Personal computing discussed

Moderators: renee, David, mac_h8r1, Nelliesboo

 
ModernPrimitive
Gerbil Team Leader
Topic Author
Posts: 249
Joined: Thu Aug 03, 2006 7:12 am
Location: USA

HTC One

Wed Apr 24, 2013 9:57 am

Well, this area of the forum seems to be suffering from lack of traffic, so i thought i might add a thought or three.

I had the HTC One X on AT&T's network via their prepaid $50 a month plan. It suffered a catastrophic natural disaster after slipping off the couch unseen. It somehow manage to find it's way under my bare foot the next morning. Normally it wouldn't have been left untended there, but my memory and tech safety habits aren't always foolproof.

So, that leads me to the HTC One. I wanted the black 64GB One.... because you know, the most expensive One is always what you want (The 64GB is an AT&T exclusive if you didn't know - so much for HTC learning exclusivity is usually a bad thing). None to be found. So after limping along with my shattered screen for a couple of weeks I sprung for the silver 32GB and I'm happy enough. I'm kicking myself for locking myself into a contract of course, and I'm sure my foot will only get bigger and my leg strong as the months drag by. I will try and stop back by once in awhile and have some of you remind me also in case I'm suffering a cramp.

To anyone wondering, it's a very nice device. Even with the Cimo frosted TPU gel case on it the device still feels iPhoneish solid and premium. No doubt it will still stuffer from drops in iPhoneish fashion as we know plastic, however cheaply feeling, fares better at sudden stops on hard surfaces.

Not crazy about the blink feed so I made the middle of 3 available home screens my default. You can select from several topics / social networking tools to populate the blinkfeed with so many people will love them some of that.

I didn't really expect to notice a difference between the 720p screen on my old phone vs the 1080p on this one but it does look a bit more crisp. Possibly just the choice in fonts and graphics?

The phone is fast....an occasional hiccup. Still not up to par with the iPhones I've played with but for my uses the screen size and customization possibilities outweigh. To each their own. Battery life has been good enough for my uses also.

After 12.5 hrs yesterday I had 18% battery left. That was with approximately an hour of voice, data on, WiFi off, Bluetooth on, auto screen brightness with a time out of 15 seconds down from the 30 default. Only my gmail account is synced and I don't have an exact time on internet usage. I did respond to a couple hundred texts so most of the battery usage was the screen as usual. I browsed the play store and responded to a few Facebook messages and posts. Moderate usage. I'm guessing I'm getting at least 2-3 hours less battery life than the old phone. I didn't have data on the old phone so I have to try and remember how it was for the 3 weeks I did. I had hoped for better but from reviews I knew what I was getting into. Battery life on android has came a long way from when i had the EVO 4G on Sprint. Nothing I did or didn't do got me more than 7-8 hours on that voracious slab.

The camera....it's good. Overhyped but low light pics are a big leap above the old phone. I took 2 test photos last night to compare for a cousin who wanted to know. The 4mp will be notice but "zooming pixel peepers" as being inadequate for close in cropping duty. For my uses It will be great. iPhone, Galaxy S3 and One X / X+ users aren't missing much. From reviews I would prefer the Nokia phones for camera usage.

The biggest reason for my post though is this. If you use a screen protector, you may notice the home and back capactive buttons get a bit unresponsive at times. I had the Spigen film protector and it did get a bit annoying. Works fine without it. Those protectors are a bit thicker than any I've used in the past. I plan on Seidio's Crystal Clear one's within the week and will update this post, if anyone cares or not ;)

I'll try to answer any questions if possible. Take care all
 
adam1378
Gerbil First Class
Posts: 145
Joined: Fri Jul 11, 2008 7:42 pm
Location: College Cultural District, Flint

Re: HTC One

Wed Apr 24, 2013 12:26 pm

I have the same phone. And I agree with your review of the phones features. I am coming from the Galaxy sII touch and this is a nice evolution of Android. Honestly my one major complaint is using the phone without a case, the edge of the aluminum can be annoying to hold after a while. But overall this is a nice quality phone. I am happy too.
Ancient 1366 chipset and 6GB of RAM oh and 6950
 
ModernPrimitive
Gerbil Team Leader
Topic Author
Posts: 249
Joined: Thu Aug 03, 2006 7:12 am
Location: USA

Re: HTC One

Wed Apr 24, 2013 6:44 pm

Thanks for the feedback. I set the screen brightness to manual today at just a bit below what it was picking for my office on it's own. After 12 hours and 40 mins I'm sitting at 32% battery life left. Not scientific methods at all given all the variables.

