HTC One Smartphone Review: Android Empowered

Conclusion

When you pick up the HTC One, you instantly get the sense that this is a high-end phone with plenty to offer. The One’s outer shell aesthetically pleasing and gives the phone a high-end look. It’s also solid thanks to its full-metal unibody design. This design adds a bit of weight to the phone, but it’s a tradeoff we suspect many users will tolerate.

A quick glance at the specifications of the HTC One, reveals that this phone was meant to compete with the other super phones available today—it features a 1.7GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 processor along with 2GB of RAM and Android 4.1.2. Depending on your carrier and budget, you can pick up a One with either 32GB or 64GB of internal storage. Unfortunately, HTC doesn’t offer a microSD card slot, so make sure you’re committed to whichever option you choose. The One’s 4.7-inch full HD 1080p screen is crisp and clear and supports wide viewing angles.

In addition to offering all of the high-end hardware specifications you’d expect from a super phone, HTC includes a number of software features with the One that help set this device apart. We appreciate the number of customization options that come with BlinkFeed and HTC Sense TV is a cool addition that gives the phone additional utility as well.

Multimedia features are a key component of any high-end phone. To that end, HTC incorporated two front-facing stereo speakers with dedicated amplifiers and Beats Audio into the One. These speakers sound excellent and the fact that they’re on the front of the device simply makes sense. Call quality while using the HTC One was also excellent, due in part to the dual built-in microphones and smart noise suppression technology.

HTC’s custom UltraPixel Camera and HTC Zoe add some unique features to the phone as well. Overall, we were pleased with the images and video we were able to capture using the UltraPixel Camera. Although the images may not be as high of a resolution as other camera phone images, HTC definitely proves megapixels aren't the only thing to consider when comparing the quality of images captured with a smartphone.

The HTC One performed very well in our benchmark tests too. And its price is in line with other-high end phones with similar specifications. Given the HTC One's exceptional performance, excellent multimedia capabilities, and attractive design, this phone is definitely one of today's best high-end devices.  We like it so much, we're giving it our Editor's Choice award.

   

     
  • Excellent performance
  • HTC BoomSound
  • Excellent battery life
  • Attractive design
  • No user replaceable battery
  • No microSD card slot

 Check Amazon for price and availability of the HTC One, here.


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