Anandtech htc one review: Display Quality — 4.7-inch 1080p

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Big phones are all the rage right now. Although tablets promised the kind of extra screen real estate that would increase productivity while still retaining portability, there’s ultimately nothing more likely to be on your person than a phone. I wager that at least some of the success of the supersized smartphone form factor is still that a phone is ultimately always on your person, while a tablet still isn’t.

Today we’re looking at HTC’s newest member of its flagship One series, and its largest, the aptly named One max. Although HTC has been no stranger to larger display form factors (remember how big the HD2 seemed back in 2009?), the One max is to my knowledge the largest smartphone HTC has ever made, eclipsed only by the short lived HTC Flyer and Jetstream tablets. In the HTC phone portfolio, it’s easily the largest smartphone they’ve ever made, and that’s noteworthy.

The strategy for HTC’s One lineup seems to have been a simple one, differentiated by display size and form factor. We saw the flagship, dare I say midsized HTC One come first, then the smaller, lower end HTC One mini, and finally the huge HTC One max.

At a high level this strategy is pretty basic — offer three form factor options that yield almost the same experience. All three are predominately metal and share roughly the same industrial design notes, featuring an aluminum backside with top and bottom notches for antennas, center mounted camera, and LED flash. On the front, big stereo speaker grilles at the top and bottom, and the same button arrangement, just back and home.

I never had a problem locating the power button on the One, but then again I apparently have longer fingers than most. The power button moves down below the volume rocker on the One max, which does make sense since using your thumb to actuate power naturally positions your index finger right next to the fingerprint scanner.

I have no complaints about the buttons on the One max, they seem different somehow but still are communicative and don’t rattle around.

Up top there’s the headphone jack and IR port, which is slightly recessed. It isn’t the power button this time, just an IR window.

	HTC One mini	HTC One	HTC One max
Height	132 mm	137 mm	164.5 mm
Width	63.2 mm	68 mm	82. 5 mm
Thickness	9.25 mm	9.3 mm	10.29 mm
Mass	122 grams	143 grams	217 grams
Display Size	4.3-inch	4.7-inch	5.9-inch
Display Resolution	1280 x 720	1920 x 1080	1920 x 1080
SoC	1.4 GHz Snapdragon 400 (4x Krait 200)	1. 7 GHz Snapdragon 600 (4x Krait 300)	1.7 GHz Snapdragon 600 (4x Krait 300)
Camera	4 MP F/2.0 Ultrapixel with LED	4 MP F/2.0 Ultrapixel with OIS and LED	4 MP F/2.0 Ultrapixel with LED
Battery	1800 mAh, 3.8V, 6.84 Whr	2300 mAh, 3.8V, 8.74 Whr	3300 mAh, 3.8V, 12.54 Whr
WiFi	802.11a/b/g/n	802.11a/b/g/n/ac	802.11a/b/g/n/ac
Storage	16 GB NAND	32 GB NAND	32 GB NAND + microSD

If the dynamic range in size between the One mini and One is a 2 on an arbitrary scale of 1–10, the dynamic range between the One and One max is at least a 9. While the One mini really isn’t that much smaller than the normal One, the One max lives up to its namesake in a dramatic fashion. It’s positively huge, it literally is the One design taken to the max. The One max makes the Note 3 feel almost normal by comparison, and the entire normal sized 5-inch smartphone demographic feel downright small.

The One max is definitely a two-hand device, one handing it is difficult if not impossible, although I doubt that was anyone’s goal for this thing. It’s big in 2D dimensions, and it’s also somewhat heavy, at 217 grams, but I guess that’s expected given the material choices.

What’s interesting about the One max is that the truth is that its design is a lot more like a vastly larger One mini than it is the original One. We saw the mini come after the One and bring a plastic lip rather than the gorgeous diamond-machined edge that the One had, partly for cost reasons, partly for survivability when dropped on a hard surface. Truth be told, I can understand the rationale for having a plastic ring around the device and it making drops and blemishes a bit less destructive. I filed my HTC One down after a drop to my tile floor dented the chamfered edge a bit. The tradeoff however is that you’re now touching more plastic than metal.

