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GSMArena team, 22 March 2013

To rule them all


HTC One review: To rule them all

  • Comments (421)
  • User reviews
  • One

1. Introduction
  1. 1. Introduction
  2. 2. Retail package, 360-degree spin, design and handling
  3. 3. Controls, display
  4. 4. User interface
  5. 5. Synthetic benchmarks
  6. 6. Google Now, phonebook, telephony, messaging
  7. 7. HTC Zoe, music and video players, audio quality
  8. 8. Camera
  9. 9. Connectivity, web browser
  10. 10. Organizer
  11. 11. Google Play, Google Maps
  12. 12. Conclusion
  13.  
  14. HTC One specification
  15. User opinions and reviews
  16. Review comments (421)

HTC Android

Introduction

Voted Manufacturer of the Year in 2011 by the GSMA and emerging as the top US smartphone vendor later that year, HTC hit a rough patch and was struggling to find form through the better part of 2012. Complacency, fatigue, or something else - we don't even want to think arrogance - the company somehow forgot that even great products, which the One X and One S certainly were, need proper support and marketing to sell.


HTC One official photos

At the speed smartphones are evolving, a bad year can cause all sorts of trouble and HTC had to learn it the hard way. Fortunately, the financial trouble seems to have had no impact on the company's ability to produce excellent smartphones, as the HTC One is here to prove.

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. It also brings an overdue redesign of the Sense UI and a new camera that takes a completely new approach to mobile photography.

Key features

  • Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE support; 3G with HSPA; LTE
  • 4.7" 16M-color 1080p Super LCD3 capacitive touchscreen with 469ppi pixel density
  • Android OS v4.1.2 Jelly Bean with Sense UI 5.0
  • Quad-core 1.7 GHz Krait 300 CPU, 2 GB RAM, Adreno 320 GPU; Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 chipset
  • 4 MP autofocus "UltraPixel" camera with 1/3" sensor size, 2µm pixel size; LED flash
  • 1080p video recording @ 30fps with HDR mode, continuous autofocus and stereo sound
  • HTC Zoe
  • 2.1 MP front-facing camera, 1080p video recording
  • Wi-Fi a/b/g/n, Wi-Fi Direct and DLNA; Wireless TV out
  • GPS with A-GPS, GLONASS
  • 32/64GB of built-in storage
  • MHL-enabled microUSB port
  • Bluetooth v4.0
  • NFC
  • Standard 3.5 mm audio jack
  • Accelerometer and proximity sensor
  • Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic
  • Aluminum unibody
  • Front-mounted stereo speakers with BoomSound tech
  • Class-leading audio output

Main disadvantages

  • 4MP camera has disappointing performance in good lighting conditions
  • Non-expandable storage
  • Awkwardly-placed and uncomfortable power button
  • Sense UI still lacks connectivity toggles in notification area
  • Non user-replaceable battery
  • Poor video and audio codec support out of box

The One is a tempting package indeed and even though it will take HTC a while to get out of the slump, this is certainly a confident step in the right direction. With proven performers in both the computing and screen departments, it's only the low camera resolution that will potentially raise doubt. HTC say the extra-large "ultrapixels" are worth the sacrifice though, and we are as keen as you are to find out if that claim is justified.

HTC One Review HTC One Review HTC One Review
HTC One studio shots

With a spec sheet like that, the One has nothing to fear when it takes on the likes of the Xperia Z and the Galaxy S4 in the battle for the ultimate flagship. Here's hoping that it delivers on the promises in real-life performance.

As the tradition goes, we start with the unboxing and hardware checkup right after the break.

Next Page » 2. Retail package, 360-degree spin, design and handling
1. Introduction
  1. 1. Introduction
  2. 2. Retail package, 360-degree spin, design and handling
  3. 3. Controls, display
  4. 4. User interface
  5. 5. Synthetic benchmarks
  6. 6. Google Now, phonebook, telephony, messaging
  7. 7. HTC Zoe, music and video players, audio quality
  8. 8. Camera
  9. 9. Connectivity, web browser
  10. 10. Organizer
  11. 11. Google Play, Google Maps
  12. 12. Conclusion
  13.  
  14. HTC One specification
  15. User opinions and reviews
  16. Review comments (421)

Reviews HTC One review
  • Comments (421)
  • User reviews
  • One

HTC One review: To rule them all - Reader comments

D
  • D. M
  • XF1
  • 10 Oct 2021

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

  • Reply
P
  • Paula
  • XFu
  • 15 Jan 2021

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

  • Reply
?
  • Anonymous
  • vxN
  • 21 Jul 2019

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...

  • Reply
  • Read all comments
  • Post your comment
Total reader comments: 421

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