Your thoughts/expectations of the HTC One (was the M7)

[Scootmien]

Great post. In all honesty, I haven't made up my mind between this and the SGS4 yet but here's my thoughts on your list and i'll add anything else I can think of at the bottom. I've never used Sense before as I have never even played with an HTC much less owned one. I've always had iPhones, Samsung and Sony phones in the past.

Stand up to use- Yes we have all heard about the fantastic build quality of the one and it's aluminum body. However I will leave my final verdict up to myself after some use. What I expect is the phone to just handle some minor wear and tear while being housed in a TPU case. My iphone 5 scratches if you breath on it wrong, and the chamfered edges scratch extremely easy, hopefully HTC's one will do better.

I always case my phones, including my iPhone 5 and SGS2 but it would be great to have this thing without a case as it is so beautiful. Still, i'll probably go for a TPU case like you though.

Battery use- I'm always near power wherever I am, but I must admit it's very annoying to hear that beeping sound that your phone is almost dead only 5 or so hours into a charge...Especially with light use, ugh drives me nuts. Hopefully HTC has worked some magic with the one and I can get 12-15hrs on a single charge.

My job means that I can be away from a power point for protracted periods of time, so I really hope the battery on this device is sublime. 18 hours on a single charge with low/moderate use would be ideal for me. I easily get that with my iPhone so I hope this isn't a pipe dream. So I guess my wish for this is also a battery with a long life. If I am up at 4am and not in bed again to midnight (which happens quite a lot), I would much prefer it if my phone wasn't dead on its feet before I am.

Useful camera- Yup I happen to actually use the camera on my phone, and I'm looking forward to actually taking some nice clear crisp shots with my one. I'm not looking to be able to to blow pics up to a poster size image and put them above my fireplace. But I would like to be able to take some nice shots without any camera UI lag and be able to view them on my phone and have them look clear and crisp.

I'd rather have a camera on the phone that can take 8" x 10" crisp shots in good light for those occasions when I don't have my DSLR with me. I've been all over these camera quality/comparison threads recently to see what's what and i'll continue to do so. I think I may be out of luck on this but it isn't a deal breaker if I am though.

UI lag be a thing of the past- I do not root my phones, or use launchers either, I'm a stock guy and like to pretty much use my phone how it comes out of the box. I must admit I was a little worried about using sense again. However after watching some reviews and seeing blink feed in action, I'm pretty excited and looking forward to using sense again and taking advantage of some of the neat tricks it brings to android. But one thing that does worry me is UI lag, and the fear of HTC's sense overlay slowing the phone down. Hopefully those 2GB of ram and the processor will work well and lag will not rear it's ugly face.

By all accounts from the videos i've seen, there doesn't appear to be any UI lag at all on the One. Interestingly, it would appear that someone else has spotted some lag in the S4 UI in a couple of videos but I can't remember if the thread was on here or Android Central.

Loud and clear call quality- Something that irritates me is when PHONE manufacturers forget that these devices are in fact PHONES and have to endure the task of making phone calls. It's extremely annoying to have an awesome looking device that has really low call volume, or is just cursed with not having good call quality. Hopefully this won't be an issue with the one.

I've never had a phone with bad call quality yet. I guess I have been lucky. Still, I wholeheartedly agree with you that this is a high priority.

And lastly, but certainly not least...A good radio inside this beauty! Dropping data and a call signal in areas that have a strong signal is something I will not tollerate. My Galaxy nexus was just terrible, and I would just cringe watching that signal bounce all over the place, up and down, up and down...All while someone with the same carrier but a different phone would have full bars of LTE...Hopefully there's strong radios inside the one and it hold's onto those at&t LTE signals.

And again, like call quality, this is a huge priority. What's the point in having the latest and greatest if the radio means you can't get a signal?

Now, I do like to root my phones and the recent controversy regarding certain apps being loaded into the preload partition rather than the data partition and those apps being permanently deleted upon rooting is a bit of a concern to me. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2191572 I hope this is something that HTC will look into and fix but somehow I very much doubt it as it appears that many manufacturers want to stop people from rooting their phones. I do think that one of the many extraordinarily clever devs will find a way round this issue at some point soon though as it also transpires that once rooted, the phone will no longer be able to accept any form of official OTA update.

