HTC has announced the successor to this 2013 model, the HTC One (M8).HTC aims for the top with its gorgeously crafted, high-powered firework of an Android phone.
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The Good
The <b>HTC One</b> flaunts a stunning metal design, a powerful quad-core processor, and a beautiful 4.7-inch, 1080p screen. It runs Android Jelly Bean, takes great pictures, and has a feature-packed camera app.
The Bad
The sealed case design means no SD expansion slot or user-replaceable battery. The BlinkFeed software can’t be completely removed.
The Bottom Line
A few quibbles notwithstanding, the powerhouse HTC One is a beautifully crafted, near-ideal smartphone.
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As HTC’s new flagship smartphone, the HTC One is packed to the rafters with top-notch components and technologies including some of the latest processing gear from Qualcomm. In addition to being state-of-the-art, the successor to 2012’s HTC One X is lovingly crafted from premium metals, leaving no doubt that the Taiwanese smartphone manufacturer has put a considerable amount of blood, sweat, and tears into this handset.
HTC definitely brought its A game, and it needs to to defeat its archrival, the Samsung Galaxy S4. Like all other smartphones though, the One isn’t perfect — it lacks an SD card slot for extra storage expansion as well as a removable battery. The camera isn’t quite as revolutionary as advertised. Android purists may not love HTC’s Sense UI skin, and the One’s nonremovable BlinkFeed news reader isn’t particularly welcome.
Quibbles aside, though, the HTC One should be at or near the top of the list for anyone looking for a phone on Sprint, T-Mobile, AT&T, or Verizon — where it’s going head-to-head with the Galaxy S4. Yes, it’s a game of inches between both of those big-screen Android superphones . But I can easily say the HTC One is the fastest, most beautiful phone I’ve ever used, and it will sway anyone looking for a worthy alternative to the Samsung GS4.
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Design
Rectangular, flat, and extremely thin, the HTC One is practically all screen. Its 4.7-inch (1080p) LCD display uses what the company calls SoLux technology for improved picture quality and generates 468 pixels per inch (ppi). This, says HTC, helps the One’s screen boast the most impressive viewing experience of any phone it has ever created. Since the display is slightly smaller at the same resolution, the One’s screen has a denser pixel count than the Droid DNA (5-inch, 440ppi). The same goes for the Samsung Galaxy S4, which uses a larger 5-inch OLED screen (441ppi).
I can certainly verify that the One’s display has impact, with vibrant colors, wide viewing angles, and plenty of brightness. Details also look extremely crisp, which makes me eager to compare the One’s display against that of the Galaxy S4. I suspect that Samsung’s latest monster will offer higher contrast and brighter colors, but the jury is still out until I place both handsets side by side.
HTC also makes a big deal about the One’s all-aluminum chassis, describing it as using a zero-gap unibody design. Indeed, available in black and silver, the handset feels sturdy, with reassuring heft, and its smooth, metallic skin exudes high-end craftsmanship. HTC also took pains to point out that while the thin, white trim encircling the silver model I manhandled appears to be plastic, it is, in fact, metal.
Measuring 5.4 inches tall by 2.7 inches wide by 0.37 inch thick, the HTC One is certainly a handful. Tipping the scales at 5.04 ounces, it’s by no means lightweight either. I recommend stuffing the One into large, or at least secure, pockets to tote around town.
The One’s speakers do pack a hefty punch, producing rich audio with a satisfying helping of bass. The phone’s audio system has wide stereo separation as well, plus a surprising amount of volume.
In fact I found that I could rely on the One’s speakers in a pinch when my portable Bluetooth speakers weren’t handy. While nowhere near as loud as, say, a Jawbone Jambox or Jabra Solemate, the phone provides enough audio oomph for small groups in quiet rooms.
