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
For the past week and a half our own Brian Klug has been hard at work on his review of HTC’s new flagship smartphone, the One. These things take time and Brian’s review, at least what I’ve seen of it, is nothing short of the reference piece we’ve come to expect from him.
In the same period of time I’ve been playing around with a retail HTC One and felt compelled to share my thoughts on the device. It’s rare that I’m so moved by a device to chime in outside of the official review, but the One is a definite exception. By no means is this a full review, and I defer to Brian for the complete story on the One - something we should be getting here in the not too distant future.
I’m not a financial analyst, but HTC hasn’t been doing all that well over the past few quarters. There’s a general feeling that the aptly named One is HTC’s last chance at survival. Good product doesn’t always translate into market dominance, but it’s a necessary component when you’re an underdog. Luckily for HTC, the One is great.
Design
Over the past two years HTC has really come into its own as far as design is concerned. The difference between the HTC One X and the plethora of flagships that came before it was remarkable. Moving to the One, the difference is just as striking.
I don’t seem to mind plastic phones as much as everyone else, but the One is in an appreciably different league compared to its peers. It’s the type of device that you just want to look at and touch. Given how much you do end up looking at and touching your smartphone, HTC’s efforts here seem well placed.
The One looks and feels great. The proportions are a little awkward in my hands, but I fully concede that’s going to vary from person to person. Despite the heavy use of aluminum, I don't feel overly worried about scratching/damaging the finish.
The challenge with any smartphone is to build something that looks distinct in a sea of black rectangles on a wall in a store. With the One (and arguably the One X before it), HTC does a good job of balancing the need to be seen with the need to be subtle. Elegant is the right word here.
While I’m sure there will be comparisons to the iPhone, the fact of the matter is that the design cycle on these smartphones falls somewhere in the 12 - 24 month range. With something as sophisticated as the One, you’re looking at the longer end of that spectrum. For what it’s worth, if I had to estimate I’d say design work on the One probably started before the iPhone 4S came out.
| Smartphone Spec Comparison | ||||||
| Apple iPhone 5 | HTC One | Samsung Galaxy S 3 | Samsung Galaxy S 4 | |||
| SoC | Apple A6 1.3GHz | Snapdragon 600 1.7GHz | Snapdragon S4 1.5GHz | Exynos 5 Octa (1.6/1.2GHz) or Snapdragon 600 1.9GHz | ||
| DRAM/NAND/Expansion | 1GB LPDDR2, 16/32/64GB NAND | 2GB LPDDR2, 32/64GB NAND | 2GB LPDDR2, 16/32GB NAND, microSD | 2GB LPDDR3, 16/32/64GB NAND, microSD | ||
| Display | 4.0-inch 1136 x 640 LCD | 4.7-inch SLCD3 1080p, 468 ppi | 4.8-inch Super AMOLED 720p, 306 ppi | 5-inch Super AMOLED 1080p, 441 ppi | ||
| Network | 2G / 3G / 4G LTE Cat 3 | 2G / 3G / 4G LTE Cat 3 | 2G / 3G / 4G LTE Cat 3 | 2G / 3G / 4G LTE Cat 3 (depending on region) | ||
| Dimensions | 123.8mm x 58.6mm x 7.6mm | 137.4mm x 68.2mm x 4mm - 9.3mm | 136.6mm x 70.6mm 8.6mm | 136.6mm x 69.8mm x 7.9mm | ||
| Weight | 112g | 143g | 133g | 130g | ||
| Rear Camera | 8MP | 4MP w/ 2µm pixels | 8MP | 13MP | ||
| Front Camera | 1.2MP | 2.1MP | 1.9MP | 2MP | ||
| Battery | Internal 5.45 Wh | Internal 8.74 Wh | Removable 7.98 Wh | Removable 9.88 Wh | ||
| OS | iOS 6.1.2 | Android 4.1.2 | Android 4.1.2 | Android 4.2.2 | ||
| Connectivity | 802.11a/b/g/n, BT 4.0, USB 2.0, GPS/GNSS | 802.11ac/a/b/g/n + BT 4.0, USB2.0, GPS/GNSS, IR LED, MHL, DLNA, NFC | 802.11a/b/g/n, BT 4.0, USB 2.0, NFC, GPS/GNSS, MHL | 802.11a/b/g/n/ac (HT80) + BT 4.0, USB 2.0 NFC, GPS/GNSS, IR LED, MHL 2.0 | ||
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Samus - Thursday, March 21, 2013 - link
I've never owned an HTC phone, but now maybe I will. In the past, friends have complained about things from random reboots to cheap plastic. I have a Galaxy S3 and planned to hang on to it for awhile but hey, at least its held its value if I decide to sell it.And considering I never capture photo's at max resolution on ANY of my camera's (even my DSLR) I could care less it's a 4MP sensor. I usually capture at 3.1MP anyway.
