Hardware design
Since the introduction of the HTC Magician, HTC has focused on
delivering handsets which feature a unique personality and standing
apart from the indistinguishable plastic slabs pushed out by the
competition. The HTC One S takes HTC’s design language to the next
level while bringing back many of the characteristics which give the
phone that recognizable HTC look. To say that the design of the HTC
One S is minimalistic would be a gross understatement.
The HTC One S is an astonishingly elegant phone made of a single
piece of aluminum which wraps around the entire device. The front of
the phone features 4.3-inch display, three capacitive buttons, a
front-facing camera and micro-drilled speaker holes. The One S
features an MHL enabled microUSB port long its left edge, volume
rocker on its right edge and the phone’s power button and 3.5mm
headphone jack can be found along the top. The back of the phone is
accented by a blue ring around the camera lens which is paired with
an LED flash, an HTC logo in the middle and a Beats Audio logo
towards to bottom. The back of the phone features two plastic panels
which house the antenna, speakerphone and microSIM card slot.
Build quality
With the exception of a few select devices, the majority of
smartphones produced these days are made of cheap, glossy plastics.
These phones may look nice in a display case, but once you get your
hands on them, you can feel that very little thought was actually put
into the production material and you find yourself constantly looking
for ways to clean the phone from the smudges left behind by your
greasy fingers.
Fortunately, the HTC One S is one of the few devices where the
design of the phone is just as important as the materials used to
make it. HTC has been milling aluminum casings for their phones since
the HTC Legend was introduced in 2010, but HTC has taken things one
step further this time by giving the aluminum a gradient finish on
the HTC One S. The color of the phone fades from dark to light. The
color fade is present on all sides of the device, but it is more
noticeable when looking at the back.
The HTC One S measures 130.9 x 65 x 7.8 mm, making is the thinnest
phone ever produced by HTC. Though the handset only weighs 119.5
grams, its balance and aluminum shell give the device a solid
feel.The attention to detail on the One is is pretty remarkable.
Rather than cutting out a hole in the aluminum and fitting it with a
cheap speaker grill, HTC used a micro drill to create 76 holes in the
aluminum.
HTC has also stepped up things up when it comes to the glass which
covers the display on the One S. While most phones have a glass panel
which covers the front of the phone, the glass on the One S flows
over the sides, accentuating the slight curve on the back of the
phone. But HTC did not stop there. A closer look reveals that the
glass panel features a raised edge which keeps the glass from making
contact when the phone is placed face down on a surface.
Display
The HTC One S is the first phone from HTC to feature a Samsung
Super AMOLED display. HTC dabbled with AMOLED displays from Samsung a
few years back, but made the switch to Sony's Super LCD panels when
supply issues caused production delays for the original HTC DROID
Incredible. Since then, the technology has gotten a lot better and it
seems as though Samsung has been able to boost production enough to
keep up with demand.
The 4.3-inch HD display on the HTC One S should be a familiar size
for those who are familiar with the HTC Sensation or the EVO 3D from
last year. The size of the display may not be as impressive as the
4.7-inches of the HTC One X, but it does allow single hand use of the
phone without re-positioning your grip to reach the far edges of the
display or pull down the notification bar.
The display on the One S is optically laminated to its Gorilla
Glass covering, reducing the space between the glass, producing some
pretty amazing viewing angles. Unfortunately, the optical lamination
does not make up for the fact that the pentile matrix display looks
inferior to the Super LCD displays HTC has used in the past. The
traditional RGB sub-pixel layout is swapped for a RGBG configuration,
causing noticeable discoloration in high contrast situations. The
issue is easily noticeable in the application drawer where white
application icons show a green hue on their left edge and a magenta
hue along the right side.
Another down side to the Super AMOLED display on the one S is its
outdoor performance. We wouldn't suggest taking your phone out of
your pocket to check your email in direct sunlight, but you will be
able to use the phone on a cloudy day or if you're in a shaded area.
Software
Besides the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, the HTC One S is the first new
phone to be released by a U.S. carrier with Android 4.0
pre-installed. Unlike the Galaxy Nexus, the HTC One S does not come
with stock Android. Like the overwhelming majority of Android phones,
the One S comes with a custom skin - HTC Sense 4.0. In the past, HTC
Sense offered some amazing advancements, but things got a little
stale last year when HTC introduced Sense 3.0 on the HTC Sensation.
The software build got a lot heavier that it needed to be with 3D
animations and glossy buttons that didn't add any real benefit to the
end user.
One of the first things you'll notice when you turn on the HTC One
S is the new lock screen. Users can choose between a variety of
lockscreen styles which display the weather, calendar events, stock
quotes, pictures or even social media updates from friends. But the
customization doesn't end there. While stock Android allow users to
unlock the device or launch directly into the camera, the Sense 4.0
lock screen allows users to launch whichever application or folder is
placed in the launcher dock on the home screen.
HTC has also taken the liberty of customizing the multitasking
menu in Android 4.0. Rather than displaying a vertical list of
applications with cropped images, Sense 4.0 features application
cards (similar to those in webOS) which scroll horizontally and must
be flicked up to be removed from the list.