Screen quality. I don't want to see any ghosting or tearing on screen at all. I will use the screen for playing film edits and rushes so I absolutely need the highest quality screen I can possibly get and I think the HTC fits that bill, with maybe the S4 running behind slightly (my opinion of course, I could be and very often am, wrong).

 

[craftycarper]

Battery use- I'm always near power wherever I am, but I must admit it's very annoying to hear that beeping sound that your phone is almost dead only 5 or so hours into a charge...Especially with light use, ugh drives me nuts. Hopefully HTC has worked some magic with the one and I can get 12-15hrs on a single charge.

My job means that I can be away from a power point for protracted periods of time, so I really hope the battery on this device is sublime. 18 hours on a single charge with low/moderate use would be ideal for me. I easily get that with my iPhone so I hope this isn't a pipe dream. So I guess my wish for this is also a battery with a long life. If I am up at 4am and not in bed again to midnight (which happens quite a lot), I would much prefer it if my phone wasn't dead on its feet before I am.

Well i'm currently approaching 37hrs on battery, still have 40% charge left, only light usage on this test, 2hrs screen on, couple of calls, some texting, some browsing, and have been switching to airplane mode while in bed to get maximum out of it that i can.
Looks like i will easily exceed 60hrs out of this test, and then tomorrow sometime when my number is ported i will start again and try a more moderate to heavy use scenario and see where that gets me.

 

[Scootmien]

Well i'm currently approaching 37hrs on battery, still have 40% charge left, only light usage on this test, 2hrs screen on, couple of calls, some texting, some browsing, and have been switching to airplane mode while in bed to get maximum out of it that i can.
Looks like i will easily exceed 60hrs out of this test, and then tomorrow sometime when my number is ported i will start again and try a more moderate to heavy use scenario and see where that gets me.

Thanks mate. Is this on wifi please? I'd be interested to see how long you get with light/moderate use on a 3G network please as I spend all of my working day on 3G and away from plug sockets.

 

[Sepero]

Seriously, this sucks. For a brief moment I thought I might get this phone over the Galaxy Note 2. The HTC One has a good size screen, great camera, awesome audio, but no micro sd slot? No removable battery? What a way to ruin great potential.

This whole post is just a bit of vented frustration, so forgive me. I really hate the no sd, no removable battery design. It is basically saying, "yeah, we made this phone to be used about a couple years and then thrown in the landfill (ya know, next to the ifruit devices)".

I feel the same way about the Google Nexus. What a horrible waste, especially for a versatile system like Android. Not only is our own use impeded by non-recyclable devices, but it also negatively effects other people as well. Android as an OS has so many recyclable non-phone uses- uses that no other phone OS can match, it's crazy to think that someone would ever throw one of these away. Though, with something like the HTC One, it's like you have no choice. It's a real shame.

I have no resentment toward everyone who buys the HTC One, it's definitely great in many ways. This rant is about the long-term environmental impact of phones like this. I encourage all the people I know personally to avoid it. If you've already bought an HTC One, maybe you could let HTC know what you think about it. That you're not happy it lacks upgradeable storage through sd, and lacks replaceable battery back.

Maybe with some luck, someone will make a mesh up of the HTC One and Note 2 in the future. Now I would be more than happy to jump on board with a phone like that.

 

[Rxpert83]

Seriously, this sucks. For a brief moment I thought I might get this phone over the Galaxy Note 2. The HTC One has a good size screen, great camera, awesome audio, but no micro sd slot? No removable battery? What a way to ruin great potential.

This whole post is just a bit of vented frustration, so forgive me. I really hate the no sd, no removable battery design. It is basically saying, "yeah, we made this phone to be used about a couple years and then thrown in the landfill (ya know, next to the ifruit devices)".

I feel the same way about the Google Nexus. What a horrible waste, especially for a versatile system like Android. Android has so many recyclable non-phone uses- uses that no other phone OS can match, it's crazy to think that someone would ever throw one of these away. Though, with something like the HTC One, it's like you have no choice. It's a real shame.

