HTC One Review (Video)

First a shout out to Rogers for sending us the phone to review!

SPECS:

• 4.7″ 1080p Super LCD 3
• 1.7GHz Quad-Core Snapdragon 600 Processor
• 2GB RAM
• 32GB Internal Storage
• 4MP Ultrapixel Camera
• 2.1MP Front Facing Camera
•  2300 mAh Battery
• 137.4 x 68.2 x 9.3 mm
• 143 g
• LTE 700MHz; HSPA 2100MHz/1900MHz/850MHz; GSM 850MHz/900MHz/1800MHz/1900MHz
• Android 4.1 with Sense 5

IN THE BOX:

Possibly to differentiate the One from the One series of phones (X, S, V, etc), HTC changed up the packaging for the HTC One.  Gone is the thick oval box, in is a thin square box.  Inside the box are the usual suspects: charging plug, USB cable and, thankfully, headphones!  If you may recall, the One series of phones did NOT include headphones which was an annoyance for many users so good on HTC to include them this time around.  You also have the pin for the SIM card tray in the box.

DESIGN:

The HTC One is possibly the best designed phone I have used to date.  It is quite simply a stunning device.  The super sleek aluminum uni body design definitely takes me back to my HTC Legend days and just like on the Legend, it looks amazing.  The polycarbonate accents around the body are all phenomenal and keep things simplistic, yet elegant.

The front of device is dominated by the 4.7″ 1080p Super LCD 3 Display.  The display itself is incredibly crisp and the colours are very accurate.  Previously I didn’t think a 1080p would be that noticeably different but as I switched back and forth between the One and my Note II the sharpness in the screen was very apparent.  What I really like about the front though is how they run the glass right to the edge of the device.  It’s definitely reminiscent of the Z10’s design and it just looks fantastic.

Above the screen you’ll find one of the two speakers as well as your ear piece, front facing camera, and the usualsensors.  Below the screen you’ll find the second speaker and two capacitive buttons for “Home” and “Back” on either side of the “HTC” logo.  Let me say that the speakers on this phone are amazing.  I don’t think I’ve ever heard a phone put out that volume of sound and that quality of sound when set at full blast.  The choice to move the speakers to the front definitely pays off and you’ll notice it as soon as the phone turns on and you hear the welcome sound.

The decision to go with two buttons is definitely different from the majority of phones on the market which feature 3 or 4 buttons.  So how do they compensate for the missing button?  Well HTC has programmed the home button for three different tasks.  First it acts as your traditional home button.  Secondly, if held down it’ll access Google Now.  Thirdly, if double tapped it’ll take you to your recently used applications section.  I think I would have preferred if they had used a long press on the “Back” button for Google Now and a long press on the “Home” for the recently used applications but that’s just me being nit picky.  If you do go and root your phone you can actually program the “HTC” logo into a button as well.

On the back of the device you have that amazing aluminum shell highlighted by a couple of accents, logos, and of course the Ultra Pixel camera.  The back of the device is slightly curved which makes it very comfortable to hold in the hand.  I did notice that the aluminum heated up a little faster than, say, plastic.  It never got hot, but it definitely felt warmer than other devices I’ve used.

If you were to take a tour around the edge of the device you’ll find the SIM card slot on the left edge and the volume rocker on the right edge.  The top houses your 3.5mm headphone jack as well as the power button/infrared sensor.  On the bottom you’ll find the microUSB port and a mic hole.

SOFTWARE:

The HTC One is the very first phone to feature HTC’s new Sense 5 software which is skinned above Android 4.1.2.  With Sense 5, HTC aimed to “pair down” the Sense interface and for the most part I would say they succeeded.  Gone are the crazy carrossel like animations that hogged resources and in is a more simplistic and minimalistic UI with nice clean icons and simple animations.

One of the main features of Sense 5 is HTC’s new Blink Feed Live Home Page.  In essence, it’s FlipBoard built into one of the pages on your home screen.  You can scroll up and down through tiled articles and you can subscribe to whichever news feeds or social networking sites you so choose.  Once you swipe to the side of the Blink Feed page you are greeted with your traditional Android home page that can be customized with shortcuts and widgets.

The app drawer is a little different as well.  It offers vertical scrolling rather than the horizontal scroll that most phones are now using. Within the app drawer you can create folders, which is a nice addition, and can change the overall order to “Alphabetical, “Most Recent” or “Custom.”  You can also change the grid size from the default 3×4 to 4×5.  In 3×4 things definitely look a lot less cluttered but I prefer scrolling as little as possible and thus opted the larger grid.

There were a few annoyances I had with Sense 5 and some things that I wish they had incorporated.  To begin with, I’m not a fan of the Gallery app for Sense 5.  On the one hand its elegant and will constantly play nice little slideshows of your pictures.  However if you sign into a social network such as Facebook, the Gallery auto populates with pictures from Facebook.  There’s no way to limit it either unless you sign out of Facebook on your phone.  Another rather strange thing I noticed was that downloaded pictures did not show up in the Gallery.  Pictures that I downloaded through the browser or got through Bluetooth had to be opened through a file manager.  Oddly enough it will open them through the Gallery app but they can’t actually be accessed and viewed through the Gallery app directly.

