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back to article Review: HTC One

A year ago, I finished off my review of HTC’s One X by predicting great things for it and its maker. And then Samsung’s Galaxy S3 merrily outsold it ten to one. Thing is, that wasn’t a case of me being a colossal twit. The One X is the better phone - it’s better made, better looking and better to use. Luckily for HTC, the new …

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    1. Sorry that handle is already taken. Silver badge
      Reply Icon

      Marketing nonsense

      All other things being equal, image noise is a function of sensor size, not pixel size. Using fewer, larger pixels just makes the noise coarser and more difficult to deal with.

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      1. JaimieV
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        Re: Marketing nonsense

        Nonsense yourself - it's a function of how many photons you can get striking each pixel. Larger pixels == more photons == more data samples == less noise.

        Sensor size *with res* is a surrogate measurement for pixel size. It's easier talking about a half inch 8Mpixel sensor than 1.3nm pixels.

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      2. Dave 126 Silver badge
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        Re: Marketing nonsense

        >All other things being equal, image noise is a function of sensor size, not pixel size. Using fewer, larger pixels just makes the noise coarser and more difficult to deal with.

        Ug?

        It is a function of pixel size, it's just that for images of the same resolution larger pixels by definition mean a larger sensor- but as the review clearly stated, this HTC only produces 4 megapixel images (which is fine for the most common end-use: posting online).

        Get yourself a coffee : D

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        1. Sorry that handle is already taken. Silver badge
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          No really...

          It's not that controversial!

          For the same size sensor and the same level of sensor technology (i.e., "all other things being equal"), more pixels is preferable. Yes you get more pixel level noise, but the image level noise is the same, and the detail is higher. Furthermore, when you have smaller pixels, the noise is finer and you have more flexibility regarding the noise reduction techniques you can use. You can emulate a 4MP sensor by resampling a 16MP image down to 4MP, but you can't go the other way, and there are much better noise reduction techniques out there than simple block averaging, which is effectively what you're doing by using larger pixels.

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      3. This post has been deleted by its author

    2. Steve Davies 3 Silver badge
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      Coat

      Re: Potato instead of camera module

      If you really want a decent camera then get a camera.

      However, the next Samsung brick sized phone is rumored to have a Nikon Camera inside

      http://nikonrumors.com/2013/03/18/rumor-next-nexus-5-phone-to-have-a-nikon-camera.aspx/

      Mines the one with D800 + 200-400 zoom slung over the shoulder.

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    3. Anonymous Coward
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      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Potato instead of camera module

      "On the positive side, at least the build quality on this new model might actually see out a two year contract for once."

      Considering I've pile driven my One X into the floor accidentally on more than one occasion and there is only some minor scratching on the case, I'm actually pretty impressed. My Desire was similar, in fact the worrying trend is very minor scratching in the same places as my One X. The wifi signal is the real pain with it though, and I hope the One has a better antenna design.

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    4. Piro Silver badge
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      Re: Potato instead of camera module

      Not sure where the last comment was directed - my old Desire HD is still working flawlessly (even though I've replaced it now), and it's been dropped onto hard floors many a time and so on, without it showing.

      HTC phones in my experience have a solid feel to them.

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  2. Schultz

    Disposable phone

    The lack of exchangable battery makes it another disposable phone. I don't like those, because I tend to use my electronic gadgets forever (and then push the obsolete phones on needy foreign visitors or similar). Full points to Samsung for offering things that run more than 2 years!

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    1. Dave 126 Silver badge
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      Re: Disposable phone

      >The lack of exchangable battery makes it another disposable phone. I don't like those, because I tend to use my electronic gadgets forever

      I think we can see the cause and effect here: You've just identified yourself as someone who buys fewer phones than someone who trades in after their 18 or 24 month contract ends.

      I'm not knocking you, just noting that you are less of a customer to the manufacturer.

      Of course, the other argument for removable batteries is for road warriors who like Gordon Gecko are never off their phone... but these days, with several USB-charged gadgets, an external and thus universal battery pack makes sense- it'l do your phone, your tablet, your e-reader and your emergency spare phone. More everyday devices have a female USB A port for charging things, be it a car, TV or router.

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  3. MrXavia
    Thumb Down

    If only it had a micro SD port and a removable battery then I'd buy it...

    but by going down the Apple non removable battery and no external storage, it makes it pretty pointless for me...

    the ONE thing I hate about my Samsung phone is that the SD slot is inside, and not easily accessible without removing the back cover... and it looks like the S4 has the same issue, but better that than no sd slot!

