The HTC One: A Remarkable Device, Anand’s mini Review
by Anand Lal Shimpi on March 21, 2013 4:49 PM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- HTC
- Mobile
- HTC One
Final Words and the Galaxy S 4 Comparison
The One is without a doubt the best Android smartphone I’ve ever used. HTC’s build quality and materials choices have been steadily improving over the past couple of years and I honestly don’t know a more fitting name for its latest flagship other than the One - it’s the one to get. Even iPhone users looking for something different might be tempted by the One.
For me it’s the camera performance and the highlights reel that really seal the deal. The fact that the One is an excellent looking device built out of top notch materials is just icing on the cake.
The rest of the spec list is equally fitting. I’m glad to see 802.11ac make the list. The great speakers and display are both useful and impressive.
Sense took a real step towards subtlety with 5.0, and it’s finally at a point where I don’t really mind the customizations. My preference is still for vanilla Android, but the latest iteration of Sense is far closer than it has ever been. The real trick is ensuring timely updates with major Android releases. If you’re an infrequent smartphone upgrader, the Nexus line is still the best option there.
Despite how well the One does in the build quality, looks and camera departments, HTC has an uphill battle ahead of itself. Samsung is clearly the dominating incumbent in the Android space, and it has the luxury of an order of magnitude higher quarterly revenues to support its smartphone business. If there ever was a David v Goliath race in the smartphone space, it would be between HTC and Samsung.
Zoe and the highlights reel are great features that need marketing to demonstrate and spread their word. The litany of new camera and interaction features that accompany the Galaxy S 4 will likely translate very well to cleverly crafted TV ads. I’d argue that HTC’s camera features (great low light performance, highlights reel) are more useful to me personally, but Samsung’s features (touchless scrolling, dual camera, smart pause) are easier sells to the mainstream smartphone market. Similarly, design and materials choices are obvious advantages for the One, but it’s easier to market a thinner and lighter phone.
Ultimately, HTC appears to have built a great phone for enthusiasts and one that can be marketed, with some effort, to the mainstream. Samsung, by comparison, seems to have its targets set squarely at the mainstream and it has the features and the marketing budget to really capture the attention of that audience. You can argue about the merits of features like the ability to automatically pause video based on whether or not you’re looking at it - personally I’d take better camera performance - but that’s a much easier feature to explain in a TV commercial than why larger pixels matter.
The One is expected to be widely available beginning next month.
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DEECEE - Friday, March 29, 2013 - link
Really, Razr Maxx lasts longer and still has replaceable battery...phillyry - Sunday, March 24, 2013 - link
Or when they fell out when you dropped the phone!CeriseCogburn - Monday, March 25, 2013 - link
The back cover coming off and the battery spewing across the floor, (the sim card(s) * or SD lesser so) ABSORB THE SHOCK of the floor strike and spread the force across a largeer area of the phone, SAVING IT FROM DAMAGE, DUMMY.So while you're all about your brick shattering or taking a huge whomp on it's now bent forever scratched metal edge and cracked screen, other love the convenience and the SHOCK ABSORBER function.
Thank you, this has been a we love Mr Wizard lesson.
DEECEE - Friday, March 29, 2013 - link
For SD cards, maybe, you can pay to get the 64GB model and think you will never have to worry about it, but Bill Gates also famously stated you will never need more than 640KB of RAM back in the DOS dates. But batteries, really, the chances for a failed battery due to abuse, power surge, or poor quality control is high, even for Apple, why leave it to chance. The issue is not having to carry a spare, the issue is how much hassle and cost it is to replace a failed battery.The same in general applies to a SD card, you may never use it, but why live in fear of running out of storage?
nerd1 - Thursday, March 21, 2013 - link
Sealed battery, non-expandable battery, 4MP camera will be deal breakers for many.The 'Ultrapixel' is just marketing gimmick for low resolution sensor. Yes, it will be better than SMALL low-MP sensors but I doubt they are any better than high-MP sensor with same size. 36MP D800 is almost as good as any low-MP DSLRs with the same sensor size.
extide - Thursday, March 21, 2013 - link
ALl cell phones use the same sensor size, and Anand said right in this review it has better low light performance than any other cell phone camera he has used. Pretty much refutes both your points right there.nerd1 - Thursday, March 21, 2013 - link
The total area of sensor remains unchanged whether you divide them by 4M or 8M. Low MP sensor surely look better in its native resolution, but it won't differ much from the DOWNSAMPLED image from high-MP sensor.metafor - Thursday, March 21, 2013 - link
Like all things, that depends on where in the "pixel size" spectrum you are. At the sizes of the D800 vs 5dM3, for instance, the ability of a single pixel of the D800 to capture light is actually bound by the optics at that point, because the pixels are already big enough.Contrast this with a 1.1um pixel and the picture changes entirely (heh). 1.1um is barely 1.5 wavelength of red light. Attenuation becomes pretty bad at that point and the optics of a wide lens itself becomes a problem due to how deep the pixel is compared to its width.
Think of it this way: 1.1um is abysmal when it comes to light attenuation. As you get to larger and larger pixels, you start getting diminishing returns on how much better light attenuates. At the D800 level, making the pixels larger won't really help that much.
s44 - Friday, March 22, 2013 - link
Read Brian's article. All sensors are *not* the same size.vulcz - Thursday, March 21, 2013 - link
You think Ultrapixel is a gimmick? Wait till you see Samsung's array of S-Stuff.