After months of rumors and leaks, the HTC was finally unveiled today at a press event in New York City this morning. HTC put a lot of thought and work into their next smartphone which they’re considering to be a device that is busting at the seams with premium quality.
The HTC One is the first device manufactured by HTC to use a matte aluminum finish, and it definitely gives the device the sense of premium the company was going for. The device feels great in the hand and is light, but it can slip easily around your hand due to the matte aluminum finish. The sides of the device have a white thin plastic as well as a portion of the back that offers a nice break in the all aluminum phone. The plastic outline also helps in catching onto your hand so the phone doesn’t completely fall out of your hands. Aside from the occasional slipping, the HTC One doesn’t feel like most phones would as the brushed aluminum really feels slick in your hand.
BlinkFeed helps bring the content that’s most important to you to your home screen, although when I went to access stories I was interested in, the stories would not be able to load. I’m not sure if this is due to an issue BlinkFeed has pulling stories, or the wireless connection at the press venue, but ultimately, I was unable to read any stories during my hands-on time. Switching between topics of interest was as simple as pulling down on BlinkFeed and selecting what I want to hear about, for example, only my Facebook updates, sports, world news, etc. I could also post to my social networks directly from the home screen without needing to launch the application.
The HTC One’s ultrapixel camera is capable of producing some impressive images, especially when combined with the in-app photo and video editor. HTC Zoe is also a neat feature on the HTC one that can help you make a moment into a memorable one as you’ll be able to take photos and video which can then be mashed up with different visual filters and music. Zoe can be accessed directly from within the camera application as it’s one of HTC One’s many camera-related features.
The internal specs of the HTC One weren’t announced during today’s event, but I noticed no matter what I did, the device was able to keep up with no noticeable lag across any of the applications I accessed. The screen also produced some beautiful visuals as photos, videos and web pages looked dynamic and rich in color.
The HTC One is expected to be released in late March on AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile, but hopefully our hands on time with the device has whetted your appetite enough for the wait to be somewhat bearable.
Filed in . Read more about Hands-On, HTC and HTC One (M7).