I was initially turned off by the glossy plastic ring around the One mini, but if that was what had to take a hit to make the One mini the right price point for HTC to sell into operators and still make money, I was willing to deal with it. I’ll leave discussion of the faux-metal plastic speaker grille on the One mini for another day, which thankfully the One max doesn’t have.

Anyhow the One max inherits the same plastic ring around the edge design that the One mini debuted with. The polymer has been changed slightly, it’s a more matte, grittier finish that makes it a bit grippier and less chintzy feeling than the One mini’s slippery, glossy finish. The One max also includes aluminum speaker grilles, not the faux-metal plastic cutouts that adorn the One mini.

Now you also won’t be able to unsee it (lines added to show asymmetry)

Let’s talk about the speaker grilles for a moment. What I loved about the original One design was how balanced everything felt. The polymer strips required for the antenna array carried over to the front and felt logical, it seemed like each cut had a purpose. On the One max however, I can’t get over how the speaker grille dots aren’t lined up and symmetrical at top. Something bugged me about the One max’s appearance for a few days until I noticed exactly what didn’t seem balanced anymore, so there’s that. I hesitate to make a big deal about it, but it might be a microcosm of what’s really weird about the One max.

The One max also takes a nod from a few of the Asian variants of HTC One which featured a removable back to accommodate two SIMs (when necessary) and a microSD card slot. The One max makes the removable back and microSD card slot standard, in addition to eschewing a SIM tray and enabling design commonality when dual SIM is necessary. What it doesn’t add is a removable battery, since HTC continues its use of a pyramid-like stack of display, battery, and PCB. Peel up the label and you’ll find out you’re looking at the top of some EMI cans and shielding rather than a battery, validating that. At the bottom of the HTC One max there’s no longer a Beats Audio silkscreen (since that partnership is over), instead just blank empty space. The nice thing about having the removable door is that the regulatory markings are on the inside, there’s no laser etched part and model text on the bottom third of the One max.

There’s a small slider on the left side of the One max which pops the removable door open, it then hinges and comes off completely.

There’s definitely a tradeoff associated with this approach though. For starters, although there isn’t much flex or play in the door after it’s attached, it requires a lot of effort to make sure the door is completely seated when re-attached. In addition there’s definitely a gap at top and bottom, which is unfortunate given HTC’s narrative about zerogap construction for the original One.

The only caveat is that the One max myself and a few others were sampled was in fact a PVT (Production Validation Test) as marked, so it’s possible the door is being slightly tweaked, but I doubt it’ll change much. I’ve said my part already on microSD cards and the fact that they’re going the way of the dodo in smartphones, I just don’t need one anymore, and definitely not at the expense of build quality. It is convenient not having to use a SIM ejector tool though, even if I carry one around all the time anyways. For the incredibly small percentage of users that clamors for an SD card every single smartphone launch, it’s at least one point which won’t be belabored so tiresomely this time.

Gallery: HTC One max — Hardware

In a lot of ways the construction of the One max is more like the One mini, and I fear that comes hand in hand with making what was an expensive design (the One) profitable, something HTC does need. It still is premium and combines metal and plastic in a pleasing way, but there clearly were tradeoffs on the road to the One max.

The One max isn’t so much a phablet as it is a huge phone. I don’t know if the supersized phone market is quite mature enough to really tell what the defining properties for a phablet are yet, but the scaled up One design makes the One max feel like a huge phone. HTC doesn’t go for an active digitizer and slide-out stylus with the One max, there’s an optional capacitive stylus that’s a standalone accessory, and the scribble application I’ll get to in a bit. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that approach quite honestly (I wager not many Note users actually use the stylus), it’s just something to note.

HTC Power Flip Case

HTC also sampled their new battery case, which is like the flip case we saw for the One but includes a battery in the screen cover portion. Think the Surface’s new Power Cover, but for the HTC One max. The power flip case uses three pogo pins to connect the battery directly to the One max, it’s what the pogo pads on the back of the phone are for. The case snaps on around the perimeter of the One max, and the front portion folds over the display, just like the flip case. The units we were sampled weren’t final however, and had some issues with proper fit, although fit should be rectified in the final version.

