The highly anticipated HTC One series finally made its way to my hand for a demo.  I’d been eyeing up the One X model at the local shop for some time and debating picking it up.

Well, the One S model made it to me first from HTC (thanks!) and I got to put it through its paces for about a week.  Besides setting it up and getting the 23GB bonus for using an HTC unit, I was excited to try it out in comparison to my Nexus.  Not that I want to replace the phone, but I do like to see what’s new, and what improvements are out there.  And HTC caught wind of my article about cameras in phones and my mention that I hadn’t heard from them… not too long thereafter this phone came to me!  Only wish I coulda kept it.

It’s a really great phone, and NEARLY knocked my Nexus out of it’s spot.  Here’s the specs:

• 4.3″ @ 960×540 (and Gorilla Glass)
• 1.5GHz x2 Kraits processor
• 1GB Ram
• 16GB Storage
• 8MP camera / 0.3MP front facing

The body is of a micro-arc oxidized aluminium, and let me tell you, it feels cool!  The overall size of the unit is skinny, yet it has some heft.  A really good ‘hand feel’ for this phone.

Upon turning it on (which I’m not a fan of where they put the power button) you’ll notice that it’s running Sense 4.0, which is on top of Android 4.0.3.  The menu layout is a little weird to navigate through, but I’m used to ‘vanilla’ ICS these days.  It didn’t take me long to adjust.  You’ll also notice that you still have ‘soft buttons’ for the phone, which I’m not a fan of either, but they work.  Just wish there was a way to turn off vibration when using them.

If you remember anything that had Sense before, and hated it, well, you’ll be impressed with it now.  There’s still TONS of widgets to choose through, but it adds to the ‘uniqueness’ you can have for YOUR phone.

What really caught me in using the phone was not just its snappy behaviour (seriously, no observed lag in UI or performance) but the camera.  With all the ‘Sense’y goodness with it, allowing you a smorgasborg for those hipster filters, but some utilitarian ones as well, like HDR, or panorama, macro, DOF, etc… very useful stuff.  I loved how the HDR took its 3 pictures for processing unseemingly in the speed it took for one (or however it does it’s processing), and the camera speed was up there with my Nexus.  I often would use it instead of my Nexus!  8MP vs. the Nexus 5MP, you won’t notice, but you will notice some of the quality difference in the colour reproduction.  They’ve done a very good job with this phone for a camera.  I feel like striking that article asking if they are as good as a ‘digital camera’… maybe not against my 4/3 micro, but definitely as good for 90% of the pictures I would take.

You don’t get a removable battery (but it’s a pretty good lifetime) or a microSD slot… but I think you know my feelings on cards.  Plus, it’s also sad, that without a card, you only get 16GB… I would think that if I can’t add more space, I should at least get the bigger space on board.  The +23GB DropBox bonus eases that pain.

The only downside I can think to mention about the phone is the soft buttons, and how now and again the menu button will change places (look at the screen shots for Sugarsync, where it’s at the bottom centre, and then for Youtube, where it’s at the top right).  That and I think I wouldn’t mind shelling out the few dollars more to get the bigger screen (and following resolution) and NFC… I’m really feeling like that’s where it will go from here for phones.

So that’s my review.  I’ve summarized and put some pictures and video below.

SUMMARY

HARDWARE

• Sleek… slim smooth body, very nice feel (not plastic cheap feel)
• Gorilla Glass
• not liking where the power button is

• hard to do the screen shot
• charging is on the side (harder for car docks)
• physical buttons… not a big fan of
• on screen menu button is centre of bottom (sugarsync) or top right (youtube)
• AMAZING camera… love it!

SOFTWARE

• AMAZING camera… love it!
• HTC sense is not only functional, but doesn’t limit / slow down
• nice keyboard (swype)
• built in account support for hotmail / twitter / facebook / skydrive

• [you get +23GB on Dropbox]
• animated layout (toggle switches are animated)
• neat live wallpapers / widgets (photos)
• nice lock screen

• but stuck at what’s at the bottom of the tray… can’t customize
• recent apps is unique (almost ‘card style’)
• odd menu (read, different) layout… takes a bit to get used to [battery / mobile usage / desktop wallpaper]
• beats audio… not that much difference

OVERALL

• notification light is TINY
• decent battery life
• very snappy
• Quadrant scores / Speedtest.net are really good, but your mileage may vary

Hands on Video

Screen Shots

Sample Photos