I'll add that I have found the TV Remote function to be better tha expected. Just a few clicks of choosing brand of TV, DirecTV as provider and my surround receiver brand and clicking next on each one with an on/off test worked first try. My phone is usually closer to my grasp than my multitudes of remotes. The phone has been used more the past couple of days than my dedicated remotes. No guessing at a couple of the buttons in the dark. (I'm not an avid TV watcher). I'll more than likely find some functions that don't work but so far it's a nice surprise.
 
webbjames
Gerbil In Training
Posts: 4
Joined: Thu Apr 25, 2013 2:13 am

Re: HTC One

Thu Apr 25, 2013 2:46 am

I have the htc one x too. Get it in September. But once Samsung released the galaxy s4 , I have decide to update my htc one x to the phone. The new galaxy s4 seems amazing, wonderful. And I just want to try something different. This time is Samsung, not htc one.
Anyway, I admit that the htc one is nice too. But I just want to try something different.
 
ModernPrimitive
Gerbil Team Leader
Topic Author
Posts: 249
Joined: Thu Aug 03, 2006 7:12 am
Location: USA

Re: HTC One

Thu Apr 25, 2013 11:47 am

Let us know what you think about the S4 when you get it. I like thin bezel on the S4 and wish they had managed to do the same with the One. MicroSD and removable battery are a couple of other things the S4 has the the One does not

I plugged in with 17% left with 13 hours and 50 mins off charge last night. Battery life is doing well enough for my needs which are moderate by my definition as I rarely play games. Occasional Youtube yes but not the past couple of days while I've been monitoring it.
 
DancinJack
Maximum Gerbil
Posts: 4494
Joined: Sat Nov 25, 2006 3:21 pm
Location: Kansas

Re: HTC One

Thu Apr 25, 2013 11:57 am

I'd think about picking up something like a One, but I think the new Sense is just too awful. HTC doesn't have an awesome 3rd party dev community either.

I currently have a GS3 and while TouchWiz is pretty awful, at least I can count on custom ROMs, kernels, themes, etc nearly immediately after updates get pushed to AOSP.

Phone looks great though. I'd kill for that kind of construction on one of the more popular dev community phones.
i7 6700K - Z170 - 16GiB DDR4 - GTX 1080 - 512GB SSD - 256GB SSD - 500GB SSD - 3TB HDD- 27" IPS G-sync - Win10 Pro x64 - Ubuntu/Mint x64 :: 2015 13" rMBP Sierra :: Canon EOS 80D/Sony RX100
 
derFunkenstein
Gerbil God
Posts: 25427
Joined: Fri Feb 21, 2003 9:13 pm
Location: Comin' to you directly from the Mothership

Re: HTC One

Thu Apr 25, 2013 12:25 pm

I have a One S on T-Mobile and I like Sense well enough. The One X dwarfs my phone, but it's a good point of reference - compared to your old One X how big is the One? Is it lots and lots bigger, or just a little bit bigger? How about weight? I'm not likely to upgrade my phone any time soon, but by the time I do, the One will be cheaper because it will have been replaced, just as the One S is now cheaper than when it debuted.

I tend to use cases on my phones, so the aluminum construction vs. Samsung's plastics or Apple's glass or whatever doesn't really turn me on one way or another.
I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.
Twittering away the day at @TVsBen
 
webbjames
Gerbil In Training
Posts: 4
Joined: Thu Apr 25, 2013 2:13 am

Re: HTC One

Fri Apr 26, 2013 6:07 am

I have said that I will choose the galaxy s4. But on the other hand, I just wish Samsung had put that same attention into the design of the physical phone. The HTC One and the iPhone 5 are simply better-designed and crafted pieces of hardware. So come on, Samsung.
 
