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
Ya. I have disagreed with this but there is some truth here. Having good internal and the expansion without reliance on cloud would be nice.But...big BUT...would that not also sacrifice form factor? (And potentially build quality?)
CeriseCogburn - Monday, March 25, 2013 - link
No it wouldn't.CeriseCogburn - Monday, March 25, 2013 - link
Just fry out your wallet with data up and down, no SD, no problem.It's good because jaysucks and dimwitOsx said so.
ChoadNamath - Thursday, March 21, 2013 - link
When I had phones with removable batteries, the only time I ever removed them was to do a hard reset of the phone. Most people don't want to carry around extra batteries, and even if they do, a USB battery pack is easier to carry around than a bare battery.Most people also don't carry around spare memory cards, either. I can understand why someone might be worried about not being able to add additional storage space to a phone that only comes with 8 or even 16GB of storage, but do you really expect the average user to run out of space in a phone that comes with up to 64GB of flash? My desktop PC has only a 64GB SSD right now! Especially in the age of streaming media, memory cards are increasingly unnecessary in smartphones.
Would removable batteries and memory cards be nice to have? Sure, but they're hardly essential anymore for the vast majority of use cases.
danbob999 - Thursday, March 21, 2013 - link
The thing is that you can bet the 64GB model will be far too expensive. So most people will end up buying the cheapest version. If they ever need more storage, even temporarily (say on a trip), they can't.As for the battery, depending on usage you might want to replace it after 2-4 years. It would be sad to throw a perfectly working phone to the bin only because it no longer holds its charge. Even if you replace your phone before that, you old phone could still have a resale value or could be used by your grand mother who doesn't need to have the latest toy.
SuBoX - Thursday, March 21, 2013 - link
just plug in a usb stick with an usb otg cable or even better some companies already are starting to make usb sticks with micro usb and normal usb so you can connect it to your pc to put a movie on it and just plug it in your phone to watch the movie. The removable storage on the S4 is only used for media anyway can just aswell use an usb stick for the same things on a plane or in your hotel room to transfer your photos.nerd1 - Thursday, March 21, 2013 - link
That requires you a) large internal memory b) copying the stuff twice c) carrying extra thingCeriseCogburn - Friday, March 22, 2013 - link
Suddenly a gankly dongle is better than a tiny sd card even in a tiny plastic container... then when you're not dongled up, you don't have to worry about how to set it or hold it, or ripping apart your charging port...The stench of dark iphone powers is thick, I hear SJ cackling wildly from beyond the grave.
eebrah - Saturday, March 23, 2013 - link
I still do not get why carrying around extra and bulky( ier ) kit is better than having as SD card slot or removable battery.If including a removable battery or SB card slot compromised "the experience" as much as an OTG cable + USB thumb drive or External USB battery pack then I would take those arguments but as for me, I would rather a phone that is "compromised" by having removable battery and expandable storage than one where I have to connect such externally.
Still a matter of personal preference
phillyry - Sunday, March 24, 2013 - link
Why has this entire discussion turned to storage and battery.Aren't there many other points to consider / discuss with regards to this phone: camera, build quality, market survivability (chance)?
Let's not forget feel and engagement.