The current Android titans — that’s how the Galaxy S4 and the HTC One are referred to these days. They’re Samsung’s and HTC’s most powerful offerings to the high-end Android market, and the two phones bring with them not just processing might or camera power, but also display prowess.

Both 1080p Full HD phones, the S4 and the One can be expected to deliver rich details, amazing color, and overall visual pleasure on their respective screens.

However, at the end of the day, what will most likely sway you will not be what technical experts say but what your very own eyes tell you when they see the awesome display on either phone. And, I’m telling you right now that whichever of these two phones you choose, you’ll find very few reasons — if at all — for disappointment over its display.

I’m not saying that the two phones are equals in terms of display power. They aren’t. One simply has an edge over the other in certain aspects in the display department. In this comparison of the Galaxy S4 vs HTC One displays, we take a closer look at the display on both phones and find out which one seems better, how, and in what area. (For a video version of this comparison, jump ahead to the end of this post.)

Display Specs

The HTC One packs all its Full HD glory inside a smaller screen (0.3 inches smaller than the Galaxy S4′s), resulting in higher pixel density, which technically makes the HTC One’s display sharper and crisper.

The two phones also differ in screen technology: Full HD Super AMOLED on the Galaxy S4 and Super LCD 3 on the HTC One. Samsung’s Super AMOLED screens have been quite known for bright, vibrant, and saturated colors, while Super LCD 3 screens are known for realistic colors and overall brighter display.

For protective cover, the Galaxy S4 uses Corning Gorilla Glass 3 while the HTC One uses Corning Gorilla Glass 2. According to Corning, Gorilla Glass 3 has Native Damage Resistance, which makes it more damage-resistant than its former glass components and up to three times damage-resistant than Gorilla Glass 2.

Though scratch-resistant, both phones aren’t shatter-proof. See our drop tests for both HTC One and Galaxy S4 for more info.

Matrices: PenTile RGBG vs RGB

The HTC One’s display uses the RGB (red-green-blue) matrix, a pixel arrangement in which each pixel consists of three subpixels — one each for red, blue, and green.

Here’s how the HTC One’s RGB matrix looks like up close:

RGB matrix on the HTC One (image credit: AnandTech)

In contrast, the Galaxy S4 stayed with the PenTile RGBG (red-green-blue-green) matrix, which the Galaxy S3 also used. In this pixel arrangement, a picture element consists only of two subpixels (either red and green together, or blue and green together). Since the two subpixels need a third one to form the trinity of primary colors, they do so by borrowing the appropriately colored subpixel from a neighboring pixel.

According to DisplayMate Technologies’ Raymond Soneira, screens using such pixel arrangement reportedly are easier to make, cost less, appear brighter, and “reduce aging effects.”

On the Galaxy S3, the PenTile RGBG matrix looks like this:

PenTile RGBG matrix on the Galaxy S3 (image credit: AnandTech)

But, on the Galaxy S4, the subpixel shapes and layout have changed :

PenTile RGBG matrix on the Galaxy S4 (source: Samsung via DisplayMate Technologies)

Soneira explains that, to pack the most number of subpixels and reach the highest possible density (ppi), Samsung used Diamond Pixels — for red and blue, in particular — the shape of which caused what Soneira calls a “45-degree diagonal symmetry in the subpixel layout.”

This pixel arrangement, however, uses two times more green subpixels than red or blue subpixels, a condition that often causes a greenish or bluish tint on the display.

To learn more about PenTile RGBG and RGB matrix, see our article comparing the PenTile matrix on the Galaxy S3 and the RGB matrix on the Galaxy Note 2. You can also read more about Samsung’s Diamond Pixel.

Screen Modes

One of the few things that I like about the Galaxy S4 is that through Screen Modes, I can change the color contrast of the phone’s screen. If you find the default settings too saturated or the colors too bright, you can set the display to render subdued but more realistic colors. The nice thing about this feature is that the Galaxy S4 gives in to your visual whims.

These Screen Modes are available on the Galaxy S4:

• Adapt Display — default Screen Mode. Enabling this will let the phone decide the most appropriate display settings to use according to the amount of surrounding light and the content displayed on the screen.
• Dynamic — the most vibrant display among the other Screen Modes. This mode is perfect for bright environments.
• Standard — displays images in high color saturation. This is well-suited for bright environments.
• Professional Photo — calibrates the screen to the Adobe RGB standard. Useful for digital photography applications.
• Movie — best choice for color and image accuracy, as this mode sets the display to closely match the color and white point standard for displaying consumer content on consumer electronics such as digicams, HDTVs, Internet and computer media, and the like.

The HTC One doesn’t seem to have any means for the user to manually adjust display settings in a similar manner as the S4′s Screen Mode does. However, AnandTech found out in the HTC One’s logs that the phone has a dynamic contrast function that adjusts the screen according to the content.

Display comparison

Technical gobbledygook aside, which display is better? Like many things in this world, the answer to that is a subjective one. Some people don’t want to be told, “It all depends on what your eyes are most comfortable looking at.” Yet, most people base their purchase decisions on subjective perceptions, especially those coming from first-hand contact with the object. In addition to that, the answer may also vary according to your phone usage habits.

At first look by a casual user with an unsophisticated eye, there are no differences between the Galaxy S4′s Full HD Super AMOLED screen (with its PenTile RGBG matrix) and the HTC One’s Suer LCD 3 screen (with its RGB matrix). But, we took a second closer look and found that there’s more than meets the eye.

Brightness and visibility (indoor)

We displayed a color chart on each phone and took photos of the two phones indoors, in the dimmest part of the house. The photo below shows the phone’s screens at 50% brightness:

Indoor shot, both screens set to 50% brightness

The colors shown on the Galaxy S4 in this photo appear brighter, with many of the darker shades still visible. The HTC One’s colors in this photo appear darker, less saturated, and seem natural. Also, some of the darker shades are no longer visible on the HTC One.

Brightness and visibility (outdoor)

To compare the two screens in terms of outdoor visibility, we brought the two phones outside and took photos in broad daylight. Here’s how a mix of text and graphics appear on the two screens when placed under sunlight:

Outdoor shot (daylight); screens on auto brightness

The HTC One’s display appears brighter and more visible in this set, most likely because its whites are whiter, compared to the Galaxy S4′s tendency for bluish whites.

Outdoor shot (daylight); screens on auto brightness; backward tilt at about 45 degrees

In the set above, the phones were leaning backwards at an angle of about 45 degrees. At this angle and time of day, the screens reflected some of the midmorning sun. The Galaxy S4 seems to reflect more sunlight more brilliantly, reducing its visibility effectively.

Next, we also wanted to compare how images looked like. In the set below, both displays are visible and clear under the mid-afternoon sun. However, I personally find the HTC One’s screen brighter, while the Galaxy S4 seems to show richer color but darker tones.

Outdoor shot (daylight); screens on max brightness;

Then, we tilted the two phones backwards to about 45 degrees, and the result appears to favor the Galaxy S4:

Outdoor shot (daylight); screens on max brightness; backward tilt at about 45 degrees

We also made the two screens reflect some afternoon sunlight, just to see which one has more glare. In this case, the Galaxy S4 still showed more glare, diminishing the visibility of the display. Here’s how the two looked like:

Outdoor shot (daylight); screens on max brightness; screens reflecting sunlight

We brought the two phones under a shade and tried to see which one delivers a more pleasant display:

Outdoor shot (daylight, shade); screens on max brightness

The photo above shows the Galaxy S4 with richer color and more marked contrast. The HTC One’s display, though, appears brighter.

However, the One’s brightness seems diminished, resulting in dimmer and subdued color when tilted backwards about 45 degrees, while the Galaxy S4′s brightness, contrast, and rich color remain, although also a bit diminished, as reflected in the photo below:

Outdoor shot (daylight, shade); screens on max brightness; backward tilt at about 45 degrees

Lastly, a few photos of a mix of images and text:

Outdoor shot (daylight, shade); screens on auto brightness

Outdoor shot (daylight, shade); screens on auto brightness; backward tilt at about 45 degrees

The two photos above show the bluish-greenish hue on the Galaxy S4′s display; the black text on the S4 look thicker and more solid. The Samsung phone also shows darker shades of black. Meanwhile, the HTC One shows an overall brighter display and whiter whites.

So far, our observations have remained consistent:

• The Galaxy S4 has a wider viewing angle — just don’t let the sun bounce back and hit your eyes.
• The HTC One has a whiter screen compared to the greenish-bluish white screen on the Galaxy S4.
• The HTC One doesn’t reflect too much light, thus the display remains somewhat visible even under very bright light.
• The Galaxy S4 has a richer contrast and deeper blacks.