The other minor annoyance I had all have to do with the notification bar.  First, that dreaded “Power Saver” option is still in the notification bar.  I don’t need it there and I don’t want it there yet, it’s still there.  Secondly, there are no quick toggles.  I use my toggles quite a bit.  I’m always changing the sound profile, turning off Bluetooth, turning on WiFi.  Thankfully this can be rectified with apps but I feel like this is something that should just be there.  The last annoyance with the notification area was that I can’t access it from anywhere.  Now this isn’t just feature missing in Sense 5 but rather a unique feature to TouchWiz.  With TouchWiz I can access my notification area regardless where I am, including full screen apps, by pulling down from the top of the screen.  Again, this isn’t necessarily a knock against Sense but rather something I just missed from TouchWiz.

Overall I really like the new Sense 5 UI.  It’s intuitive and easy to navigate.  While I still prefer stock Android, I have to say that HTC has done a great job with Sense 5 as they have put something together that is user friendly, unique, and functional.  I would even go so far to say that of all the skins out there, they probably have the best UI out there from an average consumer standpoint.  It’s likely not for the hardcore Androider but for the average smart phone user, especially those who are big into social networking, it’s a great UI as most things are always at your fingertips.

PERFORMANCE:

When you pair good software with good hardware you get a fluid experience and that’s what HTC has been able to accomplish with the One.  As I said, Sense 5 is “paired down” and a lot of the more intensive animations that hogged resources have been removed which makes the whole experience very fluid.  That’s not to mention the benefits that Android 4.1.2 brings to the performance.  Add to the improved software an improved chip in the Snapdragon 600 processor and you get a great user experience.

All apps loaded well, scrolling was smooth, and for the most part I did not notice any lag on the device.  I say for the most part because I there was one app that I did notice some lag.  When playing the Simpson’s Tapped Out game, I came across a little bit of hesitation when scrolling if there was a lot of uncollected money left on the screen.  Was it terribly laggy?  No.  But it did stutter just that little bit.

All the other games I threw at the phone seemed to run fine so I don’t think it’s a huge issue.  It’s very possible that the lag has more to do with bad software in the game than bad performance from the phone but I don’t recall running into that issue when playing on my Note.

CAMERA:

HTC took a huge gamble with their camera choice on the One.  Whereas everyone is constantly just upping the megapixel count on their camera, HTC opted to abandon that race in favour of a better sensor and introduced a new technology known as the UltraPixel.  If you’re interested about the UltraPixel check out this article here.  In summary the article states that more pixels you have, the less light you get per pixel in the photo and the more distortion you’ll notice.  With the UltraPixel camera there are less pixels per shot but each pixel allows up to 300% more light and good light is key to a good picture.

I can definitely attest to the quality of this camera.  This camera definitely lives up to the claim of allowing much more light into shots than other phones.  I put the HTC One camera up against the Galaxy S III and the difference was astounding.  In well lit areas both cameras performed well but in low light areas the Galaxy S III really struggled and the HTC One shined.  A simple picture of a plate of food in a dim restaurant  will be enough show you the difference in quality.

So why do I say they took a gamble?  Well technically speaking, the UltraPixel camera on the HTC One is only a 4MP camera.  That’s quite a ways off from the 13MP shooter that is found on the recently released Galaxy S4 or even the 8MP shooter on the S3.  So from purely a specs standpoint the HTC is at a huge disadvantage and potential buyers will easily flock to the device with a higher number.

That means that HTC has to really find a way to communicate to customers that megapixels aren’t everything and that can be a huge challenge.  Realistically, we don’t need high megapixel cameras unless we’re planning to print huge pictures and the majority of us will never do that.  We normally view the photos on our phone or computer and at that viewing size a high pixel count isn’t hugely necessary.  But we’ve been told for so long that more pixels equals better pictures that it’s become ingrained in all of us.  So to break that mentality is going to be an ongoing uphill battle.

The best strategy that I can suggest for HTC is to just start showing pictures side by side in ads and in commercials so that people can really see the difference.  When I tried explaining the camera to people they were initially turned off by the low megapixel count but when I started actually showing them pictures from an S3 and the One side by side the difference was very apparent.

The camera interface itself is well done and again follows the simple and minimalistic design.  All the features and filters you will need are included in the app and just like any other Android phone, if you don’t like the interface you can find something that suits you better.  The one unique feature that the HTC camera app does offer is Zoe.  The best way to explain Zoe is that it captures a moment rather than a still picture.  It’s not a video per se because when you transfer it to a computer it just shows up as individual pictures but when viewed on the phone it shows at a short clip.  I didn’t find it very useful but I’m sure some people out there will.

CONCLUSION:

The Galaxy SIV just launched and I’ve already watched as they fly off the shelves while the HTC One sits waiting for someone to pick it up.  However, those that I’ve talked to who have been open to hearing out both phones have been incredibly intrigued with HTC’s offering.

The One is a great phone and in my personal opinion, the best on the market right now.  I haven’t had a chance to spend an extended amount of time with the S4 yet so that may change but I have played with the S4 some and I still prefer the One.  The build quality and design is definitely superior with the One.  The camera is amazing.  The screen is amazing.  In terms of the software, the One and Sense 5 are pretty easy to use and relatively simple to pick up and go.  There are some software things that I found myself missing in Sense and there were a few annoying little things in the software as well but the overall experience I had with the phone was great and, as I stated, a lot of those annoyances can be fixed.

If you’re in the market for a new phone I would definitely give this a good long consideration.  Samsung definitely has the market right now but HTC has built a killer rival phone.  They just need to start spending some money on marketing so that people know that it’s here!