The battery isn’t huge, at 1210 mAh and 3.75V (4.53 watt-hours), but it does give a boost as I’ll show in the battery section. It also does add weight what is already an unmistakably heavy phone, and makes using the fingerprint scanner a bit more awkward.

When the power flip case is attached you get a small plus sign on the battery symbol in the status bar. I’m not sure how this actually works in practice, as the One max seems to draw from both the internal battery and the external battery at the same time, rather than using the external battery to charge the internal one. It does boost battery life however.

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HTC Company — Bayonne

Company Profile HTC

HTC brings life to life with leading innovations in smart mobile devices and ease of use. It all started with the idea of ​​giving each of our customers their own personal computer. HTC has been at the forefront of technological evolution to turn handhelds into smartphones.

General

Founded: 1997
O Founder: Sher Wang
Location: ROC
Key people: Sher Wong (Chairman), Peter Chow (CEO), Fred Liu (President of Operations)
Products: smartphones and tablets
Turnover: $9. 449 billion (2011)
Net income : $1.340 billion (2011), $100 million (Q3 2013)
Number of employees: 16 240005

History

HTC was founded in 1997 by Cher Wang, HT Cho and Peter Chou. Initially, the company was engaged in the development of the direction of laptops and personal digital assistants, later the actively developing market of communicators became a priority.

In 1998, HTC developed its first touch screen device. Subsequently, a number of devices running on the Windows CE operating system were released. For a long time, Fujitsu Siemens, Hewlett-Packard and Dell remained the largest customers of NTS Corporation. Since 2001, HTC began to supply devices to telecom operators who sold them under their own brand. HTC partner companies include T-Mobile, Orange, O2, Vodafone. Later, it was decided to form its own brand, called Qtek, and in 2004, Dopod was created to promote products in the Asian market. In 2006, the corporation’s management decided to promote its products under the single HTC brand. nine0011 HTC is currently a mobile development partner of Microsoft Corporation and Google and the main manufacturer of smartphones and communicators based on Android and Windows Phone OS. In 2006, the company released the world’s first 3G smartphone based on Windows Mobile, which was called the HTC MTeoR.

In 2010, HTC partnered with Google to launch the Nexus One Android Communicator. HTC has added its own HTC Sense skin to Android. In 2011, HTC unveiled its first 3D smartphone, the HTC Evo 3D, at CTIA Wireless. nine0005

In April 2011, HTC overtook Nokia in terms of market capitalization (HTC was worth $33.8 billion and the Finnish company was worth $33.6 billion).

In August 2011, HTC bought a controlling stake (51%) of Beats Electronics, founded by rapper Dr. Dre and Jimmy Lovin. In 2012, HTC sold a 25% stake in Beats Electronics to the audio company’s owners for an undisclosed price. On February 19, 2013,
released the new flagship of its One line of smartphones, the HTC One, which received positive reviews from many critics and users. nine0005

On March 25, 2014, the company introduced the updated HTC One (M8) and on March 26, the smartphone went on sale in many countries around the world, including Russia.

History of the brand, logo

The abbreviation HTC stands for High Tech Computer. After the creation of HTC, the company had a simple logo. It was later replaced by another, but also completely standard.

The company’s passivity in relation to the brand, its design is explained by the fact that HTC was not a public company. Therefore, there was no need to work out the style. nine0011

With the start of production and sales of devices under its own brand, the company took care of changing the image, the company was rebranded, which mainly touched on the logo, its principles of writing and interpretation. HTC has had a new logo since 2006.

Before adopting this logo design, the company came up with several other options. One of the first depicted a hand that passed the device to the other hand.

Later, this idea was modified in several logos and eventually embodied in the logo that can be seen above. nine0011 In 2008, the company is gradually moving to a new logo that will be applied to devices. In the period from 2006 to 2008, HTC models had a corporate logo with the signature «HTC». From the HTC P3470 model, the company is moving to the style used by mobile device manufacturers: Nokia, Samsung, Motorola and leaving only the brand name
— htc on new models.