Color, sharpness, and resolution

Which phone delivers sharper and crisper display? Which has better color? We had these questions at the top of our heads when we took the photos featured in this section.

In the studio shot below (with the phone screens set to 50% brightness), our test image turned out crisp and sharp on both phones.

Studio shot showing HD photo; screen brightness at 50%

I find the colors of the HTC One’s display more realistic than the seemingly washed out colors of the Galaxy S4. The HTC One’s colors also appear richer, and the contrast appears higher, than on the Galaxy S4. I observe that the red-orange tinge in the center of the flower and the pink of the flower petals appear deeper and more vibrant on the HTC One display. The Galaxy S4 screen appears brighter overall.

We took a closer look to see things in greater detail.

Magnified screen showing portion of HD photo (left — Galaxy S4; right – HTC One)

There are more blue/green pixels on the Galaxy S4 screen than on the HTC One. The pixels on the Galaxy S4 appear bigger than those on the HTC One. Also, the pixels on the HTC One appear tightly packed. We can see here the difference in pixel densities on the two displays: there are more pixels per unit area on the HTC One screen than on the Galaxy S4. The higher pixel density on the HTC One gives it a sharper display.

Magnified screen showing portion of HD photo (left — Galaxy S4; right – HTC One)

On the Galaxy S4, the bluish tint somehow alters the redness of the petals. The HTC One’s red is more vivid and vibrant than the Galaxy S4′s.

Magnified screen showing portion of HD photo (left — Galaxy S4; right – HTC One)

The bluish-greenish pixels are visible in the photo (above) of a magnified section of the Galaxy S4′s display. These pixels tend to make the image appear brighter. On the HTC One, I notice more accurate and more realistic colors.

We got curious about how plain black and plain white looked magnified on both phones. The set below is a magnified portion of each phone’s screen showing plain black at full screen brightness.

Magnified screen showing plain black (left — Galaxy S4; right – HTC One)

The Galaxy S4′s black is blacker, as the comparative photos above show. AMOLED-based displays generally have pixels that emit light. To create black, the pixels are usually just turned off. This can probably explain why the S4 displays deeper and more solid blacks than the HTC One does, especially for text and gradients of black.

The black on the HTC One’s LCD screen appears a bit bright and somewhat maroonish or very dark brown/red. LCD screens generally use back lighting, and the layer of liquid crystals block out parts of the light to produce the needed colors.

Magnified screen showing plain white (left — Galaxy S4; right – HTC One)

Between the two, I observe the HTC One’s white as truer and closer to real white than the Galaxy S4′s. The magnified screen photos above seem to validate my observation. On the S4, you’ll see some bluish-greenish pixels, which are not very apparent on the HTC One.

Next, we wanted to compare the quality of text display on both the Galaxy S4 and HTC One. Below are studio shots of the same Android Authority page loaded onto the stock Android Browser on both phones. The display brightness was set to 50% on both phones.

Closeup view of webpage text on HTC One stock browser

Closeup view of webpage text on Galaxy S4 stock browser

Undoubtedly, text appears readable, crisp, and sharp on both displays. However, I observe that the black text on the S4 seems thicker and bigger. On the HTC One, text appears narrower/thinner and smaller; I actually find the text on the HTC One crunchier. This, of course, can be explained by the difference in pixel density.

I personally find the HTC One’s text display generally bright enough for quick, short reading sessions. Yet, the brightness and high contrast can cause eye strain during long reading sessions. As for the Galaxy S4, reading text (even with screen brightness maxed out) may not be as strainful to the eyes as on the HTC One, owing to the S4′s generally dimmer, slightly lower-contrast white.

Below are magnification photos of text on both screens (50% brightness):

Magnified screen showing portion of text (left — Galaxy S4; right – HTC One)

The S4 screen still shows the green/blue pixels in the white areas of the photo. There are also some noticeable red and green highlights around each letter, creating some sort of fuzziness around the text edges. The HTC One, on the other hand, simply has crunchy text and solid lines with minimal outlining.

Lastly, we wanted to check which phone renders app icons much better. As far as I’m concerned, my naked eyes see no glaring difference in the sharpness or color by which the app icons are rendered on the Galaxy S4 and HTC One. They’re as perfectly sharp as they can be.

But, if you look more closely, there are actually differences, as shown in these magnified photos of the Play Store icon (with the phone’s screen at 50% brightness):

Magnified screen showing app icon (left — Galaxy S4; right – HTC One)

As expected, the white parts of the icon on the S4 show bluish-greenish pixels. The fuzzy edges and green highlights are also noticeable, as in the text comparison earlier. But, all these don’t seem to affect sharpness or the crispness of icon. The photo of the icon on the HTC One has some reddish, light-brownish tint, although that’s not visible to the naked eye.

Video comparison

Watch our video comparison of the Galaxy S4′s and HTC One’s display:

Conclusion

The displays on both the Galaxy S4 and HTC One are amazing. On the basis of screen and display alone, I find it hard to take sides. Based on this comparison, the following positive points can be ascribed to each phone:

Galaxy S4 pros

• richer contrast and deeper blacks
• wider viewing angle
• generally brighter, with saturated colors
• various Screen Modes

HTC One pros

• whiter whites
• more realistic colors
• sharper display
• reflects less light

Which display suits much better your usage habits and needs? Which phones provides a display that works for you or that satisfies your visual preference? Let us know in the comments.

Early this year, world-famous netbook and laptop maker Acer unleashed the mid-range Acer Liquid E1 V360 into the Asian and European markets. Not a few of the critics quickly passed judgment: ho-hum, another forgettable phone.

Acer’s releases into the Android smartphone market are usually either easily lost from memory after a brief sizzle, or simply maligned by critics and thereafter erased from humanity’s consciousness.

Will the same fate befall the Acer Liquid E1 V360? Allowed to stand and shine on its own merit, does this new release from Acer have even a bit of sparkle and glitter to catch the wandering eye? Read on and find out. (Or view our quick video review of this phone.)

Physical Build and Design

Dimensions and Weight

At first glance, the Acer Liquid E1′s design (especially its front panel) reminds me of the Galaxy Nexus. Both phones have similar shapes and have round corners though the Liquid E1 is rounder and has a flat screen. This phone is also slightly smaller than the Galaxy S3.

I like the Liquid E1′s size because it makes the phone easy to carry and handle. All hardware buttons are accessible with one hand and my thumb can reach the 4 corners of the screen. The plastic frame, though, adds a few more millimeters to the phone’s width.

Front and sides

At the front is an all-black touchscreen panel, accented by the Acer logo on top and surrounded by a plastic frame. The black and white combo of my test unit looks nice, but I don’t feel any air of class or sophistication. No such vibes for me, truly. Rather, it looks just like a black touchpanel encased in pearly white plastic frame. Though, don’t get me wrong — it’s not bad-looking at all.

The black variant of this phone actually looks more elegant with its black and red combination.

On the plastic frame, you can find two grilles: one grille at the bottom for the phone mic and another grille at the top for the phone’s speaker.

The E1 also doesn’t have physical or capacitive navigation buttons, yet it has a wide and empty bottom bezel. Such a waste of space!

Sides

The hard plastic serving as the phone’s frame also makes up the sides of the phone. The phone’s bottom edges round and smoothen towards the back — a shape that makes the phone comfortable to hold.

You can find the Power button and the headphone jack at the top side. The Micro USB port sits at the left side.

The volume rocker is on the right side. You can identify which volume key is up or down by the number of raised dots on the key: two dots for volume up and one dot for volume down.

Back

At the back is a removable back cover. It’s not glossy, but a bit smooth matte, so it’s not prone to smudges. The back also has a dimpled texture (like those on golf balls, but smaller ones) in the central region of a hyperbolic design. It seems to work well for good traction.

The stereo loudspeaker grilles, camera, LED flash, camera mic, Acer logo, and DTS logo are all located at the back of the phone.

The backplate is removable. On the underside of the hard plastic cover is the NFC chip. Protected by the backplate are the 1,760-mAh Li-ion battery, the Mini-SIM (2FF) slot, and the microSD card slot for up to 32 GB of additional storage.

