On Tuesday, after numerous leaks and rumors, Taiwanese mobile device manufacturer HTC unveiled a new flagship Android smartphone tastefully named One. With One the company has jumped off the ever increasing display size bandwagon and decided to stick to a more tried and true 4.7-inch panel, while packing a high-end quad-core processor.
The international One comes in silver and black and, depending on the market, other colors such as red might be available as well. The front of the handset is dominated by rounded corners and symmetrical speakers while the back features the now traditional tapered edges that HTC previously introduced with smartphones such as the Windows Phone 8X or DROID DNA. It's simply striking to look at.
The One's 4.7-inch display offers a resolution of 1920 by 1080 and a whopping 468ppi (pixels per inch) density. HTC does not specify which type of panel is used, however judging by past releases it's fair to assume that we're looking at an LCD3 IPS display.
Power comes from a 1.7GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 processor, similar to the LG Optimus G Pro, 2GB of DDR2 RAM and a 2,300mAh non-removable battery. The One comes with two storage options, in 32GB and 64GB trim and features the typical connectivity options including Wi-Fi 802.11 a/ac/b/g/n; NFC (Near Field Communication); Bluetooth 4.0; DLNA; microUSB 2.0 and the usual array of sensors (gyro; accelerometer; proximity and ambient light sensors).
The handset is among the first to feature support for the Wi-Fi 802.11 ac standard. Depending on the market the One also comes with HSPA+ or 4G LTE cellular connectivity.
Interestingly enough HTC steers clear from revealing the megapixel count on the back-facing camera, which bears the UltraPixel moniker, only revealing that it features a BSI sensor with F2.0 aperture and 28mm lens, optical imagine stabilization, five levels of flash as well as the in-house ImageChip 2 technology. The front-facing camera is a 2.1MP unit with support for HDR mode in both pictures and videos. Both shooters are capable of 1080p video recording.
HTC also bundles a number of branded features such as Zoe, which can shoot up to 20 photos and a 3-second video when pressing the shutter button, BoomSound, which is designed to improve the music and video experience and BlinkFeed, which provides social networking and media updates, among others. The operating system of choice is "the latest Android Jelly Bean" (meaning Android 4.2), backed by the Sense user interface.
The One comes in at 137.4 x 68.2 x 9.3 mm and 143 grams. The dimensions are on par with currently available smartphones, although both the thickness and weight are a bit on the larger side.
The One will be globally available at more than 185 carriers in more than 80 regions and countries starting in March. HTC says that in the US AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, Cincinnati Bell and Best Buy will offer the handset, while north of the border in Canada, Bell, Rogers Communications, Telus and Virgin Mobile Canada will carry the One.
In Europe, Middle East and Africa, One will be available at various carriers and retailers including Orange, Vodafone, T-Mobile, EE (Everything Everywhere), Carphone Warehouse UK, Cosmote, O2 and others.
The handset will also hit the Chinese market through China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom, Latin America as well as the Asia-Pacific area.