HTC One review: To rule them all

To rule them all

GSMArena team, 22 March 2013.

Benchmark performance

The HTC One relies on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 chipset, which features four 1.7 GHz Krait 300 cores, the Adreno 320 graphics processor and 2 GB of RAM.

Snapdragon S4 Pro has a little time to stay on top but now this new configuration is reigning as the benchmark champion best. We'll still have to wait a while to see Tegra 4 and Exynos 5 Octa in action, so for now Snapdragon 600 is the best money can buy. This means that the only smartphone we have tested the One has to fear is the Galaxy S4, which offers the same chipset, but with higher clockspeed.

We start you off with BenchmarkPi and Linpack, which evaluate CPU performance in single and multi-core mode, respectively. The HTC finished third in both tests, but it was pretty close to the Galaxy S4 and LG Optimus G Pro ahead of it.

BenchmarkPi

Lower is better

  • Samsung Galaxy S4
    132
  • LG Optimus G Pro
    147
  • HTC One
    151
  • Sony Xperia Z
    264
  • HTC Butterfly
    266
  • Oppo Find 5
    267
  • HTC One X+
    280
  • LG Optimus G
    285
  • Samsung Galaxy Note II
    305
  • HTC One X (Tegra 3)
    330
  • LG Optimus 4X HD
    350
  • Samsung Galaxy S III
    359
  • Meizu MX 4-core
    362
  • Nexus 4
    431

Linpack

Higher is better

  • Samsung Galaxy S4
    788
  • LG Optimus G Pro
    743
  • HTC One
    646
  • Sony Xperia Z
    630
  • HTC Butterfly
    624
  • LG Optimus G
    608
  • Oppo Find 5
    593
  • Samsung Galaxy Note II
    214.3
  • Nexus 4
    213.5
  • Meizu MX 4-core
    189.1
  • HTC One X+
    177.7
  • Samsung Galaxy S III
    175.5
  • HTC One X
    160.9
  • LG Optimus 4X HD
    141.5

Geekbench 2 is cross-platform compound benchmark, which means we get to compare the HTC One performance not only to its Android peers but also to the Apple iPhone 5. The One got another bronze medal, but once again it was closer to those in front of it than to those behind it.

Geekbench 2

Higher is better

  • Samsung Galaxy S4
    3227
  • LG Optimus G Pro
    3040
  • HTC One
    2708
  • Sony Xperia Z
    2173
  • HTC Butterfly
    2143
  • Samsung Galaxy S III
    1845
  • LG Optimus G
    1723
  • LG Optimus 4X HD
    1661
  • iPhone 5
    1601

AnTuTu tests a little bit of everything. The Samsung Galaxy S4 again managed to walk away with the victory, but this time the HTC One got the best of the Optimus G Pro and managed to come a close second.

AnTuTu

Higher is better

  • Samsung Galaxy S4
    24716
  • HTC One
    22678
  • Sony Xperia Z
    20794
  • LG Optimus G Pro
    20056
  • HTC Butterfly
    19513
  • Samsung Galaxy S III
    15547
  • Oppo Find 5
    15167

Quadrant, which is the final compound benchmark we ran told a similar story - an extremely solid performance by the HTC One, which was only narrowly beaten by the Optimus G Pro and the Galaxy S4.

Quadrant

Higher is better

  • Samsung Galaxy S4
    12376
  • LG Optimus G Pro
    12105
  • HTC One
    11746
  • Sony Xperia Z
    8075
  • HTC One X+
    7632
  • LG Optimus G
    7439
  • Oppo Find 5
    7111
  • HTC One X
    5952
  • Samsung Galaxy Note II
    5916
  • Samsung Galaxy S III
    5450
  • Meizu MX 4-core
    5170
  • Nexus 4
    4567

GLBenchmark 2.5 is our first GPU test of choice. We run the test in the FullHD 1080p off-screen mode, which lets us evaluate the raw performance power of the Adreno 320 found in the HTC One. It managed an impressive 34 frames per second only coming behind the Samsung Galaxy S4's stunning 40 fps.

GLBenchmark 2.5 Egypt (1080p off-screen)

Higher is better

  • Samsung Galaxy S4
    40
  • HTC One
    34
  • Asus Padfone 2
    31
  • Oppo Find 5
    30
  • Sony Xperia Z
    29
  • LG Optimus G
    29
  • HTC Butterfly
    27.9
  • Apple iPhone 5
    27
  • Nexus 4
    26
  • Samsung Galaxy Note II
    17
  • Samsung Galaxy S III
    15
  • HTC One X+
    12
  • HTC One X
    9

Epic Citadel is another GPU test, only this time it runs at the screen native resolution. The HTC One achieved 56.4 frames per second here and came close to the Galaxy S4's 57 fps. Keep in mind that both smartphones run into the 60fps limitations of their respective screens, meaning that the difference is slightly bigger than it appears.

Epic Citadel

Higher is better

  • Samsung Galaxy S4
    57.1
  • HTC One
    56.4
  • Sony Xperia Z
    55.6
  • LG Optimus G Pro
    54.2
  • Nexus 4
    53.9
  • Asus Padfone 2
    53.4
  • LG Optimus G
    52.6
  • Samsung Galaxy S III
    41.3
  • Oppo Find 5
    38.6

Moving on to some web-based tests. SunSpider works with JavaScript and the lower the score, the better the performance. However manufacturers notoriously try to cheat on it so you probably shouldn't read too much into HTC's One mid-table position.

SunSpider

Lower is better

  • Samsung Galaxy S4
    810
  • Samsung Ativ S
    891
  • Apple iPhone 5
    915
  • Nokia Lumia 920
    910
  • Samsung Galaxy Note II
    972
  • HTC One X+
    1001
  • LG Optimus G Pro
    1011
  • Motorola RAZR i XT890
    1059
  • HTC One
    1124
  • Samsung Galaxy S III
    1192
  • Meizu MX 4-core
    1312
  • Sony Xperia Z
    1336
  • LG Optimus G
    1353
  • HTC Butterfly
    1433
  • Nexus 4
    1971
  • Oppo Find 5
    2045

Vellamo deals with HTML5. The HTC One did very well here and snatched second place.

Vellamo

Higher is better

  • Samsung Galaxy Note II
    2418
  • HTC One
    2382
  • Sony Xperia Z
    2189
  • HTC One X (Tegra 3)
    2078
  • Samsung Galaxy S4
    2060
  • HTC Butterfly
    1866
  • Oppo Find 5
    1658
  • Samsung Galaxy S III
    1641
  • LG Optimus 4X HD
    1568
  • LG Optimus G
    1522
  • Meizu MX 4-core
    1468
  • Nexus 4
    1310

The HTC One proved to be a true powerhouse and even though it failed to capture a single victory it was always close to the top performers. Truth is, you will barely be able to feel such minor differences in real-life usage as all those top phones are impressively smooth and snappy.

Zoe is evidence enough of the serious work that has gone into optimizing the HTC One to work great with the powerful processor inside.

Reader comments

  • D. M
  • 10 Oct 2021
  • XF1

I had the same worry when I bought the m7. Because last time I had the m8,the main camera was performing less than the front camera

  • Paula
  • 15 Jan 2021
  • XFu

The phone has complicated technology and the battery life is terrible but its sound system is comparable to no other phone.

  • Anonymous
  • 21 Jul 2019
  • vxN

I'm still using my M7 as a backup device of my Huawei Mate 20 Pro. It is, for sure after six years from its debut, an outdated phone with insufficient power to support a lot of modern apps, but its sound system is still amazing in my opinion. The bat...