HTC’s One series may be dominated by the quad-core One X, but another handset-the One S-became available at the same time. The One S may be smaller and lack the One X’s leading-edge processor, but that doesn't mean it without merit. Far from it, in fact. The HTC One S is available for £420 SIM free and also on higher rate deals on contract. Its price marks it out as towards the higher end of the market, and so do many of specifications.
The processor, for example, is a Qualcom 1.56Hz dual-core offering, which certainly is not to be sniffed at, and it is helped out by 1GB of RAM. There’s an eight-megapixel camera with flash included too which can capture a still while you are shooting a video-a rather neat trick.
The HTC One S has 16GB of on-board memory. It is a little irritating that you can’t add more storage via microSD card, but 16GB is a pretty healthy allocation and you also get 25GB of online storage at Dropbox free for two years. You can even configure automatic upload of photographs and videos that you shoot, so we aren’t all that worried about the lack of a microSD slot in this instance.
Probably the outstanding feature of the HTC One S in terms of specifications is that it runs Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich —and of course the very latest HTC Sense software too. HTC Sense 4 is a slightly less blingy version of the Android skin than its predecessor, but it does have a few neat touches. We particularly like the customisable shortcuts bar that sits along the bottom of all seven home screens, for example. And HTC adds a range of widgets to Android, now visible as thumbnails before you select them, making it a lot easier to pick out precisely what you want.
In keeping with its leading-edge credentials, the HTC One S sports a microSiM card slot. The slot is under a small cover on the back top edge of the chassis. This cover doesn’t provide access to the battery, which for some people will be a real nuisance. We’ve been known to have to power a handset down by removing its battery — holding down the power button for ten seconds now performs the equivalent function.
Physically this is a large handset, It has to be in order to accommodate its screen, which at 4.3 inches is big enough to render webpages, video and other visually rich media really nicely. Its 540 x 960 pixel resolution of course helps with this aspect, and colours are vibrant, although it does not compare to either the quality or clant’y that youll find in the One S’s bigger brother, the One X.
The HTC One S Is perhaps a little taller than we’d like at 130.9mm — there seems to be a bit more chassis above the screen than we’re entirely happy with. It’s not significantly smaller than the One X, and that fits a much larger display into the space. But it is extremely thin at just 7.8mm, and it does feel great in the hand. Smaller hands like ours will fail to reach all the way across the screen one-handed, though, and the screen does seem to attract fingerprints more than most.
We like the rounded corners, and along with the rubberised backplate, these make the One S an easy handset to grip. And for all its tallness there’s no doubting that at 119.5 grams the One S is very light. In fact, this Is an extremely elegant handset all round, a device for those that want something sleek and stylish and are willingto forego a few bleeding-edge features in order to get it.
It is interesting that with the One series HTC has done away with the menu button beneath the screen, and instead you will find just three touch-sensitve buttons there: Back. Home and Recent Apps. Its not an ideal choice, in our opinion, as while Google is trying to encourage developers to move away from the traditional Menu button, those apps that do still have them (and that remains the vast majority of them) will display a rather unsightly onscreen Menu button instead.
HTC is reinventing the smartphone with the One series, and the One S is a nicely proportioned, well specified handset with plenty going for it. We’d have liked it to have been a touch cheaper to put a little more space between it and the One X, but regardless this is a worthy member of what is turning into a very impressive family of phones.
SPECS
SIZE: 130.9 x 65 x 7.8 mm
WEIGHT: 119.5 grams with battery
DISPLAY: 4.3-inch AMOLED
SCREEN: 960 x 540 (qHD)
CPU SPEED: 1.5GHz~1.7GHz, dual core
PLATFORM ANDROID: Android™ 4.0
MEMORY: 1GB
CAMERA :8 megapixel
The processor, for example, is a Qualcom 1.56Hz dual-core offering, which certainly is not to be sniffed at, and it is helped out by 1GB of RAM. There’s an eight-megapixel camera with flash included too which can capture a still while you are shooting a video-a rather neat trick.
The HTC One S has 16GB of on-board memory. It is a little irritating that you can’t add more storage via microSD card, but 16GB is a pretty healthy allocation and you also get 25GB of online storage at Dropbox free for two years. You can even configure automatic upload of photographs and videos that you shoot, so we aren’t all that worried about the lack of a microSD slot in this instance.
Probably the outstanding feature of the HTC One S in terms of specifications is that it runs Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich —and of course the very latest HTC Sense software too. HTC Sense 4 is a slightly less blingy version of the Android skin than its predecessor, but it does have a few neat touches. We particularly like the customisable shortcuts bar that sits along the bottom of all seven home screens, for example. And HTC adds a range of widgets to Android, now visible as thumbnails before you select them, making it a lot easier to pick out precisely what you want.
In keeping with its leading-edge credentials, the HTC One S sports a microSiM card slot. The slot is under a small cover on the back top edge of the chassis. This cover doesn’t provide access to the battery, which for some people will be a real nuisance. We’ve been known to have to power a handset down by removing its battery — holding down the power button for ten seconds now performs the equivalent function.
Physically this is a large handset, It has to be in order to accommodate its screen, which at 4.3 inches is big enough to render webpages, video and other visually rich media really nicely. Its 540 x 960 pixel resolution of course helps with this aspect, and colours are vibrant, although it does not compare to either the quality or clant’y that youll find in the One S’s bigger brother, the One X.
The HTC One S Is perhaps a little taller than we’d like at 130.9mm — there seems to be a bit more chassis above the screen than we’re entirely happy with. It’s not significantly smaller than the One X, and that fits a much larger display into the space. But it is extremely thin at just 7.8mm, and it does feel great in the hand. Smaller hands like ours will fail to reach all the way across the screen one-handed, though, and the screen does seem to attract fingerprints more than most.
We like the rounded corners, and along with the rubberised backplate, these make the One S an easy handset to grip. And for all its tallness there’s no doubting that at 119.5 grams the One S is very light. In fact, this Is an extremely elegant handset all round, a device for those that want something sleek and stylish and are willingto forego a few bleeding-edge features in order to get it.
It is interesting that with the One series HTC has done away with the menu button beneath the screen, and instead you will find just three touch-sensitve buttons there: Back. Home and Recent Apps. Its not an ideal choice, in our opinion, as while Google is trying to encourage developers to move away from the traditional Menu button, those apps that do still have them (and that remains the vast majority of them) will display a rather unsightly onscreen Menu button instead.
HTC is reinventing the smartphone with the One series, and the One S is a nicely proportioned, well specified handset with plenty going for it. We’d have liked it to have been a touch cheaper to put a little more space between it and the One X, but regardless this is a worthy member of what is turning into a very impressive family of phones.
SPECS
SIZE: 130.9 x 65 x 7.8 mm
WEIGHT: 119.5 grams with battery
DISPLAY: 4.3-inch AMOLED
SCREEN: 960 x 540 (qHD)
CPU SPEED: 1.5GHz~1.7GHz, dual core
PLATFORM ANDROID: Android™ 4.0
MEMORY: 1GB
CAMERA :8 megapixel