Why should former HTC users care about the One?

[tekhna]

I'm a former HTC fan. I've owned 4 HTC phones, back to WM days. Let's just say the Thunderbolt and Rezound left a sour taste in my mouth. Phones halfway to brilliant, left out in the cold by miserable battery life. Dismal battery life. And a host of other more minor issues, but that's not worth enumerating. I now own a GS3 and I'm totally happy--the screen could be better, the Rezound has it beat on that front hands down, but what's the point of a great screen if the battery is garbage?

From what we've seen trickling out, battery is a concern. If true, this is beyond inexcusable. If there's any question about battery life, this phone is an abject failure, and will be rejected out of hand. Sense still exists, unfortunately.

On the plus side of the ledger, HTC makes unlocking simple, the screen looks fantastic, and the design is lovely. AND HTC finally got the memo that producing ONE phone is a damn good idea. This company is beyond obtuse.

So what does the HTC One bring to the table that should convince former users they're worth trusting again? Frankly, life with Samsung is pretty good. Great dev support, loads of accessories, excellent battery life. So why should I come back home?

 

[smooth3006]

i agree 100% with what you have said. i also owned many htc's back in the day. evo4g, tbolt, rezound, dinc2. all had miserable battery life. that's my only concern.

 

[TheLibertarian]

Well, the specifications have been fairly well publicized since February, here's a refresher of what the device offers:
http://m.androidcentral.com/htc-one-official-metal-chassis-1080p-screen-ultrapixel-camera


Side note: How can battery life be a concern when the device isn't even released yet? It's the largest battery HTC has offered in a phone, I can't imagine it would be worse than current offerings.

 

[tekhna]

Well, the specifications have been fairly well publicized since February, here's a refresher of what the device offers:
HTC One gets official - metal chassis, 1080p display, 'Ultrapixel' camera | Android Central


Side note: How can battery life be a concern when the device isn't even released yet? It's the largest battery HTC has offered in a phone, I can't imagine it would be worse than current offerings.

Because HTC has absolutely no credibility when it comes to building a phone with functional battery life. Because there's a screen with an enormous number of pixels that need power. Because the best predictor of future performance is the past, and HTC has dug itself a deep hole with me, and other former owners.

 

[Matthew Merkle]

I can get over 3 days out of my EVO 4G LTE if I'm on wifi, and I could get about 2 days out of my old EVO 4G near the end of its life.

This is running with mostly stock roms (aka, with Sense), no fancy tricks, kernels, or whatever. Only rooted for running specific apps.

You can get good performance out of these phones.

 

[smooth3006]

I can get over 3 days out of my EVO 4G LTE if I'm on wifi, and I could get about 2 days out of my old EVO 4G near the end of its life.

This is running with mostly stock roms (aka, with Sense), no fancy tricks, kernels, or whatever. Only rooted for running specific apps.

You can get good performance out of these phones.

there's no way you get 3 days on that phone. heck i don't even get that on my note 2.

 

[fernandez21]

The batterylife on the One X was awesome. It could last me two days if I tried. It was written about in all the reviews, not sure why everyone forgets. And the One has a 500mah bigger battery with a screen the same size. I withhold true judgement until I use one day in and out, but all indications are it should be at least average and possibly excellent.

And if batterylife is your main concern, you should get a Motorola.

 

[tekhna]

The batterylife on the One X was awesome. It could last me two days if I tried. It was written about in all the reviews, not sure why everyone forgets. And the One has a 500mah bigger battery with a screen the same size. I withhold true judgement until I use one day in and out, but all indications are it should be at least average and possibly excellent.

And if batterylife is your main concern, you should get a Motorola.

Lol, Motorola.
But more seriously, battery life is NOT my main concern, but I've been conditioned by HTC phones to expect the worst, to the point where it has to be the main concern now.

 

[Matthew Merkle]

there's no way you get 3 days on that phone. heck i don't even get that on my note 2.

Proof here:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/awpb0hk70seyd2u/2013-03-04 15.17.51.png?dl=1

Full disclousure: battery was at 2% when that was taken, and I did charge it for about 5 minutes to regain about 5% of battery life near the end (you can see this in the graph). Either way, still way over 3 days even with that consideration.

 

[tekhna]

Proof here:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/awpb0hk70seyd2u/2013-03-04 15.17.51.png?dl=1

Full disclousure: battery was at 2% when that was taken, and I did charge it for about 5 minutes to regain about 5% of battery life near the end (you can see this in the graph). Either way, still way over 3 days even with that consideration.

Turn off the wifi and turn your screen on more than once a day and get back to me. Your screen was on for what, 25 minutes over the course of three days? Less? Any phone can get three days of battery life with the wifi on and 25 minutes of screen-on time.

 

[Matthew Merkle]

Turn off the wifi and turn your screen on more than once a day and get back to me. Your screen was on for what, 25 minutes over the course of three days? Less? Any phone can get three days of battery life with the wifi on and 25 minutes of screen-on time.

A. I even stated my claim was with wifi on. Don't make this into something it's not.
B. No, the screen was on for multiple hours over the course of the the charge. Keep in mind you're looking at over 84 hours on that graph. Based on pixel math, it was on ~2 1/2 hours. Which seems about right.

Sure I get less battery life when on 3G, but I'm still getting a full (read: more than 24 hours) day's worth out of it even then. If you insist on proof of THAT, it'll have to wait until I can get a chance to benchmark that. It takes a while to set up a time for that.

