If there is one latest smartphone that has not been given its due credit, it would have to be the HTC One. You can watch/read tons of reviews that compare the HTC One to the iPhone for its aluminium body or with the S4 for its features. While that’s ok, the truth is each phone is awesome for certain purposes. If you are the media and app lover, the HTC One is truly the one to whet your appetite.
Look
There is no doubt that the HTC One is a great looking phone with a sleek aluminum body. It comes in a comfortable size to hold and fit in your pocket. For those of you music junkies out there, it comes with an inbuilt Beats by Dr. Dre speaker. Unlike the iPhone and S4, this phone does not have any button (except the power/volume button) and is operational by capacitive buttons on the screen. People who prefer bold and sleek designs will definitely love this brand new toy in the market. If you’re looking for phones with plastic shells and saturated colors, this may not be the one for you.
Hardware
The HTC One runs on Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 that clocks a 1.7GHz is a smidge less powerful than the Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 that clocks 1.9GHz on the S4. However, this is not a deal breaker in my opinion. It comes with a storage capacity of 32GB or 64GB (no option for microSD slots) and a 2GB RAM. Its 4MP camera proves photos need not be taken with cameras with more megapixels. The camera does a fantastic job of clicking clear and high quality pictures.
Audio
The audio is one of the best I’ve heard on any mobile phone and in some cases tablets today. Its dual speakers on the front makes the sound far less distorted compared to its counterparts and like many would say beats by dre feels like just another marketing gimmick until you have actually heard it. This works great for music, gaming and videos.
Video/Gaming
The screen on HTC One is 4.7 inch as compared to its direct competitor S4 which has a 5 inch screen. The HTC One comes with a 1080p display which works great for both viewing videos and gaming. Any visual image or video looks better on the HTC One. Thanks to its subtle yet bold colours, viewing anything on the One is a pleasure.
Call Quality
Like with many phones today, I could not tell the difference in call quality. However, found the HTC One far less meddlesome than the S4 which has a slightly protruding speaker that can irritate your ear during long calls. Also the aluminium body makes the One cool to touch which is an added bonus for those long calls we love to make occasionally.
Battery
The One is much like the iPhone. Its 2300mAh batteries cannot be removed. The battery is not the best and let’s just say there are phones with much better battery powers than the HTC One. With regular usage that includes frequent email checking, texts, a few videos watched here and there, a couple of games and random apps can easily have your battery drained in a day. If super long battery life is what you are expecting of your phone, this may be one to reconsider.
Software
Let me say in simple words “There is no comparing the HTC One to the S4”. The S4 is a league apart. Its made and packed for the geeks and tech freaks. There are simply way too many features that I’m not sure a regular person would ever use on a daily basis. The air wave feature or the multi screen feature and so many more (too long to even put down here) makes the S4 the best in terms of features. If you are looking for a phone that does beyond basic phone calls/email/internet/apps/videos/photos/audio/gaming, the HTC One is not for you. While I’m not shunning it down for lack of features, I would not recommend it to someone who wants a phone loaded with unlimited features irrespective of whether they use them or not.
Verdict
If you are looking for a phone that can store plenty of photos and videos (minus apps) and one with many latest and greatest features, the HTC One is not THE ONE. However, if you’re the kind of person who is into rich media viewing, stylish products and apps, the HTC One is the perfect all-in-one deal for you.
