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As most of you have already heard — especially those of you on T-Mobile — the HTC One S was just released today and we’re curious to hear your guys’ thoughts on it, now that you’ve almost a full day with it. Well, first I’ll be throwing up a quick poll to see exactly how many of you on Magenta actually picked one up, or if you’re holding out for something better (Samsung Galaxy Note maybe?). After that, I’m hoping to to hear how you actually feel about the One S’s hardware, design, build quality, even how you’re adapting to software like Sense 4.0 on top of Android 4.0 — all of it.
[polldaddy poll=6172837]
We’ll, have our own review of T-Mobile’s HTC One S in the coming days after we’ve been able to put the device through its paces. I have a feeling we’re going to love it. Oh, and if you did pick up an HTC One S today, make sure you let us know which phone you had previously and don’t forget to hit up the HTC One S forums where you can chat or help other with questions about the device. Cheers!
Heck no. I’m not content with leftovers.
This is one of the best phones available anywhere in the world right now… what the *insert expletive* are you talking about? Oh boohoo the screen isn’t 720p therefore this phone is “leftovers”… I’m perfectly okay with leftovers if it’s filet mignon and by leftovers you mean sitting out on the table for 10 minutes since first served.
But shouldn’t the price be just a tad lower than the the cream of the crops phones that offer all the specs?
Brand new top of the line phones costing $200 is a brand new thing. Back two months ago all of these phones would have cost $300. $200 is completely worth it for this phone.
This mid-range phone is supposedly the flagship phone for T-Mobile and it’s already outclassed by other phones on the market. Not to mention the phones right around the corner. It’s more than the screen. It’s the lack of a removable battery, no micro sd, the processor, htc sense… Yet they’re making it out to be a premium phone. Sorry, but it’s not. More like a steak from Apple Bees.
No processor in any phone available is out performing this S4 processor. The quad core tegra 3 isn’t doing it. No micro sd is how you want to look at it.. micro sd cards actually slow down apps. Sense is also how you look at it. The camera to this phone is also one of the best available. Seriously what available phones are currently out performing the One S and One X? I’d love to know.
Johnny989 is right on this one. The One X and the One S are currently king and queen. The jury though is still out on which is better between the S4 and the tegra quadcore. I wan’t to see more real world testing done, and not just bench marking.
I’m currently on my 4th smartphone since 2008, johnny989. They were all priced at $200 on contract buddy. Only within the last 12 months have we seen the price for some models go above the $200 mark. Let me give you an example of what I’m talking about. The One X which by HTC’s own definition is the premier phone in their lineup, has a variant that is soon be be released on ATT and also Sprint as part of the Evo line. Both of those phones are being sold as preorders around the $200 mark. I think T-Mobile would be wise to offer the One S, which is the lower model phone, at a lower price than the premier phone from HTC.
I did. It’s a mixed bag. Sense is one of the most frustrating experiences I’ve ever had, especially the way it tries to force you to merge various contacts sources. It’s completely unnecessary, and makes Android worse. Can’t wait for AOKP or CM9 to be on this thing.
The other issue I’m having is really slow charging. Like, 10% per hour with the phone off. Going to see if it improves before I take it back in.
First HTC phone I take it?
Not my first HTC, but the first one with Sense. I’ve had all stock Android up to this point.
I love the merge feature. Keeps my contacts list nice and neat. Are you charging it through and outlet, or pluged into a usb port on a PC?
Chrisssss, the Galaxy Note has an S3 and the new HTC One S has an S4. You can’t call the Galaxy Note better! Its selling point is that huge screen!
I’m waiting for the Galaxy S III to upgrade from my G2.
I’m waiting for the Galaxy S III to upgrade from my G2. I’m not a fan of sense.
Yep, me too (except I’m upgrading from an Incredible), I’m waiting for the GSIII to come out on the 3rd, I think it blows this phone out of the water, especially with the fact that it’s even a quad core! I’m really disappointed with HTC not going with a quadcore in the US :-( (I know why they did it, but I can still be disappointed can’t I? :-P)
You know, the S4 has been shown to beat out Nvidia’s quad-core in some tests.
