HTC One V review

By KS Sandhya Iyer | Updated: 16 September 2013 12:25 IST

HTC made a big splash at the Mobile World Congress this year when it showcased three new devices under its HTC One umbrella, namely the One X, One S and One V. The One V is the second device in the series to be launched in the country. Priced at Rs. 19,399, the smartphone draws attention thanks to its protruding chin design, which is reminiscent of the HTC Legend. Unlike its elder siblings the One S and the One X, the device sports a comparably smaller 3.7-inch display, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. But is the device worthy of all the attention? We take a look.

Hardware/ Design
The HTC One V has a unibody aluminium chassis that gives it a premium look. The curved back edges make the device quite conformable to hold. Drawing on inspirations from the HTC Legend, a prominent design feature is its kinked chin bottom that certainly differentiates it from the rest in its category.

With a 3.7-inch Gorilla Glass display, the One V is about the same size as the iPhone 4. It sports a slender design at 9.2mm thick and is reasonably light at 115g.

Following suit of its One branded siblings, the One V limits physical buttons to a power/wake button on top and a volume rocker on the right. The 3.5mm headphone jack rests on the top with a notification LED that flashes every time you get missed calls, messages and indicates the phone's charging state.

Just above the silver HTC logo on the front, one can find a row of tiny holes for the earpiece. Since the top of the glass is cut at this section, the sharp edges can get uncomfortable when held up to the ear. The bottom has three capacitive buttons for back, multi-tasking and home. The left panel houses the Micro-USB port for charging and data transfers.

The back features a 5MP camera with LED flash at the top while the bottom has a plastic cover that conceals the mic and speakers. When removed, one can find slots for a full-sized SIM and a microSD card. The battery however is non-user replaceable.

Display
The HTC One V comes with a 3.7-inch capacitive touch display covered with Corning's Gorilla Glass. It supports a resolution of 800x480, giving it a pixel density of about 252ppi. For a mid-range Android handset, the display is bright, sharp and vibrant with no pixilation visible to the naked eye. It won't be wrong to say that the LCD offering stacks up well against other AMOLED and S-LCD smartphones available in this budget. The phone has great viewing angles and text appears sharp even under the sun.

Camera
The One V comes with a 5MP rear camera on board, compared to the 8-megapixel shooter found in the One X as well as the One S. But what it does inherit from the One family is ImageSense, which claims to provide continuous shooting, ability to capture stills while shooting videos and no shutter lag.

The burst shot mode is the best feature drawing its power from the ImageChip processor allowing you to capture several images per second. You can press the on-screen shutter button for as long as you need and then select the best from the stills captured.

Images look decent even under low light but it is advisable to shoot with the Flash turned off. It tends to burn out images and leave them unsaturated as well. The camera's autofocus performs decent enough and seems reliable.

You can also add multiple effects to your pictures both before and after shooting. Despite being HD capable, video recording quality might come as a disappointment. The device is unable to switch between different lighting conditions while recording. The built-in digital zoom only adds to the poor performance of the smartphone's recording capabilities.

Software/ Interface
The device comes with Android 4.0 straight out of the box but is layered with HTC's latest Sense 4.0 UI. The interface felt pretty smooth with no lags absolutely whatsoever. The unlock ring gives you access to a range of shortcuts to applications on your home screen. You can also use exclusive Android 4.0 Google Apps such as Chrome Beta and a highly improved version of Gmail.

Sense 4.0 makes the phone extremely user-friendly with multiple features allowing for smooth navigation through various lists and menu options. And considering its Ice Cream Sandwich, closing applications is just a swipe away.

HTC has put quite an effort when it comes to pre-installed apps on the device. Third-party apps that ship with the smartphone include Facebook, Twitter, Dropbox, Polaris Office, 7Digital (a music downloading service, and TuneIn Radio (on-line streaming player).

What also comes along is HTC Hub, the company's own app store and Task Manager. Speaking of Dropbox, the Taiwanese company is providing 25GB of free cloud storage for two years with every purchase.

