Despite the
abundant fanfare and critical acclaim, HTC's One X just couldn't quite
mark the spot in 2012. No wonder, then, that the company's lopped off that
extraneous letter in favor of a fresher start and renewed brand focus for its
latest flagship: the One.
Gone by the
wayside are those pure polycarbonate hulls -- HTC's Sense 5-laden Android Jelly
Bean (4.1.2) handset comes crafted with an all-around premium look and feel,
housing its 4.7-inch 1080p Super LCD 3 display (boasting 468 dpi and protected
by Gorilla Glass 2) in a machined aluminum unibody. And, in a bid for the top
spot on the mobile totem pole, the One also bears the distinction of being (one of) the first
smartphones to feature Qualcomm's quad-core Snapdragon 600, clocked
here at 1.7GHz and paired with 2GB RAM.
For all its
premium, metallic construction, the One cuts a relatively light figure,
weighing in at 143 grams and measuring 5.4 (137.4mm) x 2.7 (68.2mm) x 0.37
(9.3mm) inches -- a thickness that puts it on par with the BlackBerry Z10. Take note,
that slim silhouette accommodates for the integrated 2,300mAh Li-polymer
battery, radios for WiFi a/ac/b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC and 32GB or 64GB of
storage (sorry, there's no slot for microSD expansion).
Looking at the
load of innovations HTC's crammed into the One, it's clear this is a handset
for the social oversharing set. Even its front face alone tells that story.
From the dual stereo speakers (featuring dedicated amps) surrounding the screen
to the 2.1-megapixel camera with 88-degree wide-angle lens capable of 1080p
video, to the simplified soft keys (one for back, one for home), to the IR
blaster (integrated in the power button), to the default BlinkFeed homescreen
(a Flipboard-like social feed); it's safe to say, the One's aggressively
embracing the role of smartphone as multimedia powerhouse. And that's just what
it offers head-on.
HTC's taking a risk with the One. Flip the handset around and you'll find an unassuming rear shooter in the midst of that clean aluminum body. Or, as the company calls it, the UltraPixel camera. Tackling the "myth of the megapixel," HTC's outfitted the One with a 4-megapixel BSI sensor and f/2.0 lens, such that each pixel is meant to gather 300 percent more light than the current crop of smartphone sensors. The camera unit also features optical image stabilization and HTC's ImageChip 2 for HDR, 1080p and 60fps video. But that's not the end of HTC's imaging focus. It's also introducing a new feature / service dubbed Zoe, which allows users to capture and share short videos, much like Vine, via HTC's dedicated site.
Whether or not HTC will finally strike gold with the One, only time will tell. But it's certainly not for lack of effort. This is a smartphone at the top of its class (for now, anyway); a zeitgeist-y take that should please both power and social users alike. Look for it to rollout globally this March in both HSPA and LTE models. [Engadget]
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