Today it’s been tipped that the HTC marketing team have decided to strip away all the extra nonsense from the name of their next hero device, calling it simply “HTC One.” This naming scheme would have the device take on a brand new level of “hero” mode with a similar strategy to that of Apple when they decided to call the iPad 3 “the New iPad”, with each subsequent iPad simply retaining that one top name. This tip surrounds the device known as the HTC M7, a smartphone that’s been leaked several times before today by several sources including the CEO of HTC himself.
With the source of this bit of information being @evleaks, a notoriously accurate leaker of details for quite some time now, we’re inclined to believe it. Now we have only to figure out what HTC plans on doing with the other two (or so) devices it may or may not be releasing in the imminent future. This naming scheme doesn’t leave a lot of room for errors, that much should be clear right out of the box.
This HTC M7 or “HTC One” device will keep with HTC’s strategy revealed approximately one year ago when they first introduced the HTC One line to the world at Mobile World Congress. This year it would seem that they’ve separated themselves from the big MWC 2013 conglomeration of releases with an event set for the 17th of this month – better separate than lost in the fray. With the HTC One, the company will push their hero strategy to the limit with an all-in sort of attitude and a collection of features that make for a singular “this is the one you want” sort of presentation.
The HTC One (aka M7) will be bringing a high-powered display and processor to team up with a next-generation camera and audio experience without a doubt. What we’ve seen in leaks and tips thus far leads us to believe that a multi-lens camera system will be paired with a quad-core processor of some type or another with a display that’s more dense than any HTC smartphone has ever been before. Stick around and see!
This week the folks at HTC have created a rather interesting “Brief History of Photography” timeline in which they tease a “new sound and camera experience” for 2013 – but isn’t that what they did last year? Have a peek back at the original announcement of HTC ImageSense and the HTC One X to see how both photography and superior sound quality (with Beats Audio) were pushed at Mobile World Congress 2012. Fast-forward to 2013 and we’ve got HTC once again claiming to bring on both next-level sound and photography. It seemed pretty great back then, will it seem great again here one year later?
Of course that’s only one way of looking at the situation. Another would be to see that HTC’s smartphone sales didn’t exactly do as planned with the most recent quarterly earnings report showing sales down by a significant margin. HTC has even gone so far as to mention inexpensive smartphones for 2013 across markets such as China for a main strategy throughout the immediate future.
So what would HTC need to bring to the market to push their new line of high-end smartphones lead by the device known (at the moment) as the HTC M7? They’d need to deliver a rebranding of camera and sound technology as we know it. As Apple used the term “Retina” to let the world know they’d be going above and beyond the market’s then-current “best” in display resolution, so too must HTC re-brand excellence in their cameras and speakers.
The tip we heard this week about Ultrapixel cameras in smartphones from HTC may not be that far off from the truth. The tip was that HTC would bring a set of three camera sensors effectively stacked one on top of the other to create photography that has multiple sets of data for each pixel. The result would be photos more sharp and color-correct than any we’ve seen on a smartphone or tablet before.
And what about the speaker situation? It may just be that HTC has amped up their friendliness with the Beats brand or that they’ve done away with them altogether. The final result will be louder speakers, forward-facing speakers, or more “futuristic” sound delivery through wireless technology. The final result in the HTC One series over the past year was the Beats logo sitting on the back of each handset and not one whole heck of a lot more, when it came down to real-world use.
Now we wait (until the February 19th big event) to see if HTC can make another wild impact on the industry like they claim they’ve done in the camera history lineup they’ve posted today. Have a peek at the set in the gallery below and let us know how many of these devices you’ve owned or found yourself lusting over as they were released over the past several years.
As we await the final reveal of the HTC M7 smartphone it’s been tipped that the device will be the first in a line of devices from the company to use the term “Ultrapixels” instead of megapixels. This rebranding of the camera technology used in smartphones will signify a new way in which HTC is working with sensors, here using three 4.3-megapixel sensors instead of one single 13 megapixel sensor. This rebranding will make certain consumers won’t mistake what at first seems to be a 4-megapixel camera for something less than it actually is – a new generation in smart device camera technology.
