A blue version of the HTC One is coming, and what was previously only a render is now a fully-fledged leaked device.
A version of the device in a sea-coloured hue was spotted on a subway train in China, and was uploaded to Mobile01, a smartphone-related forum. This confirms the previous leak by evleaks and a leaked casing of the handset in the same colour.
HTC must be planning its HTC One follow-up already, as the device was announced in February and released in April. Rumours of a One Max persist, with an announcement slated for early next month.
At present, the HTC One has been released with 3 colour variants, Silver, Black and Red.
An early build of Android 4.3 has leaked to XDA, and one developer, LlabTooFeR, has already released a custom ROM with the build as a base. Build 3.09.401.1 still uses Sense 5.0, but has a number of minor improvements, including Bluetooth LE support, improved animations throughout the OS, the ability to use your own music for video highlights and, unfortunately, a task manager added to the app drawer.
LG is in the lime light once again with its latest flagship smartphone, the G2. Powered by the mighty Snapdragon 800 chipset with four Krait 400 cores clocked at 2.3GHz, an Adreno 330 GPU and 2GB of RAM, the LG G2 simply blows the competition out of the box in terms of processing power.
The battle of the Flagship devices is always on, today we are going to compare the latest Flagship devices available or to be available in the market which are LG G2, LG Optimus G pro, Samsung Galaxy S4 and HTC one. All these devices are of different screen sizes which are 5.2″, 5.5″, 5″ and 4.7″ respectively. All of these devices have a full HD resolution, which can give an edge to HTC one for the ppi. We think most people would not notice difference between 424 ppi of the LG G2 and 469 ppi for the HTC one.
Let us compare all of these devices in detail below:
Device
LG G2
Galaxy S4
LG Optimus G Pro
HTC One
OS
Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean
Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean
Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean
Android (4.2.2, 4.1.2)
Display
5.2″ IPS LCD
5″ Super AMOLED HD
5.5″ IPS LCD
4.7″ Super LCD 3
Resolution
1920 x 1080 (424 ppi)
1920 x 1080 (441 ppi)
1920 x 1080 (401 ppi)
1920 x 1080 (469 ppi)
Dimensions
135.5mm x 70.9 mm x 8.9 mm
136.66 mm x 69.8 mm x 7.9 mm
150.2 mm x 76.1 mm x 9.4 mm
137.4mm x 68.2 mm x 9.3 mm
Weight
143 grams
130 grams
160 grams
143 grams
Chipset
Snapdragon 800
Exynos 5 Octa 5410/ Qualcomm CPU; varies by market.
It’s a matter of preference, but it’s hard to compete with the big guys. LG might not beat any of these in sales. The general consumer tends to go with the popular choices like Samsung and HTC. This does not mean that the LG G2 is not the best your money can buy. As far as India is concerned pricing may be the biggest factor. So which one would you take home ? you can leave your views in the comment section below.
Taiwan smartphone maker HTC said on Friday that despite launching the flagship One smartphone — HTC’s Q2 2013 profit is down a whopping 83 percent on Q2 2012.
The result comes as the firm struggles to turn things around with its high-end HTC One smartphone and heavier marketing strategy.
Unaudited net profit in the second quarter came in at Tw$1.25 billion ($41.67-million), compared with Tw$7.4 billion a year ago but up sharply from the Tw$85 million in January-March, the company said.
Revenue fell 22 percent to Tw$70.7 billion year-on-year but surged 65 percent from quarter to quarter and was line with its own forecast of Tw$70.0 billion.
The company showed its first sign of comeback in May, when it recorded revenue of NT$29 billion ($970 million) and, though sales for June dropped 24 percent to NT$22 billion ($732 million), the company is at least continuing to be profitable.
That, unsurprisingly, is being largely credited to Samsung’s Galaxy S4, which reached the market after the HTC One but with a considerably larger marketing budget.
HTC is yet to comment on the numbers, nor indeed how the company sees its performance changing over the next quarter. Fast incoming is the HTC One Mini, if the rumor-mill is to be believed, which will supposedly bring features like the UltraPixel camera and unibody casing design to a cheaper price point, courtesy of a smaller display.
If you’re an HTC One owner and are not entirely enthused by the Sense 5.0 experience, especially since it runs atop older Jelly Bean software, you’re in luck.
A flashable version of the HTC One Google Edition is now available to download, and it appears to mimic the experience that U.S. buyers will have when their phones begin arriving on July 9th. The ROM was built from a system dump uploaded by Android Central’s Jerry Hildenbrand and has been altered slightly to be compatible with all HTC One models, but is otherwise unchanged.
The new HTC One Google Edition ROM will work with the GSM version of the HTC One, and it will give your handset the same experience you would get on the Google Play edition of the HTC One.
Notable improvements include lockscreen widgets and Photosphere, along with an improved stock camera app. You’ll have to already have an unlocked bootloader and/or S-OFF, and a custom recovery, along with the know-how to install it.
Meanwhile, the team at Sammobile claim to have an early 4.3 build for the Samsung Galaxy S4. They claim that this is from a Google Play Edition variant of the S4, and the build is completely functional when tested on other Galaxy S4?s, but there’s no way to verify the validity of the claim. Since Google has not yet announced Android 4.3, and it doesn’t seem that there are any significant changes to the OS, this could well be a very clever fake with an edited build.prop to say 4.3.
According to a report by Android Revolution, HTC One users can expect an update from the current Android 4.1 to 4.2.2 soon, with the international model already receiving the update.
“There were quite a lot of rumours about upcoming HTC Sense and Android 4.2.2 update for HTC One and HTC Butterfly. All were expecting HTC Sense 5.1 to show up, but instead, the version of HTC UI in latest Android 4.2.2 update is still 5.0,” wrote AndroidRevolution which got the screenshots of HTC One Android 4.2.2 update.
The new software release lands on handsets with some appealing new features packed inside, such as a percentage battery level indicator and extended quick settings, along with enhancements to Blinkfeed.
Android daydream and the ability to remove the docked icons are also coming to smartphone with the update. The ability to long press the home button for menu settings is another clever touch which is set to arrive on the One with Android 4.2.2.
This update adds the ability to work with Android-native sound profiles – aka EQS or equalizer controls. These controls can be found by tapping one’s EQS icon in the upper right corner of the notifications menu.
The HTC One was unveiled earlier this year as the company’s new flagship smartphone hosting a bundle of features including a 4.7-inch screen with a full HD resolution, 4MP camera, and two front-facing speakers for stereo sound.
HTC One has started disappearing from shelves almost as soon as it hits them. The HTC One is one of the most anticipated Android Flagship devices in our country and it is truly getting the royal treatment.
The HTC One was launched back in April with stocks appearing on shelves only last week. Priced at Rs. 42,899 the handset has received great marks on reviews worldwide and from iGyaan. Several independent resellers and online e-commerce companies have confirmed that stocks are literally flying out from their physical and digital shelves as there is unprecedented demand for the HTC One.
Today the stocks are readily available as the company will officially open sale in their New Delhi Flagship store starting tomorrow. The HTC One can be had for about Rs. 42,000 or even slightly cheaper at local retailers who demand less margins and are willing to negotiate a little bit on the price.
The HTC One comes with a unibody Aluminum design which is built into a seamless unit which is 4mm at the slimmest and 9mm at the thickest. The New Blinkfeed UI lays out social feeds, news updates, calendar info, friends data and more right on the home screen of the phone in this new super smooth flowing interface.
HTC recently assured their spot on the Android maps with the HTC One, but the Taiwanese company’s passion for large displays will die hard, as proves the company’s new attempt to make the HTC One +. With major failures like the the HD 7 the Sensation XL, the company has seemingly revamped its strategy and will now launch a HTC One +. This big brother will be identical to the HTC One but will come with a larger display supposedly between the 5-6 inch mark, according to Pocket-lint.
An Independent iGyaan Source within HTC has confirmed that;
HTC does not have any major new devices for launch this year. The HTC One will remain the flagship just as the HTC One X did last year.
The HTC One + then seems likely, since the company is planning a strategy similar to last year, where the HTC One X + simply replaced the HTC One X and added few elements. The HTC One + will add a bigger screen and an 8 UltraPixel camera. The big HTC One + has been codenamed the M10 and is expected to be announced in the July-August time period.
HTC has also been in the news recently because of their management shuffle, and also for another device Codename M4 (which HTC denied outright), which supposedly will have a 4.3 inch display and a lesser spec’d hardware lineup.