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    1. Anonymous Coward
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      Anonymous Coward

      "the ONE thing I hate about my Samsung phone is that the SD slot is inside"

      Depending on what you're doing, you might want to consider a microUSB to USB to SD adaptor, plus the app to read storage attached via the microUSB port? The same would work for phones with no expandable storage, although in both cases you've then got the storage on a short lead.

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      1. Dave 126 Silver badge
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        You don't need an app if USB OTG has been properly implemented. It does vary by manufacturer, though. Some have hobbled hardware that software can't fix (LG's Nexus 4, for example).

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  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Only here could you have people moaning about not being able to fit a 5000mAh battery!

    Mine's the 2 year old iPhone 4 that still doesn't need charging every day.

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    1. Anonymous Coward
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      Anonymous Coward

      Not only here, but especially here! this IS a tech site....

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    2. Loyal Commenter Silver badge
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      Coat

      Mine's the 2 year old iPhone 4 that still doesn't need charging every day.

      There's a 2-yo iPhone 4 still in existence without a broken screen?

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    3. M Gale
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      Of course it doesn't need charging.

      Apple forgot to fit the "recieve radio signals reliably" function to that model. You can't drain the battery when you can't make calls.

      And don't tell me the grip o' death doesn't exist. It even exists with the rubber band solution provided by Apple.

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      1. Tom 38
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        WTF?

        Re: Of course it doesn't need charging.

        It's amazing how people who are vehemently opposed to iphones know everything about them.

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        1. M Gale
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          Re: Of course it doesn't need charging.

          It's amazing how many people know someone who has an iPhone.

          Especially if it's someone who used to say "meh what's the point".. until they get an iPhone, then proceed to try and say how theirs is better than yours.. at every available opportunity. Funny, I'm sure I was the one who explained what a smartphone was.. I'm sure I don't need you telling me what I told you five years ago.

          God, I still remember the "ooh look mine does multitasking now, bet yours can't!" - yes, of course.

          Or "ooh I have a portable access point now. Bet yours can't do that!" - uh huh.

          So yes, I do perhaps express an inordinate amount of schadenfruede when something like the iFlaw happens. Or the crap maps app flap, or Siri's brainlessness and inability to cope with accents stronger than Received Pronunciation, or unlock exploits, or...

          Still waiting for a change in Apple policy meaning that guy tells me how amazing it is that he can install apps without the Fruity Overlord's permission, at some point. And how my phone can't do that. Or something.

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  5. Vimes

    Best camera on a phone?

    I wonder if the author has had the chance to try out a Nokia 808? I also recall seeing comparison shots between the HTC one and Xperia Z. Aside from the fact the photos on the Xperia Z were of higher resolution there was no real appreciable difference when viewing them at the same size, and oddly enough the Xperia also seemed to perform pretty much just as well as the HTC one in low light conditions (again when the photos are viewed at the same size - people seem to forget that you can remove noise from an image simply by zooming out).

    And I find it difficult to believe that blinkfeed won't reduce the usefulness of the larger battery when you can't remove it or stop it from updating the contents. I really don't understand why HTC seem intent on forcing this particular widget down the throats of their customers, regardless of whether they want it or not.

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    1. joeW
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      Re: Best camera on a phone?

      Good point about blinkfeed. I wonder what's in it for HTC?

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    2. Al Taylor
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      Alert

      Re: Best camera on a phone?

      Not the 808 but I did do some direct comparisons between shots taken with the One and the Lumia 920 and the iPhone 5 I had on loan for the 4G feature last month.

      As for BlinkFeed, you can change the period between refreshing or disable the automatic refreshing altogether.

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      1. Vimes
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        @Al Taylor

        A pity. Despite it's Pureview branding the 920 doesn't seem to be as good as the 808.

        And it still begs the question: why force a widget on people that's only really useful when it's regularly updated on one hand, but allow it to stop updating on the other? Why not just allow people to get rid of the damned thing altogether?

        Samsung have recently released - albeit with unwanted 3rd party software - an update for 1st generation Galaxy Notes, despite them having been released well over a year ago now. Do you really expect given past performance that HTC will be putting in a similar level of effort to Samsung? I seem to recall HTC trying to effectively dump support for handsets rather quickly - e.g. the original HTC Desire - and it seems to me that this sort of course of action is unlikely to change any time soon.

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      2. Vimes
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        @Al Taylor

        I'm wondering what your response is to the criticisms of Sense 5 found here, given that this appears to be used in the HTC one:

        http://www.gizmodo.co.uk/2013/03/htc-sense-5-0-review-better-but-also-worse/

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  6. D. M
    Thumb Down

    No removable bettary, no SD card = no sale

    I was looking at what HTC could offer before I bought my S3. Everything looked decent until you see HTC copied the worst piece of Sh*t iCrap does.

