That's understandable.
But, hmmm... if you've trapped yourself into Apple proprietary services like that, why did you even try a non-Apple device that has zero chance of ever running those?
Genuinely curious!
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HTC One, from an iPhone 5 owner.
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That's understandable.
But, hmmm... if you've trapped yourself into Apple proprietary services like that, why did you even try a non-Apple device that has zero chance of ever running those?
Genuinely curious!
Well, because I like to try all new things.
I'm not going to deny myself awesomeness just because I like a few apps. In this case, though, I might deny myself (at least for the time being!)
Sure you can..the HTC One X and X+ screen is easily as good as the iPhone 5 screen even with a slightly lower PPI. The Xperia S also had a higher PPI than the iPhone 5.
OP, I realise you haven't used the One for TOO long, but can you give an impression of the camera?
I used an iPhone up until the 4, then I moved to a Galaxy S2, and for the past year have been using a Galaxy S3. Until about 48 hours ago I was set on the Galaxy S4, but all these glowing reviews of the One have made me take notice.
The one thing that makes me hesitant is the camera. I understand the 'Ultrapixels' make low light performance better, but 4MP is still a very small size, especially when I like to take really quality pics when I don't always have my DSLR on me.
Basically what I'm asking is - how well does the One perform in outdoors/well lit conditions?
I used an iPhone up until the 4, then I moved to a Galaxy S2, and for the past year have been using a Galaxy S3. Until about 48 hours ago I was set on the Galaxy S4, but all these glowing reviews of the One have made me take notice.
The one thing that makes me hesitant is the camera. I understand the 'Ultrapixels' make low light performance better, but 4MP is still a very small size, especially when I like to take really quality pics when I don't always have my DSLR on me.
Basically what I'm asking is - how well does the One perform in outdoors/well lit conditions?
I can't give a final word on the camera. Actually, I'm a photographer so pq is very important to me (I shoot a 5D MKIII). From taking a few photos outside, to me it looked like the HTC One had some excellent low-light picture quality. However, when I took the exact same photo with the iPhone 55 (I had both phones side by side last night), the picture was much more heavily exposed on the iPhone 5. This gave a somewhat false impression that the iPhone 5 images are noisier than the One because of the higher exposure bringing out more noise. I'll have to beg my neighbor to let me borrow his phone for a while longer and do some real comparisons.
I shoot with a Nikon D4 normally - so I appreciate proper pq as well
My S3 does a great job for everything except low light (which is fine, I don't really shoot a lot of low light on my phone), and I hear the S4 is a big improvement over lit photos, but not much better for low light, so I'm curious to see how the One fares in well lit conditions.
That doesn't help if all your family has iPhones.
Well, Google is supposedly planning support for an iOS version as well. But like any other third party messaging app, the trick is getting them to use it. The advantage iMessage has is that it falls back to SMS if the other phone isn't an iPhone. If Google could somehow do the same thing (ie. send an SMS if the device isn't signed into Babel), it would be great as it sound like it'll be much more full featured.
Right. And that's exactly where Apple succeeds. Same with FaceTime. It just works. I don't know anyone who uses other video chat apps with the ease of FaceTime.
I just want to chime in about SwiftKey and Swype. For the past few months, I have been using SwiftKey as it has really blown me away. I've always been a physical, landscape slider keyboard user. When I had to upgrade and there were no decent keyboard phones available, I suffered for months on a touchscreen until I tried SwiftKey. I now conceed that SwiftKey on a touchscreen is better than my physical keyboard (without SwiftKey).
Swype just came out of beta this week for Android, so I tried it as well. While I had SwiftKey, I would use SwiftKey Flow in portrait. I primarily use SwiftKey in landscape to thumb type. Swype in portrait is better than SwiftKey Flow in portrait. Text prediction is about the same, but Flow does not let you choose an alternate word if Flow does not predict my word. Instead it tries to predict the next word. Swype gives you other word options if the word it predicted was not correct.
I feel I am fairly proficient with both SwiftKey and Swype, so I did a typing test with both. Using SwiftKey in landscape while thumb typing, I can type 22 wpm. Using Swype in portrait, I can type 17 wpm. The accuracy with both keyboards is the same (100%).
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That doesn't help if all your family has iPhones.
I've been using WhatsApp. It is cross platform as people I know have iPhones and Androids.
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I've been using GTalk and Google+ Hangouts. I can video chat from my Android phone with my wife who has an iPhone (using VTok). Google+ Hangouts also allow multi-way video calls across different platforms and devices. I run a hockey pool with people who cannot all attend in one location. Two people are in 2 different countries and one person had to babysit. I can use my phone or PC.
Just purchased my HTC One and I have to admit, it is one hell of a phone. Having had every iPhone since, it was ridiculously hard for me to get the balls to even consider switching. I have numerous Apple products in my house and am writing this review on my rMBP so I have invested a lot in the Apple ecosystem. However, the One still drew me in and I have to admit, I am not disappointed at all. Their app store is robust enough to the point where I don't miss all of the iOS exclusive games. The screen on this phone is absolutely amazing. The 1080p screen is something that needs to be seen to believe how nice it is. It is definitely nicer than the iPhone 5 in my opinion.
