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Aside from a handful of rumors, we really don’t have much solid evidence when it comes to HTC’s upcoming HTC One sequel. The original model was so damn near perfect, one rumor suggested the phone’s design wouldn’t change much at all, opting instead for an iPhone-esque update where mostly the internal hardware would find itself upgraded. There was even a leak supporting these claims, showing much the same HTC One we’ve been manhandling these past few months, only with an extra cutout above the camera for the rumored fingerprint scanner or extra camera.
What is HTC planning for that hole above the camera? Hmmmmm…
While I’ll admit, I’m still very much in love with the HTC One’s overall design, there is one area of the device I’d love to see improved: it’s 4.7-inch bezelicious display. The HTC One launched during a time when a good portion of OEMs were ready to make 5-inch displays the new standard. I’ll admit, it took me by surprise when I learned the HTC One would launch with a smaller display than its Verizon cousin, the HTC Droid DNA, but still feature its overall size.
With the device’s front facing speakers already taking up a good portion of the device’s real estate, the HTC One was already at somewhat of a disadvantage. Any bezels further added to the device would only make matters worse, and they did.
The HTC One 2 (M8) the way we’d like to see it
Google+ user, Nikolai Prettner, felt much the same way about the One, and in a concept image posted to his G+ page, envisions an HTC One 2 (M8) minus the original’s thick, black bezels. Sure, this isn’t the first time we’ve seen an HTC M8 concept. Last month, Quentyn showed us another take on the device — again, keeping with the same overall design — only adding a wacky 2K display, fingerprint scanner, and 3GBs of RAM.
The problem? That concept was still using capacitive buttons. We’re crossing our fingers that by adding virtual buttons on the HTC M8 (still a rumor, mind you), HTC will be able to extend the display size to 5 inches, making for a more visually appealing device in the process.
Looking ahead, I would love to see manufacturers take more time on their flagships, sticking with the same overall design, then going all-out with a completely new model every other year. And it’s not only Apple that does this, think about the car industry. We don’t see a completely redesigned Corolla every year. But I digress…
There’s no question HTC has a lot riding on their next flagship. The best part is we wont have to wait much longer to see what they finally unveil. While official dates have yet to be announced, we’re thinking HTC will stick to the original’s late-February reveal date. Can’t hardly wait.
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I like it. I would probably drop it though. Battery I assume will be non replaceable, at least it has an sd slot.
samsung is pretty much the only company that makes phones with SD cards, you can forget about it on HTC
One Max is HTC’s newest device and it most certainly has a microSD slot.
They’re not going to have an SD card slot people. Come on! We need to kill this endless desire to increase memory capacity via internal hardware. I just have a hard time believing anyone needs more than 32gb’s of internal storage in today’s always connected universe. I have about 80 playlists offlined with spotify and I have 10gb’s of storage left.
Non-replaceable battery is the norm now. External power sources are more than readily available (battery packs, micro usb ports everywhere). It’s not necessary.
What I don’t like about my HTC is the top mounted power button (a knock knock feature like the LG G2 would negate this negative) and the sub par camera. A larger capacity battery or more power efficient processor would be nice too. The battery now is respectable though not stellar. The thing still flies and I hope to god they keep the build quality high. That’s the main reason I got the HTC One compared to the S4.
I hear what you are saying. Keep in mind this is a render. If you don’t mind, I’ll reject your reality and substitute my own. ;)
One Max? Personally, I find 32GB infernal insufficient if you have more than a half-dozen games installed and use the camcorder with any regularity. I really enjoy the 4K and 1080P videos taken on my Note 3 but they gobble up space like nothing else!
The number of people who want a SD slot is not huge, but it’s not insignificant either. They’d be wise to include the cheap slot.
well games are getting larger and videos take up a lot of space. I can understand that you don’t need it, but I have 32gb and it’s barely enough if I’m constantly deleting files and I keep all my music on Google play music (12-16gb) and I watch a lot of TV shows through my phone to my TV with slimport. and what’s wrong with the option of extra space? it doesn’t hurt. and I refuse to put sensitive files on Google drive. too much risk
I live in a rural area where cloud storage is basically useless, it helps to have more than 32GB of storage.
Seriously get off the Apple mentality where you decide what I need in a phone.
Decent games have gigabytes of additional data and not everyone has a constant or stable internet connection. Stop being so f-ing parochial.
If they made it just like that render……Callate y Toma mi dinero!!
