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
Android/Sense
The One ships with Sense 5.0, and I have to say that the latest version of Sense is really the first custom Android skin that I don’t mind. I’m not sold on Blinkfeed, the default homescreen that allows you to aggregate content from multiple web sources as well as Twitter and Facebook, but thankfully you can easily change that default to something more traditionally Android.
With Sense 5.0 HTC dramatically reduced the presence of widgets on the default home screen. Other than the Blinkfeed screen, there’s only a single home screen by default and the only widget on that screen is a Google search box. You can obviously add all of the widgets you want, but this is a noticeable departure from HTC’s strategy in the past. To be honest, it’s a lot cleaner.
Sense 5.0 isn’t intrusive, and the work HTC has done in the gallery app sort of make the customizations worth it (more on this later). Even the default pre-load of apps is very sensible.
Thanks to the underlying use of Android 4.1.2 combined with the fast Snapdragon 600 SoC, UI frame rate is incredibly smooth. Some interactions are still not perfect (e.g. zooming in Google Maps) but the overall experience is very polished and very fast.
Performance & Battery Life
The One is the first Snapdragon 600 based smartphone that I’ve used regularly. For those who aren’t familiar with Qualcomm’s latest branding change, Snapdragon 600 refers to a quad-core Krait 300 based SoC with Adreno 320 graphics (APQ8064T). The SoC still uses the same 28nm LP process as the previous quad-core flagship (APQ8064), but clocks are a bit higher (1.7GHz in the One, 1.9GHz in the Galaxy S 4).
GPU clocks appear unchanged, which is contrary to what I was told at the launch of Krait 300 but it’s entirely possible that we’ll see implementation with higher GPU clocks.
Performance, as I mentioned before, is very good. Even the speed of the NAND HTC used in the device is among the best I’ve seen in Android devices. We’re still not yet at the point where I believe smartphone SoC performance is good enough, but at least we won’t see a huge jump in SoC performance (at similar power) until the move to 20nm in mid to late 2014.
The impact of all of this on battery life, as always, depends on your usage model. I’ve been using the international One on AT&T, and 3G battery life is comparable to the iPhone 5 on the same network (non-LTE) at identical brightness levels. I have yet to see what the difference will be like with LTE enabled.
Obviously with four cores and a larger, higher resolution display, the One definitely has the ability to draw more power than the iPhone 5. Keep the cores more active and/or drive the display at very high brightness levels and you’ll see worse battery life. For the past couple of years I’ve been talking about the increase in dynamic range when it comes to smartphone battery life, the One is no different in this regard. Brian will have a full rundown of battery life data on the One in his review.
Other Frills: Of Big Screens and Usability
For me, the iPhone 5’s display is a little too small, and the One is probably a little too big. I think I agree with Brian here in that the ideal display size is somewhere around 4.3”. That being said, I find both devices (the 5 and the One) to be comfortably usable. The 5 is better for one handed use, while the One is better for actually consuming web content. In pocket, the One is thin enough to not be a problem.
Although it’s probably a bit overkill, I am pleased with the move to 1080p across all of the high end Android smartphones. The One’s display looks excellent and lacks the oversaturated colors of the alternative AMOLED displays.
The One also features stereo speakers that get impressively loud (louder than any other smartphone I’ve used, by a considerable margin). I keep my phone on silent all the time but when showing others highlights reels, the One’s loud stereo speakers definitely come in handy.
The final element of the One that I’m really happy about is the integration of 802.11ac support. The One is good for WiFi speeds of up to 275Mbps (that’s actually tested, not theoretical).
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CeriseCogburn - Monday, March 25, 2013 - link
Nice to know 27 million android phones never locked up once.Good for you idiot.
CeriseCogburn - Monday, March 25, 2013 - link
Another extremely stupid and actually clueless spew by dumb dumb:" The 16GB with SD is good for someone who wants to carry their music and video library around with them. "
EVERYONE wants to do that, stupido, but the problem is 16 is not enough for music files only for most, and forget about it for video.
But then, that's the stupid crap you had to argue, so that 16 is enough in a sealed tard iphone or equivalent.
DEECEE - Thursday, March 28, 2013 - link
I wonder, why HTC even leave this on the table. Slap a replaceable battery and a SD slot in, and the argument is over, Samsung will have to work much harder to push those S4's, and a lot more Ones would be sold. Why leave these features out?HTC is not Apple, they can't count on repeat buyers and built-in obsolescence to boost sales when so many competitor plays in the Android eco-system, especially better known, more cash rich competitors like Samsung? I think it's a complete bone headed decision for HTC to leave these features out, and Samsung will laugh all the way to the bank.
phillyry - Sunday, March 24, 2013 - link
Expanding markets are not considering the S4 and the One, so it's a moot point.For people I the developed world or wealthy people in the developing world, form facto will matter and making a device with a removable battery will affect the form factor, especially with regards to its perceived finish and lustre.
Cheap phones with SD card upgrades have been the bane of many a friend of mine. They come to me saying, "My phone's out of storage and it will only let me install apps on the internal memory!" This is likely because SD cards are slow and use a different interface. These phones are sold as 'expandable' but really they're just expendable.
I'd take a well-built HTC One over cheap feeling S4 that's gonna fall apart when I drop it and look like crap whenever I look at its washed out screen.
