The HTC One: A Remarkable Device, Anand’s mini Review
by Anand Lal Shimpi on March 21, 2013 4:49 PM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- HTC
- Mobile
- HTC One
Final Words and the Galaxy S 4 Comparison
The One is without a doubt the best Android smartphone I’ve ever used. HTC’s build quality and materials choices have been steadily improving over the past couple of years and I honestly don’t know a more fitting name for its latest flagship other than the One - it’s the one to get. Even iPhone users looking for something different might be tempted by the One.
For me it’s the camera performance and the highlights reel that really seal the deal. The fact that the One is an excellent looking device built out of top notch materials is just icing on the cake.
The rest of the spec list is equally fitting. I’m glad to see 802.11ac make the list. The great speakers and display are both useful and impressive.
Sense took a real step towards subtlety with 5.0, and it’s finally at a point where I don’t really mind the customizations. My preference is still for vanilla Android, but the latest iteration of Sense is far closer than it has ever been. The real trick is ensuring timely updates with major Android releases. If you’re an infrequent smartphone upgrader, the Nexus line is still the best option there.
Despite how well the One does in the build quality, looks and camera departments, HTC has an uphill battle ahead of itself. Samsung is clearly the dominating incumbent in the Android space, and it has the luxury of an order of magnitude higher quarterly revenues to support its smartphone business. If there ever was a David v Goliath race in the smartphone space, it would be between HTC and Samsung.
Zoe and the highlights reel are great features that need marketing to demonstrate and spread their word. The litany of new camera and interaction features that accompany the Galaxy S 4 will likely translate very well to cleverly crafted TV ads. I’d argue that HTC’s camera features (great low light performance, highlights reel) are more useful to me personally, but Samsung’s features (touchless scrolling, dual camera, smart pause) are easier sells to the mainstream smartphone market. Similarly, design and materials choices are obvious advantages for the One, but it’s easier to market a thinner and lighter phone.
Ultimately, HTC appears to have built a great phone for enthusiasts and one that can be marketed, with some effort, to the mainstream. Samsung, by comparison, seems to have its targets set squarely at the mainstream and it has the features and the marketing budget to really capture the attention of that audience. You can argue about the merits of features like the ability to automatically pause video based on whether or not you’re looking at it - personally I’d take better camera performance - but that’s a much easier feature to explain in a TV commercial than why larger pixels matter.
The One is expected to be widely available beginning next month.
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phillyry - Sunday, March 24, 2013 - link
Then why not just put a good quality battery in it. I had an iPhone 3GS and the battery never appreciably diminished over 2.5 years.phillyry - Sunday, March 24, 2013 - link
Wouldn't it be nice if they could just slide a micro SD card slot into the side of the thing (the HTC One), like they did on the Samsung Jack, without dedicating the back of the thing like they've done in the S3 & S4 by making the back come off. (Yes, the back came off in the Jack too but that was the most embarrassing thing ever about owning that phone - upon dropping it.)CeriseCogburn - Monday, March 25, 2013 - link
Embarrassing until the shock absorbing function of unclicking the tabs and splaying the cover and parts meant it worked once reassembled.Drop an iShatter and see what embarrassment really is.
acky2lum - Friday, March 22, 2013 - link
1. You haven't meet enough ppl that uses the same phone for more than a year. The battery degrade is so bad the phone doesn't last for an eight hour WORKING day (minimal usage).2. I have seen ppl hold their ipad to their ears and talk on skype in starbucks. Maybe they don't mind the weight just the same as some ppl don't mind the weight of phone+power banks. But others do mind. Not to mention all the accidents happened using the phone while attached to its power banks. (My frd broke the micro usb end of her power bank... again)
3. Phone's low boot time has often been sold as a feature, yet some ppl can't bear losing the grid for that 30 seconds or less. I just don't see the necessity of keeping your phone on all the time. Don't get me wrong, power banks have their usage, but a single person carrying multiple power banks but not a single extra battery? I dunno what to say...
eebrah - Saturday, March 23, 2013 - link
It is not necessarily about a spare or extra battery, but if and when the current one dies on you. It is nice to be able to purchase a replacement quickly and easily rather than returning your phone to the "service centre" or vendors shop and having to do without *your* phone for a bit as they sort you out, probably for more than it would have cost to just buy another battery.phillyry - Sunday, March 24, 2013 - link
Again, if the phone you bought's battery died, it was either so cheap, or so old, that you had ought to buy a new one. Neither the S4 nor the One are in the cheap class - they're high-end. So, if you have a dead battery in the thing, it's probably six years old. Buy a new one before 2019!DEECEE - Thursday, March 28, 2013 - link
Have you seen the complaints iPhones built-in battery get? There're tons of video on youtube teaching people how to carefully dissect their Apple devices to replace simple parts such as the battery, so it is purely out of greed and spite that Apple refuse to put replaceable batteries in their devices. Should HTC follow the lead, maybe, but all the suckers are already in the Apple camp.jayseeks - Friday, March 22, 2013 - link
Anand,It looks like your site is being victimized by the beneficiaries of Samsung's guerrilla marketing initiative, aka ghost commenters/paid shills.
CeriseCogburn - Monday, March 25, 2013 - link
So that's what, 6 times you spewed that same thing jaysucks ?Got any mindshare other than crybaby lies ?
JeffFlanagan - Friday, March 22, 2013 - link
I agree with you on the removable battery, but the lack of an SD slot is a big deal unless the phone has 128GB of storage built in. We don't always stream our media from the Internet.