This tip comes from PocketNow where they say they’ve confirmed the fact that Ultrapixels will be the way of the future for HTC. Where last year the company pushed their next-generation HTC ImageSense chip as a hero feature for their HTC One smartphone lineup, this year it’ll be all about Ultrapixels.
The HTC M7 has been suggested to be coming with three 4.3-megapixel sensor layers one on top of the other, this combined to create an end image thats clearer than any photo at that size has ever been before. The resulting images won’t be 13 megapixels large (wide and tall), but will be a next-generation solution with three sets of data representing a single pixel. Each bit of data will be intelligently “combined” together to grab a final image that’s both extremely accurate and sharp.
This system will go into direct competition with the technology Nokia uses in their PureView-toting smartphones as well as the top smartphone camera sensors in the market. While we’ve seen some impressive results from each of the top contenders over the past few months, it’s still appeared to be mainly up to taste when it comes to final results. HTC may be changing the game with literally sharper and more color-corrected end results – here’s hoping!
It would appear that HTC has sprung a bit of a leak ahead of their February 19th event that’ll likely play host to the devices we’ve seen today, including first and foremost the HTC M7! While the details surrounding the M7 are still largely unknown, a video has surfaced of none other than HTC’s CEO Peter Chou showing the device off to a crowd of users at the HTC Year-End Party in Taipei, going on to help the party chant “M7! M7! M7!” while he takes photos with the smartphone itself.
This video shows Chou showing the device off in a silver edition as well as a white edition, each of these devices appearing to be smaller than the previously rumored 4.7-inches (display-wise). This device will likely make its appearance at the February 19th event along with the other two HTC One devices leaked today. Each of these machines will take the place of the HTC One lineup showed off for the first time last year at Mobile World Congress 2012.
The other two devices that’ve been leaked today come from @evleaks at Unwired View, the first of them being the HTC M4. This device will be appearing with a 4.3-inch display that’s 720p resolution with a 1.2GHz dual-core Snapdragon processor under the hood. That seems awfully similar to what we saw last year with the HTC One S, mind you, this time coming with 2GB of RAM, a 13 megapixel camera on the back with f/2.0 and 1080p video recording abilities, and a 1.6 megapixel camera on the front. Inside you’ll find a 1700mAh battery and Android Jelly Bean.
On the low end of this spectrum comes the HTC G2, this machine bringing in a 1.0GHz ARM cortex processor (single core) with a 3.5-inch HVGA display. This device is clearly meant to take on the inexpensive side the the market with 4GB of internal storage, microSD card slot, rear camera at 5 megapixels, 512MB of RAM, and Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. This HTC G2 will likely take on the name HTC One G2 to differentiate between itself and the original G2 from a couple of years ago.
Sound like an exciting lineup to you? Stick around our HTC tag portal and our tag for Mobile World Congress 2013 to make sure you’re on top as it all comes down!
In just about as bright a shade of red as is possible in a presentation of an image on the internet, the HTC One SV has appeared for Cricket Wireless. We reviewed a device rather similar to this by the name of HTC One VX carried by AT&T (or the SV in the UK), here we’ve got a contract-free HTC One device with many of the same benefits of its larger, more impressive cousins, with no obligation to pay for data each month.
This machine will cost you a cool $349.99 with no contract involved and will be rocking out with a 4.3-inch Super LCD-2 display up front and a lovely red back – we must imagine that this device will come in more than one color in the end, but for now, red is more than a beast! You’ll be working with a microSD card slot, NFC capabilities, and a 1.6 megapixel camera on the back.
The camera is, like the rest of the HTC One family, ever so slightly enhanced over the commoners of the smartphone universe. This device’s front facing camera has backside illumination as well as an f/2.2 lens, while the back-facing camera also has backside illumination with an f/2.0 lens. You’ve also got the ability to record up to 1080p video with the backside camera.
Inside you’ll be working with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich with Sense 4.0 over the top. This machine will be offered up by Cricket Wireless with its 4G LTE network, this not exactly being the most extensive network in the United States at the moment, but growing steadily nonetheless! You’ll find that every data plan you get with this machine comes with unlimited messaging and unlimited voice, staples in our forward-looking mobile universe.