Above the display sit a 2.1MP front-facing camera and a notification light. Below are just two capacitive Android buttons, while a headphone jack and volume button are up top. What’s really interesting is how the power button also doubles as an IR blaster to control home theater equipment. A volume rocker is placed on the right side, and a SIM card slot holds court on the left. On the bottom edge sits the phone’s Micro-USB port. Around back is the 4MP main camera with LED flash, which also uses HTC’s UltraPixel sensor.
Software, UI, and features
The HTC One has all the power of modern Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean at its disposal. currently 4.2, but you do get all the tight integration with Google’s wide range of software and services that modern Android phones enjoy. These include Gmail, Google+ social networking, Google Talk, Google Drive, and so on, plus access to over 700,000 apps for download through the Google Play store.
Layered on top of Android is yet another version of HTC’s Sense UI. As is typical of this sort of added interface, the latest version of Sense offers more enhancements you may or may not find useful.
The first is something HTC calls the BlinkFeed, a main home screen consisting of dynamic tiles that display content from a wide variety of news outlets, blogs, and Web sites (including CNET). If you’re familiar with popular news aggregators such as Flipboard and Pulse, then you get the idea.
There are drawbacks to BlinkFeed that you should be aware of, most notably that you can’t turn the feature off, at least not entirely. By default the BlinkFeed screen is set as the phone’s primary home screen. You can, however, select any of the HTC One’s home screens as its starting point.
Another annoyance I ran into is that BlinkFeed pulls content from a stable of vetted sources. While that’s fine for casual news viewing, you’ll probably run into roadblocks trying to tweak it to display more-targeted outlets.
I admit that I like the revamped Sense user interface. Besides BlinkFeed, the skin has a cleaner look with icons that are less crowded across and within the app tray. Also odd is that unlike in stock Android Jelly Bean, the app tray doesn’t side-scroll; it scrolls vertically. The scrolling motion also jumps through icons by the page, not smoothly at a set rate, which takes getting used to.
Gone is HTC’s iconic weather clock widget, which has graced its phones since way back in the days of Windows Mobile. You will still find information about time and weather forecasts at the top of the home screen, but displayed in a much more low-key fashion. An icon here and on the lock screen displays current conditions by taking the shape of a sun, clouds, and so on. It will even blink at you with eye-catching animations such as falling rain or snow.
Battery life
An embedded 2,300mAh battery serves as the One’s power source, which I admit doesn’t sound like much on paper, especially compared with phones with ultra-high-capacity batteries such as the Motorola Droid Razr Maxx HD (3,300mAh). Of course the HTC Droid DNA managed a long 8 hours and 43 minutes on the CNET Labs video battery drain test with a smaller 2,020mAh battery.
In terms of longevity, though, the HTC One didn’t disappoint. The phone beat out the Droid DNA on the same test, lasting a full 9 hours and 37 minutes when subjected to the official CNET Labs video battery drain benchmark.
Pure Android meets premium design (pictures)
On back of the HTC One Google Play Edition is the same 4MP “ultrapixel” camera you’ll find on the standard One handset.
Slim, trim, and metallic
It’s hard not to stare at the HTC One GPE’s svelte aluminum profile.
The HTC One GPE, just like the standard HTC One, has a trim volume key with a retro rippled texture.
Flanking the screen are a set of twin speakers for impressive stereo sound.
More than a basic camera
The HTC One Google Play Edition’s camera app offers the Photo Sphere mode for 360-degree panoramas along with standard horizontal panorama mode.
Choose the image size
The HTC One Google Play Edition’s camera tops out at 4MP.
Conclusion
In the One, HTC has created a premium phone that’s fast and thin, and which flaunts a drop-dead gorgeous design. In my experience, the phone’s screen and its camera largely live up to the hype, though the camera’s low-light performance is a bit oversold.
I was surprised, however, by how much fun I found the phone’s Highlight video function to be. Sure, shooting Zoe videos is limited because it uses a proprietary file format. The Highlight movies, on the other hand, are convertible and much easier to share. It also resulted in me capturing one of my best phone videos ever.
Score Breakdown
- Design 10
- Features 8
- Performance 8