HTC One Review

Last year, HTC released their One X series.  It was touted as an amazing phone with a killer camera.  The phone to beat.  But right from the start, there were some fragmentation issues.  There was the One X, One S, One V, and if you were on Sprint, the EVO 4G LTE.  It is a good phone, but had it's issues. The camera, while good, was not all it was made out to be.  Sense 4+ was an improvement upon previous versions of Sense, but still had some bloat to it.

HTC took it's beatings for it.  It was ultimately shadowed by the iPhone 5 and the Samsung Galaxy S3.  HTC needed to re-group, and it did.  That's where the One arrives.

The One is a great, flagship phone.  It hits far more than it misses, and will be able to go toe-to-toe with the Galaxy S4 and iPhone.

Hardware

The One is a beauty.  Carved out of a solid block of aluminum, it feels solid in the hand while still being light.  This is the first phone I've owned that I am reticent to slap a case on it.  I don't want to hide how good it looks!

For hardware buttons, we have a volume rocker on the right side and the power button on the top left corner of the phone.  These buttons feel solid, but they are almost too flush with the phone.  It makes it a little difficult to feel out where they are.  The power button also doubles as an IR blaster so the phone can act as a remote for your home theater system.

HTC has decided to eschew the typical Android button set of Back, Home, and Recent Apps with just two capacitive buttons, Back and Home.  There is a HTC logo in between the two buttons, that doesn't act like a button itself.  I can't help but feel like HTC made a mis-step here by not making their logo a button.  It is taking some getting used to for just the two buttons, in their slightly different configuration (Home sits to the right).  It isn't difficult it's just different.  By double-tapping the Home button, the Recent Apps menu displays.  If you press and hold the Home, it will access Google Now.

The One does come with 32 GB of memory (there is a 64 GB option if you are on AT&T).  I'm more than a little saddened that HTC has done away with the expandable memory that was present in the EVO, but that seems to be the way Android is very quickly moving.

Sound

Usually when you think of sound from a cell phone, you think "tinny" or how about just "crappy."  HTC has implemented a new system for the One called BoomSound.  It's easy to think it's just ridiculous marketing-speak until you actually hear it the first time.  Wow.  HTC has opted to place two speakers on the front of the One, enabling a stereo sound that is simply incredible.  It's very easy to hear all notifications.  The first time I used it as an alarm, it very easily woke me up.  This is simply the best sound coming from a cell phone I've ever heard.  I feel like I could easily watch a YouTube with a small group, and be able to hear it.

Display

The One has a 4.7" 1080p screen that consists of Gorilla Glass 2.  This is the first phone I've had that I can actually see in the daylight.  The colors are bright and vivid, though the blacks are not quite as deep as the AMOLED screen that Samsung handsets typically use.

This is simply a stunning display that does not fail to disappoint.

Software

HTC has introduced their new version of Sense with the One, called Sense 5.  It is a minimalistic version of Sense that I see as a vast improvement over Sense 4+.  For once, I have not rushed to use a custom launcher in lieu of Sense.  When first starting the phone, the home screen is set to BlinkFeed (more on that in a minute).  Fortunately, this is pretty easily changed.

The app launcher itself is an interesting departure from Sense 4+.  Rather than scrolling horizontally, it is now a vertical scroll.  Also, after launching an app, the launcher itself stays open.  The jury is still out as to if this is convenient, or a nuisance.  You can choose to arrange the apps in alphabetical, or recently used, order.  For any app that is not used, you can choose to hide it from the launcher itself.

BlinkFeed is HTC's answer to news apps like FlipBoard.  It allows you to link your FaceBook and Twitter pages, as well as a number of news sites.  This is an interesting feature, because it allows for browsing news and social media right from the home page.  I've found myself using it more than I thought I would.  There is a handy feature that allows posting to FaceBook or Twitter at the top of the page.  But it is still lacking.  I'd love if I could choose which Twitter app to launch upon selecting a tweet.  I'd also like to see more support for it.  As a first pass at the software, I think it is a solid attempt.  I'm hoping that HTC will continue to improve it though.   Even though BlinkFeed can't truly be deactivated, it can at least be set off to the side so if you don't want to use it, you don't have to.

Camera

HTC is bucking the trend of more megapixels with the One, by instead introducing a camera with only 4 megapixels.  Now, at this point, megapixel count is a stupid metric to go by.  How many of us actually print out poster size pictures with our cell phone snaps?  HTC has instead opted to introduce what it calls UltraPixels.  The theory behind this is that each pixel will allow 300% more light.  This actually allows for better low-light performance.

In practice, the camera isn't terrible, but it won't win any awards.  The snaps I've taken thus far have been only OK.  Sitting in a dark restaurant, a pic of the band playing looked good, especially with the colored lighting that was facing the band.  It is ultimately a serviceable camera in a pinch, but not one that I would want to have to rely upon.

There is a new camera feature called a Zoe (named after the zoetropes of old) that mixes pictures with video.  This is a neat feature, but not one that I find truly useful.  If I want video, I can simply take 1080p video.  When watching a Zoe, it adds a filter to the screen, giving it that old timey feel.  Again, it looks cool, and is an interesting feature, but not one that I see catching on.

The Gallery app has been overhauled for Sense 5.  I must admit, I'm not a fan of it.  It automatically includes pictures from FaceBook, which I dislike.  When scrolling through the folders, they will begin a slideshow of the pictures in that folder, overlaid with the same filter from the Zoes.  Once selecting a folder, the top half of the screen plays the same slideshow as before.  This time however, upon clicking the slideshow, you are treated to the full show, along with music randomly chosen.  This is again, a neat feature, but one that tends to get in the way of what I'm trying to do: find my pictures.  I'm a little bothered by the Gallery app, but I've yet to find a replacement that does anything well.

Battery Life

The One sports a 2300mAh, non-removable battery that has not disappointed me yet.  There are other phones out there with much larger batteries, but I've been rather pleased with the life here.  I've not tried to baby the phone; I usually have a screen on time of at least 3 hours most work days.  I don't actively try to shut down apps that I'm not using, but this phone has still yet to die on me.  I don't feel as though I need to plug my phone in during the day in order to have battery life by the time I get home.

Final Impressions

The One is a flagship device that does not disappoint.  Even though it has it's quirks, it is a fantastic phone that is a definite step forward for HTC.  It will be interesting to see how the public responds to this phone versus the Galaxy S4.  I can definitely recommend picking this phone up if you are eligible for an upgrade.