HTC One Max review

                                                                  Hardware

The HTC One Max is the biggest in the family of the One and One Mini, it is wide at 82.5 mm, compared to the One at 68 mm and One Mini at 63.2 mm. It is also very tall at 164.5 mm, compared to the One at 137 mm and One Mini at 132 mm. The 5.9 inch 1080p LCD display looks great with its 373 ppi.

 

   HTC knows how to make high quality displays and it’s nice to see such a beautiful screen on the HTC One Max. The side bezel is similar in size to the HTC One, but seems smaller because some is taken up by the white plastic frame.

The One Max has front facing stereo speakers, like the others in the One line, and sound even louder than HTC One. You won't find Beats Audio branding or utilities in the settings on the One Max.

    HTC also moved the power button from the top down to the right side below the volume button. The IR port and headphone jack are found on the top. The micro USB port is on the bottom. The left side houses the latch for the back cover.

      Speaking of the back cover, it takes up nearly all of the back and covers the micro SD card slot and SIM card slot. Unfortunately, the back cover takes away from the fit and finish of the One Max. Even when fully closed and latched, the upper right corner protrudes out from the back and gives the One Max a cheap feel. This is the same problem I saw during the HTC meeting last month so I don't think it is a rare manufacturing issue.

    You will find the fingerprint scanner on the back, positioned in the center below the camera lens. Unlike the iPhone 5s where you just rest your finger on the home button, you have to swipe your finger down the scanner to activate the functions. You can program up to three fingers that can be used to unlock your phone and also launch an application at the same time. You first need to turn on your phone and then use the fingerprint scanner.

    The scanner is not used for purchases or other applications, so it has very limited functionality, the HTC included the same camera as found on the HTC One and it takes decent shots in low light conditions and outside. The camera lacks depth and detail, but works well for many situations. I do like the dual camera support and other software improvements so now we just need to see improvements to the camera lens.

                                                                  Software

The HTC One Max launches with Android 4.3 and Sense 5.5 with an Android 4.4 update likely to come in early 2014. The Sense 5.5 update significantly improves BlinkFeed with Google+ support, offline article viewing, and more. You will also find an updated Gallery that includes improvements in Highlight Videos with better content control, more themes, and ability to add your own music to a Highlight Video.

Like on the HTC One and One Mini, the One Max comes loaded with some enhanced HTC apps. These include email, calendar, Car mode, and TV remote control application.

HTC also includes an application called Scribble that is designed to allow you to draw and sketch on your HTC One Max. You can choose from one of 15 templates and then use the utility, similar in functionality to the HTC Notes program, to create custom notes. You can then share the note or print it from the One Max.

                                                            Usage and experiences

The HTC One performs like the HTC One, thanks to the same Snapdragon 600 quad-core processor and 2GB of RAM. The camera takes the same quality photos, except for the lack of optical image stabilization, and lacks detail in photos. The camera works great for low light photos and in many other situations, but other smartphone cameras have gotten much better since the One was released and I was hoping to see HTC launch an ultra-pixel camera with 8 megapixels.

The HTC One Max is HUGE and makes the Note 3, HTC One, and Moto X look small. The Apple iPhone 5s looks tiny when placed side-by-side or on top of the HTC One Max. I understand HTC wants to compete with Samsung, LG, and Nokia when it comes to large phones, but the rest of those large phones have better internal specs or unique features (S Pen for example). The One Max is just a bigger One and One Mini with no real need for such a monstrous display in a phone.

It is definitely a device for the media consumer, but if that is your main usage for such a device then go get a better and much less expensive Nexus 7 tablet or maybe even an iPad mini.

Pros and Cons

To summarize my experiences with the HTC One Max, here are my pros and cons.

Pros

·         Fantastic 5.9 inch 1080p display

·         Long battery life thanks to 3,300 mAh battery

·         microSD expansion slot

·         High quality front facing stereo speakers

·         Power button on right side

Cons

·         Long, wide, and heavy phone

·         Poorly designed back cover

·         Limited use fingerprint scanner

                                                               The competition

Other large screen phones, greater than 5 inches, include the Galaxy Note 3, upcoming Nokia Lumia 1520, Sony Xperia Z Ultra, LG G2, and maybe even the Google Nexus 5. All of these phones offer something better than the HTC One Max and all are smaller too.

Specifications

·         Android 4.3 OS and Sense 5.5

·         Snapdragon 600 quad-core 1.7 GHz processor

·         2GB RAM and 32GB flash storage (8 GB consumed by Other, likely HTC Sense bits)

·         microSD card expansion capability

·         5.9 inch 1080p resolution display at 373 ppi

·         Ultrapixel rear camera

·         2.1 megapixel front facing camera

·         Fingerprint sensor on the back

·         3,300 mAh non-removable battery

·         802.11 a/ac/b/g/n WiFi and Bluetooth 4.0 with aptX

·         Dimensions of 164.5 x 82.5 x 10.29 mm and 217 grams (7.65 ounces)

The HTC One Max is huge and nearly doubles the weight of the iPhone 5s. It really looks ridiculous in your hand and unfortunately the build quality stinks thanks to the back cover that doesn't even latch securely in place.

The specifications were great for early 2013, but to compete today HTC needs to improve what is provided in the HTC One Max.

                                                                   Conclusion

From my point of view if HTC would have had the people working on the HTC One Max focused on the HTC One II or HTC Two, whatever the successor to the HTC One will be called, in time to launch that device before the holiday season. To make the One Max a killer device, it needed to launch with a Snapdragon 800, 3GB RAM, sealed back like the HTC One with a microSD card slot placed nicely in the side, OIS, and a larger ultra pixel camera. If these were design elements of the HTC One Max, then I would seriously consider picking one up for the media experience.