Despite denying its existence, rumours persist of an HTC One “Google Edition”. During the Google I/O keynote address earlier this month, Google announced it was partnering with Samsung to bring a Galaxy S4 to Google Play that runs vanilla Android. While that particular device will only be available in the United States, it stoked the rumours that other manufacturers such as HTC would be getting in on the “almost-Nexus” game.
During the keynote, one of HTC’s PR mavens intimated that there would be a similar model of the One released with stock Android, presumably a newer version than is currently running on the device. But official channels quashed the rumour, leading to a short cessation of any talk.
In recent days, though, several sites including Geek.com and Android Central have independently confirmed that such a device does exist, and will be announced in the coming weeks.
The news comes from Geek.com’s Russell Holly, who claims that “multiple sources” are saying that HTC has plans to launch a stripped-down version of its flagship handset.
This comes after a string of negative press, including several executives leaving the company, news of relatively underwhelming sales of the One, and indications that its Facebook phone, the First, has been unceremoniously discontinued.
It’s likely that HTC is going ahead with the project after seeing the positive reaction to the stock Galaxy S4, aware that there is a global market for devices running unblemished Android and, perhaps more importantly, ones that receive updates directly from Google.
One thing to keep in mind about an HTC One “Google Edition” is that it will unlikely be sold in India. The same thing is true of the HTC One Developer Edition and the upcoming Play Store Galaxy S4, so you’re going to need a source in the United States to obtain one.
While the HTC One has been well received critically and by the public, sales have still lagged significantly behind those of rivals Samsung and Apple.
The company was also forced to admit it would be postponing the launch of the HTC First in the UK. It blamed poor customer feedback in the US for the move.
If HTC does release a One running stock Android, would you buy one?
HTC has been having some success with their newest flagship smartphone – the HTC One. Amidst falling revenues and several key executives departing, an unknown HTC executive spoke to the Wall Street Journal and calmed the naysayers, declaring that the sales of the all-aluminum Android hit “around 5 million” since launching a month ago.
The HTC rep noted that sales would have been higher if there wasn’t supply issues, namely the camera components. “Orders are pretty good so far and are still more than what we can supply. This is partly due to the shortage of components. When the issue is resolved next month, we will have a better idea if it’s doing really well or not.”
The HTC One is going head-to-head with other popular smarptphones, such as the Samsung Galaxy S4 (just passed 10 million in sales in one month), Nokia Lumia 920, Apple iPhone 5, Sony Xperia Z, LG Optimus G and the Nexus 4.
HTC has seen several executives depart in the past week. HTC confirmed to Engadget that;
HTC can confirm that Lennard Hoornik has left HTC to pursue other interests. We appreciate his contributions to our South Asia efforts over the past year and wish him all the best. HTC’s CFO, Chialin Chang will provide interim leadership in this strategic region while we work to find a permanent solution.”
Also according to reports Head of Global Digital Service Elizabeth Griffin will also be leaving HTC later this week to join Nintendo. Looks like HTC’s “executive worries” are just beginning.
HTC has been flirting with Android phones from the beginning of the Ecosystem, But they only recently picked up pace thanks to the HTC One Series. The new HTC One, also referred to as the M7 is a beginning of a whole new design philosophy for the company. Does the HTC One feature all that is required to be the king of the robotic Jungle? Lets Find out.
Build Quality and Design
[pullquote_left]Ecstatic Expression on your Face![/pullquote_left]From the moment you handle the HTC One for the first time, you get this ecstatic expression on your face, you are wow’d by the design and simply amazed by the display. A shiver passes through your hands as you feel the Unibody design fit inside you hand almost perfectly as if it was designed for it.
The HTC One is cast from a single shell unibody Aluminum block, that curves at the back but is flat in the front. The two network bands that run across the back add network strength and aesthetic value to the complete mixture. Also embedded in the back is a subtle HTC logo.
The build, although very tough and robust, feels very damage friendly. The front has Gorilla Glass 2 , but does not have a lay on the table design, in other words if you lay the phone on the screen, the glass will touch the surface that you lay the phone on. The phone seems so metallic in-fact, that every time you hold it, you worry about it getting dented, if you nick it against a door or a table edge. The fear quickly goes away as you start to use the phone and realize how tough, and scratch resistant the back of the phone is.
The Design strategy infuses the technology they learnt in making the HTC Windows Phone 8 and a mix of their research and experience with metals in the past with their Desire series. The HTC One is a perfect balance, of build quality, design, aesthetic and that wonderful Awe factor it causes in you everytime you pick it up.