An entire article that expounds on my least favorite post in nearly *every* device thread ever posted to any blog:
“Dat bezel.”
I’d really love this “no bezel” fantasy device to come into being, even if only for a limited run, just so the folks who *think* they want a device with almost no bezel can finally realize why they *really* don’t.
My current HTC One? Even with it’s “huge” bezel, I still get phantom touches from the sides quite frequently. Anything less and the device would be neigh unusable.
(Disclaimer: I do not uses cases on my devices, which would greatly address any issues one might have on a “bezel-less” device. That said, I’d hate to basically be forced to buy a case for any of my devices just to avoid the phantom touches on such a device.)
This is just my own personal opinion, guys. Take it easy. ;)
The current phones with very minimal bezel are great, the HTC One is not one of them. All of the current phones 5.2″ or less are great with tiny bezels. The Note series and the like need a little more bezel, but still less than we’ve seen in the past.
I probably should have been more specific: The bezel on the sides (or lack of) is where I’d expect to see the most problems. The top and bottom don’t really need anything but enough for the speakers (I’m sold on front-facing speakers…anything else just doesn’t cut it anymore) and anything other than on-screen-buttons is a waste (again, IMO)
I suppose, though, the lack of bezel on the sides would not be impossible to overcome – simply disable touch-input 1/8th of an inch around the screen.
I suppose at that point, so long as the display went to the sides, but not the “touch” input, it’d be fine. Heck, it might just please everyone. :p
Now make it a GPE device and I will buy it.
I turned my ONE from t-mobile into a GPE.
I agree. Capactive buttons at this point have no purpose, ESPECIALLY if (1) they’re going to be stupid about it and forgo the recent apps button and (2) it’s going to take up more vertical real estate on a extremely long phone.
I loved my HTC One, but those hardware feature changes are a must. Unfortunately for HTC, unless they start taking a look at what Motorola is doing, I don’t really see a need to “upgrade” to the 2014 One from my Moto X, given the lack of neat features like my notifications and touchless interactions.
You just have to double tap the home button to bring up recent apps. Wow you actually own an X and have the nerve to complain about the ONE. Hope you like those gimicks over actual performance, ill pass.
I like my permanent 100% screen space thank you very much. I don’t want it to be consumed by virtual buttons that can be placed on the bezel.
You do realize that they take up the same space on the bezel, right? except that space cant be used by a full screen app (or toggle-able virtual buttons, which is a common feature in custom roms)
You literally only lose space with the capacitive buttons, or make the phone longer with them.
Ok this has been bothering me! Why have a bigger screen if that .2 or .3 inches will just be used for capacitive buttons? Sure videos will be little bit nicer but still doesn’t make sense to me because most of the time the extra screen real estate will be used up by buttons.
Specifically on the HTC One it comes down to two choices: either add in capacitive buttons and extend the bezel past the speakers, or replace that with on screen buttons. Either way, that space is going to be taken up by buttons. Why not at least get the space back for movies and games that use immersive mode?
A year I would have agreed with you but immersive mode is *finally* here and gradually gaining support. That said, I don’t expect it to fully catch on until Samsung makes the plunge and switches to virtual buttons and developers are forced to update their apps since virtual buttons will then become mainstream.
well there is full screen mode which toggles off n on the buttons, and the bar itself is transparent, so you can see whats behind it. So to answer your question, it makes a lot of sense. Keep the size of the device, shrink the bezels, enlarge the screen. I don’t see anything wrong with this what so ever. Also i went from a 4.7 inch device with capacitive buttons to a 4.7 inch device with on screen buttons, n i didn’t feel like I downgraded in screen size or anything.
I guess that I kind of feel the opposite way. I have had the HTC One since launch day and its a great device. But my biggest issue is the overall size. Its too large for one-handed use with its current button configurations. I would go to a Minified version but then the device gets screwed in hardware (with the exception of Sony — bravo!). I don’t want to watch movies on my phone (or at least as a primary function) so I don’t need a large display because I have a tablet for such. I want to have a well-powered, fast and innovative device for day-to-day work and life.
A couple other pain points with the current HTC One…
1.) The volume buttons are not very tactile and could be much more ergonomic. The design used on the iPhone is amazing comparably.
2.) Ditch the capacitive buttons.
3.) Fix the camera. Several apps that I used with my old HTC device do not work well with the ultrapixel camera — namely my banking institution. I haven’t been able to perform a mobile deposit for nearly a year now. The bank says its because of the device’s camera quality and image encoding. Although, I see the problem on other devices as well like S4 and G2. Regardless, the camera quality could definitely be improved especially in environments with sunlight.
