Samsung Galaxy S4, The Verge Hands-On with the Google Samsung Galaxy S4, Engadget Announcement of the Google Samsung Galaxy S4, Engadget Announcement of the Google HTC One, The Verge Hands-On with the Google HTC One
Pictures from source links above.
P.S. Brace yourselves. Big things are coming in the next few weeks.
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