    I don't use cloud storage, neither trust it, or wanted to waste my mobile data (here the amount is rather limited unless you pay outrages amount of money to buy extra block of data). And removable battery is very useful for me.

    Again, I give HTC 0% which is only slightly better than I rate iCrap at -1billion%.

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  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    keep telling yourself if it helps

    Time to face facts, some phones have the X-Factor while others are stuck with the "HTC One X" factor

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  8. Dave 62

    No SD card??

    I've got the One V (It's smaller than a One X though so.. er.. idk..if it's the same but lower specs or entirely different.. they're both called 'One'?) anyway it has a micro SD slot. It's got that funny.. pointy bit at the bottom (which I quite like actually)

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    1. Charlie Clark Silver badge
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      Re: No SD card??

      HTC is segmenting the market with the One X, V and S. They all have pluses and minuses but nothing has them all with the X seeming to fail because it doesn't do SD cards.

      I actually think HTC have a point about not offering removable storage because, at the file manager level it might confuse. But for most people using media via apps that shouldn't be too much of a problem.

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  9. Lusty

    Features

    "an all-new version of HTC’s Android overlay"

    So it doesn't have the one feature ALL of their customers have been asking for then...removal of the HTC crap

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    1. Rob Crawford
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      Re: Features

      No not everybody, I quite liked some of the HTC overlay

      However the option to remove it would be good

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      1. RockBurner
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        Re: Features

        I daresay you can install an alternative launcher, without going as far as to root the device.

        (just a shame you don't get the choice to uninstall the crap that gets loaded on - eg FB, twatter, etc)

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        1. Obvious Robert
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          Re: Features

          It really is a piece of piss to root HTC phones these days now HTC allow their bootloaders to be unlocked. XDA has guides for them all. Once rooted you can do what you like from simply uninstalling bloatware to totally replacing the ROM if you want to get rid of Sense. Rooting my One S took under 30 minutes on the day it arrived via a mostly automated tool, largely just point and click!

          I find it slightly odd that the kind of people who frequent this site would be so hung up on manufacturers' interfaces, bloatware and update timescales when they can be so easily circumvented. Very few of us would ever consider relying solely on the manufacturer of a laptop to provide new OS versions, we'd just install them ourselves or replace the OS altogether. The more that phones become like fully capable PC's the more we should see them in the same kind of light, as very capable hardware ready to install whichever interface and software we choose.

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    2. M Gale
      Reply Icon

      Re: Features

      Nova Launcher Prime. Worth every penny of the £2.60, and works across phones and tablets too.

      Launcher 7 is okay if you want to be cheeky and make your Android phone look like TIFKAM. The "donate" version I can confirm does indeed remove the ads. Doesn't work on tablets though, for some reason.

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  10. Charlie Clark Silver badge

    No AMOLED

    I don't think that AMOLED is a merely matter of choice, the screens are also significantly easier to read in bright sunlight. That SD card, and a dedicated camera button are what are keeping me on my Samsung Wave, which nearly three years in is still giving excellent service although it looks like the (removable) battery should probably be replaced.

    1 0
    1. Piro Silver badge
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      Re: No AMOLED

      AMOLED is awful, in my opinion. I have a phone with a 720p Super AMOLED display, and I'd trade it for a good quality LCD in a heartbeat.

      Over time the elements degrade, leaving a visible tint to the screen. It also seems to sap power far, far more claimed. Oh, and the colours look all off (mainly because of the tint).

      I read an article where a reviewer received something like 5 Galaxy Nexus devices, and all had a slightly different tint. Day one.

      1 1
      1. Charlie Clark Silver badge
        Reply Icon

        Re: No AMOLED

        AMOLED is awful, in my opinion

        And I prefer the higher contrast, … the point I was making was about the suitability outdoors which is a sine qua non for me. I wear polarised sunglasses which make LCDs compare even worse.

        The blue does degrade overtime, but my phone is nearly three years old and still looks fine. Power consumption is typically than LCD higher when looking at items with lots of light colours (whites, yellows, greys, etc.). This is counterintuitive as the same process is being used to create light in both circumstances, LED-backlit LCDs using arguably more. It's to be hoped that the process engineers will continue to chip away at that, thought to have been slated for the S4 but apparently now due to make its debut with the the Note III.

        1 0
  11. JDX Gold badge

    "Chrome just doesn’t excel at JavaScript rendering"

    I saw this mentioned in the other review too, and found it surprising. Isn't insane best-of-class JS performance one of the things Chrome is known for?