I have no resentment toward everyone who buys the HTC One, it's definitely great in many ways, but I encourage all the people I know personally to avoid it. If you've already bought an HTC One, maybe you could let HTC know what you think about it. That you're not happy it lacks upgradeable storage through sd, and lacks replaceable battery.

Maybe with some luck, someone will make a mesh up of the HTC One and Note 2 some time in the future. Now I would be more than happy to jump on board with a phone like that.

Just because you can't pop the back off doesn't mean you can't replace the battery when/if it goes bad.

I know the evo 4g lte was just a few screws to get to the battery compartment

 

[craftycarper]

Yes wifi on, as of sometime tomorrow i will turn off wifi and start again just on 3g and see where i get with it.

The main reason it is only getting light usage at the moment is because i'm off work (since Xmas) after damaging my knee dancing like an idiot
So i have use of my laptop all day.

 

[Scootmien]

This whole post is just a bit of vented frustration, so forgive me.

I have no resentment toward everyone who buys the HTC One, it's definitely great in many ways, but I encourage all the people I know personally to avoid it. If you've already bought an HTC One, maybe you could let HTC know what you think about it. That you're not happy it lacks upgradeable storage through sd, and lacks replaceable battery

Forgiven, we all get like this sometimes.

However, I am personally not bothered about the lack of a removable battery or an SD card. I've never used the SD Card slot on my S2 and I only think i've removed the battery maybe twice in the 18 months i've had it, and that was very near the beginning before I realised what a PITA it was for me to do so. I now carry a power pack to charge both my phones instead.

It's a bit glib of you to say that because you don't like the fact it doesn't have an SD card slot or a removable battery that you want others to avoid it though. We all have different requirements from a phone.

I haven't bought one yet but I am leaning heavily towards it instead of the S4. If and when I do purchase an HTC One, I will certainly tell HTC what I think of the phone. I'd like to think that it will be a glowing report without mentioning either of the issues above.

 

[craftycarper]

Removable battery isn't a problem, i'm getting good stats out of mine at the moment so can't see it being a factor, as for replacing the battery, the One X was able to have its battery replaced by popping the screen out from the body, i would guess the One can be done in the same way.

Storage is down to personal use, 32Gb is plenty for me, few hundred tunes, 3 or 4 films and not up to half full, films will get deleted/replaced etc.

 

[Scootmien]

Yes wifi on, as of sometime tomorrow i will turn off wifi and start again just on 3g and see where i get with it.

The main reason it is only getting light usage at the moment is because i'm off work (since Xmas) after damaging my knee dancing like an idiot
So i have use of my laptop all day.

Ouch, get well soon then mate.

Thanks for the info and I look forward to seeing what you come up with. I'm chomping at the bit to get my One...

 

[Sepero]

@Rxpert83
I agree with you that you're technically right about this. Just because the back doesn't pop off, that doesn't mean the battery can't be replaced. It certainly can by someone with the right tools and a bit of knowledge.

Unfortunately though, this becomes the exception, rather than the rule. As a result of things like this, a lot of perfectly good phones get tossed, when they could easily be recycled to friends and family members. Maybe I care a little too much about our environment, but to me, this is just not good for anyone. :\

 

[sean76]

Well as for the States,,,I just received an email from HTC about some $100 rebate that they're doing to trade in your phone, and it says that the ONE has to be purchased no later then April 26th 2013, and that you have to mail in your proof of purchase and your old phone no later then May 31st 2013.

An offer like this should roll for what...30 days? If that is how they do it, we would be looking at a release on Tuesday March 26th? Hmmmm

Unless HTC and these carriers roll with the 1st week of April instead, which would have the ONE arrive after Easter, which is on Sunday March 31st?

 

[toad6386]

I'm banking on a Friday release, as per usual. It doesn't made a lot of sense (to me) to release it on a Monday. If I were a betting man, I'd say the 29th, but I would have expected to see something leaked by now.... Just hoping there's enough stock come 1 April (upgrade time!) so my wife and I don't have to wait!

