HTC One Review

Just got my hands on the new HTC One and in this blog I will give an HTC One review coming from a formal iPhone and Samsung Galaxy S 3 & 4 user I know a good phone when I see one! Check out my video below to hear my review or read all about it! Make sure to leave a comment or share if you have friends that are looking to get a new phone. This could be one they should consider! Thanks and enjoy!

HTC One: Size and build

Well to start off I now have found a phone whose build is as good in act I think better than the iPhone. In terms of build quality the HTC One is almost flawless. A precision machined aluminum body is then seamlessly joined to the rest of the phone making this phone completely flush. All the buttons on the phone are flush.

It’s certainly on a par with Apple’s own standards and even though we’ve only had a short time with the S4 we’re going to go ahead and say that its got that safely beat. As a formal Samsung user one thing I always disliked about the Samsung is its cheap plastic feel. The phone felt so fragile. In fact it was! God knows how many times my heart missed a beat when I dropped it.

The all aluminium body may make you think it is one heavy phone, but it is not.  It is slightly thicker than the iPhone 5 and the dimensions across are 137.4 x 68.2 x 9.3mm.

On the top you’ll find the power/lock button and on the side is the volume rocker, which, from a design point- of-view is the weakest aspect of the phone. On the front you’ll notice two rectangular grills which is where HTC has managed to cram two speakers for stereo sound.  

HTC One: Features & Camera

The most notable addition is BlinkFeed, a news aggregation that can be customized using your social networks and by adding a number of compatible news sources. In principle it’s a brilliant idea however we found that day to day it’s just not customizable enough and with only pre-approved news sources available it never truly feels like a rival for Flipboard.  I personally use the NOVALAUNCHER as my operating system. It is up to the user to chose which of the two you like most. My vote is try both and keep the one you like!
The HTC One sports a 4MP Ultrapixel camera. Yes you saw correctly, Ultrapixel – not Megapixel. All camera sensors are broken up into tiny photo sites, each photo-site then translates into one pixel so while the HTC One has less of these than most of its rivals, it’s actually still taking up the same amount of physical space because the photo sites are much bigger. This means it can collect a lot more light and then in turn produce much better looking photos. This picture below was taken with my HTC One phone. I did use my phone picture editor to brighten it up, but overall the quality was great! Very crisp and clear to me.

This next feature I just LOVE and sold me on the phone is this HTC Zoe. How many times have you gone on vacation or had a great weekend and you tell yourself “oh I want to post these pictures” or “I want to make a slideshow” and you never do it? That was me all the time! … a simple click of the shutter button captures up to 20 photos and a 3-second video image, including the last second of images before you tapped the picture button. The advantage of this is that not only do you have a short clip (known as a ‘Zoe’) for social networks but you can also drag through the video and pick a picture if you’d rather just send a still.

HTC One: Screen

The HTC One comes with a 4.7-inch 1080p Full HD display sporting a ludicrous 468ppi. Again nice enough screen to view all your pics, icons, Facebook newsfeed and do some reading.

It’s a stunning panel that produces dazzling levels of contrast and color reproduction and while we know the current trend is to go bigger, we’d argue that HTC has absolutely nailed it with this 4.7-inch offering.

HTC One: Speakers

Boasting BEATS by Dre audio engine the sound quality is great! I love using my HTC One while working out or going for a run. The speakers lay on the front face of the phone and allow the sound to be carried thru very well.

HTC One: Performance

You will find a 1.7GHz quad-core processor along with 2GB of RAM, which combined makes the HTC One one of the fastest smartphones on the planet. While we would question the need for such an overt amount of power it certainly means that navigating the One is absolutely seamless with no lag whatsoever when gaming, playing video or through heavy multi-tasking.

HTC One: Battery

The battery life is AMAZING! I have had my HTC One for over 2 months and used it heavily and have only had it drop down to about 15% of battery life. It has not once died on me. This is completely opposite of my old phones. With the Samsung S3 I used to carry 3 external batteries and with the iPhone I did the “iphone wall dance” you know you are plugged into the wall with a short extension cord because once again your iPhone died. Sound familiar?

Well this battery is a BEAST!

HTC One: Should I Buy It?

The HTC One has placed Samsung in a unique position. When the Samsung Galaxy S3 came out it simply became the best Android smartphone available making it the only true rival to Apple’s iPhone by default. While the jury will remain out, all signs point to yes. It’s simply one of the most exciting pieces of hardware we’ve seen in a long time, including the Galaxy S IV. As of this moment, the HTC One is looking like the best Android phone you’ll be able to buy for the foreseeable future.

Have the HTC One? What do you think? Share your own personal review and comments below!