Performance
Courtesy the single-core 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, the One V produces fairly decent results. Games like Temple Run and Fruit Ninja worked fine with no lags at all. There are occasional hiccups when running multiple applications or just loading them up. YouTube videos play out well with no pixilation and look crisp on the 3.7-inch display.

One area where the device didn't disappoint is battery life.The 1500mAh battery did more than what was expected lasting an entire day on a single charge before completely draining out. Daily users will be satisfied with the battery life of the device. This was while making/receiving calls, texting, playing a few levels of Angry Birds in between and so on.

Call quality was great too with virtually zero call drops. Typing on the device feels a bit cramped in portrait mode and you can't help but switch to landscape orientation for a more comfortable typing experience.

The One V boasts impressive connectivity on both Wi-Fi and 3G networks. The browsing experience was a breeze with pages loading rather fast and giving no trouble at all. Speaking of browsing, there are a couple of new ICS features that the One V can show off when compared to its Android 2.3 companions.

One may notice In-page searching in the form of the 'Find on page' option. Further additions include tabbed browsing along with the convenience of foregoing mobile sites and heading over to the desktop version. Another welcome feature is a dedicated Forward button for easy navigation. All these features are easily accessible through the Menu option on the right hand corner of the screen.

Audio quality on the device isn't perfect either. The Beats Audio integration only enhances the sound which works alright when listening to certain type of music but might get frustrating with others, especially with the earphones. If you choose to listen to music on the audio speakers in a smaller, less noisy environment, you may be satisfied. But take the phone into a crowd and it's no good.

The smartphone comes with 512MB RAM and 4GB of internal storage which is expandable up to 32GB via microSD.

Verdict
Does the HTC One V live up to the One family tradition? It's bit of a mixed bag. The device boasts impressive specs for a mid-range smartphone, not to mention its unique design. Although it's not perfect enough, the 1GHz single core processor does keep up the pace with minor lag issues when switching between apps and menus.

It has a strong form factor that is sturdy and aesthetically pleasing, which separates it from other candybar plastic-backed offerings currently available. ICS on-board combined with the latest Sense UI is a worthwhile experience on the device. Overall, the One V is premium in looks, as well as feel.

Talking of dislikes, the audio is a bit disappointing. Probably a bundled pair of Beat headphones would work well with the Beats Audio integration. Video recording is a letdown too with the built-in digital zoom only making things worse.

If you're looking for a device with better processing capabilities then the Xperia sola (Rs. 20,449) might be an option worth considering. The device is powered by a dual-core processor and comes with a host of connectivity options including NFC and DLNA support. The downside is that it runs on Android 2.3 but an ICS update is on the cards.

Nonetheless, if you're looking for simplicity blended with excellence when it comes to getting more than just the basics right, then the HTC One V could be the Ice Cream Sandwich phone you desire.

Check out our picture gallery for more images of the HTC One V.

Pros
Differentiable and sturdy design
Display
ICS out of the box

Cons
Sloppy video recording capabilities

Price: Rs. 19,399

Ratings (Out of 5)
Design: 3.5
Display: 3.5
Performance: 3.5
Software: 3.5
Battery Life: 3.5
Value for Money: 3
Camera: 3
Overall: 3.5

HTC One V

REVIEW
KEY SPECS
NEWS

Design
Display
Software
Performance
Battery Life
Camera
Value for Money

Good
Differentiable and sturdy design
Display
ICS out of the box

Bad
Sloppy video recording capabilities

Read detailed HTC One V review

Display 3.70-inch

Processor Qualcomm Snapdragon S2

Front Camera No

Rear Camera 5-megapixel

RAM 512MB

Storage 4GB

Battery Capacity 1500mAh

OS Android 4.0

Resolution 480x800 pixels

HTC One V review

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Further reading: Android 4.0, HTC, HTC One V, HTC One series, mobiles, Ice Cream Sandwich

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