While we brace ourselves for a string of new, powerful and large-screen smartphones to be announced at MWC 2013 Barcelona, HTC has taken the lead in taking the wraps off its biggest launch of the season, the “HTC One”.
HTC One will essentially be competing with the new range of smartphones- the Samsung Galaxy S IV, Sony Xperia Z and a bunch of other phones from manufacturers like Huawei and even the rumoured next version of the popular Google Nexus.
We pit the HTC One against its sibling, the HTC Butterfly, the BlackBerry Z10, the recently launched Sony Xperia Z and the existing bunch of flagship phones announced during 2012 – the Apple iPhone 5, LG Google Nexus 4, the Nokia Lumia 920 and the very popular Samsung Galaxy S III.
| | HTC One | HTC Butterfly | Sony Xperia Z | BlackBerry Z10 | Apple iPhone 5 | Nokia Lumia 920 | LG Google Nexus 4 | Samsung Galaxy S III |
| SoC | Krait 300 – Qualcomm APQ8064T chipset | Krait – Qualcomm APQ8064 chipset | Krait – Qualcomm APQ8064 chipset | Krait – Qualcomm MSM8960 chipset | Apple A6 | Krait – Qualcomm MSM8960 chipset | Krait- Qualcomm APQ8064 chipset | Cortex-A9 Exynos 4412 Quad chipset |
| Cores | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 |
| Clock Speed (GHz) | 1.7 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.2 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.4 |
| RAM (GB) | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Display Size | 4.7 | 5 | 5 | 4.2 | 4 | 4.5 | 4.7 | 4.8 |
| Display resolution (pixels) | 1920 x 1080 | 1920 x 1080 | 1920 x 1080 | 1280 x 768 | 1136 x 640 | 1280 x 768 | 1280 x 768 | 1280 x 720 |
| Display type | S-LCD3 | S-LCD3 | LCD – Reality Display | LCD | LED-backlit IPS LCD -Retina | IPS LCD | IPS Plus LCD | Super AMOLED |
| Pixel density (Ppi) | 469 | 441 | 443 | 355 | 326 | 332 | 318 | 306 |
| Graphics | Adreno 320 | Adreno 320 | Adreno 320 | Adreno 225 | PowerVR SGX 543MP3 | Adreno 225 | Adreno 320 | Mali-400MP |
| Internal Storage | 32GB / 64GB | 16GB | 16GB | 16GB | 16GB / 32GB / 64GB | 32GB | 8GB / 16GB | 16GB / 32GB / 64GB |
| Expandable memory? | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes |
| Primary Camera | 4MP UltraPixel | 8MP | 13.1MP | 8MP | 8MP | 8MP | 8MP | 8MP |
| Battery | 2300mAh | 2020mAh | 2330mAh | 1800mAh (user removable) | 1440mAh | 2000mAh | 2100mAh | 2100mAh |
| Platform | Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean | Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean | Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean | BlackBerry 10 | iOS 6.1 | Windows Phone 8 | Android 4.2.1 Jelly Bean | Android 4.1 Jelly Bean |
HTC will be offering two variants of the One – 32GB built-in storage and 64GB internal storage. However, there will be no card slot for memory expansion. This is pretty much in line with the One X and the One X . The Butterfly had impressed with the expandable memory option, over and above the 16GB internal storage. The BlackBerry Z10 comes with 16GB built-in storage, and a memory card slot to increase that by a maximum of 64GB. Apart from the Galaxy S III, none of the other flagships offer a memory card slot.
We are hearing that Dropbox has an official app for BlackBerry 10, so that is an added bonus. The One’s 32GB version may feel a little light in terms of storage space in the long run, if you really want to utilize the display for videos and Beats Audio for music.
Quite frankly, we are disappointed that HTC did not deem it necessary to send the phone out with the latest version of the Android operating system on board. The One will come out of the box with Android 4.1.2, and it is believed that the 4.2 update is in the works and should be released soon. There is no doubt that you will spend a lot of money to buy the HTC One, and that just adds to the disappointment.
We are hearing that the HTC One will arrive in India next month. No word on the pricing yet, or the exact date of launch. Do stay tuned for updates on that.