The back cover snaps into place via plastic hooks on its underside. I do not guarantee the durability of the said hooks. In my experience, after carefully removing the plastic backplate of my test unit a few times, the hooks seem to lose their grip, resulting in a backplate that doesn’t snap tightly into place anymore. Here’s how the top part of the back of my unit looks now:

Screen and display

The phone’s screen size still remains within the comfortable range for smartphones. Packed into its 4.5-inch IPS LCD is a display of 960×540 pixels (qHD) resolution, with pixel density of about 245 ppi. It’s a clear, crisp, and sharp display. Colors are quite brilliant, but not oversaturated as those on OLED-based displays.

The touchscreen itself is quite sensitive and responsive. Navigating the homescreens and the App Drawer is fluid and smooth.

I notice the vertical striping in the display, though. I find it annoying. But, most people probably won’t mind. Most people won’t probably even notice.

Processing Power

The phone is generally fast and smooth enough for moderate use and enjoyment. Although I observe occasional lag when scrolling through homescreens, the jitter and lag are most perceptible in the browsers — both stock Android Browser and Google Chrome. When rendering webpages, the page shows some tearing; when scrolling up or down a page, you’ll notice the lag.

Launching apps, though, is quick and easy. The phone can easily deal with HD apps, such as HD games like Cut the Rope: Time Travel HD.

Most of the the phone’s 4-gigabyte internal storage is used by the system and only a small portion is available to the user. This means that you will need to invest in a high-capacity microSD card if you intend to keep a lot of data and files on your phone.

Benchmarks

The following benchmarks may provide a closer look into the Acer Liquid E1′s overall performance:

Battery Life

Providing power to the phone is a Li-ion 1,760 mAh battery that can last up to about 400 hours on standby or 8 hours of talk time. The battery is removable, so you can buy spare or replacement battery packs if you need them.

Connectivity

For connectivity, the Acer Liquid E1 provides these:

• GSM (850/900/1800/1900 MHz)
• HSDPA (900/2100 MHz)
• Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n
• Micro USB 2.0
• Near Field Communication
• Bluetooth v3.0 with A2DP, EDR
• 3.5-mm headphone jack
• standard Mini-SIM (2FF); dual SIM on some variants

Camera

The Liquid E1 carries a 5-megapixel camera at the back and a VGA camera on the front. Camera performance is quite fast and surprisingly snappy. Autofocus is fast and shutter speed is acceptable. There is some shutter lag, but it’s barely noticeable, especially in bright lighting. The lag becomes more pronounced when the camera is used in low lighting or when Night Mode is active.

You can choose any of these available shooting modes: Normal, Panorama, Multi-angle View, HDR, Auto Scene Detect, Continuous Shot, and Beautification.

You can also specify one of the available scenes: Auto, Night, Sunset, Party, Portrait, Landscape, Night Portrait, Theatre, Beach, Snow, Steady Photo, Fireworks, Sports, and Candle Light.

Or, if needed, you can use lower image sizes for photos such as 3 MP, 2 MP, 1.3 MP, or VGA. The highest maximum image size is 5 MP. For videos, you can record at 720p, 480p, HVGA, or MMS resolution.

Here are some sample outdoor photos that I captured using the Liquid E1:

Sample photo (outdoor, daytime, Normal Mode, Auto Scene)

Sample photo (outdoor, daytime Normal Mode, Auto Scene)

And, three more sample indoor shots (Auto Mode, Night Mode, and with flash):

Sample photo (indoor, Normal Mode, Auto Scene)

Sample photo (indoor, Night Mode, Auto Scene)

Sample photo (indoor, Night Mode, Auto Scene, flash active)

Media Playback

Video playback on the Liquid E1 is not stellar, but it’s not awful either. The phone can play Standard Definition (SD) videos with no problem at all. It can play 720p HD videos decently with some occasional lag. It’s in the 1080p Full HD videos that the phone clearly starts to show its multimedia limitations; the lag becomes very noticeable along with pixelation and screen tearing.

Sound quality, however, is surprisingly wonderful. I suppose much of the accolade goes to the DTS technology that the phone uses, and the dual stereo loudspeakers at the back of the phone. You’ll get even better sound quality by using headphones and by setting equalizer presets.

Software and UI

The Acer Liquid E1 comes with a slightly modded version of Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean with Acer UI 5.0. The user interface hasn’t deviated much from the AOSP interface or the interface on the Nexus. As such, it has a simple and fast interface. Even the lockscreen itself has a simple unlocking animation: shutter blinds effect.

Navigation is purely virtual. The phone uses no hardware or capacitive navigation buttons.

Acer, to its great credit, has provided on the Notification Shade what HTC has never provided yet: toggle buttons.

The Float Caller feature is quite a useful one. It pops up an interactive alert box for incoming calls instead of opening the Phone app and blocking whatever is on your screen.

Acer has also thrown in several apps integrated into its AcerCloud service. There’s also a File Manager app and a ToDo app — both of which I appreciate.

The phone’s UI can be easily personalized, although the customization options aren’t as extensive or as flexible as in other phones. But, I do appreciate the power scheduling feature, wherein you can define when to automatically turn on or turn off your phone.

The My Style app also lets you alter the phone’s look and feel a bit:

• set homescreen and lockscreen wallpapers (including video wallpaper);
• enable shortcuts on the lockscreen and decide what shortcuts to place there;
• set custom ringtones, notification alerts, and volume levels; and
• set homescreen transition animation effects.

Price and Availability

The Acer Liquid E1 is already available in certain markets in Europe and Asia. The handset’s off-contract retail price falls within the range US$260 to US$300 (about 200 to 230 euros).

Video Review

Find out more about the Acer Liquid E1 in our video review on YouTube:

Conclusion

Don’t expect the Liquid E1 to make your eyes pop with stunning visuals or stunning performance. It is not meant for that, nor does it pretend to be that kind of Android phone. For what it’s worth, it’s a mid-range phone that can do mid-range smartphone tasks — and quite well, I might say.

With an okay design, adequate cover and protection, fairly fast processing power plus fast OS and UI, and basic multimedia features, the Liquid E1 can be a perfect phone for those who don’t need the extra power or superlative performance.

What about you? What do you like or dislike about the Acer Liquid E1 V360? Would you consider buying this Acer phone? Share your thoughts in the comments.

(with contributions from Alvin Ybañez)

Between a 13-megapixel smartphone camera and another with only 4 megapixels, which do you think is the better buy?

We usually lean towards whatever we think is higher or what appears to offer more. In this case, 13 megapixels — which the Samsung Galaxy S4′s camera has.

The HTC One and its 4-megapixel shooter seems to look like a limp, wimpy, soggy thing compared to that 13-megapixel monstrosity. But, does higher necessarily trump lower all the time?

In this camera comparison, take a closer look at the camera prowess of today’s latest Android smartphone giants — the HTC One and the Samsung Galaxy S4. (Or, jump ahead to the end of this post for a video comparison of the two phones’ cameras.)

Megapixels vs UltraPixels

The HTC One’s camera might look weak, but it has larger pixels than the Galaxy S4. HTC calls the larger pixels UltraPixels. These special pixels take more space on the camera sensor. That is why the HTC One only has a 4 megapixel camera. The Galaxy S4 may have a 13-megapixel camera, but its pixels are about half the size of HTC’s UltraPixels.

Image credit: HTC

Sensors with large pixels capture more light, making images brighter and less noisy than on cameras with smaller pixels. And, with lower image resolution also comes smaller file size.

Image credit: HTC

The camera’s megapixel count is only one of the factors to evaluate camera performance. There are other important factors, too, such as the camera sensor, image processor, image stabilization, zoom, etc.

Camera UI

To people who frequently take photos using their smartphones, the camera’s user interface plays an important role.

The Galaxy S4 camera’s interface is more akin to the Galaxy Camera’s UI than to the Galaxy Note 2′s camera UI. The interface is easy to navigate and most of the modes and settings are easy to find. Like in the Galaxy Camera, you’ll find two separate buttons for the camera shutter and for video recording. You don’t need to switch between video and photo mode anymore.

The carousel of mode and effect thumbnails particularly looks pleasant and makes it easier to find the shooting mode that you need. The filters and effects shade also morphed into mini thumbnail versions of the viewfinder.

On the other hand, the HTC One’s  camera interface strongly resembles that of some of its recent predecessors such as the One X. Only very few elements have changed. It’s a very clean, simple, and navigable interface.

The HTC Zoe toggle button has been placed prominently along one side to make it easily accessible. Unlike in the One X, however, the HTC One no longer displays labels for the built-in filters and effects. Thankfully, like in the Galaxy S4, you get separate buttons for photo camera shutter and video recording, so you won’t need to take extra steps to switch between photo and video mode.

