[One (M7) General] Phil750123:
Sorry for the long post btw, but here is my review of the HTC One for those who are interested

Just going to add my review, I have had the phone since Friday afternoon and it is now Tuesday afternoon.

I am coming from a HTC Sensation which I’ve had since launch so it was being to feel old, battery get rubbish etc... I have had a HTC for the past 5 years, so yes I am a bit of a HTC fan boy, but I’ll try be as honest as possible. (I was quite willing to go to the s4 if they improved things but they didn’t)

Build quality and physical features:

Firstly like everyone has said, the build quality and feel of the phone is amazing! Better than the iPhone. It is light but it isn’t too light

If that makes sense, it heavy enough to make it feel premium. It looks gorgeous feels gorgeous and is gorgeous. I don’t find it slippery in my hand, however when it’s in your pocket because of its height and smooth back I do feel abit uneasy about it slipping out when you’re sitting down.

I think the size is perfect for me, but that’s personal preference. The volume buttons are nice, in the right place, feel good and easy to press. The

The micro usb is on the button , which is a plus for me to put into my android dock, but is much more to the right hand side, would of been nice for it to be more central but I’m being picky.

The power button is flush and smooth, and far to over the left hand device to me making it awkward if you have small hands (luckily I don’t) however I am totally used to it now so it doesn’t bother me anymore.

The button layout I actually love now I am used to it. Android phones only need 2 buttons, and long as you remember the double tap or hold down home shortcuts you will be fine. You get used to it way to quick, so much that I used my sensation the other day and kept pressing the wrong buttons on it.

Battery: (using auto brightness, power save off, WI fi on mostly.)

Ok so I wasn’t expecting much until I started reading the reviews of people saying it’s awesome. It isn’t awesome, it’s ok. Through a work day with light usage I get from 100% to about 80%, which is more than anyone else. Though saying that it seems most of my battery is trying to find mobile signal (I get crap signal for every network at work) so I’m trying to go aeroplane mode as no point searching for signal that isn’t there, I’ll keep you all updated on how this works out.

Then when I get home I whack out the games, do bit browsing, check Facebook, text all night etc… and it does drop quickly. Both nights I have gone from 80% to 0% in about 5/6 hours with heavy usage. Which tbf isn’t bad, but it’s not great.

Point to add, I’m still messing about with settings and apps, and I do find myself just turning my phone on to play with it , so I’m expecting the battery life to improve when I stop being a little kid . I have also drained it fully and fully charged it 4 times.

For example useage today, my brightness is at lowest it will go, wifi off, radio on, its been on for about 6 hours, about 30 mins screen on, and i have been playing music for about 10 minutes on full volume, my battery is at 79%.

Sense 5:

Very very nice, big improvement over 4 I feel. Nice and clean, simple to use and lots of nice little features, as well as some annoying ones.

I like the icons, I love the message app, it allows you to change theme of how the texts set out, so for example texts sent by you show up one colour, by the other person another, and then a different background. It’s just the little things like that that make a difference. Settings are similar to 4 so nothing to go on about there.

Blink feed is handy, but more a gimmick I feel, they need to greatly improve the sources because all I see at the minute is my Facebook newsfeed which annoys me slightly. But it has potential.

I like when you unlock the screen it goes to where you were last. And the lock screen is very nice and simple. It does annoy me how the preview texts come up though, at the bottom but only 2 lines of it, not like sense 4 when you got the bubble in the middle.

The thing that annoys me is with no menu button you can’t quickly change your wallpaper or go into settings etc... You have to drag down the notification bar and go to settings. When in an app and pressing home button, you go back to the app draw and not the home screen, that annoys me, but is useful every 1/10 times you press it! I would have also liked a quick settings bar but I have an app to do that anyway.

These are all little niggle bits which most of you won’t mind about, and can be resolved with rooting/little software tweaks by htc.

Screen:

Nothing more to say than amazing. Best screen I have seen on a smartphone hand down, viewing angles, colours etc... all brilliant. And the right size ;)

Camera:

I haven’t had a massive play with the camera but what I have I have been impressed. There is virtually no shutter lag which is brilliant (big thing coming from sensation) you press the button it takes a picture, and keep pressing it, it keeps taking pictures. The quality in low light is amazing; you can just see on the screen how much light it is picking up.

The video quality is great and that extra microphone does make a difference to sound quality, there is a lack of bass however but it is crystal clear. Can also take pics while videoing which is handy?

The amount of options to edit your photo is ridiculous; I think I will need a year with the phone to work out all of them! Unsure whether this is a good thing or bad, after all if it’s there but not used, what’s the point? But it is nice you have the option.

Boom sound:

This is the one feature that is literally drawing dropping; the sound that comes out of this phone is amazing. Out of the people I’ve shown they have all been amazed and said wow that is so loud and clear for a phone. The need for those little crappy portable speakers is gone, it still can’t replace a good dock but it comes close.

This is also makes a huge difference when playing games and apps etc... the sound quality and loudness makes it just that much more enjoyable!

Although please note, you will never miss an alarm again! They do need to lower the volume a bit to compensate for the loudness, as stupid as that sounds.

Other:

The processor is amazing and lag free. However it does heat up, not as much as my sensation does when put under heavy load, but it’s noticeable. Plus side is it will make a lovely hand warmer in those cold months, downside I’m guessing the heat with affect battery life.

HTC ONE Vs. Sony Xperia Z

Luckily my brother decided to buy the sony xz the day before I got my one, and I got the chance to compare the phones (sorry no pics or videos didn’t have the time)

I have to say the htc one was better, in my opinion in most ways, it felt better, looked better, nicer screen, better viewing angles, better camera (only tested at a restaurant in low light though).

The only thing I prefer about the sony was the fact the power button was on the side, which made it very easy to press.

Closing thoughts:

The HTC One is no doubt the best phone on the market at the minute in my opinion. It has pretty much everything you want from a phone. It can be improved, of course it can, but HTC are onto a winner here. Everybody who has seen/heard it has said wow that is a nice phone, how much is that etc… Obviously we can’t compare it fully to the s4 yet, which will be its biggest rival, but I think the 2 phones will have different audiences. The question is, will this phone withstand the test of time with key lime pie looking to be released and maybe a nexus 5, we will see!

Please leave your opinions/comments, but note this is my personal view but I welcome a healthy debate on the subject! I hope this helps those who are looking at buying this phone.

UPDATE 21/3

Ok some now ive had the phone nearly a week i have some things to add.

Firstly anybody worrying about the notification LED, dont , it is bar far brightest i have had on any phone (including htc sensation and desire) it might be smaller but it is noticeable, when charging it obviously isnt on full brightness, but when you get a notification its easily see able.

2ndly the battery: I was having play and found i was get some wakelock issues from google maps and fb. I turned off google now and have seen a massive improvement in battery life.

Currently today im on 65% , phone has been on for 13 hours, about hour of screen on time. about 30 mins of playing real racing, tiny bit of checking wi fi etc.. Before i would on about 30% . Therefore my opinion has greatly improved over the battery. Can last me 2 days if i really want it too.

On a side note, i am getting my phone exchanged at end of march due to gap (see the thread on gap issue if you want more info) but i am truely happy with this phone now the battery has improved, and im getting used to doing things slightly different way.