First Thoughts

I was NOT excited for these phones to come out, after so many poorly designed HTC phones that just seemed to be plastic phone after plastic phone after… plastic phone. I figured this was going to be just like those. I heard rumors and had seen hands on reports from various people and even seen photos. Figured this was just like every other phone that HTC and for that matter, a list of manufacturers were creating. I have had it a while now, and here are my findings

The Looks

WOW! This phone looks so nice, I have the white AT&T version. It is clean and crisp, all white in the back and only black around the front. The camera is there, it is very obvious, it stick out above everything else on back. You can also clearly see the SIM card slot on back as well as what appears to be a charging dock port. The small dotted speakers on the bottom are awesome, the are out of the way and can be loud. You can see a power button on top and on the right side you see the volume controls.

The T-Mobile version actually got my iPhone loving Dean of graphic design to “hypothetically” switch phones if he ever had to be forced onto android. Those are his words not mine. It is not white like its bigger AT&T friend. It is blue and kind of has a gradient that sweeps to grey.

The Hardware/Screen

ONE X

Since this is the AT&T version of the phone it comes loaded with a Dual core, 1500 MHz, Snapdragon S4 Qualcomm MSM8960. It has its own graphics chip which is an Adreno 225, this is a great thing of course. You get an ideal 1024 MB of RAM and 16000 MB of built in storage. This phone has got it where it needs it. You also get bluetooth 4.0 which is just coming into it’s own.

The screen is 4.70 inches and shows 312 ppi at 720 x 1280 pixels. The S-LCD 2 screen is brilliant, I have never seen colors so awesome. You get brilliant colors and a great screen. It is multitouch, which is kind of obvious as of late.

ONE S

This is the T-Mobile variant. It has a smaller screen a slightly different hardware.

There is a Dual core, 1500 MHz, Snapdragon S4 which is essentially the same, there is a graphic processor but it isn’t stated right now. There are also 1024 MB or RAM and 16000 MB.

The screen is smaller at 4.30 inches and 540 x 960 pixels that comes in at 256 ppi, all this looks great with a Super AMOLED screen as well.

The Battery

ONE X

The battery is great, it is one of the best I have used, I haven’t used the razr maxx yet due to the fact that I don’t want to use it so close to using the razr. However, that is neither here nor there, you get an 1800 mAh, it lasts quite a while. 8.50 hours of talking or if you are the type to leave your phone unused 12.6 days (302 hours) of standby. No issues with battery from me as it lasts exactly as long as I want it to.

ONE S

7.00 hours of talk time, 17.9 days which is (430 hours) of standby and you of course this is a 1650 mAh. Not bad over all. I have enjoyed it and get enough battery to last all day with this phone as well.

The Operating System/Software

You get android 4, Ice Cream Sandwich as well as HTC sense version 4 which is a lot less bloated. Android 4 touches are in there as well, things like NFC, Wi-Fi direct. Android 4 and sense 4 are both really fast and awesome. A lot of users are jealous of not having this software and they have every reason to. Things from just using the phone every day to using the camera and browser have changed and become more speedy it seems.

The Browsing, Camera and Video

The browsing is decent on the stock browser, nothing special. Using Google Chrome though, that is special I feel. Sure it is only beta but it is nice and fast. You can load as many windows as you want inside chrome and it saves them all, the stock browser runs flash, Chrome on the other hand does not. It is a great experience.

The camera on the rear is an 8mp with LED. It comes with an fStop of 2.0! This makes the pictures great. Everything is brighter and clear! Night and day pictures are great. There are a few times when you can see the pixels of course but this isn’t bad. I love using the camera it is very fast, first click and it is done. It records 1920×1080 (1080p HD) and has HDR for just regular photo snapping!

The front camera is a 1.3 mp as well. Nothing to special but good for hangouts when the LTE is working.

The Call/Data Quality

ONE X

Calls are clear but sometimes a bit spotty and data is the same, great when it is fast, but it doesn’t usually get a chance to speed up.

ONE S

The Speed is a lot better on the one s with T-Mobile. Calls are just as good it seems

Summary

Pros:

It has a great camera/video
It has the ability to get Google Chrome beta
ICS and Sense 4.0 are so fast
The phone has a great design.

Cons:

LTE and data tend to be a bit spotty.
Calls can be spotty as well

Conclusions & Final Thoughts

I am loving this phone, HTC ONE is a great, I will not go crazy with talking about this phone, just will say it has been a joy to use. It is a great size for me, it is a nice phone over all.

Finally, with a bit of self promotion… circle me on Google+

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