I'm a big fan of Android, so it was hard for me to figure out what I wanted when it came to choosing a new smartphone, seeing as how my current model has run its course. This year's lineup had some great choices and the decision was difficult but, since the release of the HTC One, I was leaning closer and closer towards "the ONE". The final nail in the coffin was when I read about the HTC special on Amazon and I immediately jumped all over it. And the only debate left was should I order Black or Silver. I went with the latter and placed the order right away. Even though 2 day shipping is fast, it felt like an eternity. But then it arrived and my world would never be the same… for now.
What's in the Box:
- 1 HTC One w/ micro-SIM card.
- 1 AC Charger & USB Cable
- 1 Headset
- 2 Get started guide (English/Spanish)
- 1 Information Booklet
- 1 Recycling envelope
When testing out The One, there were a few major points that stood out for me. Aesthetically, the HTC One is packaged in a silver all-aluminum case measuring at 2.7" X .04" X 5.4" with a display measuring in at 4.7" running a full 1080p HD resolution. The One features a rear camera that's 4MP with LED flash and a front facing camera that's 2.1 MP. So far, I've watched two hi-res movies and they both looked amazing. I particularly like the size of the phone since it fits comfortably in my hand; I don't feel like I'm over reaching compared to other phones. The aluminum finish makes it pop but maintains a conservative style, keeping the phone clean.
Second, this is a sealed case, for some people who have owned previous Androids and love putting in extended batteries and extra memory, this is no longer possible. I've gone back and forth many times with some friends about the subject of "if having an open case is a design flaw" and neither side has won. In any case, sealed inside this phone is a 2300mAh Li-polymer battery and 2GB DDR2 ram with the option of 32GB or 64GB storage capacity; I bought the 32GB which is more than enough for my daily needs. And the 1.7 GHz Quad-core (QUALCOMM snapdragon 600) will rival most of last year's tablets; on its own, this phone meets the minimum requirements to play Diablo 3 and WOW.
Third, the major selling point for me was the amped front facing speakers (HTC BoomSound), the HTC commercial made a good point of this and after playing my first song, I was sold – the front facing speaker makes a hell of difference in terms of sound quality, when compared to rear speakers; I never knew how big of a change this would be until I watched my first movie without cupping my phone! And that very same night we were painting in the living room and the amped speakers were playing my MP3s clear and crisp, filling the room!
Now on to the Software!
Once you're finished setting up your Android 4.1.2 with HTC Sense, you'll notice your home screen is social media haven as all of your information is right at your finger tips. It's not only Social Media, there's HTC BlinkFeed, which can be customized to whatever your wants are. For example, if you're a big sports fan, it will feed you scores and highlights of your favorite teams. I am a big techie/geek and on mine it's the latest gadgets and articles on tech, plus a few gaming feeds. You can customize it as you please.
The one feature I had no idea about and came to love almost instantly is the HTC ZOE. It quickly takes short videos as you take pictures (up top twenty photos and a three second video). Once inside your photo gallery, you can view your photos by event or album; ZOE then adds a different function by animating the album covers with highlights from inside that album. If you link Facebook or Twitter, it will feed your friends photos into another album with captions. The most interesting feature is the ability to make slideshows with all your video and pictures tossed in with some pretty good music; it's great way to send your friends a compilation of that night's events.
The Bang:
In my book, the HTC One is a winner! Size is sleek and thin, fits great in my pocket and it's the perfect travel companion. The quality of the audio and video alone is worth writing another article. However in terms of performance, the HTC One exceeded my expectations, thanks to the internal hardware, the phone performs fast and fluid. The smartphone has an amazing battery life; I am still in the "constantly playing with it" stage and thankfully, the phone lasts, pretty much throughout the day and I can't ask anything more of it. As far as the camera goes, I was hesitant in purchasing the phone based on it the fact that the camera is 4MP and that HTC balances it out with something called "HTC Ultra-Pixel"; however, I was blown away how amazingly sharp and clear image quality was, the fact that it takes 2 seconds and click, I got my shot, and even while driving (not at all recommended) the images come out as if I were standing still. Finally, I gotta give huge plus points to BoomSound; it's a definite game changer and I hope it's a feature other makers can adopt as sound quality on media playback is amazing!
The Slack:
The whole HTC Ultra-pixel Camera sounded a bit gimmicky. It works, but still… Another slight (very nitpicky) drawback is that the phone is so light and thin, I sometimes forget it's in my pocket. Plus the aluminum makes the phone feel slippery, so it's a good idea to invest in a case.
Whichever company is your service provider and should they have the HTC One on tap, don't walk – run and make this phone yours today. It's fast, it's fluid, has great picture quality and BoomSound puts the device over the top as one of the best smartphones on the market today. And out of TOV 5 stars, I'm giving the HTC One a Solid 5 out of 5 for style and power!