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    1. Professor Clifton Shallot
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      Re: "Chrome just doesn’t excel at JavaScript rendering"

      I was thinking just the same thing - has it been leapfrogged by its competitors or is the mobile version notably deficient?

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      1. Dave 126 Silver badge
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        Re: "Chrome just doesn’t excel at JavaScript rendering"

        When Anadtech benchmarked the iPhone 5, they found that its Sunspider result beat any other phone by a very large margin. They also noted that in context, it was more a test of caching than anything else i.e, benchmarks != real world performance.

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  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    fixed

    "iPhone 5 for the blind or terminally dim"

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    1. Loyal Commenter Silver badge
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      Re: fixed

      "iPhone 5 for the blind or terminally dim"

      Also known as the iPhone 5?

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      1. JDX Gold badge
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        Re: fixed

        It's generally very dim people who can earn enough to spend £500 on a phone.

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        1. Loyal Commenter Silver badge
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          Re: fixed

          £500 amortised over 24 months appears to be affordable for most baristas

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        2. thecapsaicinkid
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          Re: fixed

          It's generally very dim people who believe a £500 phone makes them look like they earn enough to spend £500 on a phone.

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  14. MikeyD85
    Thumb Up

    Awesome phone

    I've got one here, it's lovely.

    I've never really bough spare batteries before, so removable battery doesn't bother me.

    As for SD-Card... I've lived with an 8GB one on my Desire S for the last two years... 32GB in built is loads for me! I don't really play games on phones (aside from puzzles) because I refuse to carry a PS3 control pad around with me all the time. I've got a Nexus 7 for video (although the One has a far superior display, it's just too small for a film of TV show).

    I feel for all you guys that need removable stuffs! This phone is honestly the nicest mobile device I've ever used.

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  15. Rob Crawford

    Why I swapped from HTC to Samsung last year

    Despite liking HTC products and having had several previous HTC phonesI the following issues finally made me change to Samsung

    Phone reception with the HTC was at best poor

    No external SD

    No replaceable battery

    Shit cameras

    Poor WiFi reception

    Poor Android updates.

    Before anybody complains about Samsungs poor update policy you really should experience HTC's slow update policy followed by abandonment at the first possible opportunity, thank god for the Android community.

    I am glad that HTC have finally discovered that cameras and reception matters and hope they listen to the other complaints.

    What I do like abut HTC is that they are into metal phone bodies, though my current Galaxy S2 has survived being run over by a car (twice)

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  16. Joe 48

    I'm moving from a S3 to the ONE. For the first time I quite fancy form over function. The battery never bothered me as I've never swapped out the one in my S3. The Micro SD is a nice to have but I can survive without it by managing my files better. Besides my S3 only needed the Micro SD because it was a 16GB model. The larger ONE should do the job.

    I'll miss my Samsung, I had the S2 and S3 but I just fancy a change due to Samsungs average design. Always ran custom ROM's like Omega or Cyanogenmod so won't miss touchwizz. Just hope the HTC gets some good devs as that side has always been lacking and I'm still not sold on Sense.

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    1. MikeyD85
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      Good shout, considering CM are NOT supporting the S4 officially. Wouldn't surprise me if the UK version gets a decent port from someone else due to it running the S600 over here as opposed to the Exynos 8-core CPU.

      This iteration of Sense does seem a whole world better than previous versions (I can say that with experience of all Sense's various iterations over the years), though I too prefer stock. At least this time, it's not been too over-engineered.

      Regarding BLINKFEED: It can at least be set up to not refresh on mobile data. :)

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  17. Loyal Commenter Silver badge

    Despite it's flaws, I went ahead and actually got the One X. Yes, it has its annoyances - no removable battery or storage being pretty high on the list, but also the fact that the last update to it broke the ability to attach it to my PC as a removable drive. Having made the poor choice of 64 bit XP as an operating system, I am stuck in driver non-availability hell, unless I want to start hacking install files about. Not being able to easily get stuff off the internal storage is FAR more annoying than not being able to swap it out, and no; I don't want to trust any of my data to the 'cloud' - why the hell should I trust anything to someone I don't know operating servers who knows where with terms that could well be making a land-grab for rights over the content, or making any and all of it available to a foreign government? (CIA/FBI I'm looking at you)

    That said, with the new One, the inability to get rid of the pointless social-networking gaff would piss me off almost equally as much. Lets hope that by the time my contract is up for renewal in 18 months time, the next phone they release solves some of these issues, because despite my gripes, I actually quite like the One X and I certainly don't want an Apple phone, and I'm not sure I like Samsung any more as a company than their fruity adversaries.

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