Former N4 user - WOW... Impressed!

[seventeenseconds]

Quick verdict:

In a word, amazing. One of if not these best phone I've owned. Impressive specs, great camera and very high build quality. Even if I had to run it purely stock with no 3rd party customization I'd be completely happy with it. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to anyone and can see it being a big hit for HTC.

Background:

I'm a former Iphone junkie having owned the 1st gen, 3GS and i4 models, but have been using smartphones for the past decade having had various Palm Treo's along the way before Apple. I was amazed with the Apple devices as I thought they were hands down by far the best at the time (both build quality and app quality). That said, I wasn't a fan boy and I always kept an open mind watching the Android announcements and spent time at stores trying out the string of "Iphone killers" every time they were rolled out by Samsung, HTC and Motorola. It wasn't until the Jelly Bean release that Android (in my opinion) finally met the level of IOS and in many ways had exceeded it. The debacle that was IOS 6, abject failure of Maps and wanting a larger screen finally pushed me to jump ship. The Nexus 4 was my first Android device purchased at release and I loved it. Great hardware (not amazing) and pure Jelly Bean 4.2.2. I thought I had my sole device for the next year or two until I saw the HTC One announcement.

HTC One Pro's:

1. The hardware. It's as good as the hype around it. Truly Apple quality in feel, fit and finish. It's a gorgeous phone and has the specs to back it up. Mine has no defects and no hairline gaps some has spoke of. It's OMG fast and haven't seen it lag yet in any situation.

2. The screen. Stunning! Having been used to "retina" displays on iphone and ipad, I'm used to excellent screen quality. The One delivers with excellent colors, not overly saturated, bright and fantastic viewing angles. I was unsure initially of the overall design being slightly taller and less wide (sort of like an iphone 5) whereas the N4 is wider, but it's quickly growing on me. Overall, it's easier to hold and less bulky feeling in my hands.

3. The speakers. Excellent. Honestly, almost too loud in some situations (wish there was another half step or two in adjustment). The N4 has a terrible rear speaker that's completely muffled when laid down flat on the back and easily distorted above half volume. The One is loud, but most importantly clear! No distortion and excellent stereo sound. If you use speaker phone a lot, this is the device for you.

4. The camera. I'd say good to great depending on situation. Falls short of the marketing hype, but still say easily competes with the S3 and i5 in good light and trounces them in low light. Low light pictures are very usable albeit noisy (to be expected) where other phones would entirely miss the shot. For how the majority will use it (e.g. Facebook, Instagram, etc) -- it's a great camera. For those of you that pixel peep (1:1 image view), it's "good enough", but lacking some detail on edges. The Zoe feature is really cool and surprised me. I can see using this a lot. A good camera is very important to me and the One delivers where the N4 was pretty "meh" and had me passing on using it more often than not.

5. Call quality and reception. Great both on handset and speaker phone. No (extremely) annoying 2 second delay when answering the phone like the Nexus 4 has. Has better reception than my N4 and shows they did a good job on the design with a metal casing. Only been a short time, but no issues with dropped calls or having to adjust the way I might have to hold it while on a call (e.g. death grip).


The HTC One Con's:

1. Lack of control over the LED notifications. Light Flow doesn't work unless rooted (which I won't do). I'm fine with only orange and green notifications, but not being able to easily control them with 3rd party apps is a bummer. I loved being able to control them with Light Flow to do things like turn them off during overnight hours. Can't find any way to do that here. No notifications while charging (other than charge indicator) is my biggest negative so far. I'd really like to see notifications override charge status even if it alternated back and forth.

2. Charging seems to take forever. The N4 would charge much more quickly. The last 20% seems to take over an hour.

3. USB jack placement. I find it awkward being off to the side and makes things like mounting in my windshield mount a pain. Would have been so much better to have it in the middle.

4. Software wise: lack of any real lock screen customization -- what's there is buggy and doesn't behave the way I'd expect it. Being stuck on 4.1.2 for who knows how long (more below). Available stock settings don't seem nearly as deep and lacking customization that's found in stock Jelly Bean. Some amount of carrier bloatware, but not as bad as I thought (much better than the Treo days) and something I'd managed to avoid the past 6 years.


