by Craig Buck

Created on: February 20, 2013

On February 19th Taiwanese mobile device manufacturer HTC revealed their latest Android smartphone to the world’s media and eager public. The event in London showcased the company’s new flagship device which takes over this mantle from the similarly titled HTC One-X. Although the names are similar, the new HTC device offers plenty of new features for consumers to enthuse over in the weeks before the handset goes on sale.

The HTC One comes equipped with a 4.7 inch 1080p LCD display which is even more amazing than the 720p screen on the One-X which is widely acclaimed as having the most perfect screen on any smartphone up to now. Although the screen size is identical to the One-X, the HTC One has been redesigned from scratch and is made from polycarbonate and aluminium and weighs 143 grams. The unit is fully enclosed which may disappoint some who were hoping for HTC to do a u-turn and once again include a removable battery. This disappointment will be somewhat offset by the inclusion of a 2300 mAh battery which is bigger in capacity than the One’s predecessor.

The HTC One has power in abundance thanks to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 quad core processor which runs at 1.7Ghz. This processor is so fast, benchmarking software has it going off the scale.

The camera is another area where the HTC One has been massively improved. HTC have developed their own internal technology which sees a 4MP HTC Ultrapixel  camera. This camera concentrates on the depth of each pixel rather than to overall number. This allows for 300% more light to be captured which will make for sharper images.

The HTC One is the first smartphone to include front facing speakers. By using BoomSound and the built in Beats Audio amplifier, HTC claim that you will hear studio quality sound for the very first time on a smartphone instead of the tinny noise which is normally associated with such devices. The One contains two front facing speakers, one above the screen and one below it.

It is not only the hardware that has been upgraded on the HTC One. Running Android Jellybean (4.1.2), the One also sees the debut of HTC’s UI software, Sense 5. This is complimented by a newsfeed homescreen that HTC call BlinkFeed. HTC believe that users will embrace Blinkfeed when they only have 30 seconds or so to check their phone. Rather than launching each app in turn, BlinkFeed will allow the consumption of all information in a style not dissimilar to the Windows 8 mobile tiles. BlinkFeed can take its information from over 1400 sources which should offer something for everyone.

Another new feature is HTC Zoe. HTC Zoe makes use of the new Ultrapixel camera by capturing 3 second animations each time you use the camera. These ‘moments’ are then used to bring your images to life in a live gallery which enables you to relive your memories without the need to constantly record video. Users can then edit their Zoe’s and even add background music to their galleries.

Consumers will not have to wait long to get their hands on this sought after device. HTC announced that the HTC One will be available in over 180 countries and will go on sale in March 2013. Pre-orders for the device will start to be taken immediately. The device will be available in both 32Gb and 64Gb versions.

The HTC One is a revolutionary device which will certainly make HTC’s major competitors, Apple and Samsung stand up and take note. With these companies still to announce features for their next devices, one thing for sure is that they will need to up their game otherwise HTC could eat into their share of the market.

Learn more about this author, Craig Buck.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.