I picked up an HTC One a week ago and thought I'd share my random thoughts for anyone who's curious or who's been a traditional blackberry user thinking of switching. These comments pertain both to the HTC One and Android vs Blackberry in general.
The GOOD:
-The phone is the most gorgeous looking electronic device I've ever seen and felt. It literally looks like space-age aluminum and it feels cold, solid and well built without feeling heavy.
-The screen is huge, vibrant and immaculate. I don't think I'll ever go back to physical qwerty keyboards again... I love the screen real estate too much.
-Getting used to the typing wasn't as bad as I thought. I downloaded swiftkey which is simply amazing. The autocorrect and predictive typing is very robust and the "swipe" typing is remarkably fast and pretty accurate although I probably won't rely on it too much.
-Performance is super fast, crisp and very responsive. Multitasking does not slow the phone down whatsoever and I can routinely have 6-7 apps open at once without feeling a lag.
-The sound quality is freaking AMAZING - both on speakerphone and with headphones on (it comes with Beats by DRE earbuds as well). Seriously... it doesn't sound like a big deal but the sound quality on this phone is infinitely better than any sound I've ever heard on a compact device.
The BAD:
-This is something that never really hit me when I was using my blackberry but it is very apparent now. The blackberry was designed for efficient one-handed use - from a physical size, keyboard and a user interface perspective. This is VERY handy for business people like myself who are often traveling or doing things with one hand while holding a phone. "One-handing" an Android device is not very feasible for many reasons - the phone is too big, the touch screen doesn't offer the tactile feeling of a keyboard, and the UI is designed for two-handing. This is probably what I miss the MOST about my blackberry... now I have to stop what I'm doing to put both hands on my phone if I want to get anything done that's remotely more complex than making a call.
-As expected, the gorgeous screen and enormous processing power take up huge battery life. With moderate use (50-60 emails a day, 4-5 calls, texting, browsing - no video or music), my phone will last a day on one full charge (which is all I need), but it definitely won't last beyond that unless I'm in meetings all day and barely use it. This is something I can live with since I charge every night anyway, but on days of heavy use, I can see myself having to charge twice a day which is annoying since my old blackberry could go 2+ days on a full charge.
-The phone is physically HUGE... I'd say it's about 60% larger than my blackberry. Doesn't fit nicely into my pockets and definitely weighs down a bit. More importantly it will be a bit of a hindrance for people with smaller hands because they will have to literally move their hands to stretch their thumb from the bottom to the top of the screen. This may sound silly but trust me - it is annoying if you're used to being able to access any part of the screen with a single thumb on your old blackberry bold.
It's not for everybody and I can see why many business guys (especially the older ones) love their blackberries and will never relinquish them. For me though, the browsing and multimedia experience is so much better that I'm happy to make these trade-offs even if it means slightly lower productivity.
Did I mention I love the look and feel of this phone?!?! I considered the Galaxy S4, but I played with my buddy's and I can honestly tell you the HTC One blows it away.
The GOOD:
-The phone is the most gorgeous looking electronic device I've ever seen and felt. It literally looks like space-age aluminum and it feels cold, solid and well built without feeling heavy.
-The screen is huge, vibrant and immaculate. I don't think I'll ever go back to physical qwerty keyboards again... I love the screen real estate too much.
-Getting used to the typing wasn't as bad as I thought. I downloaded swiftkey which is simply amazing. The autocorrect and predictive typing is very robust and the "swipe" typing is remarkably fast and pretty accurate although I probably won't rely on it too much.
-Performance is super fast, crisp and very responsive. Multitasking does not slow the phone down whatsoever and I can routinely have 6-7 apps open at once without feeling a lag.
-The sound quality is freaking AMAZING - both on speakerphone and with headphones on (it comes with Beats by DRE earbuds as well). Seriously... it doesn't sound like a big deal but the sound quality on this phone is infinitely better than any sound I've ever heard on a compact device.
The BAD:
-This is something that never really hit me when I was using my blackberry but it is very apparent now. The blackberry was designed for efficient one-handed use - from a physical size, keyboard and a user interface perspective. This is VERY handy for business people like myself who are often traveling or doing things with one hand while holding a phone. "One-handing" an Android device is not very feasible for many reasons - the phone is too big, the touch screen doesn't offer the tactile feeling of a keyboard, and the UI is designed for two-handing. This is probably what I miss the MOST about my blackberry... now I have to stop what I'm doing to put both hands on my phone if I want to get anything done that's remotely more complex than making a call.
-As expected, the gorgeous screen and enormous processing power take up huge battery life. With moderate use (50-60 emails a day, 4-5 calls, texting, browsing - no video or music), my phone will last a day on one full charge (which is all I need), but it definitely won't last beyond that unless I'm in meetings all day and barely use it. This is something I can live with since I charge every night anyway, but on days of heavy use, I can see myself having to charge twice a day which is annoying since my old blackberry could go 2+ days on a full charge.
-The phone is physically HUGE... I'd say it's about 60% larger than my blackberry. Doesn't fit nicely into my pockets and definitely weighs down a bit. More importantly it will be a bit of a hindrance for people with smaller hands because they will have to literally move their hands to stretch their thumb from the bottom to the top of the screen. This may sound silly but trust me - it is annoying if you're used to being able to access any part of the screen with a single thumb on your old blackberry bold.
It's not for everybody and I can see why many business guys (especially the older ones) love their blackberries and will never relinquish them. For me though, the browsing and multimedia experience is so much better that I'm happy to make these trade-offs even if it means slightly lower productivity.
Did I mention I love the look and feel of this phone?!?! I considered the Galaxy S4, but I played with my buddy's and I can honestly tell you the HTC One blows it away.
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