Surprises:

1. Sense 5. I really didn't know what to expect as my only experience was stock Jelly Bean 4.2.2, but Sense 5 isn't bad at all. In many ways, I prefer it over "pure" Jelly Bean. Even if I couldn't customize it with 3rd party apps, I'd be fine with it for the foreseeable future. BlinkFeed is OK, but I prefer my dedicated apps. All in all, I think it's a good experience and aligns nicely with the hardware. That said, I love Nova Launcher and have installed that. With Nova, I'm getting the best of both and can finely tune it. Initially, not knowing what to expect with Sense and hearing constant HTC/Samsung skin bashing over stock was my biggest concern and has turned out to be a total non issue.

2. The button placement and the lack of dedicated multitasking button. My other really big initial concern. Fortunately, after the first hour I had completely forgotten about it and was easily navigating around. If I have to pick it up in the middle of the night or something, I could see muscle memory hitting the wrong spot the first few weeks, but not an issue so far at all. I used Nova to customize the home button a little, but otherwise, I'm fine with the layout. It works. Long press to Google Now isn't a big deal vs. dragging up on home like on the N4.

3. Built in apps... MUCH better than stock Jelly Bean. The HTC mail, calendar and phone dialer are IMHO, way better than stock. I heavily rely on Exchange integration for work and HTC's client is so much better. Push notifications happen more quickly and accurately. I often check from multiple devices and the N4 would lag by several minutes after clearing off on other devices, not so with the One. Both calendar and mail support proper Exchange tasks from what I can tell so far. The phone dialer is more polished and easier to use (for me). I can see the value of OEM experience here.

4. Jelly Bean 4.1.2 for my day to day use is just fine. I thought I might be disappointed coming from 4.2.2, but so far, aside from very minor things there's nothing bothering me or lacking. Yes, I'd like timely updates and unfortunately I doubt that'll ever happen. Hopefully Google IO doesn't have too many unbelievable upgrades and surprises in store as the One wont get an upgrade for 8-10 months (at least).


Final words: I'm going to hang on to my N4 until after Google IO just in case I want to play with whatever release comes out. It would take something pretty amazing to get me to switch back for any length of time. I can see myself playing with the next release, but more than likely sticking with the One due to the hardware and overall quality. Many of the 4.2.2 features I wound up using very little or not at all. It's great to be back on a device that I just can't put down and have this level of fit, finish and quality with the superior platform that Android has become.

 

[craZDude]

Thanks for writing up your impressions! It's great to hear that people love this phone.

I also find what you said about 4.1.2 being fine for your daily use very telling. I think we are reaching a similar point with hardware and software in phones, in that yes, there can be improvements, but overall everything new now is at a stage that it is running very smoothly and has a lot of great features.

 

[dmxjago]

Quick verdict:

In a word, amazing. One of if not these best phone I've owned. Impressive specs, great camera and very high build quality. Even if I had to run it purely stock with no 3rd party customization I'd be completely happy with it. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to anyone and can see it being a big hit for HTC.

Background:

I'm a former Iphone junkie having owned the 1st gen, 3GS and i4 models, but have been using smartphones for the past decade having had various Palm Treo's along the way before Apple. I was amazed with the Apple devices as I thought they were hands down by far the best at the time (both build quality and app quality). That said, I wasn't a fan boy and I always kept an open mind watching the Android announcements and spent time at stores trying out the string of "Iphone killers" every time they were rolled out by Samsung, HTC and Motorola. It wasn't until the Jelly Bean release that Android (in my opinion) finally met the level of IOS and in many ways had exceeded it. The debacle that was IOS 6, abject failure of Maps and wanting a larger screen finally pushed me to jump ship. The Nexus 4 was my first Android device purchased at release and I loved it. Great hardware (not amazing) and pure Jelly Bean 4.2.2. I thought I had my sole device for the next year or two until I saw the HTC One announcement.

HTC One Pro's:

1. The hardware. It's as good as the hype around it. Truly Apple quality in feel, fit and finish. It's a gorgeous phone and has the specs to back it up. Mine has no defects and no hairline gaps some has spoke of. It's OMG fast and haven't seen it lag yet in any situation.

