Back against the wall
You mightiness bring heard nearly HTC hitting some difficult times. The companionship dug itself into quite the hole. Too many phones that don’t offering anything unique volition practise that to you. So volition relying also much on Beats Audio and gimmicks similar 3D.
So HTC was at a crossroads. With revenues as well as profits collapsing, it decided to popular off all in. It pose all its chips inwards the quality pot. After all, that’s what pose HTC on the map inwards the get-go place. Dance amongst the ane that brought you.
Stunning design
The fruit of that seed only mightiness move the most beautiful smartphone e'er made. Yes, I intend it’s to a greater extent than stunning than whatever of Apple’s iPhones. If theMacBook Pro amongst Retina Display were a smartphone, it would move the HTC One.
In fact, the One feels similar the iPhone that Apple could have made ... if it was willing to intermission downwards its highly-profitable formula as well as start from scratch. Adversity tin give yous an payoff over your sitting-pretty opponents. You’re less afraid of taking risks. HTC grabbed that bull past times the horns.
In illustration the pictures don’t speak for themselves, we’re looking at an aluminum unibody-esque design. Stereo speakers sit down to a higher identify as well as below the 4.7-inch screen. Capacitive domicile as well as dorsum buttons also alive below the screen. Edges are smooth as well as polished. Everything is precise, unified, as well as elegant.
This matter belongs inwards a musem.
In hand
So the One looks great, but how does it experience inwards hand? I don’t intend it’s quite equally comfortable to concord equally the Galaxy S4, but it’s non also far off its lead. The One is a chip heavier (by 10 percent), but the phone’s smooth aluminum chassis is all the same a pleasance to hold.
Things similar “how it feels inwards hand” are, of course, extremely subjective. If this is of import to you, only striking upwardly a shop amongst display models as well as create upwardly one's heed for yourself.
Mesmerizing display
The One’s display is ane of the best – as well as quite possibly the best – on the market. It’s an absolutely stunning 4.7 inches of pixel-perfect glory.
On a technical level, we’re looking at 1080p (1920 x 1080) resolution, spread out over 4.7 inches. That’s an absurd 468 pixels per inch (PPI). The enshroud uses IPS tech, thus colors are to a greater extent than accurate as well as realistic. It’s a dissimilar experience from the Milky Way S4’s ultra-vibrant Super AMOLED display. The GS4 hits yous inwards the human face upwardly amongst mesmerizing color. The One waits for yous to come upwardly to it.
Apple likes to boast that the iPhone’s “Retina Display” is the best inwards its class. Not anymore. To me, the displays of the One as well as the Milky Way S4 (and possibly a few others) easily outshine it.
Everything yous practise on a smartphone centers closed to the screen. Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 display tin construct or intermission a device. In this case, it’s only ane of several elements that HTC striking out of the park.
Invisible performance
The HTC One doesn’t experience similar it’s trying to demo yous how fast it is. It doesn’t clobber yous over the caput amongst fancy animations or other bells as well as whistles. It only delivers. It’s the prototype of responsiveness. You forget nearly performance, because it’s never an issue. Addition past times subtraction.
On a technical level, we’re looking at a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 processor clocked at 1.7GHz, along amongst 2 GB of RAM. In price of benchmarks, it’s nipping at the heels of the quad-core version of the Milky Way S4. But never heed that. Performance isn’t remotely an consequence on either phone. They’ve moved past times such petty trifles.
This is usually where reviewers popular off into miniscule, geeky particular nearly app charge times, gaming frames-per-second, as well as spider web browser speed tests. We could practise that.
... but why? Performance isn’t a concern. Period. You chore it to practise something, as well as it responds. Instantly. What to a greater extent than practise yous demand to know?
Making Sense of Android
The One, of course, runs Android. We’re looking at 4.1.2 Jelly Bean, which isn’t the latest version. That’s an expanse where Samsung got a leg up, equally the Milky Way S4 does run Google’s latest. But 4.2 Jelly Bean was a tiddler upgrade over 4.1 Jelly Bean, thus this likely won’t move a deal-breaker.
More obvious is the HTC Sense overlay. Its facial expression as well as experience are trademark HTC: sophisticated, professional, understated. Contrast this amongst Samsung’s TouchWiz, which is to a greater extent than playful as well as inwards your face. TouchWiz is splashy as well as colorful; Sense is precise, leaning to a greater extent than on elegant grays as well as blacks.
One of the biggest novel software features is BlinkFeed. It’s basically a Flipboard clone that lives equally a permanent widget on your homescreen. It does what you’d hold off it to: delivers visually appealing tidings as well as social feeds, tailored to your interests.
But I’m non a huge BlinkFeed fan. For starters, I regularly role Flipboard, as well as don’t demand a novel version. If I desire that form of matter on my homescreen, Flipboard has widgets too.
But my biggest complaint nearly BlinkFeed is that yous can’t withdraw it from your homescreen. You tin ignore it, as well as fifty-fifty switch to a dissimilar default enshroud ... but BlinkFeed never completely goes away.
It’s a well-made feature. It blends amongst the Sense UI, as well as could move a bully root of information for you. But fifty-fifty well-made features are improve when yous can choose whether to encounter them or not.
