First look: Google Play edition HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S4

Here they are, folks. The "Stock Android" HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S4. otherwise known as the new "Google Play edition" devices. Two phones we know quite well, seeing as how they've been available for weeks, if not months. But these are different. They are, more or less, Google's.

Gone is HTC's custom software, Sense 5. Gone is Samsung's TouchWiz. Instead, we've got Android 4.2.2 (which Samsung has on its stock GS4, but HTCdoesn't on its One) and Google's own svelte user interface. We've also got easily unlockable bootloaders, for those who like to tinker.

And we've got hefty price tags, at $599 for the HTC One, and $649 for the Galaxy S4.

We've only had these phones for about 24 hours now. Not long enough for a full review, but certainly long enough for some initialimpressions, especially since we're already intimately familiar with the hardware. If you're on the fence about ordering and curious about what you'll be getting, read on.

Google Play edition HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S4 video walkthrough

Hardware-wise, nothing's really changed

The tl;dr is this: This is the HTC One. And the Galaxy S4. Period. Same shape, same size. Same hardware. The HTC One's got 32GB of storage (with about 24.5GB actually usable), and the Galaxy S4 comes with 16GB (11.3GB useable).

As far as the radios are concerned, we've got full AT&T LTE connectivity, and if you're on T-Mobile and are lucky to live in one of its LTE launch cities, you'll get it there, too. Just pop in your SIM card and go. APNsall work just fine.

The cameras are the same as they ever were as well 4-megapixel total resolution for the HTC One, and just under 13 megapixelsfor the Galaxy S4.

What's different in software a couple tweaks, and an updated camera app

The Google Play editions are running Android 4.2.2 (Build JDQ39). Home screens and launchers and notifications are unchanged from what we're used to in Jelly Bean, so far as we can tell in the first 24 hours.

The HTC One has Beats Audio on board. You won't see the Beats logo in the notification bar when it's active, but it's on. There's an option in the audio settings if you prefer to not use Beats.

For its part, the Galaxy S4has modified code so that it works with the Samsung Flip Cover, protecting the display while giving you a quick glance at the time, date, signal strength and battery life. That's a holdover from Samsung's own software. And while it's not "stock" Android, it's cool to see here.

Google has sneaked in a new camera app here. It's still part of the Gallery app, which is up to version 1.1.40012. From a user-facing perspective, the big difference is that when you tap and hold for options, they're displayed in a half circle instead of a full ring, making them much easier to get to. There's also smoother animation as you scroll through the options. As you drill down through the options, the nested options are also displayed in a half-moon. It's a nice update.

There also is a new boot animation. If you had any thoughts about these phones being Nexus devices, that should be a clear giveaway that they're not. (And I kinda like this new boot animation. It's very Google in its design.)

It's worth noting that Google still considers the HTC One's camera an "UltraPixel" camera.

Basic use

Again, we're still getting our feet wet here. We're going to load these things up like we would our daily drivers and see what's what. Battery life needs more than 24 hours to determine, especially given that we're talking about swapping out HTC's and Samsung's optimizations for "stock" Android.

But data acts as data should. Wifi so far as shown no problems. And the home screens and app drawer are as snappy as you'd expect the "stock" home screens and app drawer to be. And, yes, you can unlock the bootloader using the usual fastboot oem unlock command.

If you can imagine running "stock" Android on the HTC One or Galaxy S4 or if you've had basically the same experience with a custom ROM that's what we're dealing with here, and that's what you'll get if you purchase these phones from Google Play.

Stay tuned for a more in-depth look after we've got more than a day of use under our belts.

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