2. The screen. Stunning! Having been used to "retina" displays on iphone and ipad, I'm used to excellent screen quality. The One delivers with excellent colors, not overly saturated, bright and fantastic viewing angles. I was unsure initially of the overall design being slightly taller and less wide (sort of like an iphone 5) whereas the N4 is wider, but it's quickly growing on me. Overall, it's easier to hold and less bulky feeling in my hands.

3. The speakers. Excellent. Honestly, almost too loud in some situations (wish there was another half step or two in adjustment). The N4 has a terrible rear speaker that's completely muffled when laid down flat on the back and easily distorted above half volume. The One is loud, but most importantly clear! No distortion and excellent stereo sound. If you use speaker phone a lot, this is the device for you.

4. The camera. I'd say good to great depending on situation. Falls short of the marketing hype, but still say easily competes with the S3 and i5 in good light and trounces them in low light. Low light pictures are very usable albeit noisy (to be expected) where other phones would entirely miss the shot. For how the majority will use it (e.g. Facebook, Instagram, etc) -- it's a great camera. For those of you that pixel peep (1:1 image view), it's "good enough", but lacking some detail on edges. The Zoe feature is really cool and surprised me. I can see using this a lot. A good camera is very important to me and the One delivers where the N4 was pretty "meh" and had me passing on using it more often than not.

5. Call quality and reception. Great both on handset and speaker phone. No (extremely) annoying 2 second delay when answering the phone like the Nexus 4 has. Has better reception than my N4 and shows they did a good job on the design with a metal casing. Only been a short time, but no issues with dropped calls or having to adjust the way I might have to hold it while on a call (e.g. death grip).


The HTC One Con's:

1. Lack of control over the LED notifications. Light Flow doesn't work unless rooted (which I won't do). I'm fine with only orange and green notifications, but not being able to easily control them with 3rd party apps is a bummer. I loved being able to control them with Light Flow to do things like turn them off during overnight hours. Can't find any way to do that here. No notifications while charging (other than charge indicator) is my biggest negative so far. I'd really like to see notifications override charge status even if it alternated back and forth.

2. Charging seems to take forever. The N4 would charge much more quickly. The last 20% seems to take over an hour.

3. USB jack placement. I find it awkward being off to the side and makes things like mounting in my windshield mount a pain. Would have been so much better to have it in the middle.

4. Software wise: lack of any real lock screen customization -- what's there is buggy and doesn't behave the way I'd expect it. Being stuck on 4.1.2 for who knows how long (more below). Available stock settings don't seem nearly as deep and lacking customization that's found in stock Jelly Bean. Some amount of carrier bloatware, but not as bad as I thought (much better than the Treo days) and something I'd managed to avoid the past 6 years.


Surprises:

1. Sense 5. I really didn't know what to expect as my only experience was stock Jelly Bean 4.2.2, but Sense 5 isn't bad at all. In many ways, I prefer it over "pure" Jelly Bean. Even if I couldn't customize it with 3rd party apps, I'd be fine with it for the foreseeable future. BlinkFeed is OK, but I prefer my dedicated apps. All in all, I think it's a good experience and aligns nicely with the hardware. That said, I love Nova Launcher and have installed that. With Nova, I'm getting the best of both and can finely tune it. Initially, not knowing what to expect with Sense and hearing constant HTC/Samsung skin bashing over stock was my biggest concern and has turned out to be a total non issue.

2. The button placement and the lack of dedicated multitasking button. My other really big initial concern. Fortunately, after the first hour I had completely forgotten about it and was easily navigating around. If I have to pick it up in the middle of the night or something, I could see muscle memory hitting the wrong spot the first few weeks, but not an issue so far at all. I used Nova to customize the home button a little, but otherwise, I'm fine with the layout. It works. Long press to Google Now isn't a big deal vs. dragging up on home like on the N4.

3. Built in apps... MUCH better than stock Jelly Bean. The HTC mail, calendar and phone dialer are IMHO, way better than stock. I heavily rely on Exchange integration for work and HTC's client is so much better. Push notifications happen more quickly and accurately. I often check from multiple devices and the N4 would lag by several minutes after clearing off on other devices, not so with the One. Both calendar and mail support proper Exchange tasks from what I can tell so far. The phone dialer is more polished and easier to use (for me). I can see the value of OEM experience here.

