I love my Galaxy S2 with a passion and whilst I agree with you that the S4 looks all kinds of ugly in comparison, the things they're doing under the hood are far more impressive than the others, which (in my opinion) makes up for its lack in the looks department.

@sweep Psh. New phones. I'm actually still quite happy with my Galaxy S2. I hear the S4 is an improvement, and if that's true, then it should be a pretty darn nice phone.

The HTC One is rather attractive though. If you want to look super cool and futuristic, that might be a nice pick. But the Samsung Galaxy S line is super solid.

(And I've never been a fan of Sony's phone builds. They just don't seem to understand real world use. But that's just my opinion.)

I've been meaning to jump ship from apple and have to say that every android phone looks like a better deal for me personally than the iPhone at this point. Probs gunna get an S4

My Samsung Galaxy S2 is the best piece of technology I have ever owned, it is simply incredible and I don't see myself switching for the foreseeable future. The S4 appears to be incredible as well, but the large screen is not to me liking, at all, even the S2 is pushing it in that department. The Sony one I don't really know about, but I've owned an HTC before and that was a pretty good phone, it is also the best looking one of the three so I'd probably say that since it is also a bit smaller than the S4.

HTC One, it looks like the bastard child of Blackberry Z10 and iPhone 5 but it is glorious, 1080p screen, quad core 1.7Ghz Snapdragon 600 CPU. I wish I wasn't so poor so I could get one.

A couple of years ago, in the last few months of my contract, my iPhone 3g got screwed by an update that made it run slower than it ever had, it was awful and I felt betrayed. I swore that i'd never get an iPhone again...

Almost 2 years into my Galaxy S2 contract, and I hate it; everything about it (except for Swype (which I will miss)) feels unpolished and clunky. I don't know what it is about it specifically, I just don't like how it feels; the size, the flimsy plastic-y case, the stupid slanting gallery, the way files and folders are managed, the terrible Samsung Kies app, not remembering where I was in videos or podcasts... just... all of it.

I was so excited to be an android guy, but honestly, I can't wait to go back to something that just works. Give me an iPhone any day, if that makes me a smug bastard, that's fine, because at least my phone won't crash when I turn the wifi on...

I voted for S4. S4 and XperiaZ are pretty similar in a quick glance, the only thing that stood out to me is waterproofing. And maybe I'm just weird but I prefer S4's looks than XperiaZ's. I don't know much about HTC One so I'm not sure if it's any much better (I do like how it looks though).

@the_moorasaurus: Maaan that sucks. I've had my S2 for 2 years now and it's better than ever, to the point where I'm strongly considering not upgrading when the time comes to save myself a bit of extra money.

My video player and podcast apps always remember where I left off and my file manager and gallery apps are fantastic and robust. Did you just stick with all the stock stuff because yeah, they aren't the best?

If you're going for an Android phone it's true depth lies in its ability to change every aspect to your exact liking. Whilst this may not be the most ideal it ensures the phone is exactly what you want it to be. With Apple I find that if you don't like a particular aspect then you're screwed.

I have a Nexus 4 and would highly recommend it. Technically it's a little lower tier than the One, S4 and Xperia Z, but the difference in specs is pretty negligible. They're slightly higher spec, but they don't blow the Nexus out of the water. And it's considerably cheaper. You can pick up a Nexus, off contract for £240. That's less than half what those phones will sell for. And getting them on contract would end up costing even more than that.

The only real disadvantage is the lack of an SD slot. If you plan on storing lots of stuff on it, that might be a dealbreaker. 16GB has been fine for me so far, but I could see it being a bit of a stretch for some people.

Whatever the next Nexus phone is will be the best one.

I'm a little outdated with my Galaxy SII, but it does the job for me. If you're looking for something new though, I've heard plenty of good things about the Nexus 4.

I havent tried any of those but I'm still really happy with my Nexus 4.

Absolutely love my Galaxy Note 2. The big screen and the stylus are great for games. I don't know if I could ever go back down to a smaller phone now.

If rounded corners are your biggest problem I would stop worrying and just get the S4.

In saying that, I voted HTC One, but I think the two phones are much of a muchness.

Been using my Galaxy SII (Skyrocket) with Jellybean, and it's pretty amazing.

Stock jellybean ROM can make your device absolutely stellar.

I've heard great things about the HTC One's design, but a quad-core processor? Really?

Dual cores barely last a workday with little benefit from the multiple cores, and this thing has four cores and is trying to power a 1080p display? It'll be dead by the time you reach your car in the morning!

P.S.: Check out GSMarena.com , you can line up and compare phone features.

I would highly recommend the Nexus 4, that's what I've been rocking since Decemeber.

It's cheap has very good specs (as good as you'd ever need from a phone and technically better than the S3), good camera, great screen, gets OS updates before any other phone and did I mention it's cheap? You can end up getting it for half the price of all of those phones in the poll (over 2 years). No LTE but I have no need for it anyway, 3G is fast enough for me and support is lacking in the UK.

