HTC One review: To rule them all

22 March 2013
Arguably one of the most exciting pieces of smartphone design in recent times, the HTC One is also properly powered and flaunts a screen that should please even the most demanding eyes...

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  • D
  • AnonD-45563
  • nx6
  • 24 Mar 2013

., 24 Mar 2013Ok, I didn't wanna waste my time, but i will do it, if u th... moreOMG you are such a deluded fan.. how come you can say can is better then plastic bottle? okey let me make you clear. just buy your HTC and drop it. you'll know the price of your drop. and stop saying plastic, its polycarbonate which is 300times better then plastic and its light, durable, and it can be changed anytime if it is dealt with worse drop. but aluminium "NO". and talking about s-lcd and amoled. it has better outdoor performance and indoor. amoled got perfect black pixels which consumes zero power even if you have small notification hovering on your screen but in LCD technology it consumes same energy cuz LCD have that backlight.. Li-Po battery level drops when phone is heated. 4 mpixel camera is just a low quality new technology..

    • Y
    • Yans
    • H5{
    • 24 Mar 2013

    Tom-Helge, 24 Mar 2013I'm gonna answer you back, because there are things here th... morere 7. yeah it's totally different lol...

      • ?
      • Anonymous
      • PvY
      • 24 Mar 2013

      camera is shit, itdoesnt hold candle even to old cameras phones like the nokia n82.

      even xperia Z takes better pictures. camera so bad

        Striker, 24 Mar 2013ROLF, I do travel a lot. Please do not tell me, that you ca... moreWhen you are traveling, you are most likely gonna watch some movies, surf the web and play some games.

        Those 3 things eats the battery like om nom nom nom.

        If i travel from where i live down to Oslo in Norway, that will take me like 8 hours with a bus. In those 8 hours it takes to get to Oslo, i would have used up my battery already halfways. Yes, this have happened to me multiple times when i have traveled down to Oslo with a bus.

        So having an extra battery ready is always an advantage. And that's the reason i say it's bad to not be able to change the battery on the HTC One.

        I'm not talking about when the battery is bad after being used for 5 years and then need to be changed LOL.

        Everybody knows it's a very good idea to be able to change battery when you are traveling.

        This is alpha omega.

          ., 24 Mar 2013Ok, I didn't wanna waste my time, but i will do it, if u th... moreI'm gonna answer you back, because there are things here that you simply don't have a clue about.

          1. Samsung Galaxy S III and Galaxy S IV is NOT out of plastic, they are out of Polycarbonate. And Polycarbonate is used in bullet proof windows. Says enough about how powerfull Polycarbonate is.

          2. If you actually would bother to read about the technology used in the Super AMOLED screen on the Galaxy S IV, then you would actually see that normal pentile is not used. Samsung have used a new type of pentile screen in Galaxy S IV that is much better than the pentile screen they use in the Galaxy S III.

          3. Let me tell you one thing, Beats Audio is just software / drivers. And because of that, i have Beats Audio on my Samsung Galaxy Note right now.

          The new Beats Audio drivers and software will soon be ported to many other Android phones.

          4. Yeah, what's so bad about that?

          It's not like you would sit on a plane, bus, train and so on with the music volume on max listening to your music via the stereo speakers on your HTC One.

          The only way the stereo speakers would be cool to have is when your phone is ringing. But then, when the phone is ringing, your not supposed to listen to the good stereo sound on your speakers on your phone then. You are supposed to take the call asap.

          5. And because you have unibody, you don't have a removable battery that you can change if you are on a long trip.

          What exactly does unibody gives you as advantage over non-unibody chassis like the Galaxy S IV have except that the unibody feels good in the hand?

          6. That's true. But Sense isn't better than AOSP, AOKP, PA and CM10.1. This is probably the only thing on HTC One that is better than Galaxy S IV.

          7. No change in the design whatsoever?

          The only thing i can say here is LOL, because you are totally blind if you can't see the noticable changes from the Galaxy S III to the Galaxy S IV: http://i49.tinypic.com/2im12t0.jpg

          The Galaxy S IV actually have many changes in the design from the Galaxy S III. And Galaxy S IV also have a very clean and slick design.

          8. Yeah, my battery on my Samsung Galaxy Note is Li-Ion to. But i have no problems with that though.

          When you think Li-Ion, you think about that from the old days when Li-Ion was bad. Today Li-Ion is very good actually.

          So i'm afraid all of your points except for one was just excuses to defend HTC.

            • S
            • Striker
            • 0EV
            • 24 Mar 2013

            Tom-Helge, 23 Mar 2013It's a disadvantage no matter how much you like it or not. ... moreROLF, I do travel a lot. Please do not tell me, that you carry a spare battery for your(GS3, I guess? Unless you travel through Sahara, this is totally unnecessary. First: if you travel through Siberia or the desert you would never use a smartphone for your main connection. Second, when you have a built in battery that lasts 5 years, it is just stupid to remove it for spare, instead of a mobile charger, or to have a memory slot, when you have 64GB under the hood. Don't try to be smarter than the people who designed the best-selling smartphone in the world since 2006, please :)

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              • .
              • 0rN
              • 24 Mar 2013

              Tom-Helge, 24 Mar 2013The stereo speakers in the front is pretty much useless. Be... moreOk, I didn't wanna waste my time, but i will do it, if u think your beloved galaxy s4 is perfect. Here's what I think:

              1 (and most important). It's plastic. This kind of build and materials are NOT suitable for flagships. If you don't know what I mean, take your galaxy into one hand and an iPhone or htc one into another, you'll see what i mean.