4. Jelly Bean 4.1.2 for my day to day use is just fine. I thought I might be disappointed coming from 4.2.2, but so far, aside from very minor things there's nothing bothering me or lacking. Yes, I'd like timely updates and unfortunately I doubt that'll ever happen. Hopefully Google IO doesn't have too many unbelievable upgrades and surprises in store as the One wont get an upgrade for 8-10 months (at least).


Final words: I'm going to hang on to my N4 until after Google IO just in case I want to play with whatever release comes out. It would take something pretty amazing to get me to switch back for any length of time. I can see myself playing with the next release, but more than likely sticking with the One due to the hardware and overall quality. Many of the 4.2.2 features I wound up using very little or not at all. It's great to be back on a device that I just can't put down and have this level of fit, finish and quality with the superior platform that Android has become.

Great review I agree with all of your pros and cons. I came from an HTC one x which to me in surprised it did not do well as the build quality at the time was still better then any phone I have ever owned with exception of an iPhone build quality. This was truly a monster upgrade coming from the HTC one x

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 2

 

[kolyan2k]

I am leaning towards Galaxy S4 at this point. HTC One is nice but S4 might be better. People say plastic is not good etc, but in my experience those Samsung plastic phones were the most reliable. I had Gnex for a year without the case and dropped the phone many many times.....result, just few small scratches.

Haven't seen One yet, I had One S and it was a good quality phone, I couldn't over come the lack of development and Sense was just too busy for me.

 

[Only1Z]

I am leaning towards Galaxy S4 at this point. HTC One is nice but S4 might be better. People say plastic is not good etc, but in my experience those Samsung plastic phones were the most reliable. I had Gnex for a year without the case and dropped the phone many many times.....result, just few small scratches.

Haven't seen One yet, I had One S and it was a good quality phone, I couldn't over come the lack of development and Sense was just too busy for me.

That really isn't the point. The feel of the high quality HTC One will bring pleasure every time you pick it up...like the manufacturer actually cares about the consumer. You can't pick up ANY Samsung phone and compare it to an aluminum unibody phone. It feels like what it is...cheap shiny plastic garbage. Samsung has a bit of a problem because 99.9% of people who walk into a store and pick up an S4 and an HTC One next to each other are going to gravitate to the One. And iPhone people will be more prone to now switch to Android because there is finally a phone that can match or beat the iPhone build quality.

I'm not saying that more One's will be sold than the S4, but the One will undoubtedly be a winner for HTC.

 

[seventeenseconds]

I am leaning towards Galaxy S4 at this point. HTC One is nice but S4 might be better. People say plastic is not good etc, but in my experience those Samsung plastic phones were the most reliable. I had Gnex for a year without the case and dropped the phone many many times.....result, just few small scratches.

Haven't seen One yet, I had One S and it was a good quality phone, I couldn't over come the lack of development and Sense was just too busy for me.

Several people at my office are waiting for the S4, so I'm sure I'll get to spend time trying one out. The S3 is/was a great phone and I'm sure the S4 will be too. I can only compare to the S3 obviously, but for me the negatives were the screen (really bothered by the blue color cast), feels too packed in (busy) with features and TouchWiz. I'm not that bothered by the Samsung build materials and could argue it's likely durable in a fall (lighter, replaceable back), but prefer the feel of the metal and craftsmanship of the One. The One feels crafted and not just 'produced'. Sense 5 is really toned down and in a lot of ways not that far off from stock. It's not overbearing at all where previous versions might have been. It's totally opinion though and I can see A LOT of people liking TouchWiz.

 

[kolyan2k]

That really isn't the point. The feel of the high quality HTC One will bring pleasure every time you pick it up...like the manufacturer actually cares about the consumer. You can't pick up ANY Samsung phone and compare it to an aluminum unibody phone. It feels like what it is...cheap shiny plastic garbage. Samsung has a bit of a problem because 99.9% of people who walk into a store and pick up an S4 and an HTC One next to each other are going to gravitate to the One. And iPhone people will be more prone to now switch to Android because there is finally a phone that can match or beat the iPhone build quality.

I'm not saying that more One's will be sold than the S4, but the One will undoubtedly be a winner for HTC.

