Mondays In Flames

I'm getting so much conflicting reports on the One's RF performance. Once they drop below $400 on EBay, I'm going to pick one up and put it through my RF testing rigmarole. They just are too expensive for me to buy off contract right now.

 

Robert via Nexus 7 with Tapatalk HD

It seems like you are the only ONE to tell us about the ONE and it's RF performance... Sorry I couldn't resist the puns.

 

Subjectively for me it works better than the EVOLTE, but then again I've never tried a SGS3/4 or Note, so I'm comparing it to a bad RF performer.

 

 

-Luis

Ahhh. I'm hoping HTC is better about the updates since this is basically the first time they standardized a phone on multiple US carriers(I think they will). Considering that was a large complaint among us rather "techy" people.

Seeing as how the rooting process seems to be the same for all three US carriers, it will ultimately depend on the carriers themselves. If Sprint's EVOLTE update is any indication, we might see it first before ATT or T-mo.

 

 

-Luis

Just noticed this. I hadn't tried Google Wallet since it wasn't working. Didn't work for the first two weeks I had the phone. Have not seen an update, but it works now. Doubt it had anything to do with your old phone.

What's interesting is that the HTC ONE isn't listed as a supported device in the website, and as you said there has been no update either for it.

 

 

-Luis

Heuristic Thinking

As for large voice allotments and unlimited SMS, get used to it. If you want unlimited data, those other services come along for the ride because, with peaking or declining voice and SMS usage, operators have to shore up the revenue from those services to fund expansion of data services and still make a profit.

 

What I would like doesn't translate in to what I get, that much I have learned to accept as such. I understand that companies have to capitalize as much on these services since they are in decline. It's just a matter of opinion.

 

 

-Luis

If you think that you pay too much for what you use, then you do not want unlimited data. You want at least a tiered data option that could allow you to pay less for what you actually use.

 

AJ

Sorry, let me clarify. I don't use voice or text that much, I dislike having to pay for 1500 minutes to receive unlimited data on a family plan. That's what I meant to say, don't assume I don't want unlimited data, that's the reason I left T-mo when they switched all their plans, and probably the only reason I'm staying with Sprint.

 

What I would like it a small voice plan, with unlimited data. But that's just me, I get better service with Sprint regardless, so that's the price I pay.

 

 

-Luis

Softbank's web site seems to say that you can get 1 line with unlimited 4G LTE for somewhere between $40 and $80 per month. It's not clear how much voice/text usage is included. Given that Softbank's Japanese pricing is quite aggressive (that's how they've radically increased their market share), it seems likely that their US pricing will also be aggressive.

I hope so, even though I get a discount from my job, I still think I pay a ridiculously high amount for what I honestly use.

 

 

-Luis

Nope, waiting a second or quite a few seconds does not resolve it. Touching the screen (someplace other than the shutter button) does reorient it, though. Still, that's not great.

 

I do edit and rotate my photos--not a big deal--but I have yet to find a way to rotate a whole Zoe. Which kind of ruins the whole highlight reel.

Oh yeah, that does sound like a problem. I honestly can't think of what it might be, I would say take it and have it checked out.

 

 

-Luis

Has anyone had an issue with the camera where it doesn't orient correctly? My phone is generally pretty snappy with reorienting between portrait and landscape as appropriate, but it seems like sometimes the camera gets stuck on the wrong one.

This used to happen on my EVOLTE, sometimes when you power up the camera and snap a picture too soon, the phone won't orient itself as fast. It's happened to me with the One as well. My advice wait at least one second, and see if the camera button is in the right orientation.

 

You can also edit and rotate your photos from within the Gallery, it's a bit of a hassle, but at least it helps solve the problem

 

 

-Luis

This may sound silly but was the auto brightness turned on? Some phones will show it is set in the middle with the auto checked. That means it is in auto and if it was turned off the phone would go to the middle setting.

 

J.

No I never have my phone on Auto-brightness.

 

 

-Luis

I hope all of this turns out to be better for the consumer than for the company!

 

 

-Luis

Has anyone noticed the screen does an interesting contrast change when in direct sunlight. I saw it happen yesterday when I was outside photographing, when I put my hand over the proximity sensor, to see the phone better, the contrast changed the colors became a little more dull. When I removed my hand from the proximity sensor the colors became brighter, and the contrast was more dramatic. I had the phone at 50% brightness so it wasn't the brightness going up.

 

I thought it was interesting, and what probably lends to the phones readability in direct sunlight.

 

 

-Luis

Quick question: has anyone experienced any creaking on the device at all? I read somewhere that it creaks quite a bit, and my fathers creaks a bit too... Nothing too bad, but it still creaks.

 

 

-Luis

No, but I'm dying to get to a concert and take some video.

Likewise, I wonder how the recording quality will be after HTC uses up their supply because of the Nokia thing.

 

 

-Luis

Has anyone been able to test out the microphones under extremely loud conditions?

 

 

-Luis

Unfortunately what you state as a problem the mass majority probably doesn't experience. I could be one of those people, I only have two phones on my account, one per line. I don't have other phones lying around that I switch around, so I don't see this as a problem, just a shortcoming. I would definitely love to be able to just switch SIMs in the future to switch devices. I'll admit it's much easier that way than how Sprint does it. When I was at T-mobile I could use any T-mobile enabled phone without problem, and activating a new device was as simple as just turning the device on and popping your SIM inside.

 

 

-Luis

anybody having issues with downloads failing? tried to download several video clips last night from various sites and no matter if i tried to save to phone, stream, save with ESdownloader or play with ESstreamplayer they all crapped out.