I thought that Android OS would be a nightmare as I have heard horror stories in the past, but surprisingly Sense 5 makes Android smooth and very easy to manage. I think this is due to Sense 5 as I still don't like TouchWiz on the Samsung phones. Personal preference I guess.
There are some things I do miss from my iPhone.
1) iMessaging - I know this may be something that is dumb to miss but I do have a lot of group iMessages that I do not get anymore on my phone. This along with the emojis from iOS are things that I miss but will learn to live without. (If anyone can figure out how to integrate the emojis from iOS into Android, please respond to this! I want to keep my SwiftKey keyboard installed. Thanks!)
2) I miss the integration with a lot of devices that are made for iDevices. However, due to the lightning connector on the iPhone 5, most of those devices did not work with my phone anyway. Nothing bluetooth can't solve, but of course, the HTC One has bluetooth that works better than my iPhone 5 did (mainly with Entune in my Toyota).
All in all, I am very happy with this device. I think this is a game changer. I was really worried that Apple would come out with a phone that had a bigger screen to compete with these Android devices, but after hearing Tim Cooks comments about screen size, I don't see that happening in the near future. In that case, when the iPhone with a bigger screen comes out, I may switch back. But for now, I am greatly satisfied with my HTC One and would recommend it over any Samsung phone and any other Android device for that matter.
I still love the iPhone 5 but as of now, the HTC One is the phone to get.
I hope this review was helpful! (Also, first post
Welcome to android.
while you may like facetime/imessage proprietary stuffs, it''s better to use a 3rd party multiplatform technology. something like whatsapp, or skype. the benefits of using them is you can switch devices/platforms with minimal efforts. that's why proprietary stuffs are bad.
have you heard of google voice? it's free, unlimited texting. since you already have data plan, you dont need any extra texting plan.
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That doesn't help if all your family has iPhones.
Tell them to install WhatApp, it's not hard.
Yes, it is. It's poorly designed in terms of sleep/wake, because it can only be turned on by pressing said button. The home button will not turn on the device, which is a serious misstep and makes one-handed use for a right handed person impractical.
Design isn't just aesthetic, and because if this issue, not to mention the home button is off center because of the HTC logo, I find the claims of the One being well-designed to be jumping the gun.
And then confusion will arise from texting with one app, messaging with another etc. With iMessage it all just works.
Yeah and.......
Do you think that resolved the issue?
Well it only does so if you get all your friends and family to move to android too. Babel won't work with iMessage, so how does it resolve the issue for those worried about losing it.
WhatsApp may solve a lot of issues with cross platform but getting older family members to utilise another messaging app after they are so used to default, plus they will probably still need to use the default messaging still for other texts etc... Can be messy.
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Actually I was thinking one area button placement on the HTC makes better sense design wise is the volume rocker.
If you put a flip case on the HTC one you can adjust volume without having to open the case.
On the Samsung GS4 if you use a flip cover in order to change volume you actually have to open the case because it blocks the access to the volume buttons.
So in that way that too seems badly positioned too.
Sometimes if I'm listening to music via headphones and want to adjust volume I like to reach into my pocket and press volume rocker. On the GS4 if I opt to use a flip case I won't be able to do so, I'll have to pull it out of my pocket, open the case and then press volume.
So yeah, practicality wise for me personally I prefer button position on the One generally.
iMessage is quite handy, so I imagine that the OP simply misses it. Yes, one could use other apps - everything from Skype to Facebook. I have WhatsApp, Skype, Facebook etc. but really things have been so much easier since all of my nuclear family and some of my extended family have started using Apple machines.
I don't need help with this.
It's just that I'd feel like kind of an arse by switching to Android and making my entire family get new apps because of my decision! Is that not super selfish of me?
Ok change of topic... I still have my iPhone 5 and the things I miss are some cydia tweaks like "dismiss keyboard". I don't like pinching in and minimizing my screen after I'm done swiping just to find the "submit reply" button since there's no button on my keyboard that says "done" to make it go away.
The one thing I'm loving with my ONE it's that the screen is a perfect size with nice vivid images just like on my iPhone 5.
The one thing I'm loving with my ONE it's that the screen is a perfect size with nice vivid images just like on my iPhone 5.
Should i get the HTC One after the 4S??
If you're in love with Apple, and are deeply embedded in the Apple ecosystem, no. If you're not, then the One might be a good choice. Go play with it and see how you feel.
I don't need help with this.
It's just that I'd feel like kind of an arse by switching to Android and making my entire family get new apps because of my decision! Is that not super selfish of me?
No
My biggest gripe with the HTC One is the slow charging rate. HTC must have quick-charge disabled.
Generally a slower charge preserves the battery integrity longer. So pluses and minuses to slower charging.