Verizon HTC One Review: Premium Design and Powerful Performance
The Verizon HTC One, released in 2013, was one of the best Android smartphones of its time, known for its premium design, exceptional display, and great audio experience. HTC’s flagship device offered a sleek aluminum body, powerful hardware, and a smooth Android experience, making it a top competitor in the crowded smartphone market.
Design & Build
The HTC One stood out for its premium aluminum unibody design, which gave it a high-end look and feel, compared to the plastic builds of many of its competitors. Its 4.7-inch display size made it compact enough for one-handed use while still offering a large enough screen for media consumption. At 143 grams, it was relatively lightweight for its size, and its curved back made it comfortable to hold.
The Verizon version kept the sleek design intact, though with subtle branding. It came in a silver and black finish, adding to the sophisticated aesthetic. The build quality was excellent, and the phone felt durable in hand, with Gorilla Glass 2 protecting the screen.
Display
The HTC One featured a 4.7-inch Super LCD3 display with a 1080×1920 resolution and a 469 ppi pixel density, making it one of the sharpest displays at the time. The Full HD resolution resulted in incredibly crisp visuals, making it ideal for watching videos, browsing, and gaming. Colors were vibrant, and the display had excellent brightness and viewing angles, making it a standout feature of the phone.
Performance
Under the hood, the Verizon HTC One was powered by a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 processor clocked at 1.7 GHz, paired with 2GB of RAM. This provided smooth and fast performance, handling multitasking, gaming, and demanding apps with ease. Whether browsing the web, switching between apps, or playing graphic-intensive games, the HTC One delivered a fluid and responsive experience.
The phone came with 32GB of internal storage, but like most HTC flagships of the time, it lacked a microSD card slot for expandable storage. This might have been a drawback for users who needed more storage for media and apps.
Camera
The HTC One introduced the UltraPixel camera, a 4MP sensor with larger pixels designed to capture more light. While the 4MP camera might seem underwhelming compared to higher-megapixel competitors, it excelled in low-light photography, producing clear and detailed images in dark environments. However, in well-lit conditions, photos lacked the sharpness and detail offered by higher-resolution cameras from competitors.
The camera app came with features like HTC Zoe, which captured short video clips alongside photos, creating dynamic galleries and allowing users to relive moments with a combination of images and motion. The front camera was 2.1MP, adequate for video calls and selfies, though not particularly remarkable.
Audio
One of the standout features of the HTC One was its BoomSound stereo speakers, located on the front of the phone. These dual front-facing speakers, combined with Beats Audio, provided loud and clear sound with deep bass, making the HTC One the best smartphone for audio at the time. Whether watching videos, playing games, or listening to music, the audio quality was impressive and far superior to most smartphones.
Battery Life
The HTC One came with a 2300mAh non-removable battery, which offered decent battery life. Under moderate use, including browsing, social media, and watching videos, the phone lasted a full day on a single charge. Heavy users, especially those utilizing data-heavy apps or gaming, might have needed to recharge by the end of the day. HTC’s Power Saver mode helped extend battery life by reducing performance and limiting background data usage when needed.
Software
The Verizon HTC One ran Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean with HTC’s Sense 5 UI on top. Sense 5 added a sleek, minimalist look to Android, with features like BlinkFeed, a customizable home screen feed that displayed news, social media updates, and other content at a glance. Sense 5 was lightweight and didn’t overwhelm the user with bloatware, providing a smooth and intuitive experience.
Verizon’s version did include some carrier-specific apps, but they were minimal and didn’t heavily impact the user experience.
Connectivity
The Verizon HTC One supported 4G LTE, providing fast internet speeds on Verizon’s network. It also included Bluetooth 4.0, NFC, Wi-Fi, and an infrared blaster, allowing the phone to double as a remote control for TVs and other home appliances.
Conclusion
The Verizon HTC One was an excellent smartphone in 2013, offering a premium design, stunning display, and fantastic audio performance. Its UltraPixel camera was innovative, especially in low-light settings, although it wasn’t the best for detailed shots in daylight. With its powerful quad-core processor and smooth Sense UI, the HTC One delivered a top-tier smartphone experience for users who wanted style, performance, and great multimedia capabilities.
Its only real downsides were the lack of expandable storage and its average battery life, but for most users, the HTC One was one of the best Android devices available, especially for Verizon customers looking for a reliable, high-performance smartphone.