HTC One max Review - It's Huge
by Brian Klug on October 28, 2013 10:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- HTC
- Mobile
- One
- Snapdragon 600
- Android 4.3
- One max
Battery life remains a huge concern for savvy smartphone shoppers. Opportunistically charging a phone and worrying about making it through an entire day with just a single charge cycle is a common complaint as well. The HTC One max addresses some of the complaints myself and others had with charging on the HTC One which charged at only 1 amp, instead the One max charges at up to 1.5 amps. Although I wasn’t sampled it, the One max box will also include a 1.5 amp charger from HTC that’s slightly taller than the previous generation. This definitely helps offset the increase in charge time that would’ve resulted given the 43 percent larger 3300 mAh 3.8V (12.54 watt hour) battery.
The HTC One charges a bit faster with the latest updates, however the linear region of the charge curve is entirely dominated by that 1 A charging maximum. With the 1.5 A charging in the One max we actually see considerably faster charge times in spite of the larger battery. HTC continues to use BC 1.2 to the best of my knowledge for signaling.
To assess battery life, I ran the One max through our battery life test suite. Our battery life test is unchanged, we calibrate the display to exactly 200 nits and run it through a controlled workload consisting of a dozen or so popular pages and articles with pauses in between continually, until the device dies. This is repeated on cellular and WiFi, in this case since we have an international model of the One max that lacks the LTE bands used in the USA, that’s 3G WCDMA on AT&T’s Band 2 network. The talk time call test is self explanatory and also unchanged.
The results speak for themselves, the One max lasts quite a long time on battery, even with a large display. I expected the One max to lose to the Note 3 on the cellular test initially, but it posts an impressive result. I suspect display power might be the reason here between AMOLED and the more pragmatic LCD in the One max. I measured the One max with the flip case on as well, and it adds about 20 percent more battery time to the device. I'm curious to see how the USA-bound variants with LTE fare, but the One does impress with excellent battery life.
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ddriver - Monday, October 28, 2013 - link
The note 3 is not really flat, the camera bulges a little bit, but yes, the overall shape of the back cover is flat. It is modular and replaceable though which does open a bit of customization option.kertisoka - Monday, October 28, 2013 - link
I don't think that the camera bulge is a plus though..ddriver - Monday, October 28, 2013 - link
A shame really, they could have put a much better sensor and optics in such a thick body...beginner99 - Monday, October 28, 2013 - link
Well the One and One Mini were already pretty oversized too in comparison to other models with the same screen size so nothing new (and IMHO bad). I like the design but the screen is too small or the chassis too big.FunBunny2 - Monday, October 28, 2013 - link
Ya want stereo speakers on the front? well, until they make speakers that play through the screen, physics will be physics.Omega215D - Tuesday, October 29, 2013 - link
The BoomSound speakers and the different shell thickness/ weight compared to the Samsung. Samsung uses thinner shells in order to achieve their svelt bodies and lighter weight. Also depends on the display technology used. LCDs are heavier than OLEDs.heron_kusanagi - Monday, October 28, 2013 - link
Hi Brian,Could you please do a Nokia Lumia 1020 review?
Drumsticks - Monday, October 28, 2013 - link
I'd also love to see a modern windows phone review. The 1520, personally. I mean, we got a Z10 review didn't we?If nothing else, id love to see a dive into Nokia's imaging on the 1020 and 1520, which is some engineering that I think everyone should be capable of appreciating, no matter how much you dislike the OS.
Alexvrb - Monday, October 28, 2013 - link
Yeah, I'd also like to see a proper 1520 review. I'm not surprised nobody at Anandtech got an invite to Nokia's event. Keep tossing their review phones in a closet (trash can?)... I'd quit sending you anything, if it was up to me. Waste of time and money.On the other hand, since he hates WP, it might just end up being a big ol' take a dump on the WP device article.
kyuu - Monday, October 28, 2013 - link
+1