HTC recently made their case for a top-tier handset back in November, with the DROID DNA boasting the highest-resolution display of any smartphone. However, in order to balance out its offerings, HTC has a new budget-friendly handset in town. The One VX is the company’s latest mid-range smartphone added on to their One series of devices, and priced at only $49 on AT&T’s network (after signing a two-year contract, of course), we simply had to get our grubby little hands on this device to see what it’s capable of. Does it provide value to entry-level minded customers without sacrificing a lot in terms of features and performance? Let’s find out.
Hardware
The One VX sports a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 dual-core processor clocked at 1.2GHz with 1GB of RAM, and 8GB of internal storage (expandable via microSD card slot). Overall, this is pretty typical of a budget-friendly device, and while we would’ve liked to see at least 16GB of built-in storage, we can’t really complain about the fact that it comes with a microSD card slot, a feature that a lot of other phones are neglecting.
The display of the One VX is a 4.5-inch Super LCD 2 screen with a qHD resolution of 960×540. The combination of the screen size and resolution makes the display less sharp than more premium 720p devices such as the One X+ — the One VX has a pixel density of 245 PPI, compared to 312 PPI on the One X+. Regardless, text showed up fairly crisp, and images and videos were sharp as well. So, while the display may not boast HD status, it’s certainly something that you can write home about.
The overall design of the phone is reminiscent of HTC’s other devices in the One series. It is a One device, after all, but its budget status doesn’t show through with its design. It sports an elegant shape, with rounded edges and a smooth and sturdy band of silver-painted plastic trim that surrounds the outer edge. The AT&T logo above the screen is subtle, and three capacitive buttons (Back, Home, and Recent Apps) line the bottom of the bezel just like HTC’s other One handsets.
On the top, there’s the usual headphone jack and power button, while the volume buttons are situated on the right side, and the microUSB is centered on the bottom, right where we like it. Flipping the phone over will reveal the matte white battery cover with the HTC logo in the center and the Beats Audio logo towards the bottom, right above the speaker. However, while the back cover is removable, allowing you access inside the phone, the 1,800mAh battery is irreplaceable — taking the back cover off only gives you access to the SIM card slot and the microSD card slot.
There’s definitely not a lot to complain about as far as the design goes. It certainly doesn’t look like a budget-minded device, and its build quality feels really solid. Smaller hands might have a bit of trouble holding the device — as with any 4.5-inch-and-higher device — but we can’t see that has too much of a hindrance on the overall experience.
Software
The One VX runs Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich with Sense 4.1 running on top (surprise, surprise). Therefore, there’s nothing terribly new, but it still packs all of the lovable personalization options and polished widgets that are typically found with HTC’s custom user experience. Beyond that, it’s a little unfortunate to find the One VX running ICS out of the box, as opposed to Jelly Bean, but we should be seeing an update roll out sooner or later for the device.
Because the VX runs the older ICS software, you won’t be able to enjoy newer features such as Google Now and improved notifications, as well as some of the new performance enhancements, but for those who don’t mind not having the latest software versions, we can assure you that ICS on the One VX runs like a charm, and you’ll still have the same great features that come with HTC’s Sense UI, like custom widgets and social integration of all your contacts, if you’re into to that kind of thing.
Camera
While 5MP certainly isn’t anything special, some people may actually find that the camera suits them well, but a majority of users will probably want to stick to their dedicated cameras. Provided that there’s enough lighting, you’ll be able to get some decent shots. However, if you’re picky enough, you’ll be quick to point out its faults. Brighter areas seem to get washed out a lot, and darker areas don’t seem to get a lot of attention depending on where the light is coming from. HDR mode helps that a little, but it’s only good if you have time to spare, since snapping an HDR photo takes a little bit longer to pull off.
However, even with adequate lighting, there can still be a lot of noise that shows up in photos. It really depends on the circumstances, but I was quick to notice that even in broad daylight, ISO noise was still a problem, and it ruins an otherwise great photo.
Video recording at 1080p was fairly decent, although it had trouble with re-focusing, and the exposure took a little long to adjust when going from light areas to dark areas, and vice versa. It records macro fairly well, though, and doesn’t have too much of a problem with focusing in on small, detailed areas. In the end, the camera works in a pinch, but it’s probably not worthy to replace your main point-and-shoot camera at this point.