[pullquote_left]right fuse of external and internal[/pullquote_left]HTC has packed the HTC One with just the right amount of specs. Even when a product can never be ahead of technology, the HTC One is a right fuse of external and internal technology. Powered by a 2300 mAh non – replaceable battery, the HTC One carries a Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 Chipset with a wonderfully snappy QuadCore 1.7 GHz CPU. The Graphics are provided by a Adreno 320 GP which remains superior in terms of Mobile Graphics rendering. This intense capability is supported by 2GB of RAM and 32 or 64 GB of storage.
The Back features an Ultrapixel Camera which has a larger pixel size, making it sufficient at just 4 MP, and the front features a 2.1 MP snapper, both capture full HD video. The main camera is also assisted by an LED flash.
The Gorgeous front features a 4.7 inch 1920 x 1080p IPS LCD 3 display with an intense 469 ppi making is one of the highest pixel density phones in the market.
UltraPixel Camera on the HTC ONE
Ultrapixel is a word that does not exist in the dictionary, or at least that was the case before the HTC One. The camera comprises of a larger sensor and a larger size of the pixels that combine together to form the sensor. The camera combined with the software on the inside of the HTC One the is able to capture extremely high detail in an image. The large sensor and pixel size also opens up the sensor to low light subjects, allowing for better image quality in dim lighting conditions.
The images come out extremely sharp to about a 8×12 inch size, post which you will see degradation of the images.
We found that the Video Captured by the HTC One is wonderfully vivid and captured without any stutter, rolling shutter was at a minimum and almost no aliasing was seen in the video. The Autofocus keeps jumping in and out during video especially if you are close to your subject, this can be painfully bothersome while recording or even while playing back. This is however fixed by turning off Continuos AF during video capture at the cost of loss of focus.
The HTC Zoe feature within the camera is a wonderful add on, not only does it create beautiful timelines and videos demonstrating your photo groups it also allows you to modify pictures, remove photo bombers, and a lot more. This truly enables a social sharer to stay on top of his game adding just a right amount of usefulness.
We did a comparison of the cameras of the top smartphones, and HTC One performed excellently well in low light and landscape capture.
Here is where we begin to applaud HTC again, whether the BlinkFeed UI is useful or not, HTC with their new ONE has attempted to totally change the norm. While most companies just upgrade the UI, HTC revamps it time and again. They changed it with Sense 4.0 and now they changed it again with the new BlinkFeed on Sense 5.0.
[pullquote_right]practicality and ingenuity[/pullquote_right]A lot of previous owners will complain at the removal of features of the past HTC Sense UI. But, the new experience is a great mix of practicality and ingenuity. Blinkfeed on the HTC One is nothing more than an aggregator, it collects your favorite news streams, your Social Networks and even your connections to display them in a beautiful, seamless, Flipboard-esque interface which will also remind you of the Windows Phone UI.
App Drawer
Weather Widget
Phone Dialer
BlinkFeed
Keyboard
LockScreen
The information is clean and laid out quickly and beautifully, almost making you go back to it again and again. The other features of HTC Sense are also found in the UI, the Music App, Car Mode, Flashlight App, big chunky widgets and the oh so famous Weather / Flip clock widget are all there.
The HTC TV app is not currently available in India, and currently cannot be manually configured. The Power button does have an IR blaster inbuilt so it does function as a remote, but the functionality will be added at a later time. You should possibly be able download 3rd party apps to enable this feature soon.
The HTC One has a gorgeous 1920 x 1080p display, and honestly it looks absolutely stunning, even outdoors. The LCD3 technology with an IPS panel and extremely high pixel density set it apart for the mix. The Screen floats right on top with the touch panel, thanks to the fused display technology borrowed from LG, touching the HTC One feels like touching the elements of the display.
[pullquote_right]eliminates muffling[/pullquote_right]Watching Videos, playing games and other forms of media is fantastic thanks to HTC BoomSound, a wonderful thought of putting the Stereo Speakers in a forward facing manner, makes the audio extremely accurate and clear. It also eliminates muffling due to accidental finger touches and is easily heard especially while playing games.
The HTC One also contains a FM radio which does require a headset to be connected for reception. Audio from the included earphones is absolutely great and in the history of in box earphones, these have to be one of the better ones if not the best. Beats audio is available throughout the array of hardware that you can connect to the Smartphone.