Overall, still the best device that I’ve ever owned.
I have no issues with either one handed operation or performing a mobile deposit. Theres nothing wrong with the camera outside of people thinking its not as good quality as a standard 8MP camera, its great.
I’ve definitely seen some grainy and poor image quality in outdoor shots. I had an 8MP camera on my old HTC and it did take better shots.
Tell my bank that. Just saying..
As to one-handed, I question that. I’m 6’5″ and have large hands. Love the phone but like any 5″ device, ergonomics are going to suffer, at least in terms of one-handed use.
Man, I’m only 6’2″ and I can use my Note 2, 5.5″, one handed just fine. I didn’t have any issues with using the Note 3, 5.7″, one handed either, but that was very briefly in store.
It would be cool if you did a certain gesture that would bring up buttons. Putting them on the side or back would be interesting as well.
Have you heard of Kitkat? The software buttons can auto-hide and be brought back with a swipe up.
Could someone please share the wallpaper? It’s probably costum made by them but still. I think it looks amazing.
google “nexus 4 backgrounds” Looks like a nexus 4 background with a slight bit of color alterations.
yeah but that’s what makes it look 10 times better than stock to me.
HTC was already *very* close with the One.
This should be pretty easy —
5″ 1080P display
Biggest battery that will fit (~3000mAh)
Snapdragon 805
Remove their soft buttons
Shrink the bezel
Keep everything else the same. They’d have a winner.
This + removable back cover/battery/sdslot. Non-negotiable. :)
No. Give me 64GB of internal storage, I don’t want an SD card.
Nor do I.
This is a comment I made in reply to someone complaining about storage/removable battery the other day:
“Sense 5+ is arguably the best non-AOSP version of android. Compared to Touchwiz and LG’s stock UI it feels light and nimble. Removable battery and SD card are an issue for people who make it an issue. The average consumer gets confused at having multiple sources to save images and it leads to data loss. The same thing goes for removable battery, I’ve been with Android since the G1. I remember the old days of rooting using telnetd to open an elevated prompt and flash a recovery/su/busybox. I’ve had extra batteries for every one of the many Nexii, LG, HTC and Samsung phones I’ve had. Rarely if ever did I use the extra batteries. I would mark them and do rotations to limit wear on a single battery just to justify the purchase. My point is, the M7 gets good battery life, 24 hours is easy to get out of it. The gains from not having a battery are nice though, thin, solid feeling and elegant to look at. No creeks or pops like you get on other phones that have to affix a cover that is removable.
They have 3 different screen sizes, what more do you want? The camera works pretty good but I do agree it could be improved. 8mp should be a bare minimum. The low light performance is awesome for a lens that small though. I still say phones should be for taking quick pictures and DSLRs should be for taking real pictures though.”
now, i actually do drain the batteries on my note 2 all the time. between near-constant video streaming, ingress, videochats, and web browsing, i do 10+ hours of screen-on time a day. Its easy to drain 3000 MaH, and being able to swap in a fresh battery is VERY nice. it is actually a feature i use. i do HAVE a external USB battery pack, and the worst part about them? its quite possible to use battery just as fast as its charging. so you either need to stop using it long enough for it to get a decent charge, or get maybe only a half a charge worth out of power out of the entire battery.
either way, i prefer removable/swappable batteries.
Not to mention you could even swap a 6000-9000 mah battery in there and it’s no where near the bulk or inconvenience of dragging around a battery bank. I personally don’t care as long as there’s more than 3000, because I stay plugged up almost all day, and get new phones every 8-12 months. My wife’s phone use to have great battery life with over 3000 mah, but for the last 4 months she has to keep it on a charger because it won’t hold a charge, and she doesn’t have an upgrade for another month. She use to have 40-50% percent left when she got home with little use (compared to me) and now it’s dead before she gets home if she doesn’t charge it at work. Most people I know that aren’t into phones and don’t replace them before an upgrade generally have to replace their battery before 2 years.
See, I used to agree there, but the new Li-Po batteries have so many more recharge cycles, it’s not that much of a concern anymore
I mainly only use Li-Ion and Ni-MH. I don’t use Li-PO because the energy density isn’t as high as Li-Ion, and there more expensive. I haven’t seen any manufacturers using them, and so far every manufacturer still suffers from aging batteries. HTC, Motorola, and Samsung devices I’ve had or helped with (I’m the IT guy for friends and family) still have Li-Ion, and still start to suffer after about 12-15 months.
