HTC One M8 (4/23/14)
Junior telecom undergrad Brice, 21, is sporting what could potentially be the smartphone of the year. The all new HTC One.
“I love the fact that I can call it The Sixth Sense.” Spoken like a true geek. I will admit, I really appreciate his sense of humor.
If that joke leaves you scratching your head, I will explain it for you.
Brice’s HTC One is running the sixth and newest version of HTC Sense skinned on top of Android Kit Kat 4.4.2. Basically it is how HTC thinks Android should look and work. It is analogous to a baseball glove. Both Wilson and Rawlings make their own versions of a pitcher’s baseball glove.
According to Brice, this Android skin could be what makes or breaks any future plans to stay with HTC.
“If I don’t get used to the little things on Sense UI or find workarounds, I think I’ll go back to Samsung,” said Brice when asked about upgrading.
Given it was a tough question since he just got the new HTC One, but I thought I’d humor him with the idea.
Brice actually got his HTC One the very day it became available on March 19 in the Verizon store.
“I really wanted a [Samsung Galaxy] S5, but the One came out first.”
He is used to Samsung’s Touchwiz android skin because his previous phone was a Galaxy S3, but he is satisfied with the change of pace.
The reason for the upgrade? His old Galaxy S3 had a faulty lock button.
“It almost acted as a capacitive button it was so sensitive,” he said while eating a cup of soup in the Penn State Council of Commonwealth Student Governments’ office. “Sometimes it would think it was being held down long enough to restart while I was texting.”
By the way, texting is a big thing for Brice. His favorite app is actually the Verizon Messaging app. He loves it.
“I just really like the layout and if I’m in class I can respond to messages online instead of on my phone.”
However, he most uses his HTC One for phonecalls…”because it’s a phone”.
So what is Brice’s favorite thing about this new super phone?
Design.
“The metal unibody…it just feels better.”
I myself having the last iteration of the HTC One (M7) I can attest to that statement.
On the flip side, he hates how he no longer has a dedicated menu button like he did on his Samsung Galaxy S3 or my HTC One (M7).
He enjoys the on-screen keys as much as the next hardcore techie, but seems to have a soft spot for useful capacitive buttons.
Wrapping up the interEview I asked him for any final remarks about his HTC One. Boy was I in for it. He started showing me all the bells and whistles and I am totally ok with that because I got to play with the best smartphone on the market right now.
If there was one thing that he stressed about though, it was the camera…well…cameras.
He showed how quickly it was to snap a picture and how you can post-focus on an image.
Brice also thought it was a really neat feature that if the top duo-camera is blocked, it will notify you on-screen so that you get the best picture.
I asked for a screenshot and he quickly snapped one and sent it to me through text. So here it is.
Brice thinks the volume rocker camera functionality is fantastic. He showed me a quick demonstration on how fast he could load the camera app when the phone was locked with the screen off. He then took several photos by just holding down the volume rocker. Pretty neat feature.
Finishing up the conversation, the school-spirited senior said that the HTC One is, “The phone for selfies. That 5 MP camera is a beast.”
While we have no physical proof to back that up, you’ll just have to take his word for it.
[divider type=”thick” spacing=”10″]
RECAP
[bulletlist title=”Pros” align=”left” background=”on”]
[bulletlist_item]Design[/bulletlist_item]
[bulletlist_item]Front facing camera[/bulletlist_item]
[bulletlist_item]Powerful hardware[/bulletlist_item]
[bulletlist_item]Volume rocker for picture taking[/bulletlist_item]
[/bulletlist]
[bulletlist title=”Cons” align=”left” background=”on”]
[bulletlist_item]Lack of dedicated menu button[/bulletlist_item]
[bulletlist_item]HTC Sense takes getting used to[/bulletlist_item]
[/bulletlist]
Want to buy a used Verizon HTC One (M8) in great condition at a decent price? Click below to get one on Swappa!
Motorola Droid RAZR (4/21/14)
Junior telecom undergrad Brice, 21, is sporting what could potentially be the...