Performance and Battery
The HTC One came out on top in terms of performance tests. The hardware is quite capable of handling all the tasks that you can throw at it with wonderful accuracy and flair. The chipset can handle, multitasking, heavy gaming and performance tasks with ease and still have power to calculate under formulas.
Benchmarks for the early developer build beat all scores of the market at the time. For reference the latest build of the HTC One scores a fantastic 12030 on Quadrant, without tweaks of any kind.
The phone does heat up a lot with extended use, which is normal for any smartphone, but the extended use of metals is what makes it uncomfortable to hold or even pocket.
Battery on the HTC One is wonderfully managed by the interface, when not in use (aka; standby) the phone barely drains at all unlike other Android devices, the Blinkfeed can be configured to refresh manually to even improve battery life a tad bit more. Often times we found battery life to be good enough to go on into day two.
[tabgroup]
[tab title=”Battery Life with 3G ON” icon=”icon-headphones”]Talk time : 5 Hours Standby : 48 Hours Gaming : 3.5 Hours Online : 6 hours Music 8 hours[/tab]
[tab title=”Battery Life with 3G OFF” icon=”icon-headphones”]Talk time : 6 Hours Standby : 54 Hours Gaming : 3.5 Hours Online : 6 hours (wifi) Music 8.5 hours[/tab]
[/tabgroup]
Phone and Networks
HTC has always been able to handle networks and phone capabilities in their devices, same is the case for the HTC One. The networks remained strong throughout and audio whether incoming or outgoing was crisp as ever. In our days of testing the phone, we had but only a few dropped calls, which can easily be blamed on the lack of network coverage.
HTC has kept it usual features for phone capabilities, loud ringer in the pocket, flip to mute etc are all included making handling of phone calls an easy recipe.
Conclusion
The HTC One is not a perfect smartphone, no smartphone is. But the HTC One, comes as close as it can to delivering a perfect balance between many elements that make up todays smartphone. It is a flagship so it is priced high, but with that price it brings about a sense of achievement, a sense of ownership and pride. A mixed bag of feelings and emotions emerge when you hold and use the HTC One for the first time. Most people cannot stop themselves from passing a smile when they first handle this behemoth of a device. A great phone, a wonderful crisp display enabling a joyful multimedia device and a performance warehouse of the tech junkie. Sure it lacks a lot of software patches and gimmicks, but in entirety of usage it lacks almost nothing.
The HTC One is a beautiful phone – certainly the best that the company has produced. According to a post by the reputable Evleaks, HTC will be bringing the same quality of design to those looking seeking a mid-range device. This is the same strategy they did with the HTC One X and the One S.
This picture above, which has leaked online before, is of an all-aluminum device that currently goes by the code name of the “HTC M4″ (before the HTC One launched it was known as the M7). It’s reminiscent of the flagship One, but the specs have been scaled down. The HTC M4 reportedly sports a 4.3-inch 720p display, dual-core processor, 16GB of internal storage, 2GB of RAM and an UltraPixel camera.
Rumour has it that the upcoming HTC M4 will land on shelves with a 1700 mAh, non-removable battery packed inside, and that it will be released with Google’s Android 4.2 Jelly Bean loaded on top right from the start.
The HTC M4 is expected to be announced sometime “near the end of the second quarter.” If true, you can almost expect availability in India, but no official word.
PhoneArena, the site posting the picture, also says that the HTC M4 will have 4G LTE capabilities, but likens it to the Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini.
For the time being, however, no official info on the smartphone has been provided, and it remains to be seen whether the rumored hardware specs mentioned above will indeed pan out. More details on the upcoming HTC M4 smartphone should emerge soon, so stay tuned to learn the news.
Now that the Samsung Galaxy S4 has been launched in India for Rs. 41,500, most will want to know what it is pegged up against. While many have already made up their mind there are always a few who would want to know what options are out there.
HTC ONE (Rs. 42,990) If the plastic body of the S4 is bothering your style, and you are not looking to join the heard of the Galaxy Phones, The HTC One with its Unibody Metal design and insanely crisp 4.7inch 1080p screen is the best alternative to the Magical Galaxy. The HTC One has an impressive camera and blazing fast CPU up its arsenal. Unfortunately does not have an interchangeable battery or a SD card expansion.
iPhone 5 (Rs 43,500) Like it love it or hate it, the iPhone 5 is the preferred choice of many wanting to try this ecosystem built by Apple. More than the hardware, The iPhone depends on the software and the apps eco system and if this is something that excites you, then the iPhone is your choice. Unibody Chassis, 4inch Retina display and one of the best Mobile phone cameras make this an easy target for most buyers. Plus its smaller and easier to hold or pocket.
Samsung Galaxy Note 2 (Rs 36500) The Samsung Galaxy Note 2 is still a wonder phone and will satisfy a lot of your devilish sins. The Note 2 also has the S Pen which makes productivity easy on a smartphone. There’s the giant 5.5in screen, which pushes it into the contentious grey zone halfway between phone and tablet enabling the market for the so called “phablet”.
LG Optimus G (Rs. 32990) Comes with a 13 MP camera and a display that would put any full HD smartphone to shame. The LG Optimus G is fast, efficient and light, looks good and a great alternative to the Samsung Galaxy S4, Until the Optimus G Pro is released anyway.
Lumia 920 (Rs. 35999) The Nokia Lumia 920 is arguably the best Windows Phone device out there, the best built and the most feature full. It also gives the user a break from all the Android madness that is running around. An excellent photosensitive camera, brilliantly clear display and tank like construction, along with almost Rs. 7000 saved make it a considerable option.
Samsung Galaxy S3 (Rs. 28500) The S4 looks exactly like the S3 to you? then why not just buy the S3? The Galaxy S3 is the most selling Smartphone for Samsung since their Galaxies began to circle the mobile universe. It may be last years king, but its still a great Android device, the most rooted and has possible the maximum number of custom Roms available for it including many that offer over clocking. Great design and a good display are just a few of the things that make this phone desirable. Recent price drops have made it more attractive.
Sony Xperia Z ( Rs 38000) Guess what this phone has everything plus water resistivity and dust protection. Its like a magical android wonder beast, I also personally like the design, even though it has some aesthetic flaws in being square. The camera is great and so is the design and look, the hardware is top notch and the price is just right. For the typical Indian the phone is also made by a “JAPANESE” company, even though it is still made in China.
Blackberry Z10 ( Rs. 42900) I would personally not recommend this to you , unless you are a blackberry loyalist, but, the device is still an alternative. Lack of the right hardware, Apps and atrociously high pricing are one of the reasons this Blackberry has failed in India. It still has BBM though!
HTC Corp reported a record-low quarterly profit on Monday that missed analysts’ estimates after it delayed the full launch of its 2013 flagship smartphone model, the HTC One which will now debut against Samsung Electronics’ newest Galaxy.
A shortage of cameras meant HTC managed to introduce its latest HTC One phone in just three markets by the end of the first quarter instead of the planned 80. It does not expect to kick off sales across Europe, North America and the Asia-Pacific region before the end of April.
Samsung Electronics Co Ltd has said its Galaxy S4 will be available in 155 countries by the end of April.
HTC said its unaudited net profit was T$85 million ($2.85 million) in its January-March first quarter, compared with T$1 billion in the prior quarter and T$10.9 billion in the same period last year. It was the lowest since HTC began reporting quarterly profits in 2004.
The Taiwanese smartphone maker was expected to post a net profit of T$467.5 million, according to the average forecast of 18 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
First-quarter revenue was T$42.8 billion, lower than the T$50-60 billion range that HTC had forecast in February. Revenue in the fourth quarter was T$60 billion.
“As the company is in the middle of a product launch, lumpy monthly numbers can easily be explained by the phasing of product ramp ups and wind down, “Bernstein analyst Pierre Ferragu said in an investor’s note today, “but such a low number likely reflects a significant further loss of traction in the market.”
HTC will launch it’s flagship smartphone, the HTC One in India for a price of Rs.42,990. The smartphone will start shipping by the end of this month.
While HTC may still be pondering the launch of the HTC One in India, HTC USA has planned it right in Line with the launch of The Galaxy S4 in the US. The 32 Gb version is set at US$ 200 and 64 GB is set at US$ 300 on contract pricing. Outright prices may range from US $ 720 – 880.
The HTC one was announced for the APAC region in Feb, when we went hands on with the device at the Sydney event. The differences between the global version and the US version include 4G connectivity and the fact that the US version will be tied to AT&T or Sprint. Also the HTC One will not come in a Black color in the India, but this color will be available in the US.