 

[tekhna]

A. I even stated my claim was with wifi on. Don't make this into something it's not.
B. No, the screen was on for multiple hours over the course of the the charge. Keep in mind you're looking at over 84 hours on that graph. Based on pixel math, it was on ~2 1/2 hours. Which seems about right.

Sure I get less battery life when on 3G, but I'm still getting a full (read: more than 24 hours) day's worth out of it even then. If you insist on proof of THAT, it'll have to wait until I can get a chance to benchmark that. It takes a while to set up a time for that.

Screenshot showing ~2.5 hours screen-on plz.

 

[Matthew Merkle]

Screenshot showing ~2.5 hours screen-on plz.

Seeing as I don't have a time machine, you're more than welcome to do the pixel math yourself off of the graph (678 pixels wide, 8 minutes per pixel (678 / 84 hours) of Screen on). Otherwise, I'm not terribly interested in running my battery all the way down to 2% again over the course of 3 days just to satisfy your doubts. If you don't want to believe it, don't.

 

[TheLibertarian]

Because HTC has absolutely no credibility when it comes to building a phone with functional battery life. Because there's a screen with an enormous number of pixels that need power. Because the best predictor of future performance is the past, and HTC has dug itself a deep hole with me, and other former owners.

I say again, you're wondering what the allure of this device is when it hasn't even been released yet. All you have are the specs, and (again), you can see the battery is the largest HTC has produced in this era of smartphones. So the logical assumption would be the battery will be improved over that of the DNA. If the past is a predictor of the future (which is just plain silly in the world of technology), I'd take a solid look into the DNA/Butterfly. Terrific device, average battery, similar specifications.

So when you ask why former HTC users, or anyone, should care about this device, you merely need to investigate the specifications of the product to understand the potential here.

I have a Nexus 4, which I'm wonderfully content with, but IMHO this looks like it may be the best device in 2013. Obviously, in March, my statement is a huge longshot, especially on the eve of the GS4 launch, but in my mind I would be stunned to see a manufacturer produce a better looking device; it's downright gorgeous. The aesthetics combined with a 1080p screen, Snapdragon 600, Adreno 320, and a battery that is only bested in size by the RAZR line or "phablets."

 

[tekhna]

I say again, you're wondering what the allure of this device is when it hasn't even been released yet. All you have are the specs, and (again), you can see the battery is the largest HTC has produced in this era of smartphones. So the logical assumption would be the battery will be improved over that of the DNA. If the past is a predictor of the future (which is just plain silly in the world of technology), I'd take a solid look into the DNA/Butterfly. Terrific device, average battery, similar specifications.

So when you ask why former HTC users, or anyone, should care about this device, you merely need to investigate the specifications of the product to understand the potential here.

I have a Nexus 4, which I'm wonderfully content with, but IMHO this looks like it may be the best device in 2013. Obviously, in March, my statement is a huge longshot, especially on the eve of the GS4 launch, but in my mind I would be stunned to see a manufacturer produce a better looking device; it's downright gorgeous. The aesthetics combined with a 1080p screen, Snapdragon 600, Adreno 320, and a battery that is only bested in size by the RAZR line or "phablets."

Buying an HTC phone isn't buying specs. It's buying a future that's better than the last two or so years. Why should we buy into that future?

 

[TheLibertarian]

Buying an HTC phone isn't buying specs. It's buying a future that's better than the last two or so years. Why should we buy into that future?

Uh, 1) it's a hardware upgrade, and 2) there are numerous devices to chose from, so if the One is not for you, pick another "future" that you want to "buy into."

I honestly don't know where you're going with this. Look at the available information regarding the device. If that interests you, buy it, if not, move on. You seem to be making the entire shopping experience much more than it is.

 

[IAmSixNine]

Thats because you didnt have the GS1 or 2.
Samsung really let us down with borked GS1 updates, I was on Sprint so my Epic 4G had lots of problems.
Then the GS2 aka Epic Touch came out and one of the updates actually killed GPS for many users. Some of the updates even bricked phones. I resorted to cusom Roms for both those phones.
The OG EVO and EVO 3D werent as bad. You came along, GS3, at a time when they figured it out and produced a better hardware device and kept up somewhat with software while HTC started to lag with their updates.

 

[chronic illusionz]

Coming from the Thunderbolt (which had TERRIBLE battery life) to the RAZR Maxx (the best), I still have a bit of concern going back to another HTC. I want to give the One a try so so so so bad but I'm worried if it will even last me a day.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

 

[Rizz1-2]

I would have no problem picking up a One. I get great battery life out of my DNA, and the new sense seems fine to me. Still undecided on blink feed though, that is something I would need some hands on time with. Of course it doesn't matter since I'm on verizon. Just my 2c though.

 

[Jaimeg123prmt]

The batterylife on the One X was awesome. It could last me two days if I tried. It was written about in all the reviews, not sure why everyone forgets. And the One has a 500mah bigger battery with a screen the same size. I withhold true judgement until I use one day in and out, but all indications are it should be at least average and possibly excellent.

And if batterylife is your main concern, you should get a Motorola.

That's the problem...you have to try. You have to avoid using your phone. I like to use my phone without worrying about my battery use; without having to disable all kinds of things just so that my phone can last through most of my day. Screw that, I like to use all the features of my phone. What's the point of having a smartphone if you cannot use it as is?