I'm not denying that there are people out there for whom SD cards are a real feature, I just think that they get blown out of proportion. I'd take 32GB base internal storage over 16GB plus expansion any day. Different kind of NAND.
Really, the question does come down to marketing, familiarity, and feel.
While I'd personally prefer the hardware of the One, the S4 is an easy sell. People know it because of the S3's prolific sales and marketing. The OS is more inviting and has more saleable features (than previous Sense, at least). The One will feel super-premium, I'm sure, but I'm also concerned that it might cost a premium, when compared to its real competition - the S4. If you look at the last round, although the S3 was priced at $199 on contract, you could often pick it up for $0.01.
So, the S4's cheapness will be its biggest strength. Samsung will be able to offload it in boatloads to carriers who can give it away on sales, once it's mid-term, and they will sell like hotcakes. Also, since you're selling to cheap people (most people when it comes to smartphones), they will be happy to have cheap storage and battery replacement/enhancement options.
The camera will also be a tough sell. Are the sales reps gonna demo them both in store? I think not. People will just see 4MP and 13MP and the inevitable Samsung commercials highlighting the features (gimmicks?) that the phone has and will flock to it. They know the brand, they know the predecessor, and they know that 13>4 (even if they don't know that nomenclature).
I'd, personally, love to see HTC destroy this round, but somehow have my doubts. Time will tell but cheap sells.
DEECEE - Thursday, March 28, 2013 - link
While I disagree with you on your assessment on the cheap phone with cheap SD card sh-pew, you've got a perfect prediction on samsung's low cost sales pitch because they chose to go low cost on a plastic shell and cheaper screen, but try to grab people with features like replaceable batteries and SD. If you analysis is correct, I am just baffled WHY or WHY HTC will leave the sales of their FLAGSHIP, HAILMARY model that is the ONE in the wind by not designing in key features that will put a majority of their potential customer's mind to ease. I don't care if people actual replace their battery or SD card in their phone or not, it gets people concerned about not having them, why leave their concern and decision out for the buying public? Why not nip it in the bud and win the feature comparison against the S4? By going the machined aluminum route they are already not going to win the "low cost" war, why not win the "premium" war without reservation?tommo123 - Saturday, March 23, 2013 - link
well i use the SD card option (64GB mSD) and on vacation, the spare battery is very useful.with a portable battery charger i could do without the removable batteries but not expandable storage. phones still come with 16GB versions which are 10 or less in reality. install 2 games and most of that is gone.
then add your pics and videos - where are they meant to go? the cloud? that would be fine if i had unlimited data, at a min of about 25mbit/sec and never ever ever lost signal even on a plane, or underground. since that's not going to happen in the near future i need my extra storage.
google wants to do away with the cards to make people use their google drive and then pay for extra space. simple
CeriseCogburn - Monday, March 25, 2013 - link
LOL - nice point tommo123 that's a first - google up that dropbox data charge....No problem, the know it alls have the deepest and widest pockets of space in their skulls...
ROFL - Nice SMACKDOWN, I note the crybabies have no response, but wait for it, the responses will stream in at an extraordinary rate once the charges become an issue for the sealed tarded crew of fools.
I don't like options, I don't like expandabilty, I don't like to be free, I can't make my own choices, I am techborg, the ultratard liar, I am spew, I am thoughtless, I am a liar, and I am legion.
DEECEE - Thursday, March 28, 2013 - link
I don't understand why people insist on "majority of people don't use replaceable battery and SD card" or "majority of people have to have replaceable battery and SD card". My concern is for myself, and I am hating HTC for not putting replaceable battery and SD card in because if they did, it's made my choice completely simple for my next phone, it would be the HTC One. But now, I have a HTC Sensation 4G as a personal phone and a OneX as a work phone, and I am not sure I want to live with the loss of replaceable battery and SD card and is seriously considering buying the Samsung S4 as a result.It is COMPLETELY STUPID for HTC to leave that excuse on the table, oh... the camera is great, the screen is nice, and case looks great, but... NO REPLACEABLE BATTERY AND SD CARD, too bad.. Why did HTC leave that on the table while HTC could put Samsung S4 out of its misery by simply having a better physical design and more feature? Stupid decision, I'd have the phone a bit thicker to have a replaceable larger battery and SD card slot, it's already thicker than the OneX, being super think didn't help selling that the OneX, why repeat the same mistake?!
Rits - Friday, March 22, 2013 - link
In my 5 years of time with modern smartphones, I haven't met one person who carried a spare/extra battery. Many carry power banks in their bags but I've yet to see someone with a spare battery. SD cards, yes, those mattered, but only until phones started getting 32 GB onboard memory. Pretty much nobody cares about SD cards/expandable memory if the phone has more than 16 GB memory.sirelk - Friday, March 22, 2013 - link
But no one cares about diminishing battery performance after one year? For all of us that have to make this phone work for 2-3 years, it sure matters. The option of expanding the memory (maybe I suddenly decide to carry my entire MP3 library on a microSD for a long trip or every episode of Seinfeld) or easily giving the phone extended life with a new battery is far too advantageous.If you are OK with losing hours of battery life as early as 8-12 months after purchasing your stylish-no-options-phone, then sure, there's no benefit for you.