              2. The S-LCD3 is so much better screen than pentile amoled.. Much more crisp detail, more accurate colors.

              3. Beats software. Of course you'll say its just a gimmick, but it's not. Try it for yourself and u'll se the difference. No surprise the recent HTC flagships outperforms every other smartphone in sound quality tests, including your sammy.

              4. Your galaxy doesn't have stereo speakers, just a small and shabby micro speaker, with tiny annoying sound. I hate that.

              5. Since ur galaxy has removable battery, its not unibody = not that durable.

              6.Touchwiz cannot match Sense.

              7. No change in design whatsoever..

              8. Battery is li-on. Li po lasts slightly longer and it has better lifespan. That's why it doesn't need to be removable.

              I just don't see the point of buying an ordinary phone for the price of flagship. The performance might be good, but still it's just plain plastic..

                • D
                • AnonD-3713
                • L4C
                • 24 Mar 2013

                AnonD-107466, 24 Mar 2013I didn't understand, why any smartphone yet can't beat the ... moreBecause other manufacturers don't want to sacrifice weight and thickness for that.

                  • D
                  • AnonD-3713
                  • L4C
                  • 24 Mar 2013

                  AnonD-52738, 23 Mar 2013Also Xperia Z camera output was bad, soft and less details ... moreReduce the 13Mp of the Xperia Z to 4Mp like the One, the Xperia Z pictures will look much better.

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                    • Anonymous
                    • nDU
                    • 24 Mar 2013

                    So does anyone know if notification LED exists??

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                      • Anonymous
                      • vaN
                      • 24 Mar 2013

                      You know you are a HTC Fan when...

                      Your friends low end phone from a year ago has a much better camera than your new flagship.

                        • ?
                        • Anonymous
                        • vaN
                        • 24 Mar 2013

                        Help me choose, should i buy the $200 one year old Xperia U or the spanking new $800 HTC One? I mean, both dont have card slot so should be equal there, and i love Beats and Booms and other stupid terms, but the problem is,

                        The Xperia U has a much better camera... Help?

                          • ?
                          • Anonymous
                          • vaN
                          • 24 Mar 2013

                          AnonD-107466, 24 Mar 2013I didn't understand, why any smartphone yet can't beat the ... moreI don understand also, since Lumia 920 did not beat any cellphone camera? The shootouts say iphone5 and galaxy S3 has better cams. At PA shootout it also lost to Xperia Z.

                          Lumia 920 is not the one to beat.

                            • N
                            • Nobody
                            • 3rZ
                            • 24 Mar 2013

                            AnonD-107466, 24 Mar 2013I didn't understand, why any smartphone yet can't beat the ... moregalaxy s3, note2, iPhone5 all these phones have much better cameras with much more detail. Seriously what's so great about the 920's camera?

                              • D
                              • AnonD-107466
                              • sSP
                              • 24 Mar 2013

                              I didn't understand, why any smartphone yet can't beat the Nokia Lumia 920's camera? ;))))

                                • D
                                • AnonD-126167
                                • 61X
                                • 24 Mar 2013

                                Tom-Helge, 23 Mar 2013Alright, enjoy your aluminum phone (HTC One when you get on... moreGood points, especially to camera and the absence of MicroSD.
                                Some other are pretty much debatable, like menu button issue. Some people fancy button-less front panel, so it's not a problem for them. Codec support can be solved simply with the right app or cusrom.

                                But sorry, the last point are just plain stupid.
                                Are you writing email while the phone is on the table instead of inside the palm of your hand? For real??

                                Come on man, the rest is okay but not the last one.

                                  Andy, 24 Mar 2013I disagree because many people use their smartphone in thei... moreROFL, when you have docked / plugged the phone to the car stereo via the 3.5mm plug (like everyone can do), you will hear the sound from the GPS program / phone call on your car speakers.

                                  That was a bad excuse man.

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                                    • Andy
                                    • UeC
                                    • 24 Mar 2013

                                    Tom-Helge, 24 Mar 2013The stereo speakers in the front is pretty much useless. Be... moreI disagree because many people use their smartphone in their cars these days and when mounted on one of those smartphone holders by the front window you need a good speaker so that you can hear navigation and for hands free calls because not all cars have bluetooth in them and not everyone wants to use bluetooth in their cars.

                                    Even for video calls or chats one does not always want to use earphones. Better front speakers is always a + and a welcome for smartphone users.

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                                      • Each To Their Own
                                      • JiB
                                      • 24 Mar 2013

                                      All phones are great these days, as technology moves so quickly even a basic phone has a lot of features.

                                      I would easily choose S4
                                      I would easily choose Sony Xperia Z
                                      I would easily choose HTC One

                                      I will probably have line them up and play but sure I'll be happy with any as each year every phone gets better.

                                      I've used all the above brands with no complaints currently using The HOX ;-)

                                        Andy, 24 Mar 2013That is because they made more space for the speakers on to... moreThe stereo speakers in the front is pretty much useless. Because no one is sitting on the ferry, bus, train, in the car or a flight and listens to music via the stereo speakers in the front on the phone.

                                        In 98% of those cases, we will use headphones when we are listening to musics.

                                        HTC could have made the phone much smaller by removing one speaker.