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Almost out of nowhere, HTC has reclaimed the title of innovation from Apple and Samsung, with a perfect balance of style, quality and processing power, creating one of the best Smartphones available today.

 

Style

HTC have gone all out with their latest flagship phone, sporting a fully encased aluminium case, which, while adding to the weight of the phone, does give it a very high quality. The screen is a crystal clear 4.7” hd LCD touchscreen which expands to the edge of the phone, which is makes the phone a massive 5.4”x2.7”, which borders on phablet status. The look of the phone itself is very nice, which comes in aluminium silver, black, red or blue at selected retailers in the UK. The silver is in my opinion the nicest looking out of the bunch, giving the phone a very stylish appearance which screams elegance. But it’s the details on the phone itself that really sets it apart. From the mechanically drilled speaker holes to the positioning on the camera lenses, you can understand the time that was taken to make the HTC one one of the best looking phones to date.

Power / Hardware

The HTC one is not just style over substance though. It packs an impressive quad core Qualcomm APQ8064T Snapdragon 600 processor, which along with 2GB of RAM is as equally fast as it is powerful, and can more than cope with all day to day tasks as well as handling multitasking with ease. It comes with either 32GB or 64GB internal memory, which unfortunately cannot be expanded with external memory, which while not being a deal breaker it’s always nice to have that extra security of a removable memory card. The main focus however has to be the amazing Beatstm boom sound front facing speakers with built in amplifiers. The speakers are incredibly loud and are crystal clear at all volumes. If anything the volume is a bit too loud, as even the quietest settings would not be suitable in a venue such as the library. But this is a very minor fault, and you could always just wear headphones, and with beats audio, even the cheapest headphones sound amazing.

OS / Software

The HTC one comes pre-loaded with Android with HTC Sense including Blinkfeed, HTC’s social media hub which links your Facebook and twitter accounts, as well as news and other feeds it thinks you may be interested in. While I personally do not use it that often, it is a very quick place to get up to date quickly with your entire internet life. The operating system itself is very concise and streamlined and I have had no issue as of yet finding something I’ve needed. As you can expect from Google and Android, the preloaded Maps app is very easy to use and with the larger screen is great to use in the car. While on the subject, HTC’s in car app is also great, with large buttons for navigation, music and calls, so you are not fiddling about and taking your mind off the road. Previously I have had problems with the Android, but have so far been very impressed with it, and in the past 6 months I’ve had the phone, I have loved the software.

Camera

Finally, the camera in the HTC one is two, 4 megapixel lens on top of each other, which has been dubbed as an “Ultra pixel” camera lens, which is meant to capture more light and a wider variety of colours than that of an 8 megapixel/ 13 megapixel. There are loads of options for the camera, such as slow motion for filming and there are plenty of filters to keep the avid photographer busy. HTC has also included software called “HTC Zoe” which is essentially a moving photograph, similar to those found in Harry Potter or a vine. The way it does this is by taking 20 quick photos, and then stitching them together to create short three second video. You can then scrub through each photo and if you like one of them as a still image you can save it. This sort of thing is great for large groups of people or for sporting events where the action doesn’t let you get the best shot. Again, I haven’t had much use out of it but can definitely see a lot of people using it. The pictures are nice and clear with lots of colour, but they aren’t going to win any awards. However for the casual selfie or a quick photo for Facebook, you can’t go wrong.

Final comments

The HTC is easily one the best phones out at the moment. The included hardware is more than enough, but the finished look and feel is what wins you overall. Although there are a few issues with the expandable memory, and the battery life can be a little poor, these are mere blips on an otherwise great phone. Working in the phone industry at the moment, I can honestly say I would not trade my phone for anything else. HTC have truly earned the praise they have received, not just from me, but from almost everyone who has had the pleasure of using it. I am looking forward to see what HTC comes up with next.

9/10 – Currently the best Smartphone on the market.