Camera and Internal Storage
The primary camera of this phone is an Ultra pixel camera. The Mega pixel count may appear quite low at 4 MP, but this camera focuses more on the pixel size similar to HTC One. The size of the pixel is around 2 Micrometer which is significantly larger than what others offer. The Nokia Lumia 925 which is one of the best camera’s in the world offers 1.4 Micrometer of pixel size. The thing with the larger pixels is that they can capture more light, more data and thus are supposed to provide better quality images. The size of the sensor is 1/3” similar to Nokia Lumia 925 but the pixel count has been reduced to half, at 4 MP. This will be sufficient to view your photos on smartphone screen and social networking sites and will work for common usage. The wide angle F/2.0 aperture lens is similar to HTC One. The camera is capable of full HD 1080p video recording at 30 fps and 720p HD recording at 60 fps. The front camera of 2.1 MP is also capable of full HD video recording. The Phone will come in 16 GB and 32 GB storage variants and this time you will also get a microSD card slot thanks to the removable back cover. The storage doesn’t leave much to be complained about and the MicroSD card is an improvement over HTC One.
Processor and Battery
HTC One Max is powered by Qualcomm’s APQ8064 Snapdragon 600 quad core processor with four energy efficient Krait 300 cores. The processor is clocked at 1.7 GHz and is the same processor we have seen in HTC One. With most high end devices like LG G2 and Sony Xperia Z1 offering latest Snapdragon 800 processor, this could be a limitation of HTC One max. The processor is backed by 2 GB of RAM which will give you efficient multi tasking. Battery capacity is 3300 mAh which is pretty good and will give you ample storage. HTC has also revealed a flip cover for this Phablet which packs an extra 1200 mAh battery and can be used as a stand for phone. In spite of the open back door the battery is not removable which is disappointing.
Display and Features
The display of this phone is quite large at 5.9 mm and sports full HD 1080 P resolution giving you a pixel density of 373 ppi which is pretty decent considering the display size of this phone. HTC One had a SLCD3 display type (No Air gap between display element and outer glass leading to enhanced brightness and outdoor visibility), but the same has not been specified for One Max yet, The pixel density of 373 will work extremely well at this size and seeing HTC’s expertise in display technology , we expect this display to be bright and beautiful. As far the features go, first and foremost is the finger print scanner. Apple provided finger print scanner in its iPhone 5s and HTC one has followed suit. However HTC has tried to make better use of its finger print scanner. The finger print scanner is present on the back panel below the camera. The scanner requires vertical motion to scan your fingers and can be used to quick launch apps while unlocking. You can save up to 3 fingers at one time and thus customize the launch of any 3 apps. The problem is that the finger print scanner is located at the back which makes it difficult to reach especially with the massive display size. The Boomsound speakers are bigger on this phone and HTC has let go of beats audio after a long time, which we won’t be missing much. This phone sports latest Android 4.3 with latest HTC sense5.5 UI on top. Blink feeds can now receive google+ and Rss feeds which can be of great use to users who track feeds. You can also pin stuff you like in the Blink feed to the side bar. You also get the option to disable the Blink feed. Blink feeds are notifications from various social networking sites and other sources that directly get displayed on your home screen in a presentable manner. Other features include infrared remote, dual frontal speakers with built in amplifiers and dual Microphones.
Looks and Connectivity
This phone looks like a bigger HTC One with two boom sound speakers at the front on top and bottom of the larger screen display. The back has aluminum casing and is slightly curved similar to HTC One to fit better in your hand. The phone is also significantly heavy at 217 grams. Connectivity features include 3G HSPA+ up to 42 Mbps, WiFi , Bluetooth 4.0 with aptX codec, NFC, DNLA, MHL and GPS with GLONASS.
Comparison
This device is meant for those users who like big screen phablets which provide with good gaming and multimedia experience and are good for reading. But don’t look much like a phone. If you are one such user you can consider phones like Huawei Ascend Mate, Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and Sony Xperia Z Ultra.
Key Specs
Conclusion
The HTC one max is a big phone which is expected to have a huge price tag. HTC is riding on the success of HTC One and have added new features like finger print scanner and Sense 5.5 which makes the phone trendy. The only limiting factor is that HTC has not made any changes in the chipset specifications and camera as compared to HTC One. The latest offerings from competitors are better in this area.