Boom!
Smartphone makers speedily learned the importance of characteristic branding. It isn’t a high resolution display, it’s “Retina.” It isn’t a stylus, it’s an “S Pen.” So hither the HTC One’s stereo speakers bring “BoomSound.”
Fortunately, this isn’t only empty marketing. These suckers are loud as well as full. I tin safely say that they’re the best speakers of whatever smartphone or tablet I’ve e'er used. I compared it to the Kindle Fire hard disk 8.9, which has unusually expert speakers (also stereo) for a tablet. The One sounded much crisper, as well as was far superior on the bass cease of things.
You likely won’t base of operations your buying determination on this. You’re all the same improve off buying a Bluetooth speaker, as well as beaming your music there. But expert speakers are a overnice bonus nonetheless – specially when it comes to watching movies as well as playing games.
UltraPixels, baby
With its camera, HTC is daring yous to intend exterior of the box. See, when it comes to buying tech products, customers similar easy-to-digest metrics. How many cores are inwards the processor? How many gigs of RAM? These things acquire inwards easier to compare devices.
In the photographic television set camera department, production makers as well as customers bring fallen inwards dearest amongst megapixels. Camera resolution is important, but it’s been blown agency out of proportion. Once yous striking a for sure threshold of resolution, other factors – similar sensors, lenses, as well as pixel size – acquire at to the lowest degree equally important.
So HTC pulled dorsum on the megapixels inwards the One’s nurture photographic television set camera (it solely has five MP). It focused instead on the size of the pixels. These bigger pixels also bring a catchy HTC construct name: UltraPixels.
The thought is that past times squeezing inwards less pixels, the larger pixels that are at that topographic point tin allow inwards to a greater extent than light, as well as capture wider varieties of color – fifty-fifty inwards depression light.
In my tests (like the sample above), the One’s photographic television set camera wasn’t significantly improve than other (excellent) high-end smartphones similar the Milky Way S4 and iPhone 5. HTC’s claims nearly superior low-lighting images didn’t quite add together up. They didn’t facial expression bad at all. But amid those 3 phones, the Milky Way S4 fared the best inwards depression light.
Overall, the shots I took on the One were (roughly) inwards the same league equally those from the GS4 as well as iPhone 5. And considering that those phones bring xiii MP as well as 8 MP cameras, respectively, HTC did something correct amongst its mere five MP.
It’s what you’d hold off from a 2012 or 2013 high-end smartphone camera: abrupt as well as vibrant.
Battery?
In my tests, battery life was great. It solely lost betwixt 5-10 percent points per hour, amongst footling to moderate use. So unless yous pass entire days playing 3D games as well as watching Netflix, you’re easily looking at a total 24-hour interval on a unmarried charge.
It’s possible that your battery life volition really move improve than mine. I tested a unit of measurement from Sprint, which has lousy coverage inwards my area. Weak as well as spotty service tin pose a wound on a battery, thus amongst improve coverage your uptimes could potentially popular off from bully to outstanding.
Wrap-up
Having two(Samsung Milky Way S4 as well as HTC One) smartphones this expert popular upwardly at closed to the same fourth dimension is something really special. It’s the smartphone geek’s version of Lennon as well as McCartney, Magic as well as Bird.
But it also makes for a really tough decision. If I had to pick out correct now, I’d likely lean ever-so-slightly towards the One. I prefer Sense over TouchWiz, as well as also give the One’s display the real slight edge. I mightiness also give HTC an extra boost because they demand my employment concern much to a greater extent than than Samsung does.
But these are only my preferences. I’d move wary of anyone who claims that ane of these phones is vastly superior to the other. I’ve spent ample fourth dimension amongst both, as well as they’re both equally expert equally it gets correct now.
In fact, it speaks volumes to how far Android has come. In years past, at that topographic point was a sense that Android phones pushed the envelope to a greater extent than than the iPhone, but they also had some crippling flaws. They were get-go to LTE, but had miserable battery life. Faster processors, but all the same non equally buttery-smooth equally iOS. Bigger screens, but non equally abrupt equally Apple’s Retina Display.
Now all of those concerns are nil as well as void. In my opinion, both the Milky Way S4 as well as HTC One are straight off a total footstep ahead of the iPhone 5. In fairness to Apple, these phones shipped 7 months later on – so they should be.
But if the rumors nearly an iPhone 5S amongst an unchanged enshroud as well as chassis are true, as well as thus Apple could take a opportunity falling agency behind. Huge phones similar these 2 no longer experience huge. They only construct the iPhone facial expression small.
Any fourth dimension yous speak nearly "the best," you're really talking nearly the best for you. It can't maybe move absolute. However, I can’t imagine anyone who has used the HTC One having many complaints nearly it. It’s equally heroic an endeavor yous could inquire for – from a companionship that desperately needed something similar that.
Even if yous ultimately create upwardly one's heed on the Milky Way S4 (or some other phone), you'd move doing yourself a disservice to non fifty-fifty consider the HTC One. To me, it's easily ane of the 2 best smartphones e'er made ... as well as yous wouldn't move crazy for calling it the best smartphone e'er made.
