HTC One review: To rule them all

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.