HTC One wows with stunning design, premium parts (hands-on)
In a bold attempt to steal thunder away from other phone makers ahead of Mobile World Congress next week, HTC just announced its HTC One flagship handset. Unveiled simultaneously at two glitzy press events in New York and London, the new HTC One is packed to the rafters with top-notch components and technologies including some of the latest processing gear Qualcomm can muster. The device isn’t merely technically advanced, but is lovingly crafted from premium metals, too, leaving no doubt that the Taiwanese smartphone manufacturer has placed considerable blood, sweat, and tears into this handset.
Design
Rectangular, flat, and extremely thin, the HTC One is practically all screen. Its 4.7-inch (1080p) LCD display uses what the company calls SoLux technology for improved picture quality and generates 468 pixels per inch (ppi). This, says HTC, helps the One’s screen to boast the most impressive viewing experience of any phone it has ever created. Since the display is slightly smaller at the same resolution, the One’s screen has a denser pixel count than the Droid DNA(5-inch, 440 ppi).
Indeed I can verify that the One’s display has plenty of impact with vibrant colors, wide viewing angles, and plenty of brightness. Details also look extremely crisp. Just how this device’s screen measures up against the best mobile displays from Samsung and Apple, however, remains to be seen.
HTC also makes a big deal about the One’s all-aluminum chassis, describing it as using a zero-gap unibody design. Indeed, available in hues of black and silver, the handset feels sturdy, has reassuring heft, and its smooth metallic skin exudes high-end craftsmanship. HTC also took pains to point out that while the thin white trim encircling the silver model I manhandled appears to be plastic, it is in fact metal
