HTC One review [Updated]

HTC in recent years has been rolling out a series of great, ultra high specced handsets. This started with its 2012 flagship One X, which was the first ever handset to bring quad-core processing to British shores and continued with its One X+ at the year's end.

Unfortunately for the firm, despite a positive critical reaction to its high-end smartphones, HTC has never managed to accrue strong sales figures.

Instead, mobile users' attentions remained firmly fixed on Apple and Samsung's flashier iPhone and Galaxy handsets. This meant that the Taiwanese firm saw its share of the global smartphone market and profits take a significant hit, giving HTC a real incentive to come out swinging in 2013.

Luckily with 2013 now in full swing, HTC's done just that, loading its latest flagship One smartphone with every technical innovation it could think of.

Design and build
The One has a radically different design to previous One-series handsets. Unlike older HTC handsets the One doesn't feature a unibody design.

Instead the One's chassis is made from hard edged plastic sides that are completed using a rounded metal back and metal and gorilla glass front.

This means that the One looks a little like a cross between the HTC One X and Apple iPhone 5.

While some will not like the One's new design we thought it looked rather sleek, especially in the black colour option we had.

The use of metal makes the One feel top end and sturdily built, two qualities we've found lacking in other top end Android smartphones, like the Galaxy S3.

The only issue we found regarding the One's build quality is that, like the iPhone 5, its finish is prone to scratching, meaning those that wish to keep it in a pristine condition will likely have to invest in a case.

Size-wise the One is slightly larger and heavier than previous HTC handsets, measuring in at 137x68x9.3mm and weighing 143g. The One X by comparison measures in at 134x70x8.9mm and weighs 130g.

In hand though we didn't find the One's increased size and mass was an issue. The device remained pleasant to hold and thanks to intelligent button placement by HTC never felt unwieldy to use.

The One features two front facing back and home capacitive buttons, a side facing volume input and top facing power button. The placement meant that we could always reach whichever button we wanted without having to adjust how we were holding the phone.

Next: Screen, operating system and software.