In the next section, learn more about some of the camera features on the Galaxy S4 and the HTC One, including photo effects and filter, photo shooting modes, video recording modes, and camera flexibility.

]]> http://www.androidauthority.com/htc-one-ultrapixel-vs-galaxy-s4-camera-205612/feed/ 38 http://www.androidauthority.com/how-to-use-tasker-199872/ http://www.androidauthority.com/how-to-use-tasker-199872/#comments Wed, 01 May 2013 12:03:00 +0000 Elmer Montejo http://www.androidauthority.com/how-to-use-tasker-199872/

We are Android users, and we are a pampered bunch. Android is such a flexible mobile OS that our Android devices often act as our personal genies granting our daily mobile wishes, making some of our mobile dreams come true. And, powerful as OEM-provided genies already are, a task control and task automation app such as Tasker only multiplies their power severalfold.

Most people describe Tasker as a task control and task automation app. But, I see more than that. It’s an Android programming app for complete noobs like me and for advanced users with experience in Android programming. But, instead of scaring you with lines of code, Tasker lets you use a friendly interface, which, at its fundamental level, lets you create mini Android apps that do your bidding.

To learn how to use Tasker exhaustively is beyond the scope of this post. Instead, in this post, you’ll learn the basics of using Tasker to program your Android phone or tablet to do things that you want it to do according to rules that you specify. (Looking for a video tutorial? Jump right ahead to our video guide at the end of this post.)

Tasker terminology

First, let’s come to terms with the terms in Tasker. Many of the concepts may be new to you, and they can be a bit overwhelming, especially to neophytes. But, once you get the logic of Tasker, you’ll find that it’s a truly powerful app even for idiots in programming.

• Action — The basic element of Tasker. It refers to phone or tablet functions and features that perform something or brings the phone to a certain state. Tasker supports more than 200 actions grouped into 21 categories.
• Task — A group of actions. Usually linked to a trigger or “context”, but can also be a free-floating, standalone task executed manually. A task can be run within another task. You can clone, export, import, and lock tasks.
• Context — Situations or conditions which, when true, trigger the execution of the task(s) associated with it.
• Profile — Some sort of “container” or “package” for context(s) and linked task(s). You can define several contexts for a single profile, and all those conditions must be true for the linked tasks to run.
• Variable — A name for an unknown value that can change over time, like the battery level or the date.
• Scene — A custom-made user interface. You can create your own layout of buttons, menus, popups, and other UI elements.
• Project — A group of profiles, tasks, scenes, and variables. Each project has its own tab (at the bottom of the main screen) with a user-defined project name. You can also export or import projects. You can even export a custom project as a standalone Android app (APK): just tap on the project name/icon, select Export, and choose “As App.”

Tasker UI

Tabs and modes

Although I find Tasker’s features and overall user interface somewhat complex and definitely intimidating to a casual user or a newcomer to Android, the tabs on the main screen are rather self-explanatory.

Freshly installed, Tasker’s interface shows three tabs by default — Profiles, Tasks, and Scenes. The default interface is set up for newbies and beginners (i.e., Beginner Mode).

The default UI looks a bit different from non-beginner mode. For instance, in Beginner Mode, you can find three buttons at the bottom row of all tabs: Search, Add, and Help. When Beginner Mode is disabled, these three buttons are replaced by the default project tab (represented by a Home icon) and the Add button, plus at the top row of tabs you get a fourth tab named Vars (i.e., for variables).

Easily switch to “advanced” mode by unticking “Beginner Mode” on the UI tab on Tasker’s Preferences page.

Tapping on a main tab’s name (except the Vars tab) on the main screen opens a menu with buttons for importing files and for setting the sort order for that tab.

Project tabs

In “advanced” mode (i.e., with Beginner Mode disabled), tapping the default project tab opens a menu with buttons labeled Add, Import, Rename, Set Icon, and Lock/Unlock.

The Add button lets you create a new project, which will have its own tab. The Import and Export buttons, of course, let you share your Tasker project files to others, or use files created by others. You can also assign custom icons to your project tabs.

You can protect your projects by setting a lock code; when prompted, just type your lock code in order to view and edit a project.

Main menu

Tasker’s main menu offers commands and options that help you use and manage how the app works. Access the main menu via the capacitive Menu key or the virtual Menu button (three dots icon) at the upper-right corner of the screen. You’ll find these on the menu:

• Browse Examples — redirects you to a list of premade example profiles, which you can download and import to Tasker.
• Data — for clearing, backing up, or restoring backed up data.
• Info — contains information about the app and how to use it.
• Preferences — opens the Preferences page (more about this in the next section).
• Enable/Disable Tasker — enables or disables Tasker.
• Search Tasker — search data or feature within the app; not available in Beginner Mode.
• Exit — closes the app.
• Run An Action — performs a single action (e.g. maximizing screen brightness)
• Run Log — records events and procedures done through the app.
• Developer Options — advanced options for devs; not available in Beginner Mode.

Preferences

Tasker’s preferences and options reflect the flexibility of the app. To some people, this can be truly discomfiting, but to those with elevated understanding, this actually shows what Tasker and Android are all about — freedom and flexibility.

Beside many of the options on the Preferences screen, you’ll see big question marks. These can offer relief if you start to scratch your head about what an option might be for. However, some of the help tips are clouded in developer or programmer language, and an idiot like me may need some time to completely digest the info.

Tasker’s configuration options are grouped into four tabs. You can customize the app’s user interface via the UI tab. On the Monitor tab, you can set personal preferences for the app’s monitoring behavior when the display is either off or on.

On the Action tab, you can set values for camera delay, task execution priority for widgets or shortcuts, displaying warnings and/or errors, and maximum number of queued tasks. On the Misc tab, you can specify how long to keep backups, whether to allow other apps to run tasks, and debugging options.

In the next section, you’ll continue to learn more about how to create a task and assign one or several actions to a task.

Ever since its flagship release, the HTC Desire series has always had something desirable for crowds of various types. One of HTC’s recent releases, the dual-core HTC Desire X for the mid-range market, has found a pretty yet less powerful sibling in the HTC Desire U.

I’ve always admired HTC’s good sense when it comes to build quality and design, and the HTC Desire U, despite being an entry-level Android phone, is endowed with such qualities.

At the outset, the Desire U’s pretty externals have the tendency to make me wish that it also had pretty internals. The sad truth is that in the case of the beautiful HTC Desire U, beauty is just skin deep. But, that’s to be expected. This is a budget phone.

What features can this beautiful budget phone offer you? Does its price tag justify the features that it provides? Find out more about the HTC Desire U in the rest of this review. You can also jump directly to our video review at the end of the post.

Physical Build and Design

Dimensions and Weight

The HTC Desire U has exactly the same physical dimensions as the dual-core HTC Desire X and the dual-SIM HTC Desire V. The Desire U is 5 grams heavier than either of the two.

As expected, because of its small form, it is a fit-in-your-palm-snugly phone. This also means that you can easily operate the phone with just one hand, and your fingers don’t need to stretch too far out just to reach the buttons.

The Desire U’s small size plus lightness contribute a lot to its pocketability. In an Android world where smartphones get bigger, the Desire U’s smallness is a breath of fresh air.

Front

The overall feel of the Desire U’s front is not far from that on the Desire X or Desire V, and, expectedly so — after all, they belong to the same HTC Desire series.

There’s still the black bezel, with the silver HTC wordmark at the top and the capacitive navigation buttons at the bottom. The tiny phone speaker grille sits inconspicuously atop the HTC logo.

On my test unit — the black model — a shiny black frame surrounds the screen. I’m not sure whether this is plastic or metal, but as far as this unit is concerned, it’s of no big concern to me. Regardless, the black frame ensures smooth monochromatic continuity from the black-bezeled front, to the phone sides, and onwards to the back plate.

As for the white model, mine eyes have not seen and mine hands have not touched it, yet based on the press images, the combination of black bezel, silver frame, and white back cover looks elegant.

Sides

The phone tapers slightly at its top side, and tapers a bit more sharply at its bottom side, forming some sort of chin.

The phone edges are all black, but they are of split texture. The shiny black frame from the front and the matte rubbery back cover meet at the phone’s edges, resulting in the split texture.

Just as in most other HTC phones, the volume rocker sits at the right side of the phone, within easy reach of the thumb (for right-handed people) or of the index finger (for left-handed people).

At the opposite side is the standard Micro USB charging port.

At the top side is the Power button, positioned so that the index finger of either hand could easily reach it. And, a little towards the corner is the headphone jack.