Although, Samsung’s quad-core Exynos seems to be trampling on the competition..
No one s for me thats like the downgraded version of the one x plus I dislike sense…
You know it may just be announced on May 3rd not released, since they most likely would like to go against iphone so they may wait a while until they launch it tot he public.
Actually the one X will hit t-mobile as the G4x with quadcore this summer. I bought the one S yesterday and so far it’s been better then expected. been using it all day and just now hit the halfway point on the battery. Sense has been toned down quite a bit and is actually enjoyable again. The weather widget on the lock screen can’t be beat. I upgraded from HD2; best ROM upgradeable phone ever.
G4x? Where’s the G3?
Yesterday they said the US version of the SGS3 would also have a dual core S4 and not a quad core either….
i love it. it’s thin, light, and FAST. it’s taking me a bit to get used to sense but i’ll quickly adapt to it. it’s nice to have a phone with a screen i can actually turn on; my nexus one’s power button had been broken for like 3 weeks.
Currently on T-Mobile with a Vibrant running ICS. It runs so smooth, but I’ve had this phone for 2 years and I need something new. I don’t know if I should switch to AT&T for the One X, wait for the GS3 or get the unlocked Galaxy Nexus. Someone help!
OMG a fellow vibrant user, I thought I was the only one left! What ROM are you running if you don’t mind me asking? I’m using bionix-v and it’s pretty solid, but it’s still froyo unfortunately.
You think vibrant users are scarce try finding people who still have a samsung moment
I had the Samsung moment it was great at first but now Theres no way I could use it lol
I had the Moment for about 6 months, it died horribly. I failed when I upgraded to the Epic. Finally Running a Rezound, never look back.
good choice, love the rezound!!
switching from my sidekick lx 09 to the sgs3….. oh man…….
still using my moment what a god awful pos that thing is
I’m a Vibrant user running Passion ROM. It’s pretty much pure ICS and runs smooth as silk.
Holy Smokes! I just went through the steps for the passion ROM over on YouTube (eddie1west) and my Vibrant is now running ICS.
I’ve got a new phone.
Lol there’s still quite a few of us. I’m running CM9 nightly 4/13 at the moment.
Running Kang here. :)
I’m also waiting patiently to see if the GS3 is the phone to get. I love my HTC Mytouch 4g, and the One S looks great, but I love being able to have spare batteries laying around, and I like a microSD slot too.
I vote One X
the one x is going to be awesome but so is the gs3, you are going to be happy as crap about both.
sure if you like phones that exceed 5 inches in length.
It takes more than 3.4 inches to satisfy me.
you can’t beat the price of a t-mobile off contract plan and the galaxy nexus for 399. This business model serves consumers best especially if you like to get a new phone every year. If all carriers worked this way phones would drop in price by the inflated $200 that you pay in order for carriers to finance your purchase. As far as switching to ATT i would never do this. T-Mobiles data network is pretty sweet. Upload speeds are 50X faster than ATT who throttles their upload speeds. I would do the galaxy nexus or the One S. Stay away from ATT.
I’m pretty much in the same spot as you. Vibrant running ICS, and it still preforms impressively well. Still, I’m getting the itch to upgrade. I played with a One S yesterday and I have to say it’s an extremely well built device. It’s very light but it still feels “dense” and sturdy.
The screen was a little worrying though. I didn’t notice any of the pixelation that folks tend to complain about with PenTile screens but it had an issue where white objects on dark backgrounds have this weird color fringing. The
mail icon for instance had a green line down one side and a red line down the other. Same for the Play Store icon. It’s the type of thing you only notice when you’re really looking for it, but then it’s stuck in your subconscious.
In any case I’ll wait to see what the SGS3 looks like and when it’s being released before switching to anything.
This device is a joke when you consider the Nexus, contract free for $400 is now available…..especially for those upgrading from the G2
Even after comparing the Dual 1.5 ghz processor vs. the SGN’s dual core 1.2 ghz?
