Two high-end devices currently dominate the radar of serious Android users - the Samsung Galaxy S4 and the HTC One, premium smartphones that certainly meets even the highest expectations.

They bring in solid hardware specs that make for a powerful Android experience, thanks mostly to the latest CPU and GPU capabilities that deliver the best in mobile computing technology.

Experts would argue that one bests the other and vice versa yet in real-world setting it is the software implementation that determines the outcome of the contest. Mediocre rendition in this respect, after all, would ruin even the best hardware packages.

Below is a quick dogfight that reflects how the Android skins, TouchWiz and Sense 5, bring justice to the first-rate device components that reside under the guts of the GS4 and the HTC One.

Smart software features

This is a no contest for the HTC One. For all its solid build and muscle processor, HTC engineers overlooked the thought of adding Smart functions to the new flagship. The One could line up nothing with the interesting features like Air View and Smart Stay.

Air View allows for preview of files by simply floating a finger on top of a music or video clip. Smart Stay uses an advanced sensor to detect a person's gaze on the phone screen. The absence of which turns off the screen automatically. Its new implementation is via Smart video watching, which pauses automatically when no eye is focused in the screen.

The GS4, in fact, packs at least nine Smart sensors that make for a sprightly and gadget-aided lifestyle.

Home screen update feeds

Thanks to BlinkFeed, HTC One bested the GS4 on this department. The feature allows One users to get real-time updates from their Facebook and Twitter accounts or they can add extra sources that will feed news to the One home screen.

GS4 users would need to wait for future firmware update to enjoy feature quite similar to BlinkFeed. Or they can rely for now on the Android widgets and apps that deliver some of the BlinkFeed abilities.

Television extension

Both the GS4 and the HTC One offer exciting entertainment features out of the box. Particularly interesting is the devices' WatchON and Sense TV menus. The applications transform the handsets into a TV remote, from which users can flip through shows and pick the one to watch. Samsung and HTC repackaged the infrared technology that enables the GS4 and the One to communicate with a compatible HDTV.

Obviously, the two handsets are tied on this part of the competition.

Personal digital assistants

Apple started it on Siri and Android followed suit. Starting with the Galaxy S3, Samsung unleashed the S-Voice, which essentially is the combined prowess of Siri and Google Now. In the GS4, S-Voice offers help on road navigation, music playback, text & call commands and even advise about the weather while users hands are busy on the steering wheel.

The HTC One has an app called Car Mode, which dispenses calls and media playback assistance but no more. Clearly, the S-Voice is the more powerful PDA.

Camera software showdown

It's not always the megapixels that make a superior smartphone camera, HTC said. The company decided not to match the 13MP sensor on the GS4 but it dangles the HTC Zoe feature. In a single push of a shutter, One users can capture 20 images or a 3-sec clip that can be edited later to render as a moving photo in multiple frames.

Other powerful abilities that come with the Zoe are the Eraser, useful when you want to edit out an object or person from the frame; Video Motion control, which permits video playback in regular and slow speed mode and Video Highlights, which facilitates the creation of video highlights reel of a given occasion.

There is no actual match of the HTC Zoe in the GS4 but its new offerings of Dual Shot and Shot & Sound pretty much even up the camera experience between the two gadgets. Determining which is the better camera phone between the two now boils down to preference and taste.