No port or button can be found at the bottom edge. Only the backplate notch and the microphone hole are there.

Back

I like the HTC Desire U’s back because of its simplicity. On my black test unit, the back is all black, with only the LED flash and the Beats Audio logo interrupting the blackness.

Carved concentric circles radiate from the metallic oval camera housing. The design adds a touch of class to an otherwise simplistic back cover.

And, right in the middle of the back is the glossy HTC logo, which appears to be made of black glass.

The mono loudspeaker grille sits at the left of the Beats Audio logo.

Although the backplate itself is made of hard plastic, the back’s exterior has a soft-touch rubber texture, reminiscent of the texture on the backs of the HTC Sensation, the Sony Xperia T, or the Amazon Kindle Fire HD. Surely, the rubbery texture helps with traction, but I don’t find it extremely crucial in a light and compact phone such as the Desire U.

Yet, for me, the winning aspect about the Desire U’s back is its removability. The battery is also removable.

Under the backplate are the slots for a standard-size SIM and microSD card expansion. It’s ironic that smaller phones use regular-sized mini-SIMs, but bigger high-end phones use micro-SIMs.

The Vibration Motor is exposed. I don’t know why exactly.

Unlike the backplate of the Desire X, the backplate on the Desire U seems to snap more snugly into place. It’s easier to snap off, too, because of the notch at the bottom edge.

Screen and display

Packing a 4.0-inch WVGA (800×480) Super LCD screen, the HTC Desire U’s display is a pleasure to the eye. It may not be the Full HD experience that you’d get from certain high-end Android phones, but with a pixel density of 233 ppi, the display appears very crisp and sharp.

The colors are rich and realistic, which may appear subdued and lacking in intensity and saturation compared to those on AMOLED displays.

For an entry-level phone, the screen and display quality on the Desire U is quite a bargain.

Processing Power

The Desire U’s own package doesn’t specify which particular chipset model is in use in the device, but it does mention that a Qualcomm S4 is powering the phone. It’s a single-core processor ticking up to a maximum of 1.0 GHz. System info apps also report that a Qualcomm Adreno 200 GPU is onboard.

This is a functional configuration, but one that might leave you wanting. Although homescreen navigation appears generally smooth, Web browsing isn’t as smooth as I’d like it to be — particularly when zooming in or out of pages, as well as scrolling or panning pages.

Navigating around the Settings menu shows signs of lag, and when opening a submenu, the phone stalls for about a second or two. Scrolling through apps and widgets often shows lag. Launching apps isn’t as smooth and snappy as on other HTC phones such as the Desire U’s sibling, the Desire X. Even tapping the capacitive Back button takes a moment or two before you can get a response.

As for internal storage, the phone comes with 4 GB of it, but only about a quarter of that (1.0 GB) is user usable. Good thing that the phone can take in a microSD card of up to 32 GB additional storage.

Benchmarks

I performed some benchmarks on the HTC Desire X and got the following results:

Battery Life

Providing power to the HTC Desire U is a 1,650-mAh Li-ion battery pack, expected to power the phone for non-stop talk for up to 20 hours on a 2G connection and 10 hours on 3G.

To get an idea of how fast the Desire U’s battery drains, I subjected it to heavy use for a couple of hours. On the first hour, I played high-quality YouTube video non-stop, and on the second, I browsed graphics-heavy websites. All these while Wi-Fi, GPS, and Bluetooth were enabled; brightness level was maxed out; and the screen was not allowed to sleep.

After about 2 hours and 20 minutes of such heavy use, only 51% of power was left. Under light to moderate use, the phone can get you through a work day, or even a few hours beyond it.

Connectivity

The Desire U’s network and connectivity features include the following:

• HSPA/WCDMA (900/2100 MHz)
• GSM/GPRS/EDGE (900/1800/1900 MHz)
• Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Wi-Fi Direct
• Micro USB 2.0
• Bluetooth 4.0 (Bluetooth with aptX)
• 3.5-mm stereo headphone jack

To connect to a mobile phone carrier’s network, a regular-size mini-SIM (2FF) is needed.

Camera

The Desire U has no front camera. But, it does have a 5-megapixel back camera with frontside illumination (FSI) and which is capable of autofocus. A single-LED flash bulb sits atop the lens, ready to provide extra light when needed.

In low light conditions, the Low Light scene mode can help a lot. Below are photos of the same subject. One was shot with default auto settings (i.e., Low Light disabled); the next one with Low Light mode enabled; and the third one with Low Light disabled but with flash firing:

Enabling Low Light mode did brighten up the subject a bit, but in the case of the sample photos above, it wasn’t of great help. As can be expected of images captured with inadequate lighting, the photos turned out grainy, pixelated, and noisy.

Used outdoors, where the lighting is adequate, the Desire U’s camera produces some really great shots:

The photos, of course, won’t compare to the output of a high-end digital camera or a DSLR, but for despite its being an entry-level device, the Desire U produces photos of acceptable quality. I noticed, though, that the colors appear somewhat subdued and more realistic.

One disappointment I experienced while playing with the Desire U’s camera was the shutter lag. The phone takes about a couple of seconds to process a captured image. This is not a dealbreaker for most people, though. But, if you’ve ever used a zero-shutter-lag (or nearly-zero-shutter-lag) device such as the Galaxy Nexus, you’ll definitely notice the difference.

As for video recording the phone’s camcorder can capture videos up to WVGA (800×480) resolution. Again, don’t expect stellar quality footage from this handset. At best, the video quality is functional and won’t be very sharp.

Media Playback

An entry-level phone such as the Desire U is not meant for high-end multimedia consumption, but for basic music playback, it can provide pleasurable audio — thanks to Beats Audio integration. For music playback, the phone comes with HTC’s Music player app, which integrates both SoundHound and TuneInRadio.

To be able to enjoy the deep basses and the crisp audio, you’ll need to plug in your stereo headphones. The mono loudspeaker at the back just won’t cut it, although it produces average-volume sound. Also, it’s a bad, bad, bad idea to cover the back loudspeaker grille with anything; you won’t hear sound if you do.

As for video playback, I tried playing both 720p and 1080p videos — no luck there, but that’s not surprising. The phone, however, can play 480p videos quite well. Just like on the Desire X, the video player includes Capture Mode, which lets you grab screenshots of the video currently playing. The video player also allows you to use Beats Audio sound enhancement or not.

Software and UI

Much as I had wanted HTC to give its newest devices the newest version of Android (version 4.2, as of this writing), such a utopian wish tends to remain that — utopian and a wish. The Desire U comes with Android 4.0.3 Ice Cream Sandwich and laced with HTC’s Sense 4.0 skin.

Being a Sense device, you can expect the experience to be similar to any other Sense device from HTC, especially those with version 4.0 and higher.

So, the lockscreen on the Desire U still has HTC’s signature metallic hoop plus app shortcuts. The mini music player, when active, still appears on the lockscreen, and you can drag the mini player into the lock ring to unlock the phone and instantly launch the Music player app.

App icons on the homescreen and the App Drawer look consistent with other Sense devices. There are 5 default homescreens, and neither of them is removable. You can’t add more either.

The Multitasking/Recent Apps capacitive button serves two purposes: single tap to bring up the Recent Apps list (which isn’t three-dimensional like in the One X) and hold down within an app to bring up the Menu. The Favorites Tray (App Dock) still has 5 buttons, the middle of which is for the App Drawer and the four others are for whatever you want.

The Notification Shade stays consistent with the other devices. It is still accessible from the lockscreen, and is as empty as nobody wants it to be. HTC decides to skip putting on the Notification Shade what LG, Sony, Samsung, and other device makers consider to be a very handy feature — toggle buttons for accessing frequently used settings — preferring instead to keep the Notification Shade spic-and-span, with only a button for the Settings menu and a button for dismissing all notifications.

The icons in the App Drawer are arranged on a 4×4 grid. At the bottom is another familiar HTC thing — tabs. In the App Drawer, you’ll find tabs for All, Frequent, and Downloads.

The widgets aren’t in the App Drawer. In most other implementations of Android, they’re usually on a separate tab in the App Drawer. Instead, HTC placed them under the Personalize feature, accessible by long-tap from an empty space on the homescreen, from the Personalize app in the App Drawer, or from Settings > Personalize > Homescreen.