It’s all about bang for your buck. Get off the subsidized carrier phones. It’s bad for consumers unless you like financing your phone and locking yourself into a contract. Just saying this is the biggest reason I’m with T-Mobile who is trying to bring the european business model to america. Consumers and Carriers win and manufacturers have to get competitive.
In what way’s do you feel T-Mobile is trying to bring the “european business model to America”?
this phone is faster than the nexus. 4112 quadrant score is what I got. **new score I got with a fully battery charge was 5077
Pretty, but still not happy about the non-removable battery. My g2x will have to keep limping for a while longer.
why do you need or desire to remove the battery? I have yet to have a smartphone battery need to be removed (unless you owned a cliq or cliq XT or Defy where removing the battery daily due to the phone freezing up was common). lol
You obviously are new to smartphones. If you use your phone heavily, or forget to charge it, then you can swap the battery for a fully charged one – or you can buy an extended battery that has 2x-3x the life of the stock battery. Without a removable battery, you’re left without your phone as it sits tied to a charger for hours, or you have to turn it off constantly and refrain from using it to preserve battery life.
Not to mention, if the battery wears out or fails (which they do), you’re left having to replace the entire phone. Okay if you’re on warranty, tragic if you’re not.
Chris Tucker, I just had to tell you you were awesome in Friday and Rush Hour..
What happened after that buddy?
After a few million dollars, I went into retirement. It’s all about Android now O_o
Forces you to merge contacts? I avoided it the first month using the sense UI. And finally bit the bullet and i regret not trying it before! As for “forcing” you, all you gotta do is hit no, ignore. BAM, DONE.
Sticking with sprint for the LTEVO
Went into the T-Mobile store today to check it out. There were 3 reps all behind the counter, looking like they were merely assisting people in paying bills. I walked into the store and expected to find the new device on launch day in some center island. But it wasn’t. I circled the store 2 times before I found the One S on a display wall, hanging with about another 10 phones. It was not prominently displayed and there were no promotional materials hanging up anywhere. The device itself was quick and responsive, and the screen was not nearly as bad as many reviews made it seem. The device is good, but I can already see T-Mobile is dropping the ball when it comes to actually getting the phone out the door.
this is true with the tmobile store I went to in washington state today. At 430pm when I bought mine… I was the first person to buy one that day.
That’s horrible! I’m going to go out on a limb and blame the parent company. I just don’t think T-Mobiles parent company gives the the flexibility to cater to the American consumer.
the store i went to had them displayed like right in the center of the store and they were putting out accessories too. i wonder why these ones didn’t do that.
not sure… the crappy myTouch Q and T were in the center.
I went into a T-Mobile store at about 4pm after calling to make sure they had it. It turned out that when I’d arrived, they had plenty of inventory and I missed being the first purchaser by about 5 minutes.
I don’t know what to make of it. Maybe there’s just no push. I know the holidays tend to drive phone sales.
I love how the ads next to and above this article both feature the same picture as the one in the article.
oo
Samsung announces 1.4GHz Exynos 4 Quad as basis for Galaxy S3
Dual core I think?
I already pre-ordered my One X for at&t. No need to deal with these peasant phones!!!!!
so your not with Tmobile… and obviously can’t read and just screwed up the poll for those that really care. Thanks. ” …quick poll to see exactly how many of you on Magenta [this means Tmobile not AT&T] actually picked one up…”
Roy, are you seeing different reviews and bench marks than I am on the One S. The X in America is not quad. It actually loses to the S many comparisons.
That being said, I still don’t know what to do. The Note looks sweet and I want to hear what Sammy says on May 3rd.
Roy is a troll. Not worth replying to. He devotes valuable time from his life into hating anything T-Mobile for no rational reason.
Not even on my radar after the GNex popped up yesterday. Mine should be here tomorrow! This should keep me occupied until something decent comes along…. probably the next Nexus device. (Heck, I’ve still been using my N1 all this time.)
T-Mobile sells Droids now?
