June 8, 2012… I wrote my last post about Android and the Evo series of phones. While I never thought I’d be going back to Android after experiencing Windows Phone, and especially the Nokia Lumia 925, I found myself given an opportunity to give it a go again with the One by HTC. First off, let me clarify that I have an M7, so it’s not the latest or greatest Android powered monster, but what I can say is Droids got quite a bite smoother over the last 2 years.
Two years ago, I kissed Android goodbye. for the greener pastures of Windows Phone. It was cleaner, ran smoother and honestly, the App Gap just didn’t matter to me. My love for HTC devices carried through my Windows Phone days though with a few different HTC devices being my daily drivers. Ultimately, Nokia’s excellent software bundles won me over and I went from the Lumia 900 to a Lumia 810 and finally a Lumia 925, All three of them did what I wanted my phone to do, social media, great cameras and were just buttery smooth everyday. Then HTC happened again.
My boss was upgrading his Droid Maxx on Verizon and had his upgrade narrowed down to the HTC One M8 and the Nokia Icon. I posted on Twitter to Nokia that they needed to get me an Icon ASAP to let him test-drive, and who reached out to me first? HTC did. The grand folks at HTC Developers (and yes we go back a ways) sent over this lovely device to show how smooth their Sense 5.5/6 OS was and how powerful the camera was. The camera was an area of major concern as the “4MP” branding is pretty scary to look at when you compare it to the 20MP Icon, but the One shined in that department.
The 4UP and yes, I used the UP rating for the UltraPixel definition for this one, shoots most situations very well. It does remarkably well in closer action than distance stuff, but even landscape shots turn out nicely. I probably won’t say it will out due my Lumia 925 in lowlight either, but It does a decent job overall. Colors are accurate, clarity is good and the interface is FAST! From lock screen to photo in an instant and snapping shots is even faster.
HTC also built a few new modes into the camera. There are quite a few tricks to it and I don’t want to get in to all of them, but the most amazing one is the Zoe function. Zoe basically shoots a 3 second “video” of your subject, then uses those images to stitch together a video of them. It almost looks like a stop animation film. It’s a very cool effect.
Moving onward to a few other features, I find it necessary to mention that your HTC One can function as a TV and cable box remote. Yes, it sounds a bit strange, but HTC has a mega software App built in to this that will tell you what’s on, when it’s on and change the channels for you. It’s pretty spectacular. Now being a cable cutter, I don’t really see the need for it, but if you have 200+ channels of fun and need a way to stay organized, HTC TV is the way to go.
Since I covered the camera already, the other function that I use my device for heavily is music for my walk to the office. My Nokia was great for this with Nokia Mix Radio, which gave me a free stream download every morning to check out. I don’t have this for the HTC One, but I do have Beats, and Beats sounds good. Actually, Beats Audio sounds superb. Clean, clear and plenty of thump when needed is the only way to sum up the audio quality with this device. I do miss my free playlist every morning, with Google Music I can make playlists online and have them offloaded to my One for listening later. It’s not quite the same, but it is close enough for now.
Overall, so far I am very impressed with how Android has grown up. It almost reminds me of the direction that Microsoft has taken with Windows Phone 8.1. I guess I will see where I am in a week or so and see if the One is really the One or if I am heading back to my Nokia Lumia and the comfort of Windows Phone.
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