HTC One M7 review: Android superhero!

HTC is back to basics: after launching the long One series over the past few years with One X, One S and One V, the manufacturer introduced its main smartphone in early 2013. With its minimalist design and Excellence technology, the flagship does everything if its predecessors look old-fashioned and teaches their competitors the meaning of fear. HTC One  raises the stake on the Android Champions League, and its pros significantly outweigh its cons. When testing the applicant, how good is this device in practice, as we expect? The bare truth will be revealed to you in today's practice test.

Rating

pros

Cons

HTC One design and build quality

HTC has all its hopes in hand with the new flagship HTC One. Over the past few years, the Taiwanese company has lost the battle, as they had less desirable sales, and never returned to the path of success. This failure was triggered by many failed events, such as a weirdly planned product policy and marketing decisions, poor support, missed and late updates, and the list goes on.

That's why it was crucial for HTC to finally succeed. With HTC One, the odds look pretty good. Once you have the device in your hands, I admit that it is difficult to return. Whether you are a Samsung hater or not, the idea of ​​replacing a smooth aluminum case with a shiny piece of plastic, the Galaxy S4, is not a pleasant thought.

You can really feel how successful HTC is with its new cool device when you really have a smartphone in your hands for the first time. The back of its case is made of luminescent aluminum, has a Gorilla Glass display and is accented with white and black plastic. When combined, they give it a flattering look, as it lies in my palm. Thanks to a slightly bent back, he sits perfectly in his hand. The coldness of aluminum leaves an elegant impression; Its weight gives a steady feeling. Workmanship is impeccable, parts are joined seamlessly and without moving parts. The only hardware buttons are the volume control and the power button. Behind these are infrared sensors that turn the device into a remote control.

Also very few holes. At the top you have a headphone jack, under the microUSB slot, which does not spoil the look. The only feature that disrupts the almost perfect design of HTC One is the power button located in the upper left. This makes it impossible for lefties to activate the lock screen with just one hand. Placing it on the side would be friendlier for everyone. However, I have nothing to complain about in this category.

HTC One Display

Gorilla Glass's scratch-resistant glass protects one of the best displays available on the market right now. And yet, comparing it with the Galaxy S4, it does not compete in brightness. Located next to the Sony Xperia Z and LG Optimus G, the HTC One is the clear winner. Full HD resolution (1920 × 1080 pixels) and a 4,7-inch screen diagonal provide a pixel density of 468 pixels per inch. This causes individual pixels to fade with the naked eye. The viewing angle is also of paramount importance; even if you tilt it in extreme horizontal angles, the displayed content is still recognizable. Unfortunately, we were not able to test readability in direct sunlight due to the constant snow and cloudy conditions that Berlin is currently experiencing.

HTC One Software

HTC offers One with Android 4.1.2 and, as usual, the Sense user interface. HTC One is the very first device to offer the latest version of Sense 5. It looks refreshed and serious compared to older versions. The company made efforts to make its device high-quality and offer the customer not only an excellent device from a technological point of view, but also an attractive appearance.

Saving meaning is a matter of taste. It is user friendly and its widgets, backgrounds and themes can be easily customized. The most important settings are without any lengthy search. Additional features such as a lock screen, music, news feed and image gallery apps are also at your disposal. The launchpad, located under the edge of the display, is divided into four standard applications: phone, message, browser and camera. You can change or configure them by following a different route.

The BlinkFeed ad found on the HTC One home screen is also not quite what I expected. This is a live feed and RSS reader in one and provides continuous news from Facebook, Twitter and / or your customized news sources. By default there are several channels and categories, and you cannot add other sources. Thus, the user is assigned a few pre-selections selected by HTC. Because of this, BlinkFeed loses a lot of points. Moreover, automatic synchronization is sometimes limited to WLAN connections, protecting your data from full milking. In fact, you cannot completely disable BlinkFeed and cannot completely displace it on your phone.

Help provided by HTC, which is always at your service when purchasing your first smartphone. There are several options for transferring data from older devices using the HTC transfer program, which is offered through the Play Store. You can also set up your smartphone using the web setup on your PC to open email accounts, select backgrounds and set data.

Another noteworthy feature is the BeatsAudio audio software, the HTC standard. The manufacturer works with studio quality, which cannot be heard when using conventional headphones. The sound is amazing and stereo speakers play along with BoomSound software. Listening to music with HTC One is pleasant even with the speakers of your smartphone. The sound is crisp, and if you listen a little closer, you can even hear a little bass.

The smartphone allows you to enter words in the same way as Swype, instead of typing them. During my test, this worked pretty well, only a few times thinking up my words when writing an SMS or WhatsApp message. It took me about five attempts before he recognized the word "joke." After some time, you understand this, and then everything goes smoothly. Compared to other devices, the keyboard belonging to the LG Optimus G or Sony Xperia P works much better.