As for the camera app itself, it’s the same as HTC’s other offerings, and it’s easily one of my favorite camera interfaces of any device. The photo shutter button and the video shutter button are side-by-side so you don’t have to switch between the two. There’s also quick access to real-time filters and effects that you can apply to both photos and videos. The settings menu is also really intuitive and easy to navigate, and it lets you change settings that would otherwise be cumbersome to change on other handsets.
Benchmarks & Performance
In everyday use, the One VX offered mostly snappy performance. Apps opened quickly, and I was able to page through home screens without hesitation. It’s not as buttery smooth as, say, the One X+ running Jelly Bean, but the difference will be negligible to the layman, and most people wouldn’t notice a difference when using the VX by itself.
The 1.2GHz Snapdragon S4 CPU in the One VX turned in some respectable benchmarking results. For example, it scored a 9,600 in AnTuTu, right on par with the last-generation flagship Galaxy S II from Samsung, and beating the Galaxy Nexus by a good length. In Quadrant, it scored just over a 5,250, edging out the One X, but is way behind when compared to the One X+, which scored over 7,000. Putting the phone through some real-world graphics testing in the form of Asphalt 7 proved to be successful. Low framerates were practically nonexistent — something that I can’t say with many other budget handsets.
Battery
The One VX comes with a 1,800mAh battery, which is a bit less than the 2,000mAh that smartphones are currently moving up to, but thanks to the slower-clocked processor, the lower capacity wasn’t really a problem. In total, I easily went almost two full days before the battery dipped below warning levels, and this was from casual web browsing and surfing Facebook and Twitter, while also checking email on occasion. On the second day, however, I ended up doing quite a bit of gaming and watching TV shows on Netflix. The battery took a larger hit that time around.
One of the more interesting aspects, though, was how big of a hit the WiFi was on the battery. Usually the screen is the biggest culprit in most cases, and rightfully so, but WiFi laid the biggest smackdown on the battery, claiming 32% of resources. Then again, battery life didn’t suffer one bit, and not in a second would we consider this an issue. It took me a good couple of hours of continuous use before I noticed any kind of huge knock on the battery, so that’s definitely saying something.
Wrap-Up
The One VX offers a balanced ratio between price and performance, and while it’s classified as just a budget device for those cash-strapped consumers looking for a good deal, the One VX will provide the experience of a top-tier handset — it looks and feels like a top-of-the-line HTC device, and it performs about as great as you’d expect from a flagship smartphone, with only a few setbacks that few will grumble over. If you’re not willing to shell out money for the One X+ or Galaxy S III, the One VX will surely make you happy for only $50.
At the start of 2012 the folks at Google were seeing their beloved Android mobile operating system being used on more iPhone clones than we’d care to discuss – near the turn-over to 2013, big manufacturers like Samsung and HTC have made their own hero lines the likes of which Android has never known. What we saw in 2012 was recognition of the model that has worked for Apple extremely well since all the way back in 2007 – a focus on the ecosystem rather than on the individual specifications of any one device. This will continue in a very big way through 2013 with manufacturers holding up a single torch – like the Motorola RAZR brand – to keep themselves lit up brightly.
Motorola will continue to produce devices exclusive to Verizon with the DROID RAZR name attached: this branding has kept them in the limelight for the past couple of years. Samsung will stick with the Galaxy branding (as they have for more than just a couple of years) and will continue to run with the branding (and with the iPhone mocking) through the foreseeable future with both the Samsung Galaxy IV and the Samsung Galaxy Note III. HTC brought the fire in 2012 with their HTC One series (starting with the hero HTC One X) but didn’t exactly see the massive sales they’d hoped for – because of this, HTC’s strategy for 2013 remains a bit hazy.
LG made two fantastic decisions – or were granted the ability to go through with them, however it ended up going – the first being a team-up with Qualcomm for the Snapdragon S4 Pro quad-core processor for their Optimus G smartphone. While they’ve not reported extensive numbers for the sales of this machine quite yet, it’s clear that the ultimate victory was the modified version of the handset in the Google Nexus 4. This machine has most of the features that the Optimus G does, but rounds its corners and makes its Android perfectly pure with a Google-only vanilla flavoring – this means that LG didn’t modify the software for their own, just Google. Because of the feature set and the surprisingly low cost off-contract this device came with (though a T-Mobile version does exist, mind you), it’s been a massive hit (or supply blunder, however you want to see it) compared to the rest of the Nexus devices Google has released in its lineup history.
