HTC One
AT&T branded, unrooted, & unlocked
Had it for over over 5 months. I had anticipated for this phone as far back as Feb-March of this year but didnt get it until May 24th.
Still love it but it has its quirks.
- Battery life is about the typical Android smartphone average of 5-6 screen time use.
- Can play Plants Vs Zombies 2 for only 3 hrs and it can heat up to 112 degrees after 20 min of playing.
- Camera pix is very poor even in low light with ISO at 200. UltraPixel is all hype. Just turns on the contrast to bring in more artificial lighting.
- Zoe Gallery can lag sometimes esp if you rotate it to landscape and a few minor bugs and choppiness with the video highlights if it isnt HD quality resolution.
- Voice quality and speakerphone can be choppy at times.
- Carrier branded Androids don't update as fast.
- While the screen is excellent, I find 1080p screens as a bit overkill as videos in that resolution are negligible to 720p vids viewed in a small screen and it takes up more memory and battery life.
But it is still great at other things like watching movies, texting using SwiftKey, BlinkFeed, browsing, video/sound recording, fast downloading, and excellent music phone. And it is arguably the best-looking smartphone ever made. Phone design perfection like this comes once every 3 years. As much as I like the design of the Huawei Ascend P6, it tried to copy the iPhone 4 in design and the curved buttom sides can peel off. And the Lenovo K900 has the logo peeling off in the back.
Was thinking of getting the Nexus 5 but the design is so plain Jane and the Snapdragon 800 is not a huge step forward from the 600. It is a 7.5/10 in looks at best like the LG G2. I hate how the camera protrudes like the Nexus One had and it isnt much of a headturner front and back. The name Nexus should be horizontal like the N4 had. The build quality screams midranger like the Xperia ZR. I think the Nexus 4 looks sleeker even with a crack & fingerprint prone back.
The iPhone 2G, iPhone 4/4s, and HTC One are true 10/10 in pure design. My old Nexus One is about a 9.5-10 because of comfort. Nexus 4 and iPhone 5/5s are about a 9/10. Xperia Z's are abt 8-8.5 with the Z1 looking the best even if a bit too big and wide for a 5-incher screen. The Galaxy S and Notes are abt a 7-8. Those Lumia 800's/N9's looked abt a 9/10 to me at first back in 2011 until Nokia played out that polycarbonate look.
My next phone is picking up a cheap non-LTE Nexus 4 on Craigslist for under $150 even with that fragile glass back. Forget the Xperia ZR or Nexus 5 for $350-$400 or the Huawei Ascend Mate or P6 for free with a $25 per month contract for 24 months. Nexus 4 seems the most cost efficient way while still letting me experience KitKat and having a slick-looking backup phone with a good enough SoC. I currently cant update my HTC One to 4.3 because I'm in another country so I'll be stuck at 4 hr charging time on 4.1.2 even longer. Damn carrier-branded Androids! We are at the mercy of the carriers if we dont plan to root. Gotta go Nexus if I want my official updates.