Performance HTC One

HTC One is equipped with a processor Snapdragon 600 and 2 GB of memory. Qualcomm’s quad-core chip is clocked at 1,7 GHz, making it one of the fastest processors on the market, yielding HTC One at a speed that meets expectations. The device and its navigation components work as fast as the light, without any delays, freezes or other problems.

Taking pictures worked like a dream, and my music was stopped only for a second or two when I took a few pictures. In older versions, it often happened that the music pauses when using the camera (or something like that), and you need to manually start it again. HTC One makes it easy to take photos and listen to music without interruption.

Normal use will cause the device to heat up, making it an ideal handheld heater for particularly cold temperatures. However, high-end smartphones are expected to remain cool. But when it comes to performance, the HTC One is a really powerful tool, as you can see in our tests. Quadrant и AnTuTu .

HTC One Camera

Many of the great features of HTC One are based on the camera. The company decided in a completely new direction with its ultra-pixel technology and introduced a one-of-a-kind camera for its smartphone. Instead of simply stagnating with the usual 13 megapixels that most other popular smartphones have, it plunges directly into use 4 megapixel sensor. Large pixels have been achieved that are supposed to capture more light, reduce image noise and improve overall quality.

This is not just a theoretical improvement, it also works when applied in practice. The results were fantastic and were even more impressive on the computer screen. On the other hand, I had a different impression when it comes to automatic mode, which was tested when comparing the camera with other high-end devices (Galaxy S3 and Xperia Z). The colors fell evenly, especially when there was little light. Perhaps the reason for this is that HTC has optimized the camera software for smoother shots with less saturation and color noise. When zoomed in, it looks as if the image was aligned. Details on enlarged images do not look very good; close-ups are sharper and more detailed.

Honestly, I'm a little picky, as HTC One has obviously done everything possible by comparing it with other devices. I could not prove it promised 300% more light during our testing. Even the front camera can take pictures HDR although the results are not promising. The front lens impresses with its wide-angle and high image quality.

Using the panorama function was a blast. In my first test, I just turned around in one place, which led to good quality, amazing 360-degree pictures.

HTC Zoe - Another nice feature, the software of which combines several shots and short videos into small clips. They can then be published to any of your social networks. You need to activate the Zoe function in the camera menu to accompany the photo with a three-second clip with sound.

HTC One Battery

HTC One has a built-in non-removable battery with 2300 mAh , which is not much different from competitors. Its capacity is more than enough to be used all day, however, when I first tested it, it did not leave a very good impression. After about seven hours, the battery was almost completely milked. This is also due to the fact that I actively used it to synchronize all my data from the old device, listen to music, take pictures and set up Facebook and Twitter email accounts. It vomited the poor thing right now!

On the other hand, when I used the device like someone else on any normal day, it was more than promising. During the day I used it for music, mobile Internet (e-mail, Whatsapp, Facebook, Twitter), Google Maps with GPS, about 10 minutes of photographing and four calls lasting from 3 to 5 minutes. As soon as I got home, the device was desperate for energy. An energy-saving plan saves you a few more minutes from the remaining power reserves. In general, his batteries worked well, but I would not praise him for his endurance.

Technical specifications HTC One

With ONE, HTC combined it with all the bells and whistles, making it one of the best on the market. The 4,7-inch display delivers impressive pixel density, the Snapdragon S600 processor with software creates a powerful combination, and the camera is one of the best Android cameras at the moment.

The final verdict

HTC has created a stylish device with its new flagship, releasing the manufacturer from the shadow of Samsung. Along with first-class equipment, HTC has made several important decisions. On the one hand, the design is distinct and sophisticated with a luxurious look and feel. The display delivers amazing image quality with 468 ppi, one of the highest resolutions currently available. The device may even be a relative of Apple; its aluminum chassis resembles the look of an Apple Macbook Pro.

Compared to other first-class devices, the sound of stereo speakers optimized the swinging music. The camera is a shutter dream with carefree photographing, although the end results were not what they promised. Overview HTC Sense has a stylish and sophisticated look and goes well with the look of your phone. The downside for me was BlinkFeed, which is not for everyone. HTC offers the whole package and leaves little room for complaints. He easily acts as a worthy competitor to the Samsung Galaxy S4.

And finally, the cultivated HTC claims to be the loser in the sense that it has moved away from the mainstream. This is a smartphone for a user with a high level of service who wants something additional, which not everyone has. Yes, indeed, the HTC One is definitely something else and arrived just in time. Whether it remains a niche product or explodes in the mass market is still unknown. The answer will be revealed when it finally appears in the coming weeks (some of them are more successful than others, and will receive the device earlier. Others, such as North America, will have to wait.) It is more than possible that the Taiwanese company with HTC One, will climb back up.