What personalization options do you get on the Desire U? More than a handful, actually. Here are some of them:

• Custom scene creation
• 3 custom skins (themes)
• custom wallpapers (either HTC-provided, or your own pick from your albums)
• Toggle for app shortcuts on lockscreen
• Lots of HTC widgets (many of which look very nice) that you can place on your homescreen
• Ability to use third-party widgets for your homescreen
• Drag-and-drop folder creation
• Custom sound set creation
• Custom ringtones, notification sounds, and alarm sounds

Support for live wallpapers seems missing on the Desire U. The usual way to choose a live wallpaper is through the wallpaper selection dialog in Settings > Personalize > Wallpaper, but the list on the Desire U doesn’t include “Live wallpapers.” But, when I installed live wallpaper apps from the Google Play Store and launched them, I was able to set them as default homescreen wallpapers. So, live wallpapers function after all, although HTC appears to have prohibited the unwary user from setting live wallpapers.

The keys of the virtual keyboard are cramped and can be hard to use in portrait orientation, but with the help of the keyboard calibration tool, I was able to “teach” the keyboard about my finger touch patterns. Plus, spelling correction and word completion tools also help a lot, especially since the small keys make mistyping frequent. Trace typing (similar to Swype) is also available, if you don’t feel like tapping. Or, you can use voice-to-text input, but this one needs an active Internet connection.

For security, you get the usual fare of screen lock types (lock ring, pattern, PIN, and password). Face Unlock is not available. SIM card lock is also another security option, as well as storage encryption. By default, installation of apps from non-Play-Store sources is disabled; this one’s a security feature, too.

Pricing and Availability

This is a budget phone, intended for and now available in Taiwan and China, with a competitive price tag of US$275 (non-carrier-locked).

Video Review

Find out more about the HTC Desire U in our video review on YouTube:

Conclusion

The HTC Desire U is an entry-level phone. It is a budget phone designed for people who don’t need the greatest, the biggest, and/or the fastest. This is not for folks looking for a phone to enjoy the bliss of HD, feel “smarter” with multitasking, or capture hi-def videos and photos. Rather, this is for people needing the basic smart features of an Android phone (e.g., SMS, phone calls, email, Web browsing, social networking, etc.) packaged in an attractively designed phone.

What say you about this budget phone from HTC? Is it something that might interest you if it hit your locality? What do you like or dislike about it? Share your thoughts in the comments.

In almost all cases, the default font on your Android phone or tablet suffices. It looks pleasant and is usually of the right size for comfort. But, there will always be Android users who’d prefer some other typeface, who’d want to stand out from the crowd. And, there will always be that small crowd of people who tinker with their Android device’s fonts just for the sheer pleasure of being able to.

If you belong to either or both groups, you’re on the right page. The great thing about Android is that it is an extremely customizable mobile operating system; it even allows you to change the fonts used by its user interface. Font changing, however, doesn’t necessarily mean easy. In many cases, customizing fonts requires some technical know-how.

In this guide, learn how to change fonts on Android. Two types of methods are discussed: one not needing root, and the other requiring root. (For a visual guide and summary, check our video at the end of this post.)

Non-root methods

Through custom OEM skins

Stock Google Android doesn’t have native functionality for changing system fonts. You certainly can’t easily change the fonts on Nexus phones and tablets — at least not with some bit of hackery. On none of the Nexuses, for example, can you just go to the Settings page and tap an option there to change the system fonts. Not even certain AOSP-based custom ROMs such as CyanogenMod or AOKP has a built-in function for changing system fonts on the fly.

But, when OEMs like Samsung and LG get their hands on AOSP code, they add extra bells and whistles– such as font changing — into their custom skins.

For instance, some Samsung Android devices such as the Galaxy S2, Galaxy S3, Galaxy Note, Galaxy Note 2, Galaxy Note 10.1, and even the Galaxy Camera, let you change the font style. Samsung has preinstalled a few extra fonts besides the default, but you can get more online through the Google Play Store.

There’s similar functionality on certain LG phones, too, and to fetch more fonts, you’ll be redirected to the LG Smart World instead of to the Google Play Store.

Putting on a new font requires only a quick trip to Settings > Display > Font Style. Just tap the name of the font that you want, and confirm that you want to set it as system font. Font replacement is instantaneous. No need for rebooting. The selected font will be displayed throughout your device’s interface such as the time on the status bar, system menus, and even on your text messages.

Through custom launchers

One non-root way to change fonts on Android is through custom launcher apps. Some custom launchers integrate the font-changing function, while most others will need you to install themes.

One very popular custom launcher that provides a way to change fonts is GO Launcher EX.

A downside to font customization in GO Launcher EX is that it doesn’t change the font in your apps and Android system menus. The font changes are applied only to selected parts of the custom launcher UI but not to the entire system. To change font styles in GO Launcher EX, do the following:

1. Copy your TTF font files to the /sdcard/GOLauncherEX/fonts directory.
2. Open GO Launcher EX.
3. On the main home screen, tap the Menu button (represented by 3 dots) or swipe the screen upwards.
4. Tap on the Preferences button to bring up the GO Launcher Settings page.
5. Tap on Visual Settings.
6. Swipe to the Font tab on the left.
7. Tap on Scan Font to let the app scan your directories for font files. If everything goes well, the app should also be able to find the fonts that you copied to the /sdcard/GOLauncherEX/fonts directory.
8. Tap Select Font and tap on the font that you want to use.

Changes will apply immediately. No need for rebooting. If you want more fonts for use with GO Launcher EX, download and install GO Launcher Fonts.

iFont (for Samsung devices)

The popular iFont app can also be used for changing fonts. Although primarily for Samsung devices (both rooted and non-rooted), the app can also work on certain rooted, non-Samsung devices.

On non-rooted Samsung devices, use iFont’s Online tab to browse for available fonts. To use a font on the list, do the following:

1. Enable installation of apps from “Unknown Sources.” This option can usually be found in Settings > Security.
2. Launch iFont. Go to the Online tab.
3. Tap on a font name that you want to install.
4. Tap the Download button.
5. Tap the Set button. Or go to Settings > Display > Font Style. Your newly installed font should appear on the list.
6. Tap on the new font to use it as system font.
7. Font is applied immediately. No reboot needed.

You can also copy TrueType (TTF) fonts from your PC to the /sdcard/ifont/custom directory; the said fonts will appear on the Custom tab. But, to be able to install and use the fonts, you will need a rooted device. (For a guide on using this app on rooted devices, see the iFont subsection under “Methods requiring root.”)

iFont is free and shows no ads. It worked quite well on several devices (including non-Samsung phones) that I tested it on.

Methods requiring root

Important note

If you have root privileges on your phone or tablet, you will be able to alter system files and, in the course of doing so, you could render your device useless. So, be careful.

• The information in this guide is provided for instructional and educational purposes only. There is no guarantee that these instructions will work under your specific and unique circumstances.
• Use these instructions at your own risk. We shall not hold any responsibility or liability for whatever happens to you or your device arising from your use of the info in this guide.
• Read and understand the whole guide first before actually performing the instructions.

Font changer apps for rooted devices

An easy way to change fonts on rooted Android devices is to use font changer apps that support use on rooted devices. There are several of such apps on the Google Play Store. Most of them also offer a preview function that lets you see how a font looks like.

In this subsection, know more about two font changer apps that are worth checking out: Font Installer and iFont.

Font Installer

For rooted phones, Font Installer is a great free app for changing system fonts. It has a built-in font preview feature, so while scrolling up and down the list of built-in fonts, you know exactly how they look like once activated on the device.

This is an ad-supported app. Ads appear at the bottom. Remove the ads by purchasing a license.

To install a TTF font file that you’ve saved to your device:

1. Copy to your device the TTF font file that you want to use, preferably into the /sdcard directory.
2. Launch Font Installer.
3. Before tampering with your system fonts, backup your existing default fonts first. Tap on the Menu (three dots) button and select Backup/Restore. Select Backup. If Superuser or SuperSU asks for permission, grant it.
4. Tap on the Local tab to open the directory explorer. Locate your TTF file.
5. Tap on the TTF file that you want to use. From the popup dialog, tap Install to set it as the default system font. (If you want to preview the font first, tap on Preview.)
6. If Superuser or SuperSU asks for permission, grant it.
7. Font Installer will prompt you to reboot your device. Tap on Yes.

To install a new font from Font Installer’s online font collection:

1. Open the Server tab in the Font Installer app to see the catalog of fonts.
2. Tap on the name of a font that you like.
3. From the popup dialog, tap on Preview if you want to see sample text rendered in the chosen font; or, tap on Install if you want to download the font and set it as your system font.
4. If a backup warning/notice appears, make sure you let the app backup your font files. This shouldn’t take a long time.
5. Allow the app to reboot your device.

iFont

Unlike Font Installer, the iFont app can work on most Samsung devices even if they are not rooted. But, to be able to use it on a non-Samsung device, you will need root access. (Yes, you can also use it on a rooted Samsung device.)