ModernPrimitive
Gerbil Team Leader
Topic Author
Posts: 249
Joined: Thu Aug 03, 2006 7:12 am
Location: USA

Re: HTC One

Fri Apr 26, 2013 4:54 pm

I have both the One and One X here comparing... I can't discern a difference in weight by feel. The One is slightly taller and slightly narrower than the One X. They feel very similar in the hand. The One's edges are a bit sharper and has a more solid feel obviously. Like derFunkenstein mentioned.... if you have a nice phone you will want to keep a case on it and then build material is honestly a bit irrelevant. HTC has shot themselves in the foot with the dev community lately with the bootloader fiasco. It doesn't bother me much as I kinda drove myself bonkers with flashing ROMs back a few years ago.... I got to where I spent more time flashing than I did using the phone. :o ... i was an addict... It's a fun thing to tinker with though. I would for sure go with the GS4 if were wanting a custom ROM.
I don't mind the Sense 5... it's a good improvement over 4 for the most part but i think they should let the user disable Blinkfeed if they want and just have another blank homescreen to work from in it's place. Hard to beat vanila Android there...

edited for typo
Last edited by ModernPrimitive on Sat Apr 27, 2013 6:18 am, edited 1 time in total.
 
ModernPrimitive
Gerbil Team Leader
Topic Author
Posts: 249
Joined: Thu Aug 03, 2006 7:12 am
Location: USA

Re: HTC One

Sat Apr 27, 2013 3:24 pm

Handled the "dummy" version of the S4 at a shop today. I envied the thin bezel and more screen real estate. Mostly the lack of capacitive buttons below the screen is what appeals to me. It would be a hard decision between the two phones had both ben available. I've had bad luck with Samsungs cheaper phones in the past but never owned a flagship device. Maybe the next go around I'll use one of their top tiers to wash the bad taste away. ;)
 
DancinJack
Maximum Gerbil
Posts: 4494
Joined: Sat Nov 25, 2006 3:21 pm
Location: Kansas

Re: HTC One

Sun Apr 28, 2013 11:58 am

ModernPrimitive wrote:
Handled the "dummy" version of the S4 at a shop today. I envied the thin bezel and more screen real estate. Mostly the lack of capacitive buttons below the screen is what appeals to me. It would be a hard decision between the two phones had both ben available. I've had bad luck with Samsungs cheaper phones in the past but never owned a flagship device. Maybe the next go around I'll use one of their top tiers to wash the bad taste away. ;)


Huh? The S4 has two capacitive buttons, one on either side of that physical home button. Probably not lit up on the dummy I guess.
i7 6700K - Z170 - 16GiB DDR4 - GTX 1080 - 512GB SSD - 256GB SSD - 500GB SSD - 3TB HDD- 27" IPS G-sync - Win10 Pro x64 - Ubuntu/Mint x64 :: 2015 13" rMBP Sierra :: Canon EOS 80D/Sony RX100
 
ModernPrimitive
Gerbil Team Leader
Topic Author
Posts: 249
Joined: Thu Aug 03, 2006 7:12 am
Location: USA

Re: HTC One

Sun Apr 28, 2013 9:47 pm

Thanks for correcting me on the DancinJack. I thought of asking to to handle a live model but there were a few people waiting in line already. S4 looks to be a nice device. Betting the sold a few. Next wait is to see what Apple unveils.
 
katharine
Gerbil In Training
Posts: 2
Joined: Sat May 04, 2013 8:10 am

Re: HTC One

Sat May 04, 2013 8:28 am

The htc one is really nice. More better design than the galaxy s4 and the new sense 5 is awesome. But it lacks of the new features that Samsung galaxy s4 owns. It is really a hard choice for me.

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest
GZIP: On