I know what your are saying, and HTC One might be the winner....I have N4 now and I really like the phone and I think built quality is there, its just I am afraid to take it out of its case. I loved the idea of caring my Gnex without extra bulk and no worry that I can drop it. The only reason I MIGHT be switching to One or S4 is WIFI-calling, I currently dont have signal at work, and I also noticed that my Gnex gets better reception that N4. We will see when both phones arrive to Tmobile.

Several people at my office are waiting for the S4, so I'm sure I'll get to spend time trying one out. The S3 is/was a great phone and I'm sure the S4 will be too. I can only compare to the S3 obviously, but for me the negatives were the screen (really bothered by the blue color cast), feels too packed in (busy) with features and TouchWiz. I'm not that bothered by the Samsung build materials and could argue it's likely durable in a fall (lighter, replaceable back), but prefer the feel of the metal and craftsmanship of the One. The One feels crafted and not just 'produced'. Sense 5 is really toned down and in a lot of ways not that far off from stock. It's not overbearing at all where previous versions might have been. It's totally opinion though and I can see A LOT of people liking TouchWiz.

Yes, I like TouchWiz. I prefer TouchWiz over Sense 4, but now with Sense 5 I have to see....

 

[kolyan2k]

Played around with One today and saw full review of S4.....I think S4 is a clear winner here. One has amazing quality, but despite AL casing it can still get damaged easy. S4 wins against One in almost every category: 4.2.2, camera, battery, features, screen size, SD card, nice multi color hidden LED, removable battery, many different accessories including some sensors and wireless charging cover, flip cover, etc. And not to mention that kernel source was already released.

 

[Andrew ONeill]

I loved my S3 but i wanted something different this time and i'm thinking the ONE and S4 are both great choices but i feel the ONE gets the edge over the S4.
-not really a whole lot of difference in the OS version. Performance enhancements that are difficult to discern in real world use and gimmick like additions like photo sphere.
-the ONE's camera has the best low light performance, the best aperture (2.0) and better/more useful features. Mega pixel counts don't count for a whole lot most of the time!
-having options with removable batteries is nice but not essential. Micro USB cables are dirt cheap and i have them plugged in /ready to go everywhere i am through out the day/night. Topping off the juice is easy and a no brainer when the phone is going to be sitting idle anyway like during my commute home.
-the features Samsung is talking about for the S4 may sound nice but if my experience with the S3 is any indication then half of those features will be buggy or stuff your not likely to use. Samsung has alot of work to do in that regard, they need to improve /stabilize the features they already have.
-screen size is barely larger, it lacks the color reproduction and most importantly the brightness factor that comes into play outside on a sunny day. The HTC ONE kicks *** in that department!
-SD cards are great but, as I discovered with my S3, are just another extra I can easily live without much like removable batteries. I put a 32GB card in my S3 and soon realized just how much these phones can hold. Bottom line, if the 64 GB version is not enough space then someone needs to clean out their phone.
-multi colored led are nice but the led in the ONE serve the purpose so no big loss there.
-many if not all the accessories you mentioned are, or soon will be, ready for the ONE as well and judging by the popularity of this phone it won't be far behind the S4 in available ROMs either.
When I considered, along with these other things, the much better build/design, the less intrusive skin that is sense 5, the better screen, the more useful and less gimmicky features and the fact that the HTC brought something fresh and new to the table then the ONE was an easy choice to make!

 

[juststart]

How is battery life compared to the N4? Looking to possibly switch to the One or S4.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Android Central Forums

 

[kolyan2k]

Can't have those accessories for One, there is no back cover. All reviews I read said camera is better on S4 not because of 13 mp but because its just better (actually one of the best in current phones), and as far as screen goes they also commented that S4 is easier to see outside in sun. Also 0.3 doesn't sound much, but to me Note with 5.5 is HUGE vs my 4.7 screen and thats only 0.8 difference. One also has the same notification led as One S (which I used for a while) had, and while its a very nice design, you can't even see it from angles....I love how they made it on Nexus 4....I hope its something similar on S4

 

[Topgonzo]

How is battery life compared to the N4? Looking to possibly switch to the One or S4.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Android Central Forums

I've had my one since Friday. 2 full charges. It seems I'm getting over 12 hours with pretty heavy use. It's new so I'm on it a lot. Some YouTube, web browsing, BlinkFeed and texts, calls. Seems like I get great battery life so far.