To download, install, and use a custom font using the Online tab:

1. Tap on the font you want to install.
2. Tap the Download button.
3. Tap the Set button.
4. If you get a prompt about setting the mode to System Mode, just tap the OK button.
5. Your device will reboot to apply the new font.

If you want to use a local TrueType (TTF) file, just copy the TTF file to the /sdcard/ifont/custom directory on your device. Then, do the following:

1. On the iFont main screen, tap on the Menu button (three-dots at upper-right corner).
2. Tap on Settings > Change Font Mode. If you’re using a rooted non-Samsung device, choose System Mode. If using a rooted Samsung device, choose Samsung Mode.
3. Go to the Custom tab in the iFont app.
4. Tap on the font that you’d like to use.
5. Tap the Set button.
6. If prompted whether to change the font, tap on OK.
7. If you get a prompt about setting the mode to System Mode, just tap the OK button.
8. Your device will either apply the new font immediately or reboot to apply the new font.

The geeky way

So far, I’ve told you about the painless, sweat-free, and easy ways to change fonts on your Android. But, if you have the heart of a geek, or you just love the thrill of doing stuff manually, then you’ll find much fun in manually changing the fonts on your Android device.

These manual methods require root because you’ll be tampering with a protected system directory, specifically the /system/fonts directory, where font files used by your device reside. There are two manual methods for changing fonts — through the Android Debug Bridge and through a root-level file manager app. Before I talk about those two, let’s talk about system fonts first.

System fonts

If you are brave enough to manually change fonts on your Android, the font files that will be of great interest to you will be the following:

• Roboto-Regular.ttf — This font file is the most used system-wide. I see it almost everywhere — from app labels to menu text.
• Roboto-Bold.ttf — This is the boldface variant of Roboto. Unlike the regular typeface, this one’s not as frequently seen. There’s bold text in several areas of your device, and this font face is most likely the one used.
• Roboto-Italic.ttf — This is the italic variant of Roboto.
• Roboto-BoldItalic.ttf — This is the boldface and italic variant of Roboto.

All of these fonts are inside the /system/fonts directory. For starters, you might want to play around with the Roboto-Regular.ttf file, as it’s the one that appears to be most used system-wide.

The overall general idea is to replace system font files with new font files having exactly the same file names as the originals but containing the new typefaces that you want to use.

For example, if you want to use a TTF font file named Times_New_Roman.ttf in place of Roboto-Regular.ttf, you’ll need to rename the Times_New_Roman.ttf file into Roboto-Regular.ttf and copy the renamed (faux) file into the /system/fonts directory.

VERY IMPORTANT: Always make a backup copy of the font files that you will be replacing so that if something goes wrong, you will have copies to restore. I usually rename the original file into something with a *.bak extension, or with “bak” within the file name (i.e., Roboto-Regular.ttf becomes Roboto-Regular.ttf.bak or Roboto-Regular-bak.ttf). This way, the original file remains in the same directory but under a different file name.

It is also a wise idea to make backup copies on your PC hard drive and in a different directory on your Android device.

Manual method using ADB

You can use the Android Debug Bridge (ADB) to change fonts on Android. For this method, you’ll need the following:

• A rooted Android device — Root access is needed so that you can tamper with system files that reside in restricted directories.
• A computer with the Android Software Development Kit (SDK) properly installed and setup
• If using Windows, your device’s USB drivers must have been installed.
• ADB must be able to detect your device.
• Your device’s USB cable
• The TrueType font file that you want to use

In the steps, the font file called Times_New_Roman.ttf is used to replace the system font file named Roboto-Regular.ttf.

1. On your PC, rename Times_New_Roman.ttf to Roboto-Regular.ttf.
2. Using whatever convenient method you know of, copy the impostor Roboto-Regular.ttf to your device’s /sdcard directory.
3. Open a terminal or command prompt on your PC.
4. Run the remote shell interactively on your device with the following command at the terminal or prompt:
   • adb shell
5. Execute the following commands:
   • su
   • mount -o remount,rw /system
6. Backup the original font file (Roboto-Regular.ttf, in this case) into something else by renaming it:
   • cd /system/fonts
   • mv Roboto-Regular.ttf Roboto-Regular.ttf.bak
7. Copy the impostor font file from the /sdcard directory into the fonts directory:
   • cp /sdcard/Roboto-Regular.ttf /system/fonts
8. Ensure that the copied file is readable (either 644 or 666). This is very important. If the system cannot read the file, your system will bootloop:
   • chmod 644 Roboto-Regular.ttf
9. Exit the interactive shell:
   • exit
10. Reboot your device and check whether the new font has been applied.

Manual method using file manager app

This alternate method accomplishes exactly the same thing as the ADB method, but this one’s easier because it doesn’t require typing commands at the terminal or command prompt.

For this method, you’ll need:

• A rooted Android device — Root access is needed so that you can tamper with system files that reside in restricted directories.
• A file manager/explorer app capable of navigating up to the root directory (e.g., ES File Explorer)
• Read and write permissions for the /system directory (if this is mounted as read-only, the procedure may not work or you could foul up your device)
• TrueType font files (with *.ttf extension) copied to the /sdcard directory or another convenient location of your choice

The following steps illustrate the process of manually changing fonts on Android with the help of a file manager app. These steps use ES File Explorer; if you use a different file manager app, the steps may vary a bit. Just like in the ADB method, this method uses Times_New_Roman.ttf as the example replacement file.

1. Using your most convenient method, copy/save/download the Times_New_Roman.ttf file to a convenient directory on your Android device (preferably the /sdcard directory).
2. Launch ES File Explorer on your device.
3. Tap on the Menu button, then tap Settings > Root Settings. Turn on “Root Explorer” and “Up to Root”. If Superuser or SuperSU prompts you asking for permission, grant it. Also enable the “Mount File System” option.
4. Navigate to the /system/fonts directory. Look for Roboto-Regular.ttf, long-tap on it, tap Rename on the menu, type a new name for the file, and then tap the OK button. The renamed file serves as your backup copy of the original Roboto-Regular.ttf, just in case you want to revert to it later.
5. Navigate to where you saved the font file that you want to apply as default system font (i.e., Times_New_Roman.ttf in this example).
6. Rename Times_New_Roman.ttf to Roboto-Regular.ttf by long-tapping the file, selecting Rename, typing a new file name, and tapping the OK button.
7. Long-tap the newly renamed file. Select Copy To from the popup menu. Select /system/fonts from the popup directory browser. Tap the OK button to copy the file into the chosen directory.
8. Navigate to the /system/fonts directory.
9. Long-tap on the newly copied Roboto-Regular.ttf file. Select Properties from the menu.
10. On the Properties dialog window, tap the Change button. Make sure that there are check marks for the “Read” permission for User, Group, and Other. Then, make sure that there’s a check mark for the “Write” permission for User. Tap the OK button to save the new permissions.
11. Reboot your device to apply the new font.

Video

For a visual guide and summary on changing fonts on Android, check out this companion video:

Conclusion

Changing fonts on Android is not an everyday task that majority of people perform on their phones or tablets. But, among those that do need to change the typefaces on their devices, it is heartwarming to know that (1) it is possible to do so and (2) there are several ways to do so.

What font is splattered all over your Android device’s UI today? Have you ever changed it to something else? If so, did you use any of the methods discussed in this guide? If not, how did you change your system fonts? Tell us your story.

[ Update 2011-10-13: New information has been provided regarding the new date of the Samsung Mobile Unpacked 2011 event originally intended for this week at the CTIA Enterprise and Applications conference.  The post has been updated accordingly. ]

[ Update 2011-10-11: We've heard chatter of a precise expected release date for the famed Nexus Prime.  This article, originally published on October 7, has been updated to reflect the new information. ]

Samsung and Google did promise to only postpone (not completely cancel) their joint product announcement of “something big”–presumed by most folks to be the Nexus Prime, whose likely name would be the Samsung Galaxy Nexus.  The two companies are reportedly heading to Asia for their biggest announcement of the year–in Hong Kong on October 19.

An unnamed tipster informed Engadget of the rescheduled date for the Samsung Mobile Unpacked 2011 event, which will coincide with the AsiaD: All Things Digital conference running from October 19 to October 21.  Android’s father, Andy Rubin, is said to be participating at the AsiaD conference.