There are many who think HTC and other OEMs should be forced to
produce phones with stock Android. Unfortunately, we don't see that
happening any time soon. Sense 4.0 may not be as sharp as stock
Android, but it's the best custom skin we've used in quite some time.
Performance
The Android ecosystem is made up of some amazing devices, but when
it comes to performance - the HTC One S takes the crown. Inside the
HTC One S is a dual-core 1.5 GHz Qualcomm MSM8260A Snapdragon S4
processor (paired with an Adreno 225 GPU) which runs laps around the
competition.
Those who love to play games on their Android phone will certainly
enjoy using the HTC One S. The phone was able to tear through games
like Temple Run, Dead Space, Shadowgun and NBA Jam without missing a
beat and we wouldn't be surprised if the phone's power is able to
keep up with the newest titles for at least a year.
When it comes to regular use, the HTC One S is as smooth as silk.
We didn't experience any lag within the UI and launching applications
is faster than ever.
To give you an idea how much power the HTC One S has under the
hood, we run the phone through a few benchmarks. The HTC One S came
out on top in most benchmark tests - even beating out the quad-core
Tegra 3 powered HTC One X on several occasions. Naturally, you should
always take benchmark score with a grain of salt since they don't
really tell you how a phone will perform in day-to-day situations,
but we were blown away.
Cameras
The HTC One S may be the thinnest and most powerful phone ever
made by HTC, but one of the main selling points is the handset's
advanced camera and ImageSense technology. HTC's focus with the One
series is to give users “the power of a true digital camera on your
phone.” In order to pull that off, HTC has equipped the HTC One S
with an 8 megapixel BSI (back side illuminated) imaging sensor, f2.0
lens and a dedicated imaging chip which work seamlessly and deliver
some of the most stunning images we have ever seen from a camera
phone.
But HTC didn't just add amazing hardware components and call it a
day. HTC completely redesigned the camera application on the HTC one
S, giving users quicker access to more settings. The most noticeable
difference in the camera application is the camera shutter and video
capture button which are shown at the same time. This simple change
allows you to launch the camera application and record a video or
snap a shot without having to dig through the menu switch between
video or camera mode.
What's even more interesting is that you can capture images while
recording video in 1080p HD. While recording, you can press the
camera shutter button and the One S will extract the frame from the
video and gave it to your gallery. The system isn't perfect since
pressing the button while shooting video can cause the phone to move
slightly, but we doubt most people will notice since most people have
a hard time holding their phone still while recording video as it is.
If you forget to snap a picture while recording a video, you can
always go back and extract the image you want after the fact. Images
extracted from video will match the size of the video resolution,
producing 2 megapixel images while recording in 1080p.
Capturing a picture at the right time has gotten a lot easier with
the HTC One S. Rather than going into setting and selecting Bust
Mode, simply press and hold the camera shutter button and the One S
will capture four pictures every second (up to 99). Once you are done
shooting, the interface shows you all the images you captured and you
can choose to save as many as you want or just the one shot which
captured the moment just right.
The flash has also been improved with an LED Smart Flash with 5
power levels which automatically adjust based on lighting levels. The
new flash settings do a better job than most LED flashes we have used
in the past, but the BSI sensor on the One S allows you to snap
pictures in very low lit situations.
The front-facing camera on the HTC One S is capable of capturing
video and pictures in VGA (640 x 480), a dramatic reduction from what
the main camera is capable of. The resolution may sound like a
drawback since there are devices on the market with feature 1.3
megapixel front-facing cameras capable of recording video in 720p,
but we've found that the only thing we really use the front-facing
camera for is the new face-unlock feature in Android 4.0.
Battery
The HTC One S features a an average sized 1650 mAh battery
which is built into the phone. Those who are used to carrying around
an extra battery or two to make sure they can make it through the
full day have voiced their concern with HTC's decision, but we really
don't see too much of an issue. In the few days we have spent with
the HTC One S, we observed better than average battery life which is
most likely due to the Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 chip used to power the
device and the Super AMOLED display.
The longest the battery has been able to keep the HTC One S up and
running has been a little over nine and a half hours. In that time
period, I used the One S to stay on top of multiple email accounts,
browse the web, listen to Pandora for a good hour, tweet, run
benchmark and network speed tests several times, capture 100+
pictures and record 10 minutes of video. If that's not considered
heavy use, I don't know what is.
Under regular use, I expect the HTC One S will easily make it
through an entire work day (12-14 hours) without needing to be
recharged. I'll be updating details about the battery performance in
about a week so that I have a better representation of how long
the 1650 mAh battery inside the HTC One S will last.
Multimedia and accessories
When buying a new phone, you always want to make sure there
are accessories which can be used to enhance the phones
functionality or protect it from your clumsiness. HTC has pledged
full accessory support for the HTC One S with screen protectors,
cases (some with built-in kickstands to prop up the device) and
even desktop and car docks. But HTC didn't stop there. The HTC One S
comes with support for the new HTC Media Link HD and Car Clip
so that you can enjoy your phone while in the car of just sitting at
home on the couch.
To unlock your phone go to
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