Awards and Achievements

An unquenchable thirst for knowledge and experimentation has been rewarded by winning prestigious industry competitions and media awards, including the following. nine0011 2014

Best Smartphone for HTC One — GSMA Global Mobile Awards
Gold Medal for Product Design for HTC One (M7) — iF Design Award

«Phone of the Year» for HTC One (M8) — T3 Gadget Awards 2014

Best Phone in the World for HTC One (M8) — TechRadar

Best Phone on the Market for HTC One (M8) — Business Insider

«Best European Advanced Smartphone» — European Imaging and Sound Association (European Image and Sound Association)

Best Android Phone for HTC One (M8) — T3

Best Windows Phone for HTC One (M8) for Windows — Laptop Magazine

Gold Medal for Design and Innovation HTC Dot View Phone Case — Computex d&i

Best Phone for HTC Desire 816 — TechRadar MWC Awards

Editor’s Choice for HTC Desire 816 — PC Mag

Best of You Desire 816 — Know Your Mobile MWC 9 Awards0011

Re HTC Camera Gold Medal — Spark Award
2013

World’s Best Phone for HTC One — MSN (UK)

«1st Most Innovative Smartphone 2013» . «» for HTC One — Business Inside

«Coolest Phone of 2013» for HTC One — Mobile Industry Awards

Phone of the Year, Gadget of the Year and Design Award — T3 Gadget Awards

Best at MWC for HTC One — TechRadar

Best of Mobile World Congress 2013 for HTC One — Mobile Geeks

Best New Mobile at MWC — GSMA Global Mobile Awards

Professional Interaction Design for HTC Zoe & Video Highlights — Spark Awards Awards

Readers’ Choice Smartphone 2013 for HTC One — Android And Me

Readers’ Choice, First Place for 39 consecutive weeks for HTC One — PhoneDog Media

Editor’s Choice for HTC One — AnandTech, Hot Hardware, TechnoBuffalo, Mashable, Gotta Be Mobile and many more

HTC One Smartphone of the Year — Mobile Choice Awards; trusted reviews;

Pocket Lint; MSN Tech Awards; corriere.it; Mobility Magazine and many others.

Windows Phone 7 Final Reviews Published

When I read reviews of Windows Phone 7, I was curious to see the different responses of the usual suspects. I love reading about the difference of opinion between the cynicism of «expert bloggers» and the elation of regular people, as shown in this quote from MobileCrunch, friends of Greg Kumparak from his review

The user interface of Windows Phone 7 is as quickly different from its predecessors as it can be. Hell, that’s a pretty big jump from Any mobile OS before this…

Why do I think that? Because of my friend…

Her reaction to Windows Phone 7: “Wow! It’s beautiful». She then spent 45 minutes doing this, only stopping after I realized she was trying to requisition my review unit. The interface just seemed clear to her…

Not wanting to base my opinion on one unconfirmed fact, I shared the phone number with a bunch of others. Relatives. The lady in the coffee shop. The dude who works as a security guard in our parking lot. Everyone had the same reaction: the interface just… made sense. It blew my mind.

I’ll bet most of our readers have looked at the main sites, but I’d like to recommend two dedicated to the new Justice OS. Paul Thurrott on his Supersite for Windows blog. He goes into detail about WP7’s features and how they compare to the competition, and highlights a few shortcomings that need to be fixed. The second one from AnandTech is the most complete and will give you all the information you need about WP7, including almost every screenshot of the OS. I highly recommend these two, especially if you’re trying to explain WP7 to your friends. nine0005

I don’t care about the engadget review because it basically boils down to the fact that if it’s not Apple, it’s not good (IMHO). I’d like to see what ad campaign Microsoft has planned because I haven’t seen anything on TV yet. I was somewhat concerned about a post earlier today about Vodafone’s hands-off policy, but then I read this article about at&t planning to dedicate a wall to WP7 in every store, and it gives me some hope, at least in the US. Just curious, where will the $500 million in advertising money go? nine0005

Within these dedicated walls, Microsoft and at&t and T-Mobile alike must have working phone models with downloaded apps, a people hub filled with data, Xbox live, a working Zune Pass, and a browser with an Internet connection.