Introduction
The debate around giant smartphones is over. Manufacturers like Samsung, Sony and LG have amply demonstrated that it's possible to build a pocketable, phone-like device with a screen bigger than five inches. Now it's HTC's turn. But instead of re-imagining the much-praised One for this new category of device, HTC's designers have mostly just cloned it, while adding a drop of Miracle-Gro to produce a 1080p panel that measures 5.9 inches diagonally, versus the One's 4.7 inches.The result is the One Max, a product that carries over some good things from the One while also finding room for a few notable extras like a fingerprint scanner and expandable storage. At the same time, it also introduces some major snags -- not least of which are the its intimidating size and weight. The job ahead of us is to somehow find the upper body strength to weigh it all up.
We need to kick things off with an unfortunate disclaimer: The device we're looking at here was not final, but rather a very late-stage factory sample -- one of the first units off the assembly line. HTC gave it to us on the premise that it was worthy of being reviewed, so we expected it to be virtually immaculate. It didn't quite turn out that way.
Our sample unit is coming apart at the seams. The removable back cover doesn't fit properly; the power button often jams; there's a visible gap between the display and the bezel on the right-hand side, and the optional $90 Power Flip Case looks as if it was designed for some other phone, because its front flap fails to fully cover the One Max's enormous display. As a result, this review can't be considered final until we get a chance to play with an actual in-store device and post an update, which we hope to do when the One Max officially launches in the UK at the end of this week. We're still waiting to hear from HTC on SIM-free pricing, but one retailer as it on sale at £600 ($952) in the UK. We've also been told that tariff pricing on Vodafone UK will come to £19 on the 3G £47 tariff or free on the £52 4G equivalent tariff -- making the One Max slightly more expensive than Sony's Z Ultra and barely any cheaper than Samsung's Galaxy Note 3.
Turning the handset around, we see a set of pogo pins (which you use to attach the power case), the f/2.0 lens belonging to the 4MP "UltraPixel" camera, the flash module and, just underneath, the square-shaped fingerprint scanner -- which deserves a few paragraphs all its own. You can detach the spring-loaded back cover with a tiny lever on the side of the phone, and upon doing so, you'll have access to the aforementioned microSD slot and a micro-SIM slot as well.
The battery is non-removable, since the Max takes advantage of the same pyramid-style component design we've enjoyed on the One, Butterfly series and Windows Phone 8X. Finally, like most large smartphones, it doesn't come with a stylus in the box, but HTC will offer one outside Europe and the US. Don't worry, you're not missing much here. It's just one of those typical capacitive pens that lack pressure sensitivity, and bizarrely, it doesn't work on several other phones -- not even the One.
Key features
| Dimensions | 164.5 x 82.5 x 10.29mm (6.48 x 3.25 x 0.41 inches) |
| Weight | 7.65 ounces (217g) |
| Screen size | 5.9 inches (373 ppi) |
| Screen resolution | 1,920 x 1,080 |
| Screen type | Super LCD 3 |
| Battery | 3,300mAh (non-removable) |
| Internal storage | 16/32GB (around 10GB free on 16GB model) |
| External storage | MicroSDXC, up to 64GB |
| Rear camera | 4MP stills (1/3-inch sensor, f/2.0 lens with 28mm equiv. focal length) |
| Front-facing cam | 2.1MP stills, 1080p video |
| Video capture | 1080p |
| NFC | Yes |
| Radios |
HSPA+ (EMEA and Asia: 850/900/1900/2100 up to 42 Mbps, Sprint and Verizon 850/900/1900/2100 up to 14.4 Mbps); 3G CDMA (Sprint and Verizon: 800/1900); LTE (EMEA and Asia: 800/900/1800/2100/2600; Sprint: 1900; Verizon 700) |
| Bluetooth | v4.0 with aptX |
| SoC | Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 |
| CPU | 1.7GHz quad-core |
| GPU | Adreno 320 |
| RAM | 2GB |
| Connectivity | MHL, microUSB 2.0, USB OTG, WiFi Direct, DLNA, IR |
| WiFi | Dual-band, 802.11a/ac/b/g/n |
| Wireless Charging | No |
| Operating system | Android 4.3 (with HTC Sense 5.5 skin) |
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