However, The HTC One is expected to be available in India end of April 2013 for a price of Rs. 42990/-
[toggle title=”HTC One US Press Release”]HTC One is available in black and silver and boasts a powerful 1.7 GHz quad-core processor, and zero-gap aluminum unibody with a 4.7-inch full HD (1080p) screen and HTC Sense® innovations, to re-shape your smartphone experience.
HTC BlinkFeed™ provides customized content and real-time updates streamed live on your home screen. HTC BlinkFeed aggregates your content from a variety of media sources, serving up fresh content all in one place, without the need to jump between multiple applications and web sites. HTC Zoe™ mode on the HTC One lets you grab the entire moment and bring it to life in three-second snippets. Special moments can be captured in HTC Zoe highlights, and displayed in a living gallery that you can set to music and special effects. AT&T Locker helps you hold onto those memories no matter where you are. You can automatically store photos, videos and documents in the cloud, so you can access and share from your smartphone or computer. The HTC UltraPixel Camera with a breakthrough sensor gathers 300 percent more light than traditional smartphone camera sensors and delivers outstanding low-light performance. HTC BoomSound™ provides rich, clear sound with minimal distortion, as well as the authentic sound experience you expect from built-in Beats™ by Dr. Dre Audio. HTC One features dual front-facing speakers and a built-in amplifier to bring music, movies and games alive. Since the speakers are on the front of the device, you no longer have to worry about muffled sound when setting your phone down. HTC Sense TV™ lets you use your HTC One as an interactive TV guide and remote control. It can be set up in a few simple steps and gives you the ability to access electronic program guides and control a receiver and home theatre right from your phone’s screen. The HTC One features AT&T DriveMode®, an app that helps curb texting and driving. The app can be set-up to automatically send a customizable reply to incoming messages once a vehicle starts moving 25 mph. The auto-reply message is similar to an “out-of-office alert” and can reply to texts, emails and wireless callers letting your friends know that you are driving and unable to respond.*****
Setting up your new HTC One is a snap with AT&T Ready2Go, a free service that helps you to easily set up and personalize your device in minutes from the comfort of your personal computer. With Ready2Go, it’s easy to set up your email accounts, import your contacts, connect to your social networks and more.
For more information, visit www.att.com/htcone.[/toggle]
We may only be three months into 2013 but it’s already been a big year for phones. One of the biggest stories so far is that of the HTC One – a no-compromise handset from the Taiwanese firm that aims to make amends for the last couple of years and bring HTC back to the top of the Android heap, where they once stood with the help of the HTC Legend.
It’s a remarkable phone in so many ways, but now it faces its biggest threat yet – the Samsung Galaxy S4, the latest flagship phone from the current king of Android.
How do these 2 fare against each other? Let’s find out!
1. Build Quality And Design
Do we even need to discuss this one? Even the most ardent Samsung fanboy would agree that the HTC One is much better in terms of design. On one hand, we have the light, plastic body of the Galaxy S4, and on the other – the heavy, metal one of the HTC One.
The disadvantage of this design, though, is not only that metal will get slightly hotter than plastic, but that the unibody design also prevents the handset’s battery from being removed.
Samsung took a step in the right direction by utilising a little bit of metal around the edge of the phone, but it’s still mostly plastic and still nowhere close to the quality of the HTC One’s build.
Verdict – HTC One
2. Display
This is a tough category, as both the Samsung Galaxy S4 and HTC One have excellent screens. The Samsung Galaxy S4 features a 5″ HD 1080p Super AMOLED touchscreen, which on first impressions proved pretty impressive, while the HTC One features a 4.7″ HD 1080p Super LCD3 touchscreen.
Going purely on numbers, the HTC wins here since its pixel density is 469ppi against the Galaxy S4’s 441ppi. In real life this difference is not noticeable by the human eye.
Put simply, these are two of the best displays on the smartphone market. However, Samsung’s AMOLED displays have been criticized in the past for having a blueish tint on them, but the contrast and deep blacks on this display are amazing.
Another difference is that the Galaxy S4 uses Gorilla Glass 3 which its maker, Corning, says is up to three times more damage resistant than Gorilla Glass 2 which the HTC One offers.
Depending on how you plan to use each smartphone, there are clear advantages to some of the screen technology. It’s hard to pick an overall winner here, one has a slightly bigger screen the other has a slightly higher pixel density, but both are fantastic through and through so it’s a draw and really just comes down to a matter of personal preference.
