Early April HTC and AT&T unveiled the First, the first smartphone to ship running the new Facebook Home. I got my review unit about a week ago and have been spending a lot of quality time with it. Some may believe this is the second coming of the Facebook Phone while other may view this as a waste of a device. After spending time with it I found that both statements are incorrect. Dive past the break to read exactly why.
Display
HTC clearly makes sure to use the best screens in many of their devices and continues on the First. It has a 4.3inch LCD display w/ 720p HD resolution that looks marvelous. Offering great viewing angles and accurate color reproduction at 341ppi, LCD is typically my preferred choice of screen displays but I have yet to check out the 1080p HD AMOLED display on the Galaxy S4 for a long period of time. No complaints here.
Performance/Battery Life
Staying true to mid-range specs, the First is equipped with internals like Qualcomm’s new dual-core 1.4GHz Snapdragon 400 processor + 1GB of RAM. Which doesn’t sound like much but it all works quite well. Smooth and responsive whether using FB Home or stock Android. No real stutters or sudden app crashing during my time with it. Pretty much on par to last year’s processors inside of high-end Android devices. Qualcomm’s latest chips work quite well in performance and in regards to power consumption…
The hardware on the HTC First offers a great display, battery life, & design.
Inside of the First lies a non-removable 2000 mAh battery that is easily one of my better experiences on an Android smartphone. Thanks to the latest Snapdragon processor and its great use of power efficiency, the battery on the First will easily last you most of the day (like 6-8 hours) with heavy usage and over 24 hours with a more moderate usage. I was certainly impressed by not having to keep a charger around for an Android device.
Camera(s)
On the side of the optics, I wish it was a bit better. Mind you the rear shooter is pretty decent but it lacks certain fine tuning to make this package complete. HTC used a f/2.0 28mm 5MP sensor on the rear coupled with a back-side illuminated sensor for the back. It performs best in well-lit situations as in low-light, it crumbles without a strong light source as you can see below.
The images produced form the rear get visible grain and a noticeable lack of crispness when cropped. In front, you got a 1.6MP ultra-wide angle lens ideal for video chatting and selfies. You get the same results when using video as well but a quick auto-focus while recording. I was hoping for better results from their shooters but it is good enough for social network posting.
Software (Facebook Home)
This highlight of this device is more so the software. Facebook Home is an interesting approach to taking over your Android device. Home acts like a native skin on the First as it feels natural to have it on-board. Underneath the skin lies pure Android 4.1.2 which you can access by swiping up from the Home button (Circle icon) like on the Z10. Home has a different way of handling notifications by stacking them on top of each other as they come in. You can just swipe them away or double-tap them to read them in full. However, the real two highlights of Home are: Cover Feed and Chat Heads.
Cover Feed takes the status updates of your feed and is basically your home and lock screens. So everyone’s profile picture is blown up to take up your entire screen. When idle the image slowly pans in & out or from left to right before changing to the next status. You can simply like and/or comment on your friend’s status or photos.
“If you don’t like Facebook Home, you can turn it off and you have a mid-range Nexus.”
Chat Heads is Facebook’s view at a messaging app you can use anywhere and within any app. Facebook easily created on the best functioning messaging app working with Facebook Messenger as it supports multiple chats as well as group conversations. You can also add your phone texts to it but are kept separate from your FB Messenger convos. This supports up to 4 chats, any more and your screen could seriously crowded. Chat Heads is truly the highlight in which I truly appreciated more than anything on FB Home. Luckily if you don’t like FB Home you can get Chat Heads by updating your FB Messenger app. I hope Google is working on something like this for its unified chat service Babel.
FaceBook Home is off to a great start although many consumers may disagree. FB hopes to update the app monthly so expect them fill in the missing pieces rather quickly. Other than adding ads within Cover Feeds, I am look forward to what they come up next for it. Overall Home is easily a mixed bag, either you will like it or you won’t.
This is NOT The HTC Status, it’s something you actually want to use.
TG 2 Cents
Honestly, I wasn’t interested in reviewing the HTC First when the opportunity arose but I am glad I did. This mid-range Android device is leaning towards premium with a great display, battery life, and design. I’m more of a Twitter user more than Facebook but I actually used it more when on FB Home. I think the First is an ideal mid-range Android smartphone whether you’re into Facebook or not.
This really gives other developers and media companies alike, a way to really take advantage of Android’s openness. Of course, its not perfect. It is missing some things many Android users are used to like widgets and folders. But if you don’t like Facebook Home, you can turn it off and you have a mid-range Nexus.
To Buy Or Not To Buy
When you can get this on contract for under $100, I would easily recommend the First for first-time smartphone owners and young teens stepping into the world of Android. It does have its shortcomings, but it is a great piece of Android and Facebook.
You order yours here for $99.99 on contract or $449.99 at full retail pricing. The First comes in a variety of colors like: Black, White, Pale Blue, or Red.
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