 

it's almost like my wi-fi drops for just a second and kills the connection. I've got it set on 2.4 only and best performance (if i leave on automatic it drops all the time) and I'm less than 20 feet from a Cisco range extender getting full bars.

This used to happen on my EVO LTE, certain sites probably encode their videos with a file format the phone can't read. I have no solution, I just tried finding everything through youtube :/

 

 

-Luis

If it were just a bit of signal drop I wouldn't care, but on a couple of instances I get complaints from my girlfriend that I'm either cutting in and out or I sound really far away and I've even had the call drop twice before. It's not all the time, just occasionally but either way its very annoying and I've been trying to find different ways of holding it to make sure I'm not covering the microphones by accident, etc. I really don't want to get a case but I'm starting to think I may have to if it will help with this issue.

As far as I know, the microphone is on the bottom of the phone next to the Micro-USB, I doubt you are covering that part. Someone else mentioned that when idle the phones fluctuates a lot, but when the phone is active it keeps a decent stable signal. I've experienced what is happening to you, when I asked sprint they said that it was due to the ongoing work in the area, it stopped. Hopefully this doesn't keep happening, if it does I would consider trying a different One to see if it's the device or just something that is happening in your area.

 

 

-Luis

Quick question, does anyone know if Google Wallet will eventually be supported on the One? I used it quite a bit on the EVO.

 

 

-Luis

 

 

P.S. Nevermind it seems to be working now, I was getting an unsupported message earlier today, I haven't updated the app at all. The only thing I did was deactivate my old phone, maybe that's why it wouldn't work...?

I have not renounced any company nor will I ever. If I ever held any grudge against any company name I wouldn't have a Samsung, HTC,or LG phones, or even have a DirecTV receiver for that matter. It's all about what works. I've never been a name dropper nor did I need some fancy product just for some name. All about functionality to price ratio for me. Case in point I hate the Samsung GNex with a passion but I'm always impressed by S3 and Note2. It seems the One was touted as some miracle 2013 handset for reception and usability, but seems to be a bit short of some devices from 2012. At least it is better than the EVO LTE. (Even left off the vendor names of the phones for you which I do quite a bit because it is of no relevance to me.)

 

This is just my opinion, but as far as usability I really do like the HTC One instead of the S4. I played with the S4 yesterday and the One feels snappier in general, the interface looks much simpler. Maybe the S4 has many nice features, but at the end of the day many of them will go unused. Everything that the One brought to the table (Ir blaster, Zoe, and Boomsound to name a few) I use on a daily basis. Usability is all subjective, maybe someone else will actually use every feature the S4 has. But for me, I like the simple and useful feature of the One, rather than the over the top software features of the S4.

 

I don't think HTC One is a miracle device, but rather a statement from HTC. I like what they've done with the phone.

 

Also regarding the RAM, I have to agree. Developers will go wild making apps that are resource hogs, but it would honestly be only a small percentage of phones that can handle those apps.

 

-Luis

I'm not a crazy benchmark/spec person so none of that really concerns me as long as it is as fast as the Note2, has a MicroSD, and has the same of better awesome RF capabilities as the Note2. That size would be perfect as I've said several times that the Note2 could be a bit larger and it would be perfect. I don't get hung up on all the drama of metal vs plastic, mine lives in a case anyways so I don't have to worry about buying another one from accidents and from the looks of things HTC isn't doing too well with metal. Makes perfect sense though as the metal shouldn't be used unless it is part of the antenna system itself.

Just out of curiosity, why do you say HTC isn't doing well with metal?

 

 

-Luis

Well,i had to return it...I'll keep my eye on better LTE coverage in the state(maybe the next 4-5 months) and pick up the One again..Such a fantastic phone and can't wait to hopefully use it again..Until then im stuck with this Note II which now feels gigantic again after 8 days with the One.

Just out of curiosity, did you try using a case? I hope that you get to use this phone again in the future.

 

 

-Luis

Here's my problem with the death grip complaint. You really have to tuck the phone into your palm deep to make it do it. And surprise surprise when you block the antennas signal will drop. I don't think it's a problem it's just something to gossip about

 

Sent from my HTC One

this is very true, in the pictures I posted earlier to make the signal completely go to 0 bars I held the whole back of the phone. It's definitely a death grip but I don't ever use my phone like that.

 

 

-Luis

I'm intrigued with the new BB10 OS, where I can still run an Android app in a pinch if needed.

 

Robert via Nexus 7 with Tapatalk HD

I really liked the BB10, and the whole gesture based system was really simple to pick up. My boss was going to get it, but he ended up getting the iPhone 5. I was looking forward to playing with it some more.

 

 

-Luis

I have a question for you all, recently the flagship phones that have been coming out have all been pretty much on par with each other, with the key differentiators really being design, brand, and usability, among other things. I remember about a year ago or so, I used to look at Benchmark scores, and it really did influence what type of phone I was more prone to get.

 

 

But with the recent phones, notably the ONE and S4 with Sprint, there really isn't a big difference in scores and performance (The S4 gets higher scores), but that doesn't really seem to translate into better performance in real world tests (subjectively). My question is this: Do you look up certain objective facts, such as the benchmark scores, or are you more influence by the your own subjective observations, such as feel of the phone or brand?

 

 

-Luis

 

 

(The reason I'm asking is because articles keep pushing scores, and performance, one saying that the S4 isn't better than the iPhone 5, and that they fail to understand why someone would line up to buy the S4)