Meanwhile, a tipster alleged to be working for Verizon has told an Android Forums moderator in private conversation that the Nexus Prime will definitely be released on November 3.  The release date seems to be still in line with Google’s earlier pronouncements of an October/November launch for Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich with the new Nexus being released shortly after a few weeks.

The source is reportedly not a beta tester for the Nexus Prime but has had her/his hands on the actual device itself.  And, although the source has not played with either the HTC Vigor or the Motorola DROID RAZR (Motorola DROID HD), the source often swaps notes with colleagues who have handled the said devices.

The source also had a mouthful of things to say not just about the Nexus Prime but also about Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, the Motorola DROID RAZR, the Motorola DROID Bionic, and Verizon’s real feelings towards the latter:

The idea I’m getting from official testers is that the screen and user experience is much better in the Nexus device, and the overall advantage is the presence of Ice Cream Sandwich (I’ve personally noted this to be true). But I’ve also been told by those who have tested it that the RAZR is very fast, smooth, and has a great battery life. The screen, although not quite up to Nexus, is a big improvement over the Bionic for those who didn’t like it. Verizon is very, very excited for both devices. I don’t get the feeling they’re “siding” with one over the other, but I can tell you that they never had a lot of confidence in the Bionic having a lot of staying power. Their decision to release the Bionic as is was more of a contractual obligation than a real belief in the product. They are much more invested in the RAZR. 

Samsung was supposed to launch “something big” in a “Google Episode” of its Samsung Mobile Unpacked 2011 event at the CTIA 2011 conference this week, in which the Nexus Prime was expected to be unveiled together with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

However, Samsung sent out word late last week announcing that the product announcement scheduled for October 11 at the CTIA Enterprise and Applications 2011 conference in San Diego, California, had been canceled.

Google and Samsung issued a joint announcement that said:

Samsung and Google decide to postpone the new product announcement at CTIA Fall. We agree that it is just not the right time to announce a new product. New date and venue will be shortly announced.

Neither company provided further details about the postponement, or when and where the rescheduled product announcement will be held.

Pocket-lint believes that the postponement may have something to do with the death of industry rival Steve Jobs, co-founder and former CEO of Apple. It would be insensitive for Samsung and Google to make merriment if Jobs’s funeral is to be held at around the same time as the Nexus Prime’s launch, said Pocket-lint.

We’ll surely hear soon enough from Samsung and/or Google about further official details regarding their unpacking of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and the Nexus Prime.

Looks like Google may have announced the Nexus Prime’s official name ahead of its official announcement date.  Two newly discovered photos may be harboring the official name of the fabled Nexus Prime–and it’s Samsung Galaxy Nexus.

Android Next‘s Amir Tamannai went digging around images’ EXIF data in Google’s own Picasa photo service in hopes of finding some juicy stuff about the launch-delayed Nexus Prime–and found two hits for the rumored official name Samsung Galaxy Nexus.  EXIF refers to image information recorded in digital photos and contains such tidbits as camera make and model, date and time of capture, exposure, aperture, flash, and the like.

Tamannai reports having tried searching for other rumored names for the Nexus Prime, but none of the other names produced results–only “Samsung Galaxy Nexus” did.

One of the photos appears to be a family photo of Roman Kirillov, and the other was of a Steve Jobs Post-It notes memorial at an Apple Store.  The latter photo was captured by Chris Yerga.

Both Kirillov and Yerga reportedly work for Google.  Kirillov reportedly is in the team for AdSense for TV, while Yerga is reportedly a member of the Android development team.

Here’s the EXIF information for the Kirillov photo:

And, here’s the EXIF information for the Yerga photo:

 Tamannai found that the two photos were taken on October 8 and were both set at a resolution of 3 megapixels.  Although the Nexus Prime, er, Samsung Galaxy Nexus, is rumored to have at least a 5-megapixel camera, the lower resolution on the photos could have been caused by Picasa downsizing or the handset camera’s resolution set to lower settings than its actual capability.

These photos look legit and are backed by the fact that they were captured by Google workers–with one directly involved in Android development.  Who’s to say Samsung Galaxy Nexus won’t be Google’s next flagship reference phone’s name?

The Samsung GT-I9250 appeared in recently published FCC reports, which showed that the handset carries communications equipment compatible with GSM 850, GSM 1900, WCDMA II, WCDMA IV, and AWS 1700 bands.

No hints of CDMA or LTE support were reported, but the FCC information does suggest that the GT-I9250 (FCC ID A3LGTI9250) would work with the 3G data networks on AT&T and T-Mobile in the U.S., and TELUS, Rogers, and Bell in Canada.

Near Field Communication (NFC) capability is also reportedly onboard.

The said device is the handset primarily suspected to be the Nexus Prime, which is rumored to be compatible with multiple carriers (just like its predecessor, the Nexus S) and to be called the Samsung Galaxy Nexus.

The FCC documents also suggest that the candidate handset (GT-I9250) for the Nexus Prime (Samsung Galaxy Nexus) has physical dimensions almost similar to Samsung’s current blockbuster, the Samsung Galaxy S II. According to records, the Samsung GT-I9250 has a length (height) of 124 millimeters and a width of 68 millimeters.

The device’s lack of LTE support doesn’t mean Samsung doesn’t have one in the works. In fact, an LTE-capable version is being rumored for Verizon and is said to go by a different name–the Samsung DROID Prime. Handset model SCH-I515 has been floated around the Web as the chief suspect for the Samsung DROID Prime.

Both the Samsung a GT-I9250 and Samsung SCH-I515 have also recently received their certifications from the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) and the Wi-Fi Alliance.

Incidentally, the Samsung SCH-I515 has appeared on the Cellebrite system and was being listed as Nexus Prime rather than either Samsung Galaxy Nexus or Samsung DROID Prime. A leaked email allegedly for internal use on Verizon also talked of a Samsung Prime hitting Verizon on October 27 and set to replace the Samsung DROID Charge.

Samsung and Google were rumored to debut the Nexus Prime (Samsung Galaxy Nexus) along with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich at the CTIA Enterprise and Applications conference this week. However, for some unconfirmed reason, the two companies have postponed the “Google Episode” of the Samsung Mobile Unpacked 2011 event to some unspecified date, which we are relatively sure will be within this month at the earliest, or early in November at the latest.

Just a few hours ago, two conflicting reports of alleged Nexus Prime official specs leaked out, sending the blogosphere afrenzy over more rumors and speculations regarding the yet-unconfirmed upcoming Google flagship reference phone for Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. But, here’s the freshest and the juiciest so far–straight from Romania:

• The version number of the upcoming Android is Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.
• The Baseband version in the leaked info hints at a familiar string: I9250.

Romanian mobile tech blog Mobilissimo.ro received–hold your breath–screenshots and a video of the Nexus Prime from a source who asked to be unnamed.  The tipster confirms the following specs:

• Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich
• 1,750 mAh battery
• 5-megapixel camera
• plastic chassis in two shades of brown “to give a metallic impression (as in the case of Nexus One)”
• back cover just like that of the Samsung Galaxy S II

The specs seem to match up with the “conservative” Nexus Prime specs that was leaked to Boy Genius Report earlier.

The “I9250″ in the Baseband version seems to suggest that the handset is the Samsung GT-I9250, which has been the primary candidate for the Nexus Prime and is rumored to be called the Samsung Galaxy Nexus. Another handset, the Samsung SCH-I515, has been rumored to be a Nexus Prime variant heading to Verizon and rumored to be called the Samsung DROID Prime or the Samsung Prime.

Here, have a visual feast with the video:

One curious observation, however, is that the video shows the phone handler powering off the device with her/his left thumb on the left edge of the handset. The teaser video released this week by Samsung showed the Power button to be on the upper part of the handset’s right edge. Or, maybe the phone handler was using her/his index finger to push the Power button on the right edge, using the thumb for support.

The phone’s body, however, does look curved to me.  Or, are my eyes misleading me?

And, here’s a gallery of delicious, ice-creamy screenshots:

• Do you think this video shows us the real Nexus Prime and the real Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich?
• Could there be another variant of this phone that packs steroids-pumped specs?
• Is this handset on the video the rumored Samsung Galaxy Nexus?
• Or is it the rumored Samsung DROID Prime heading to Verizon?
• Which is which? What is what? For whom is which?

I surely am not alone in asking these and similar questions. But, Samsung is about to put all these questions to rest next week, on October 11.