Actually, HTC has switched to li-po batteries. that’s why I brought it up.
The DNA is the last one I’ve had experience with and it’s only 14 months old. The owner of the phone use to get 8-10 hours, now says he gets no more than 4 at best.
The DNA was the last big-name HTC phone with a regular old li-ion
she should just return it n get one with a fresh battery.
The only way to do that is make a claim and spend $100.
Not necessarily. That’s for when the issue is user fault, ie. Drops, water damage, lost phone. When it’s not l working ike it should because of manufacturer, you can just have it replaced. I’ve done it when I was on sprint many times.
Verizon won’t replace it. If you call they have you go into a store. Once in the store they see the phone “works” and won’t replace it. I’ve tried several times in the past, but ended having to buy a battery myself.
ah that sucks, i’ve replaced mutliple phones back when i was on sprint by just saying “hey my phone wont hold a charge its messed up.” n they go ok they check for water damage and then they say come pick up a new one next week. no fuss no buss.
Mind you it also depends on what store you go to. Some stores are more generous than others. Once my screen was freaking out even when i didnt touch it sometimes and one store by work told me i had water damage n i needed to pay, i went to one by my house n he replaced the screen in 15 minutes free of charge.
You’ll be able to swap out and add your own larger SD card
Yes, that I can use it for l…. My media I want to access offline… And that’s pretty much it. All they are nowadays is an excuse to skimp on internal storage
Alternatively 64 GB + micro SD support. Removing options is never the better choice.
What’s awesome is that its going to have everything you listed ;)
HTC should go with a 5-5.2 inch screen if they are going to add the on screen keys. Less bezel, same beautiful speaks and I’m all aboard. If they can get the device to look like this concept… I’m on board.
If HTC made a HTC M8 “Max” similar to the concept, except WITH a removable back, it would finally be strong competition against the Note 4. If there were no other glaring defects (besides being “premium metal”), I’d probably consider upgrading to it from my Note 3, since the metal Note 4 is rumored to have a craptastic fingerprint scanner, and still have a physical home button.
Listening HTC? Almost got me.
By the time my contract is up, the HTC One Max 2 should be out. If they upgrade the camera on that thing and give it onscreen buttons, they’ve made a sale
Visually the phone looks great! I like that matt material.
I’d buy that phone. Unfortunately tho, knowing HTC, that’s probably the HTC One 4, not 2.
The front of that concept is EXACTLY what I’m looking for in the M8! Bigger screen and a similar footprint to the current One by keeping bezel down and tossing out those capacitive buttons!
Give me those looks with the new 805 chip and an 8mp camera minimum and I’m all over it.
In the video they list the camera as a 10MP. That would be awesome! I sure hope that ends up being accurate. As for the new 805 chip I’d love to have it but I’d settle for the 800 if push came to shove. This is close to being a perfect phone.
Knowing HTC it’ll be a 8 ultrapixle camera
but i must ask.. is there a reason why all the pictures are squished.?
“Looking ahead, I would love to see manufacturers take more time on their flagships, sticking with the same overall design, then going all-out with a completely new model every other year.”
Except that’s not what the ‘people’ apparently want. How often has Apple, let alone anyone else been slammed for NOT having a radical new design EVERY release,…
I agree with you, every other or even every 3 years for a redesign IF NEEDED, most consumers though, will disagree and accuse people like us of being ‘afraid of change’, ‘stuck in the past’, etc etc etc,…
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♝♝♝ ♝♝♝♝♝ ♝♝ᜟ♝♝ ♝♝♝ ♝♝ᜑ♝♝since the metal Note 4 is rumored to have a craptastic fingerprint scanner, and still have a physical home button.
It’s nice that they are retaining the basic shape and design, but the navy doesn’t look great in the spy shots IMO. Let’s hope it’s just lighting.
I want that wallpaper
Not-quite-5-inch display because virtual buttons take up space. Immersive mode is a temporary solution. Physical buttons FTW.
if the display is 5 inches and you can use all of it for content, then its a 5 inch display. Is the 5 inch display on the gs4 no longer a 5 inch display because some movies have black bars on the top and bottom?
Anyone else notice the concept video for the phone does a better job of showing off the phone than HTC’s real ads. HTC won’t ever do well if they can’t market their stuff.
Needs kickstand.