CeriseCogburn - Friday, March 22, 2013 - link
Oh that's weird. you must have a tiny computer screen 1024X768. Upgrade your monitor so your old crappy DSLR can be upgraded too.Stop living in the past. 3.1 mp ? LOL
You will never get hired for camera work.
evonitzer - Friday, March 22, 2013 - link
I hesitate to even respond to your trolling comments (which have been all over this thread article. Where do you find the time?) but do the math. 1920x1080 is 2 mp. Therefore, for full screen viewing you don't need anything more than that. 1024x768 is .78mp.The only time you need more is if you own a 4k television (8.3mp) and you have way too much money, or you are printing. But who prints cell phone pics? Who prints anything for that matter?
But if you must, an 8x10 can be made with a 4mp picture using 204dpi, which is ok.
snajk138 - Sunday, March 24, 2013 - link
You're forgetting about cropping and zooming. If I take an 8MP shot I can cut out the 75% of the image that I don't need and still get the "full" resolution of my HD screen. If I'm showing a picture to someone I tend to zoom in on the important stuff. Doing both means I might actually need th 13MP or whatever that some new phones have.Not that MP's say much about picture quality anyway and they're getting to the point where more pixels actually means worse quality, but still, higher resolutions are not a waste just because we don't have as high a resolution displays.
CeriseCogburn - Monday, March 25, 2013 - link
Thank you, I was going to tell DUMMY to pinch and zoon into his brain, he may find the second cell.evonitzer - Monday, March 25, 2013 - link
I wasn't forgetting, I was making your second point. I'm all for argument for its own sake, but seriously! We agree! More pixels are not a waste if they are actually contributing, but having pinch-zoomed on my cell phone pics I have pretty serious doubts there is much extra info to be gained.I have less to agree with Cerise though. 76 comments! Are you serious?! I really hope you are getting paid by somebody.
pandemonium - Thursday, March 21, 2013 - link
It's cool hearing your endorsing experience with it. On paper and theory this phone appears to be the next big thing out there and it's great hearing first-hand that at least some of that is true.Looking forward to Brian's extensive breakout!
darwinosx - Friday, March 22, 2013 - link
Really disappointing that this phone will not be on Verizon., I can't understand their reasoning for this unless they somehow think the DNA is an acceptable substitute. It isn't.Silma - Friday, March 22, 2013 - link
It would be nice if HTC did a WP8 One.Regarding removable batteries I'm still changing batteries after 18-24monthes. Not replacing my phone every year I still think it's a must.
Same thing for ultrabooks / tablets really. That's why I still haven't bought a Surface Pro or an Ultrabook. I don't want a 45min autonomy device in 2 years because I can't replace the battery.
delica - Friday, March 22, 2013 - link
Anand,One thing I've noticed is how much smoother and more responsive devices using Snapdragon processors are than those using Tegra. Tegra always makes for a choppy Android UI, regardless of how many cores you are running or the clock speed. Interestingly, even phones running android 2.3 on Snapdragon S2 feel smoother than my Samsung S2. Though I'm actually not sure now whether my S2 has an Exynos or an Nvidia CPU, but the gist of it is the same. My Asus Infinity has Tegra 3 and Android 4.1 and is still extremely choppy.
So, my question is whether you, or anyone else here for that matter, are under the same impression?