Text and photos by Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla
I've had some time to catch my breath and fully digest the HTC One launch in New York yesterday and here are my thoughts and first impressions on what was revealed.
The Launch
In terms of porduct launches, HTC's One launch was preceded by many of the expected elements leading to a big launch. The early leaks and product renders may have been unintentional but the teasers, as well as well as hints on the new features, dropped like breadcrumbs all over Facebook and Twitter and generated a lot of interest. Well played HTC.
The event itself was one of the more intimate launches I've attended in a while. The venue was small, the stage was tiny and all the product demo areas where neatly shrouded away by black curtains. The press in attendance were given ample space to work and HTC thoughtfully provided Ethernet cables as well as a pretty strong WiFi connection.
As for the presentation itself, it didn't detract from the usual formula. Launch product, drill down on features, show video of designers talking about inspiration and manufacturing, bring in content partners and run some demos.
After the presentation, we were ushered in to the hands-on area, where dozens of HTC Ones were bolted to security displays (so you could check them out but were limited in movement by the anti-theft devices).
There were very few untethered HTC Ones available for hands-on and only a handful of people giving demos. The lighting in the venue wasn't optimal for good video or photos, so most of us did as best we could given the conditions.
The One
Let me just get this out of the way. HTC really, really wants to build the perfect smartphone.
They've poured in a monumental effort with this device and the results are quite remarkable. In terms of flagship Android smartphones right now, the HTC One really raises the bar in many ways.
So, they named it the One. The singular, the long awaited, the prime and alpha. The HTC representative who was kind enough to do my demo video (see above), said that it was like this phone has been in the making for 12 years. Having owned a few HTC smartphones through the years, I know where they're coming from.
The HTC One is the culmination of HTC's various features developed in-house. It has the unibody design and zero-gap construction with some curvature (first seen in the HTC Legend and borrowing from the HTC One X), it brings a fresh update of the Sense UI (which has been around forever), it brings photography on smartphones to a higher level with the super sensor and introduction of Ultrapixel technology that lets more light in for enhanced photography even in low light conditions.
The new BoomSound frontal speakers are an evolution of HTC's involvement with (and part-ownership of) Beats Audio. From my limited time with the devices, they did seem surprisingly loud for such a slim device.
HTC's BlinkFeed is like the Flipboard news and media aggregator but more focused on the visual aspect of streaming news and social media updates, it also borrows a bit of 'flow' from Windows Phone's tiled layout. HTC Zoe isn't a Siri competitor (but c'mon, Zoe would have been a killer name for a voice assistant!) but a new dynamic video and photo generator. Don't know who told HTC that users 'needed' this, but I guess it is cool to have. Don't know if it will be a major factor in wanting this phone.
The IR Remote feature and Interactive TV Guide is just a genius move. Such a cheap add-on in terms of smartphone components yet it makes the device all that more useful.
Backed by a smooth interface that makes navigating TV programs easier, this could be a big feature for HTC who can say they pioneered the feature although Sony is expected to include something simlar in their next smartphone.
In terms of specs, the HTC One now reigns supreme over many flagship devices. The Snapdragon 600 quad-core processor is clocked at 1.7GHz and is backed by 2GB of RAM and it is running Android Jelly Bean and Sense UI.
32GB and 64GB capacities are generous and should now be the standard for all smartphones of this caliber. The 4.7-inch Full HD 1080p display is one of the best I've seen on any device and the 468 PPI (Pixel Per Inch) pixel desnsity blows everything else out of the water, including the iPhone 5.
This is seriously a huge step forward for smartphones, specially given the 137.4 x 68.2 x 9.3mm dimensions and the light 143g weight. While pricing and availability hasn't been announced as of yet, we know that this will be a hot seller at Rogers, Bell and TELUS when it comes out sometime in March.
So, HTC has built a new, near perfect smartphone for 2013. Knowing their M.O., this is the first of many (expect an HTC One running Windows Phone sometime soon).
Is it enough to stoke the fires of HTC desire among Android users? Ask me again in a few weeks after the big dump of releases from Mobile World Congress has been announced, since those devices (Samsung Galaxy SIV, Motorola X) and the next iPhone in June, are really what the HTC One will be competing against in the coming months.
The HTC One proves once more that massive innovation is taking place in the mobile space and that a mix of kickass hardware and thoughtful software can merge to create seamless solutions that every user will appreciate.