HTC One S Review
The HTC One S is a relatively new high-end smartphone by manufacturer HTC that runs the Android operating system (version 4.0.3, a.k.a. “Ice Cream Sandwich” to be specific) through the company’s own HTC Sense GUI, as most HTC smartphones do. Released on March 30th of this year with a sleek design and some great features, the HTC One S is one of the company’s best-selling smartphones in North America right now, even though it only sells through carrier T-Mobile in the United States.
Hardware
The HTC One S has some great hardware features that make it the high-end smartphone that it is. Among those are a 1.5 GHz dual-core processor, 1 GB of RAM and 16 GB of built-in storage, microSIM compatibility, a variety of sensors including an ambient light sensor and proximity sensor, Bluetooth 4.0, a 1080p-capable video camera, and even more.
Design
While the design of the HTC One S might not be suitable for everyone’s tastes, it is certainly far from ugly. It boasts a delightfully slim aluminum unibody design with a very large 4.3-inch touch screen at 540 x 960 resolution. Weight isn’t much of a problem either as the HTC One S only weighs 119.5 grams with the battery in place. As for ports and the like, you will find a micro-USB 2.0 port on the upper left, the standard power lock button and 3.5 mm stereo audio jack on the top, and volume controls on the upper right of the One S. The device’s main speaker (aside from the earpiece) is located on the back.
Camera
The HTC One S has an 8 megapixel camera with a LED flash and auto focus. The flash isn’t your typical flash, It’s “smart” because it is smartly determined by the distance from the subject you’re taking a picture of. You can record videos of up to 1080p HD and even take pictures in the midst of recording a video. On the front there’s a VGA quality camera for video calls.
Size
The HTC One S is arguably a very convenient size for most users, at 130.9mm x 65m x 7.8mm, with the aforementioned 4.3-inch screen size. The One S is HTC’s slimmest smartphone to date, while still shining in terms of performance.
Battery
The 1650 mAh battery within the HTC One S brings up to 10.5 hours of talk time and 13.2 days of standby time.
Conclusion
If you happen to be a T-Mobile customer, I have to say that the HTC One S does seem like a very good choice in comparison to the carrier’s other offerings in terms of smartphones. If you’re not already a T-Mobile customer or aren’t a fan of the carriers plans, policies, etc., then maybe you’re better off picking a different smartphone from a more preferred carrier. HTC does have a lot of other great smartphones available both on T-Mobile and on other major U.S. carriers like AT&T and Verizon, but if you’re okay with T-Mobile and in need of a new smartphone for any purpose(s), I do recommend that you look into picking up an HTC One S for yourself.
Here are some additional images of the HTC One S:
