Review: HTC One Max For Sprint (Video)

Back in May, we handled HTC’s flagship One since then and the One family has grown.  They added the smaller 4.3inch One mini and now w/ the 5.9inch One max.  We handled the One max back in late October and recently got our hands-on it for more of a longer period.  HTC beefed up the LCD display up to 5.9inches, a fingerprint scanner, and a bigger battery.

Can supersizing their 2013 flagship help lead the company into Android greatness?  Or will the max be a sort of a carbon copy of the Note 3?  Our complete 2 cents along w/ the answers await you below.

As much as many of you would have liked to see a 5.9inch all-aluminum One max, you got mostly metal w/ plastic like the One mini.  Even w/ the plastic, its still heavy.  It feels like a brick compared to the Note 3.   There are quite some notable changes other than the ones mentioned here as well.

 

You now have a removable back cover to add extra storage via microSD card but the battery is still inaccessible.  The IR blaster is still where it was but now we have an actual Power button resting under the volume rocker.  Despite all of that, the max still retains the design language from the One family but now harder for most to hold single-handedly.

HTC made sure to continue their proper use of Super LCD for its screens.  The 5.9inch 1080p HD display boasts 367 ppi which despite the fewer pixels still offer great colors + blacks and great viewing angles but the competition is catching up.  LG’s G2 display is the one to beat and Samsung’s OLED display on the Note 3 is spectacular.  Nonetheless, the One max display is still a great one its just that now everyone is catching up w/ higher pixel density.

HTC decided to keep the same quad-core CPU inside rather than boosting up to Qualcomm’s 800 processor.  But there is nothing wrong w/ the 1.7GHz Snapdragon 600 processor w/ it being comparable as it performs above and beyond to take on whatever you can throw at it.  Speedy and lag-free, the way an Android device is supposed to be.  As it is accompanied w/ 2GB of RAM  32GB of internal storage to help cover all of your needs.

The One max is one of the 1st Sprint devices to take advantage of their faster LTE Spark network.  While I’m not getting blazing speeds in my area (northern NJ), I am getting LTE where previously I had to deal w/ Sprint’s 3G CDMA speeds.  For the most part, I averaged around 10Mbps download and almost 7Mbps upload.  Definitely a huge improvement of data speeds as the unlimited data carrier is heading in the right direction.

 

Keep up w/ phablet traditions, there is a massive battery that helps keeps it powered all-day long.  Inside of the One max lies a 3300 mAh battery that is sealed safely away underneath it all.  Extreme usage will pull off around 12 hours while average will offer a good day and a half.  That’s w/ hours of YouTube, chatting on Hangouts, Twitter, a few hours of phone calls, and the standard of streaming tunes via Google Music.

HTC didn’t go higher in megapixels so you can expect the same as you would from the original One.  A f/2.0 28mm 4MP Ultrapixel lens on the rear alongside a 2.1MP 88-degree wide-angle lens in front – now w/ front-facing HDR capability.  Still performs great in low-light and well-lit environments but continues to lack a certain crispness that we are all used to by now on smartphones.

 

Video remains the same as well.  We tackled the abilities of the photos + videos Ultrapixel produces in the One review and when we pit the One against the GS4 in a camera shootout.  I would have loved to see HTC take this opportunity to beef up the megapixels in the shooter to 6 or 8. But I presume they are waiting for next year’s flagship to do so.

While Apple has been receiving all of the praise for their fingerprint scanner w/ Touch ID, HTC’s take is interesting as well.  Instead of laying your finger on it to hold + scan, you do a finger swipe over the sensor to read it.  You can actually scan up to three fingers in total w/ each opening a different app along w/ unlocking it.

Since the sensor is behind the device, I did manage to swipe the camera lens a few times before successfully unlocking it. That’s actually not my problem.  I don’t like the fact that you have to hit the Power button to wake it then swipe my finger across the scanner to unlock.  The whole Power button thing is an unnecessary extra step on an otherwise good biometric scanner.

HTC is shipping the One max w/ Android 4.3 + Sense 5.5 and the new software adds a few more tricks to the mix.  HTC’s content consumption widget BlinkFeed can now add RSS & Google+ feeds for your viewing pleasure.  Whether you liked it or not can now be turned off.  You also get a GIF maker built within your photo gallery and more audio/filter options for your Zoe.  Also new for an HTC device of this size, offers a digital scrapbook app called Scribble.  You can write notes, draw doodles, or use one the app’s templates to send someone a handcrafted note.  Other than that Sense retains the flat design of the icons and clock+ weather widget, the TV app still works hand-in-hand w/ the infrared blaster, and the same fullscreen tile effect for multitasking instead the apps stacked don the right-side of your screen.

The One max is a great Android device.  Acting as an bigger version of the original One, HTC made very little changes between the two.  Perhaps not enough for some.  There were some subtractions along w/ HTC’s additions too.  Say goodbye to OIS in the camera, and Beats Audio bass boost software.

The One max gives HTC fans a phablet to call their own.  Despite its massive appearance, it is still a powerhouse device and performs like one despite a few personal gripes.  Whether they intended to or not, it will be presented as competition for Samsung’s Note 3.  I’m not sure if the One max would be the ideal choice over the Note 3, the One mini or even the original One for many consumers.

While I appreciate the HTC one going to a phablet size, I still prefer the Galaxy Note 3.  In actuality its the little things, the devil’s in the details.  Premium metal vs premium plastic.  Stylus or no stylus.  4MP Ultrapixel vs 13MP that shoots video in 4K.  Pricing between the two are pretty similar so it will be up to you to take notes on our review of the two and decide.