HTC One max review: so big it's almost a tablet
HTC has made the extra-large version of its flagship One smartphone, the HTC One max, officially the best ever android device. If you want an android that will do almost everything you need you gotta buy yourself one of these HTC One Max devices and be a follower! I got a little hands-on time with the max and its enormous screen, fingerprint scanner and new software, which improves upon the experience of the HTC One."One" is definitely not a reference to the number of hands it takes to operate this phone.
Looking at the 5.9-inch screen for the first time, you get the sense that HTC was feeling just slightly inadequate as it watched Samsung launch the likes of the Galaxy S4 (with a 5-inch display) and Galaxy Note 3 (5.7 inches) just months after the debut of the 4.7-inch HTC One. Even LG's newest flagship, the G2, has a mere 5.2-inch screen.
The max definitely puts HTC on the leaderboard of massive high-end smartphones (the 6.3-inch Samsung Galaxy Mega's mediocre specs keep it from making the cut). At 218 grams and 3.2 inches wide, the HTC One max looks and feels like a gigantic smartphone – I could feel its heft when I picked it up, and reaching for some onscreen buttons requires some serious finger stretching. "One" is definitely not a reference to the number of hands it takes to operate this phone.
So the big question becomes: Why go so big?
"The main reason for a larger form factor is consumption of content," says Tom Harlin, director of public relations for HTC. "We've seen smartphones go from 'When I have no other option, I'll browse the web on it,' to 'It's a great tool for browsing the web,' to 'It's my primary ways to interact with social media.'"
The evolution of the smartphone from a "sometimes" device to an "everything" tool is one part of the thinking behind the immense size of the One max. Phones with screens between 5 and 7 inches are a sizable market in Asia, where HTC is based.
"What we've seen in Asia is that women who carry it tend to not carry it in a pocket; they carry it in purse or handbag," says Harlin. "So the size isn't as much of an issue. It gives all the benefits of a phone – the ability to make calls, texts – but it gives some of the abilities of a tablet as well."
Following in the footsteps of Apple (who arguably followed Motorola), the HTC One max sports a fingerprint scanner for a password-free way of unlocking the phone. It's located on the back, just beneath the camera. Just like the iPhone 5s, the user can set up multiple fingers, although on the max you can customise certain fingers to do specific things. Your index finger might simply bring up the home screen, but a thumb could launch maps, for example. Of course, you can save fingerprints from other people, too.
The HTC One max will be the first device to ship with Sense 5.5, a new version of the company's Android skin, which includes features such as the Flipboard-like BlinkFeed and automatically generated video slideshows of events. The new Sense is equipped with additional gesture support, letting users flip through screens easily with one finger – a key part of the UI in a large-screen device.
HTC previously partnered with Dropbox for free cloud storage, but this time it hooked up with Google to give max owners 50 gigabytes (GB) of Google Drive storage with purchase. The camera shouldn't be as demanding of memory, either, since shooting a short video clip (aka "Zoe") will no longer save 20 separate still images as well. There's now a bonus feature in Zoe, though: a GIF creator.
A removable back also differentiates the max from the HTC One and One mini. Removing the back reveals the SIM card slot as well as a port for a microSD card. Since the device's large screen will encourage more content consumption, Harlin says, the card slot is meant to give users more options for storing media.
Other than that, the max is still an HTC One – complete with aluminium back, 32GB of internal storage, front-facing stereo speakers and an "UltraPixel" camera – just with a jumbo-size screen. The display is still 1080p, so the processor is driving the same number of pixels as the One, and I didn't notice any lag in comparison to my experience with the One.
It's definitely harder to hold and operate with one hand, but if you're looking for a device that can be both your phone and your tablet, the HTC One max – with its flagship-smartphone specs – has a lot to offer.