Sent from my brilliant HTC One

 

[Topgonzo]

So far today.

Sent from my brilliant HTC One

 

[kolyan2k]

Yeah, if you are sold on S4 then go and buy one. Other people have different needs / tastes - it is a good thing.

For example, everything you have mentioned is not important / critical to me:

4.2.2 - Kudos to Samsung on this. But compared to 4.1.2, there isn't any killer feature I am going to be missing.
Camera - I prefer low light performance. For some reason, when I feel compelled to take a photo the lighting has generally always been bad. Moore's Law maybe?
Battery / Removable - Again, kudos to Samsung on this. But like most people, I have never bother buying a replacement battery. And I charge my phone daily at the end of the day which the ONE will make comfortably under moderate usage.
Features - Air View, Air Gesture, Smart Pause and Eye Scroll right? If these features came default with Android, I would disable them immediately because they would annoy the hell out of me.
Multi-color hidden LED? - Nice touch, not important to me though.
Accessories - The only accessories I might need is a case and a car kit. I can get both for the HTC ONE.
Kernel source - Not important to me, also HTC ONE's kernal source is also available.

I am not saying everything is useful. I don't care about many things as well....battery, SD card, those air features.....that's not important to me. 5'' screen that's easier to see in sun, better camera in day light, more durable and more practical material, notification led.....that stuff I need. One of the reason I want to switch from N4 is the stupid glass back. I like caring a phone without bulky case, can't do that with N4....One is better of course but still that AL will dent and scratch.

Its not that S4 has huge advantages, its that it has many small ones.

 

[So Cold]

I know this probably isn't a thing for most people. But I just can't stand it when everyone around me is using the same phone!

From a practical sense it's nice, if I want to share a pic with a friend I can just use s beam and done.

But as is said before I could care less how many other people have the same phone as me. I would rather just get the best phone available regardless if everyone or no one has it. Never understood that argument

Sent from my Note 2

 

[So Cold]

I am not trying to make an argument. I am just stating my personal preference. Nothing more, nothing less.

Fair enough.

We'll see if the one sells well enough that it may become common place and no longer as unique. And even if this was your only reason for selecting the one over the s4 the one is quite the phone to "settle for".

Sent from my Note 2

 

[yankeesusa]

I just held and tried phone at best buy. Tried the boom sound and it was really good. Overall it's a very sturdy, smooth and great phone. If I hadn't jumped into the note 2 and didn't like all the different features that Samsung puts in their phones I would probably have gotten this phone. If my wife was due up for an upgrade I would sell her iPhone and get her the htc one. One thing I can say, the material and design surely beats any phone out there and although I haven't held the s4 just due to the anodized metal I would say it will probably beat it in feel also.

Sent from the Beast that is Galaxy Note 2

 

[So Cold]

I make all my choices based on an emotional gut respond.

And then I rationalise my decision afterwards to justified my choice.

And then I go on tech forums to argue with people who made different choices to me so I can feel more secure in my 'rational' choice.

Sounds like standard operating procedure lol.

In all seriousness though, hope you enjoy the one. The screen is amazing

Sent from my Note 2

 

[justinnowak]

Just picked mine up this evening, coming form a Nexus 4 as well (and a Note 2) and I will agree with your points. The build quality is amazing and the screen is fantastic!

 

[vwarp]

Nice post. I too am an iPhone user (currently 4s) but a tech junkie, and secret android fanboy. I really love android but left after 2.3 because of instability. I needed a very dependable phone as my main driver, so tried out the iPhone (albeit reluctantly) and well got comfortable. But that Android thorn in my side would not go away, and I think Android has come a long way since 2.3. I am up for a renewal in a few months and I am considering the Nexus or the One. I love the One, but I am concerned only about the camera. I have a amateur phone photography thing going on with my 4s, though older, takes some pretty good pictures. I have heard or seen conclusive evidence of the HTC One?s ability in that regard. I take daylight pictures. Can I hope it?s daylight ability is as good as any?