We've had a brief hands-on with it, but I'm going a bit more in-depth with HTC's newest flagship smartphone, the HTC One, at Mobile World Congress 2013. It's one of the most beautiful Android smartphones made to date, with a metal housing that encompasses all of the phone. It's packing Android 4.1 Jelly Bean with HTC Sense 5, and with features like HTC Zoe and BlinkFeed, it's an entirely new course for the smartphone manufacturer. The hardware is incredible and the software is refreshing.
Among my favorite features:
Build quality
I can't say this enough. The HTC One is the most beautifully designed Android smartphone I have ever worked with, if not the most beautiful smartphone period. The metal and glass appearance almost screams premium, and is an incredible win for the Android ecosystem.
HTC Sense 5 and BlinkFeed
While I'm a big fan of HTC Sense overall and think it plays a very important role in the consumer mobile space, I've historically preferred TouchWiz (in its latest Nature UX version) over it due to some of the software value adds and ease of use. Despite cutting back from Sense 3.5 to Sense 4, HTC's overlay has always given off somewhat of a bloated feel. In Sense 5, I find that most of the remaining bloat has been cut, and combined with the improvements, I'm eager to see how it performs.
BlinkFeed is an interesting idea that I think will do very well in the consumer space. We're all looking to find a way to quickly glance at our information, and HTC has integrated it into the OS well.
UltraPixel camera and HTC Zoe
Don't let the low megapixel count fool you; the camera on the HTC One is exceptional. I've had quite a bit of hands-on time with it in various conditions, and it performs incredibly well. HTC Zoe is an interesting proposition that brings the gallery to life. As a non-professional photographer but a person that takes a ton of pictures, the feature intrigues me and I'm wondering how it will integrate with my personal photo taking style
Is this your next smartphone? Let me know in the comments!