I want to switch off the iPhone because it's bugging me, but then every time I check out Android, I'm turned off by the really ugly, tacky interfaces and really horrible and cheap looking plastic phones. I look at Windows Phone and while it has an attractive UI, the phone itself is still ugly, and there's no dev community for it, and the app selection is miserable.

The iPhone just keeps bothering me with it's sluggishness, and how annoying iTunes Match is to work with. But it still looks the best, and has the best app support, so I'll stick with it for now. But man Samsung or HTC really need to step it up in the design department.

The only solution is to get a Galaxy Note 8, go nuts.

I use a Blackberry, I suppose I'll stay on my side of the fence; but the Galaxy S4 looks amazing

I picked up a HTC one last week after ny iPhone screen got smashed.

I am really liking it so far. The screen blows the iPhone screen out the water.

As for the android OS it's still a little bit more clunky than I would like. But I really appreciate the level of customisation It gives you.

Really nice phone.

I less-than-three my Galaxy S3 so I'd recommend it's successor.

Ahh.. I'ma still with WP8.1 later this year.

But, I mean I'd stick with HTC if you just wanna do Android. Uhm. HTC will probably release new phones after Google I/O in June. So.. I mean, I'd get whatever that is?.

S4 looks so boring and uninventive after the S3 (mind you, I really don't like the way the S3 looks, but I do appreciate how it has made Android phones much more popular in the mainstream).

I would've gotten the One cause it's gorgeous, super fast and metal. But I don't have £500 to blow so my Nexus 4 is on the way.

The HTC One looks glorious.

S4 looks terrible. As someone who left the 4S for the Galaxy Nexus I was ready to get back to being that smug iPhone bastard but once I saw the new HTC One I actually reconsidered. My contract won't be up till the summer so I'm going to wait for the new iPhone announcement and if I'm not satisfied I'll go with the One.

I know you said you don't want a Windows Phone, but at least try one out before passing it off. The Lumia 920 is a great phone, and Nokia has been excellent with the updates they've been pushing to it.

Between the ones you listed though, I'd probably go with the S4 purely because of the specs and "future proofing" your phone for Android updates for the next couple years.

I'm getting a Nexus 4 soon because of cost and simplicity reasons. But the HTC One looks damn sexy.

Wait really? Samsung sure, those phones look fucking awful but I think HTC finally hit their stride with the new HTC One.

Truth be told none of the new Android phones interest me. Sure, the HTC One looks fantastic and the S4 has some cool features, but all told the improvements/upgrades all feel very incremental compared to my S3 (and even the S2 which was my previous phone).

Are you going to root the phone? I have a Galaxy Nexus so the biggest downer about getting a non Nexus phone is having to deal with specific manufacturer OS bullshit and delayed updates. The blink feed looks cool but in the end I see myself wanting to get rid of it.

@sweep I'd recommend a Nexus phone personally. I've owned every one so far and they've all done a good job, the biggest plus is the most up to date version of Android guaranteed, I reel at the thought of using TouchWiz or Sense however mild they're becoming.

Plus the price is right for the Nexus 4, I'd say the 8GB/240 model is out but £280 for the 16GB is well worth it. I don't know if you are thinking of signing up to a contract but... don't, especially here in the UK where we have such good SIM only 30-day rolling deals. I'm on £12/mo 1200mins 1GB data (they're all unl texts these days).

The camera is not the best, but it's not bad either and fine for most things. 1080p recording is shoddy, has to be 720p for smooth frame rate. No SD card, no removable battery, battery life is good.

Out of the phones you've mentioned though, it would be the HTC, but I'd wait until Google I/O which is just round the corner (May), new Nexus phone incoming.

Shit, I forgot to add the nexus 4 to the list. Ah well.

I played about with my housemates Nexus 4 and while it does seem solid it just seems fairly average compared to phones like the Xperia Z and the HTC One - both of which have a much nicer aesthetic, bigger screens, etc.

I heard the HTC one camera is kinda shitty, though. I know they dropped the mega-pixels for "ultra-pixels" or whatever the fuck they are calling it, which supposedly allow more light, but from the reviews I have read the Sony Xperia Z + iPhone Cameras are still superior. I don't use the camera on my phone too much, but I guess I might if it was really, really good?

I Got my xperia z about a month or 2 ago and its great !

I know its stupid but one of the main reasons was the waterproofing and the first thing I did was put it in jug of water and it work ! haha.

A few times I have washed it under the tap if I have spilt something on it or sat it on something.

Heres a video of how cool the waterproofing could be but I cant really see me ever doing something like this ----->

@sweep: HTC One and Nexus 4 screens are both the same size. 4.7 would be the limit for me. I can't go back to a smaller screen but fuck having a huge stupid looking slate in my hand. As for the HTC One camera, it isn't shit. It's just acceptable for what it is.