Verdict – Draw
3. Software And UI
The Samsung Galaxy S4 and HTC One are pretty evenly matched when it comes to software too, with both running Google’s Android Jelly Bean operating system. Saying that, the Galaxy S4 has a later version, Android 4.2.2, while the HTC One has Android 4.1.2.
There is a vast difference between the custom user experiences found on both devices.
The Samsung Galaxy S4 comes with the latest version of Samsung’s Touchwiz UI, giving a horde of custom features. As well as a barrage of software features such as Air Gesture and Smart Scroll, Samsung’s Touchwiz UI offers a fairly heavy custom skin, which is not good for those who are fans of the vanilla Android 4.x Jelly Bean.
The HTC One, on the other hand, offers a much simpler user interface skin. Blinkfeed is its standout feature – a unique take on Flipboard – and beyond that, the HTC Sense 5.0 UI is fairly stripped back and easy to use.
However, Samsung clearly wins this one with its onslaught of software tricks and custom features.
Verdict – Samsung Galaxy S4
4. Processor
The HTC One packs a lot of power under its shiny metallic shell, with a 1.7 GHz quad-core processor and 2 GB of RAM. But impressive as it is the Samsung Galaxy S4 goes one better with a 1.9 GHz quad-core processor, though it merely matches the HTC One for RAM. Both phones are true next generation handsets and both have more power than you’re likely to know what to do with.
Early benchmark results of these 2 smartphones reveal that they’re neck to neck in performance.
So it’s a draw for us!
Verdict – Draw
5. Memory And Storage
Memory is another win for the Galaxy S4, as while the HTC One comes with up to 64GB of on-board memory (a 32GB version also exists), there’s no micro SD card slot, so no way to expand on it. The Galaxy S4 meanwhile matches its on-board memory with 16, 32 and 64GB versions up for grabs, but also includes a micro SD card slot on top of that.
Their connectivity options are identical as both handsets provide Wi-Fi, 3G, 4G/LTE, GPS, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC and an infrared port. It’s about as comprehensive set of options as you could hope to see.
Verdict – Samsung Galaxy S4
6. Camera
HTC has gone in new direction with the One’s camera. The Ultrapixel camera is only 4MP in resolution but captures 300 percent more light than a regular smartphone camera. The camera is good especially in low light situations.
HTC’s bold move makes it pretty difficult to compare with the Galaxy S4’s 13Mp camera which we expect to be a good camera. Each rear camera can record video in Full HD 1080p quality.
Things are almost identical in terms of front facing cameras between the Galaxy S4 and HTC One. They have 2MP and 2.1MP cameras which can each record video in Full HD.
HTC Zoe is the big camera feature that is grabbing the headlines when it comes to the HTC One. When you record a ‘Zoe’, the HTC One takes a 3 second video and 20 single frame shots. Not only do you then have the Zoe clip itself, but also the functionality for some very impressive features: remove unwanted people and objects from the background of a shot, make sure everyone is smiling and has their eyes open for group shots and combine several frames in a sequence shot to create a ‘slow-motion’ photo.
The S4 also has some nice camera features and some that are similar to the HTC One. Eraser also let’s you remove unwanted photo elements, sound and shot lets you record a sound clip with a photo and drama shot will take 100 photos in 4 seconds. There are plenty more features to talk about for both these handsets and you’ll have a great experience with either.
So while the HTC One is likely to fare better in low light conditions, the camera in the Samsung Galaxy S4 seems the better bet overall.
Verdict – Samsung Galaxy S4
7. Audio
When it comes to sound the HTC handset wins without doubt. You will have heard HTC BoomSound mentioned by now, which is the technology that makes the HTC One so loud. It’s the first handset to feature dual frontal stereo speakers, plus it has Beats Audio technology built in. This results in louder music playback, ringtones and notifications.
The S4 speaker is also of a good quality and is a close second to the HTC device.
Verdict – HTC One
Conclusion
Both of these handsets are truly remarkable and it’s a tough call picking one out as the best. They both have incredible displays, loads of connectivity options, great cameras and a lot of horsepower.
There is no real winner in this article, and it should only be used as a reference to how the devices perform in each of the sections discussed above.
This will be one of the most exciting fights in the premium segment this season.