In 2013 we’ll continue to see the change-over from a specifications race in hardware to a more solid offering in software with brand ecosystems at the heart of the race. Samsung took this battle to heart in 2012 with the Samsung Galaxy S III – see the Chris Davies article by the name of The Galaxy S III is Samsung’s Coming of Age to see what this release was all about. More evidence that the Galaxy Note and S lines are doing stellar: the response to flip covers and TecTiles given away by the OEM for free.
Manufacturers aside, Google will be making at least one big unique push to stand out on their own as a force in mobile. Not just as a creator of Android will Google be pushing, but as a service provider for mobile devices. Google has confirmed their once-axed phone service plans already, and we’ve had Chris Davies’ column making it all too clear, as well: “A Google plan to kill carriers with wi-fi is all too believable”. Google won’t purchase T-Mobile as our good pals at [Android Community] suggest, they’ll continue to tie close bonds between themselves and wi-fi hotspot companies – or something to that effect – that’ll allow their smartphones to function completely independent of the mobile carriers.
The folks at AT&T have just released the HTC “budget” device known as the HTC One VX, a smartphone that by early 2012 standards would have been considered a top-tier machine. Instead it would seem that a dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 process and Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich as well as a fabulous 4.5-inch qHD (960 x 540 pixel resolution) Super LCD 2 display are not quite the top of the pack anymore. Because of this, you’ll be able to pick this device up for a mere $49.99 on a two-year contract.
Oddly it would appear that this device did not warrant much more than a silent ushering in to the store as HTC focuses its energies on the much more high-class HTC One X+ and it’s Verizon-bound DROID DNA. Here with the HTC One VX you’ve got a 5 megapixel camera, less than the standard 8 megapixels the top-tier expects, but inside you’ve still got the HTC One ImageSense chip that makes for next-level image processing completely aside from the Qualcomm processor’s built-in image savvy.
Inside you’ve got 1GB of RAM and a microSD card slot for memory expansion – good because this machine only comes with 8GB built-in storage. You’ll be working with the AT&T 4G LTE data network, there’s a VGA camera up front, and there’s an 1800 mAh battery inside as well. This device cis able to connect with Bluetooth 4.0 and DLNA as well as Wi-fi and weighs in at 4.37 oz – light!
This device is also available internationally, but has just hit the USA via AT&T this week. Have a peek at the device at your local AT&T retail location and let us know if you plan on picking it up!
In the smartphone universe you’re going to have some sorting to do starting with the carrier your gift receiver is working with. More than likely you’re a parent or a significant other if you’re purchasing a smartphone on-contract for that special someone, this meaning you’ve got a fair understanding of which carrier they’ll be working with. After that, it’s all about finding the best device for them based on their specific wants and needs.
The first and probably most obvious place your mind should be wandering to is the iPhone. With this Apple hero device landing on three major carriers with the launch of the iPhone 5, it’s almost a given at this point in our western society that a person wouldn’t mind receiving an iPhone as a gift. If your special someone is out of the iPhone universe specifically for one reason or another, you’ll want to head down one of two paths: Android or Windows Phone.
With Windows Phone 8 came the launch and relative re-birth of Nokia in an extremely vibrant and fun-loving wave of devices that hit most major carriers in the USA. The biggest and the best of these devices is the Nokia Lumia 920 which is exclusive to AT&T at the moment. After that you’ve got the Nokia Lumia 822 from Verizon, the Nokia Lumia 820 from T-Mobile, and more than likely one or two more additions to the Lumia line before the end of the year. Another heavy contender in this space is the HTC Windows Phone 8X carried by AT&T as well as Verizon and T-Mobile.
