The excitement of which smartphone will be #1 in the coming weeks is building here at the PhoneDog offices. The LG G2 gained ground last week moving into third while the new Apple iPhone 5s and 5c are on their way to the Official Smartphone Rankings along with the Samsung Galaxy Note 3. Can the mighty HTC One hold them all off? Only time will tell!
"HTC One: The Most Complete Smartphone Package Ever Made" By ELIJAH OBASANYA on September 12, 2013
Ok where to begin. I've had previous amazing smartphones in the past (iphones, galaxy S3, etc) but this is definitely special. In all honesty, its the best phone experience i've ever had.
Lets get the obvious points out of the way. The build quality, what more is there to say? BOOM sound, both with and without the headphones, is amazing.
The screen consistently amazes me with its sharpness. Some people say, if you switch phones, you can't really notice, but oh yes. Yes you definitely can. That full 1080p lcd display with the insane 469 dpi is something that i'll miss when going to another phone in the future. Because I doubt any upcoming phone in the near future matches it. And the camera experience (both the quality, AND the features), are simply second to none in my opinion. I absolutely love the highlight feature, it brings my gallery to life. I also love how it can automatically turn things into events. And the battery life has been EXTREMELY underrated in my opinion. I average around 14 hours with moderate use for the day, to put that into perspective, thats from 8am to 10pm. Which is simply amazing. It might have something to do with that power saver feature, or the efficiency of blinkfeed, which I will get into.
Now onto the inside of the phone. It is smooth. Extremely smooth. No lag, or errors, or force closes. But my favorite thing about the phone from a performance and software standpoint DEFINITELY has to be blinkfeed. I cannot overstate this enough. I honestly thought I would hate it due to every reviewer automatically dismissing it from the start. But I gave it a shot, and I absolutely LOVE it. I honestly thought about the process in 1 or two years of switching to another phone. And I truly dread using another phone again.
And here's why. I wake up every morning, check my notifications (calls, texts, etc.) and head out of the house. During my commute, ALL of my time goes to blinkfeed. It combines facebook, twitter, and other social networking apps, along with major news sites, and appointments and events for the day, all into one active feed. If I want twitter only, I set it to only show twitter posts. If I want CNN articles only, I set it to only show CNN articles. If I only want tech, gadgets, science, or world news, I merely change it to do that. I can also post to those sites from blinkfeed if I want. I honestly haven't entered the facebook, or twitter app, or browsed ign, cnn, huffington post, cnet, the verge, or any other news/ media related website on my phone browser in weeks. It simply makes my phone experience a much quicker and much more efficient way of using my phone. So I honestly dread having to go back to a phone that forces me to go to all of those different apps and websites to attain everything important for the day. It honestly seems like a drag that I hope to avoid at all costs.
So for all htc One users, I say this, give blinkfeed another try again. Sync your facebook twitter, etc. Set the websites you like and visit somewhat regularly. And set the topics to only show the things YOU would want to see. Use it for one single day, and then decide whether or not you want to keep using it. Trust me, if you like it, it'll drastically reduce the wasted amount of time you spend on your phone. If you don't like it, you can go back to near stock android, and nothing changes for you.
So in conclusion, the HTC One in my mind has the best sound, best screen, and the best build quality. And a great camera matched with a great camera experience. Coupled with a feature that makes my early morning and late night calendar appointment, daily news and social media review, much more efficient for me through a busy day. And to top it off, it has above average battery life.
Yes. Its EASILY the best phone i've ever used. And there is absolutely no doubt in my mind about that.
10 / 10
Display 5/5
Battery Life 5/5
Apps & Media Support 5/5
Reception & Call Quality 5/5
Design/Form Factor 5/5
Overall 5.0