But you said yourself "I'm not entirely thrilled about the increasingly large screens the latest generation of phones possess.". Surely then, the smaller screen of the Nexus 4 would be preferable? It's still a nice, big, quality display, it just isn't stupidly huge. And while I get that the aesthetics are a personal thing, personally I find the S4 and Xperia Z to both be far uglier than the Nexus 4. The HTC One is the only one of those three that I'd call aesthetically pleasing.

Are you sure you're not just excluding the Nexus 4 out of a desire to have the newest and shiniest piece of hardware on the market? Remember, being new and shiny doesn't necessarily make it the best.

@colourful_hippie: Not sure. Going to see how i get on with it for a while. i actully quite like the HTC interface, even if they so seem weirdly obsessed with showing you the weather on EVERY SCREEN.

I've used (not owned) hundreds of phones from at least 10 different manufacturers over the past decade and a half, and dude, Samsung right now reigns supreme IMO with their Galaxy designs and technology.

I have a Nexus 4 and I'm pretty happy with it. Though the Xperia Z looks nice.

I should also say that I don't really demand a lot from my phone. Out of the box, the N4 does pretty much everything a smartphone needs to do, and snappily. I don't play games on it (that's what my Nexus 7 is for) so if that's any sort of criteria it needs to fulfill, I can't fully speak to that. Also, look at how much space you're using on your current phone and consider that since the N4 only comes in 8GB and 16GB (non-expandable). However, the most important thing to note is that the N4 is not out of the loop when it comes to OS updates. I had a Droid Bionic before, and that was a lesson in making sure update speed should always be a factor in purchasing an Android phone.

Even though the N4 has been out for a bit, and will obviously see a successor later this year, I'd recommend it; if you keep waiting for what's next, you'll never get anything.

Seems like nearly 50% of the people here have or want a Nexus 4 too haha.

I'm really loving my Galaxy S3, so I voted for the S4. I wouldn't upgrade to one myself because I don't find it much different from the S3, but it seems like a great phone other than that.

@colourful_hippie said:

@mikkaq said:

But man Samsung or HTC really need to step it up in the design department.

Wait really? Samsung sure, those phones look fucking awful but I think HTC finally hit their stride with the new HTC One.

Ooh is that aluminum? I thought it was plastic from all the shots I saw. Still yeah they have really stepped it up from their past phones, but it's just not quite there for me, it's mostly the curve along the back that I don't like. But the aluminum body is a big, big plus.

EDIT: And shit, my provider only has the One S which is a genuinely ugly phone. They don't really have any of the hot Androids I want. The Sony Xperia go isn bad looking, but its also a little weak on the specs, and I don't exactly trust Sony hardware as much as I used to. Blarg, I guess I'll wait another few months before getting a new phone, see what Apple does and see how HTC or Samsung respond. Canada has those crappy 3 year contracts so I have to really pick carefully.

The One is pretty, but I have had a bad track record with HTC phones dying on me (3 Droid Incredibles, a Incredible 2, and a Evo3D. seriously). That pushes me towards recommending the Z. My friend has the Xperia Arc, and loves it (even though it's getting old), and when she dropped it on concrete, Sony was pretty good at repairing it quickly. YMMV

Nexus devices are great phones, and if I could live without LTE, I would switch to the Nexus 4. *grumble*

I just picked up one of these:

LG Optimus G Pro. Black version, 1080p, 5.5inch, 400ppi, quad core 1.7 snapdragon, 22gigs with mini-SD slot. I pay about $60 USD a month for the next two years and the phone was free. Ahh Korean connectivity...

It was quite the slight step up from my iPhone 3GS. I love the new, massive "phablets", because of my huge man hands (I one hand this thing no problem,) but yeah that word has got to go.

I moved from Android to iPhone but if I had to go back I'd buy Nexus 4 or HTC One, cause I really have the way Samsung phones look.

I just got back from pre-ordering the HTC One, I've got some crappy samsung from a couple years back, so it's going to be a HUGE upgrade for me. It was really close between the S4 and the One, but with the S4 being $50 more with a 2 year contract, I just don't care about the extra stuff it has over the One. Also, the hardware on the One is totally unique and awesome looking. I know it's sort of a trivial thing to make a decision based on, but with the two of them being so similar, it does come down to this sort of stuff.

I'd rank Samsung first then HTC/Moto tied for second. I'd wouldn't use a sony phone even for a door jam.

Nexus 4 is my favorite android phone thus far, but I'm on a Lumia 920 because I prefer Windows phone.

Got a Galaxy S2 now but I really like the look of the Sony Z. Also Sony's Android skin is supposed to be very light. From all the apps the Samsung keyboard crashes the most on me.

I just upgraded to a Droid Razr Maxx from a Droid X2. Yeah, I know I'm behind the times, but buying a new cell phone every year isn't a priority for me, and not exactly possible with a little one on the way.