As for Android, you’ve got a fierce battle going on between lines and heroes, with four titans making up the entirety of our selections for best-of-the-moment. The most recent big-name drop has been the Google Nexus 4, one of two of LG’s recent beast releases. LG also brings on the Optimus G with AT&T 4G LTE, a slightly more high-powered version of the hardware brought on in the Nexus 4, both of them working with one of the most powerful processors on the market, the Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro. This Google hero phone is sold as a 2-year-contract-holding T-Mobile Nexus 4 and as a no-contract Nexus 4 sold online via the Google Play store – they’re both exactly the same device, just different prices based on data plan acceptance.
HTC came out swinging this year and didn’t let up all the way through to Fall with the HTC DROID DNA with Verizon 4G LTE, the current record holder for highest-definition-display on a smartphone. It’s backed up by the whole HTC One crew, leading off with the brand new HTC One X+ for AT&T, a a much more high-powered version of the original with a fantastic NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad-core processor in it – hot stuff! The original version is still out there as the HTC One X (without the +), exclusive to AT&T here in the USA. Next in line is the slightly smaller HTC One S carried by T-Mobile in the USA – this device has been upgraded to a much more awesome casing quite recently – a hot pick! The HTC One V is also floating around out there for those of you looking specifically for the HTC branding but not wanting to drop a ton of bills – though the One S is free at times, depending on when you’re shopping – good luck!
Motorola was purchased by Google earlier this year and since they’ve had that extra bump of influence, they’ve made some fantastic handsets that retain their hardcore hardware build and bust out with a newly refined user interface on the inside. The Motorola DROID RAZR M has one of the smallest bezels on the market, making it appear to be just a wickedly bright display sitting in the palm of your hand. The M’s bigger brother DROID RAZR HD sticks with the greatness that was the original DROID RAZR and boosts the processing power as well as the density of the display. The DROID RAZR MAXX HD crowns the collection with all that good stuff plus a massive, gigantic, beastly battery (and it’s still rather thin!)
Then there’s Samsung. If the person you’re buying a gift for doesn’t want an iPhone, chances are they’ll be entirely stoked to get either a Samsung Galaxy S III or a Samsung Galaxy Note II. The big difference is in the ultra massiveness of the Galaxy Note II, that and it’s build-in S-Pen for writing on the screen. The Samsung family of devices creates a friendly software and hardware compatibility ecosystem the lines of which you’ll only otherwise find at Apple – and that’s saying a lot. The Samsung Galaxy S III and the Galaxy Note II are available on most if not all of the major carriers in the USA and abroad – have a peek at the Galaxy S III here on Verizon as well as AT&T and T-Mobile. The Galaxy Note II we’ve also got several reviews of, hitting on the T-Mobile version and the Verizon version – and keep note that we’ll be taking another look at the Verizon version likely by the time this post is published to see how lovely its data speeds are – otherwise the differences between each of these devices on each carrier is relegated to the carrier-pushed apps and the costs inflicted upon your person. Also the Verizon version of the Note II has a massive beast of a Verizon logo on the front button – it’s fierce!
Another rather odd contender that will certainly surprise your gift-getter is the Nokia 808 PureView running Symbian – that’s not Android, it’s not iOS, and it’s not Windows Phone. This device also has a 41-megapixel camera – truly the most intense camera phone in the history of the world.
We reported earlier this month that the HTC One VX handset was scheduled for release on November 16. That day came and went, however, with the One VX nowhere in sight and no word on when it would be available. That’s all changed, however, with an AT&T spokesperson confirming that the handset is set to arrive on December 7.
The HTC One VX is a mid-range smartphone running Android Ice Cream Sandwich. The display is a cool 4.5-inch qHD panel with Gorilla Glass and 540 x 960 resolution. Inside you’ll find a 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 dual-core processor and 1GB of RAM. Graphics are Adreno 305, and there’s 8GB of internal storage plus an microSD expansion slot.
The camera is decent, with a 5-megapixel rear that can record video in up to 1080p. There’s an LED flash and autofocus, and it supports geo tagging, HDR, and simultaneous photo/video recording, among other things. There’s also a secondary camera on the front of the smartphone for video chatting; it has a VGA resolution.
Consumers will be able to grab the HTC One VX from AT&T for $49.99 with a two-year contract. The handset supports 4G LTE, and features HTC’s Sense interface. The combination of decent features, low price, and mid-range hardware make this a good choice for someone who wants a nice smartphone without shelling out too much cash.
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
