Software
The HTC One runs Android 4.1.2 with HTC’s
Sense 5 skin. It’s a vast improvement over previous versions of Sense. It’s
quicker and lighter than in the past, the cartoony graphics have been largely
replaced by a more mature styling and there’s far less bloat.
It’s not perfect - the condensed system
font would not have been our choice, and the app drawer’s default grid size of
3x4 makes poor use of space (although it can be changed to a more traditional
4x5 easily enough).
The
HTC One runs Android 4.1.2 with HTC’s Sense 5 skin. It’s a vast improvement
over previous versions of Sense.
Sense 5 contains two new pieces of software.
First is BlinkFeed, the new main home screen panel. This is essentially a
full-screen Flipboard widget, showing news, Twitter updates and the like. It
guarantees you’ll have something to look at whenever you’ve got a few seconds
to kill, but we didn’t appreciate having the news headlines thrust in our face
every single time we turned the phone on. You can’t disable BlinkFeed but you
can set a standard Android home screen to be the default with BlinkFeed
positioned one swipe to the left it became less intrusive and more useful.
HTC
takes a fresh approach to the look and feel of Android phones with the HTC
One’s BlinkFeed feature.
The other feature is Zoe Highlights. This,
an only partly related companion to Zoe Capture, groups stills and videos in the
Gallery app into ‘events’ -stills and videos shot at the same time or in the
same place - and automatically edits them into short movies without any user
input at all.
Zoe Highlights is a wonderful innovation
with huge potential, yet in its initial form it is crippled. The clips can only
be uploaded to HTC Share, and they’ll only be hosted for 180 days. If HTC
doesn’t update the service so they can be posted directly to Twitter or
Facebook then it will be a missed opportunity.
Zoe
Highlights is a wonderful innovation with huge potential, yet in its initial
form it is crippled.
Elsewhere the software is equally great.
You can launch four apps from the lockscreen, including the camera, even when
the phone is password protected. The extra apps are well chosen and useful,
ranging from a full office editing suite and notes app with Evernote
integration to a music player that displays song lyrics. HTC’s own widgets are
as valuable as always, and you even get support for Flash. The keyboard is also
a big improvement on previous HTC efforts, especially with swiping support,
which is turned off by default.
Screen test
The HTC One has a marginally higher pixel
density than the Sony Xperia Z, and both are well in excess of 400 pixels per
inch. However, there is a clear difference between the two displays. The blacks
on the One are far deeper and the laminated effect on the HTC screen make it
blend into the hardware far better. It is a stunning display.
Sony
Xperia Z and The HTC One
Verdict
With the One, HTC has demonstrated that it
is one of the few companies willing to try something different. The combination
of industry-leading design, high-quality components and genuine innovation in
the software are great enough that you overlook its minor downsides, such as its
slightly disappointing camera and the potential issues with storage shortage.
Put simply, this is the best Android phone to date, and arguably better than
any phone on any platform.
HTC One
Information
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Price: $793
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More information: www.htc.com
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Battery life: It should get you through the
day on normal use, but power users might need an end-of-day top-up.
Technical specs
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Operating system: Android 4.1.2
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Processor: Snapdragon 1.7GHz quad-core
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Memory: 2GB RAM, 32GB storage
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Dimensions: 137.4 x 68.2 x 9.3mm
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Weight: 143g
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Display size: 4.7-inch
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Display resolution: 1080 x 1920 pixels
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Expansion slot: None
Performance: 5/5
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Superfast and extremely powerful. We couldn’t
find a single task to tax the One
Design: 5/5
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Miles ahead of the rest of Android. It’s
beautiful, with a very premium finish
Features: 5/5
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You can quibble about a few hardware issues,
but the software is well thought out
Value for money: 5/5
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Like all flagships it is expensive. But you
can see where your money has gone
Verdict: 5/5
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If ever a smartphone deserves to be a success
it is this one. Simply the best Android phone to date
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