 

[sean76]

I'm banking on a Friday release, as per usual. It doesn't made a lot of sense (to me) to release it on a Monday. If I were a betting man, I'd say the 29th, but I would have expected to see something leaked by now.... Just hoping there's enough stock come 1 April (upgrade time!) so my wife and I don't have to wait!

I don't know man, no news to me is not good news. I know there's been some speculation about them being hush because of fear from Apple raining on they're parade, but who knows at this point. Maybe the camera issue is bigger then thought, maybe HTC thinks they can go head to head with the S4 and wants to mirror they're release, maybe maybe maybe! A little annoying at this point to not have a hard date to go on. This is kind of like the first EVO's release, Sprint just released it out of nowhere after a few weeks of pre sales and each store only had like 5 phones to sell...That would just be stupid IMO if that is the kind of release they do this time around with the one.

 

[toad6386]

I don't know man, no news to me is not good news. I know there's been some speculation about them being hush because of fear from Apple raining on they're parade, but who knows at this point. Maybe the camera issue is bigger then thought, maybe HTC thinks they can go head to head with the S4 and wants to mirror they're release, maybe maybe maybe! A little annoying at this point to not have a hard date to go on. This is kind of like the first EVO's release, Sprint just released it out of nowhere after a few weeks of pre sales and each store only had like 5 phones to sell...That would just be stupid IMO if that is the kind of release they do this time around with the one.

I do agree that every day without at least a leak is rather ominous for a March release, and I've seen some (unofficial) notices state it will be April, maybe even mid-. I think Apple-gate of last year and other (camera) situations have the carriers staying safe rather than sorry, since it's truly their call. I, for one, am sticking with it, unless some REALLY bad news leaks about quality/performance. Don't care for Sammy, and the other offerings don't excite me at all.

 

[sean76]

I do agree that every day without at least a leak is rather ominous for a March release, and I've seen some (unofficial) notices state it will be April, maybe even mid-. I think Apple-gate of last year and other (camera) situations have the carriers staying safe rather than sorry, since it's truly their call. I, for one, am sticking with it, unless some REALLY bad news leaks about quality/performance. Don't care for Sammy, and the other offerings don't excite me at all.

Same here man...This will most likely be my next phone unless some really bad news come out about some sort of issues with the device, or for some reason it catches some gint delays till late May/June, if that happens I will just keep on trucking with my iphone 5 & nexus 4, and wait for the nexus 5 or Motorola X/NXT phone

 

[Zaichik]

To me, the black one just looks nicer. However, although I'm not bothered about fingerprints, I would worry about the black chipping off. I am very careful with my phone, but you never know...

 

[burgertime]

If you have a strong data signal most of a typical day,you'll probably have little to nothing to worry about.

NOTHING sucks the life out of a phone quicker than a weak signal.I've found this to be true,as certain as the sun will rise tomorrow.Until I finally bit the bullet & got an ISP @ home,other than my cellular service,nothing taxed my battery more,not even close.

There isn't a phone out there that will survive on a single charge for a full day if it is constantly looking for a signal,or,dropping/connecting constantly.

If LTE is your concern,I'd sit back & wait for some user experiences from our members here (who have LTE) to start rolling in before taking the plunge,but,I'm speculating that the battery won't take a huge hit from using LTE.

I think I can speak for some members here in that we wish we had that (LTE) to worry about.

I have LTE on Sprint here in Charlotte with pretty good coverage using the Evo LTE. Granted I haven't spent an entire day in LTE coverage but I have gone in and out for hours at a time during the day. The battery life change is noticeable but I didn't find it to be too bad. If you are using it heavily it will drain the battery quick but just normal every day usage seemed to not have a huge impact on the battery.

 

[sean76]

If you have a strong data signal most of a typical day,you'll probably have little to nothing to worry about.

NOTHING sucks the life out of a phone quicker than a weak signal.I've found this to be true,as certain as the sun will rise tomorrow.Until I finally bit the bullet & got an ISP @ home,other than my cellular service,nothing taxed my battery more,not even close.

There isn't a phone out there that will survive on a single charge for a full day if it is constantly looking for a signal,or,dropping/connecting constantly.

