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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DEECEE - Friday, March 29, 2013 - link
AMD based GPU? I hope it's not one of those desktop version GPU's, that will run on the battery for like 1 minute?superflex - Monday, March 25, 2013 - link
The only issue I see with the One is the lack of a menu button. I can certainly live without a replaceable battery and SD slot. Never had the need in 2.5 years on an EVO 4g to use a replacement or expanded battery, but I'm not a voice whore like some people.odiHnaD - Monday, March 25, 2013 - link
Anand,Thank you for the mini review, looks like a great device.
Kinda sad to see the trolling/bickering in the comment though, this site used to be a safe haven for intelligent and insightful comments...
phillyry - Tuesday, March 26, 2013 - link
+1Biln3 - Monday, March 25, 2013 - link
Im sure not many people do swap batteries, my concern is after about a year the battery will start to get weak and hold less and less a charge. since this is your average sized battery not a s big as razr maxx, alot of people will have to charge this phone everyday, some people twice to 3 times a day. batteries only last a certain amount of charges before they start to get weak. so what do we do when the battery starts to only last 60-70% as it did when it was brand new?but i will probably get this phone just because of the loud built in speakers. the new features the galaxy s4 has are just gimicky novelty items to me, nothing really useful.
Belard - Monday, March 25, 2013 - link
Is it just me? Or does this phone look like what the iPhone5 should have been?hp79 - Tuesday, March 26, 2013 - link
I thought this is supposed to be iPhone6. Maybe it has something to with HTC and Apple's settlement pact. The separated antenna from the body looks just like the ones in iPhone4.Who cares... As long as it has good build quality and it can open the camera app very fast, then quickly be able to review and delete, I'm fine with it. My Note (N7000) with stock JellyBean is really slow at this basic task.
I wish if they do a video review, they also test how quickly and smoothly these tasks can be done. I want to see no stutter at all. I even saw Nokia 920 stuttering with loading the menus in picture review mode.
phillyry - Tuesday, March 26, 2013 - link
Looks pimp to me.It's the iPhone's better looking Android twin.
Prolly better feeling too with the curved edges. iPhone 5's are too sharp and its thinness coupled with its flatness make it unpleasant to hold without a case.
phillyry - Tuesday, March 26, 2013 - link
But I'd take the iPhone's 112g weight over the One's 143g though.The iPhone 5 feels like a feather compared to the 140g iPhone 4S, which feels like a brick.
So, one can only conclude that the weight'll be a drawback.
daleski75 - Tuesday, March 26, 2013 - link
If you think that is heavy I would hate to think what you would say about the Nokia Lumia 920... I own a HTC One and it's very light and much nicer to hold than the iPhone 5.