If LTE is your concern,I'd sit back & wait for some user experiences from our members here (who have LTE) to start rolling in before taking the plunge,but,I'm speculating that the battery won't take a huge hit from using LTE.

I think I can speak for some members here in that we wish we had that ([COLOR="Red"]LTE[/COLOR]) to worry about.

I've got quite the history of past phones! With and without LTE...I agree on the signal being one issue, however I usually don't see that issue posing a huge problem for me as I am usually in areas that have really strong data signals. Unless of course it ends up being a phone like the Galaxy nexus which just had a terribly weak radio inside and suffered with that problem on the LTE variant.

My Droid Charge which also was a Samsung phone had unbelievable battery life for an LTE phone a few years back. That's just one that comes to mind not giving issues with signals or battery life. Next would be the original note which was an at&t LTE variant that gave me zero issues. But the two that stick out as a real battery junkies, both HTC devices... The One X and HTC Thunderbolt...Ughhh, those were two LTE phones that were battery rapists. Of course TB gets a small pass as it was the 1st LTE device like ever...I'm just hoping that a lot of things have changed for HTC and they're batteries.

Just the other day I went 19hrs on my nexus 4 and that's with some pretty healthy use. Granted its not an LTE device but an HSPA+ network device...either way I would be more then happy with anywhere from 12-15 on the ONE....I just won't stand for anything in that 5hr bracket ever again...No way would I go back to the HTC Thunderbolt days...

Hopefully the ONE is a winner in this dept.

 

[KOLIO]

With good coverage in your area,I'd say you'll be OK w/battery. Quite a few phones there in such a relatively short time frame, Sean., which is actually nice for us here, as you can share those experiences & give us something to compare to in what to expect from our phones, be it this, or, other ANDROID handsets

I thought my having 3 different phones (soon to be 4) in less than 2yrs was a lot.

 

[Wolfedude88]

With good coverage in your area,I'd say you'll be OK w/battery. Quite a few phones there in such a relatively short time frame, Sean., which is actually nice for us here, as you can share those experiences & give us something to compare to in what to expect from our phones, be it this, or, other ANDROID handsets

I thought my having 3 different phones (soon to be 4) in less than 2yrs was a lot.

Heck my wife has had more than that in less than 2 years because I keep switching carriers, hehe. She hates me!!

I have always been bad with switching phones, last year in particular was real bad. I know I have had at least 20 different phones in the last two years on 3 different carriers. Verizon twice, lol

 

[sean76]

With good coverage in your area,I'd say you'll be OK w/battery. Quite a few phones there in such a relatively short time frame, Sean., which is actually nice for us here, as you can share those experiences & give us something to compare to in what to expect from our phones, be it this, or, other ANDROID handsets

I thought my having 3 different phones (soon to be 4) in less than 2yrs was a lot.

Yea man...I'm a phone whore...lol

 

[javadude]

I pre ordered with phones 4 u. Received an email that my one had been posted Thursday evening the 14th . Phone arrived Friday morning.

Phew not just me then. I was starting to wonder if I was going to be sent the right phone. I pre-ordered a One from EE in the UK on 8th March. I phoned them yesterday to see when it was going to arrive, expecting them to say something like 2nd April (after Easter weekend). They said it's arriving today (21st).

 

[sean76]

Phew not just me then. I was starting to wonder if I was going to be sent the right phone. I pre-ordered a One from EE in the UK on 8th March. I phoned them yesterday to see when it was going to arrive, expecting them to say something like 2nd April (after Easter weekend). They said it's arriving today (21st).

Were all so very happy for u...umm Jealous!!! Lol....

 

[Netherdragon]

order mine from Handtec last night, its saying on the product page it will be shipped on the 25th (stock depending) so here's to hoping nothing changed on that front, will mean I get to play with it over Easter to my hearts content.

 

[danski]

I ordered mine the other day from Hantec too - cheapest place I coiuld find it - BUT, they say the delivery is week commencing 25th....
Dont get me wrong, if it turns up on the 26th, I`ll be very happy, but with the long bank holiday weekend, I`m not planning to have it until after Easter.