I got one today at a local tmobile store. $292 with a purchase of a Zag full body protector. Turned in my old Cliq XT phone for a $100 rebate that they took care of for me (mailed it in) plus that $50 rebate that they also wrote up and mailed in for me.
Initial results: im blown away. Keep in mind im coming from a Motorola Defy but my wife has the myTouch4g slide. Quadrant score is 4112 and 60fps or twice that of the myTouch4g slide.Speedtest.net showed not so great 4g speeds, but I took the test around 6pm. 1mb up. 1mb down.
Everything is wicked smooth… just like the reviews said it would be. Oh…storage. The phone says I have 2.4gb internal and 9.2gb phone. that’s usable storage. Like I have said… If i get full, i’ll simply upload or transfer (via usb) the pictures and video to my computer. No worries.
Last thought, under load, this phone heats up like the old Cliq/Cliq XT phones did.
If you get low on space offload to google drive.
or my computer ;~)
I ordered the Galaxy Nexus from the Play Store yesterday. I should be running it on T-Mo’s network by tomorrow if all goes well. It should be a nice upgrade from my Nexus One. The price was great too. It was more than $100 less than what I payed for my N1 after factoring in taxes and shipping. This way, I also get to keep my EM+ plan and stay off contract.
Coming from an HTC Amaze, I didn’t think this was going to be THAT much of a difference. This thing was like night and day. The One S is sooo smooth compared to the Amaze. So so smooth. Battery life and screen quality are great. Build quality is second to none. No hiccups, no lag. The One S gave me everything I envied about Windows phone in terms of fluidity and stability.
Almost all the negative comments on here are probably from people with anti t-mobile hard ons and most likely have never even used the phone. But yeah, I was shocked, I was legitimately expecting a refreshed Amaze running ICS but you really do feel you are on a next-gen phone. I also thought face unlock was going to be a gimmick, but I’m surprisingly actually using it.
I’ve had the phone since friday and I must say, it’s one of the best android phones I’ve used to date. (I have had a nexus one, lg g2x, htc sensation, samsung stratosphere and the t-mobile galaxy s2 to use.)
My first htc smart phone was the hd2 I was hooked then g2x then myt4g then the sensation. I thought. That was it for me. I got sense 4.0 on the sensation its good but I got a GS2 now and I dont think illl b going back to htc. GS3 next.
I was waiting first this phone since MWC but once I saw the off contract price I just bought a Galaxy note from a friend and unlocked it for T-Mobile and I don’t think imma miss the one s too much although I do love sense.
This is my current favorite Android phone… I’d like to see it exactly the same on Verizon with LTE. If i could change anything I’d maybe make it a 4.0″ screen and a little smaller, also, no Sense.
One X all the wayyyy.
I had bought the HTC One S on Wednesday, April 25th. and was super excited to get it home and tinker with it. The camera is everything HTC said it would be except the image stabilization doesn’t really work all that well. Other camera features are amazing thought but that’s not why I’m writing this reply. I installed Google Sky Maps (now just called Sky Maps in the Google Play Store) and went to check where Saturn was in the night sky. The App opened to a frozen screen of some part of the sky. Compass sensor was not working. I tried my Compass App and the same thing: frozen screen. OMG, $200 (250 without the rebate) and a two year contract for this nonsense? Brought it back to the store to exchange it for another One S. Well now, after transfer all data to the first phone then having to transfer and download everything again on the SECOND phone….what a pain. Anyway, I complained that reception (4G mind you in Fayetteville, NC) was really lousy but the sales rep all phones get bad reception in that part of the store (I should have walked around…duh!). Anyway, I get home not paying attention to the phone (driving you see) and noticed that my reception has that ugly X with No Service in the notification area up top of the phone. What the? No 3G, no 2G, nothing (to be fair I’m in an Edge area of town which is 2G but never had issues like this before)! Inside the house the phone kept losing service all day! Good lord, I wanted to pull out my hair! I upgraded to One S from y Google Nexus One that I had for two years (best phone ever and I must have been out of my mind to upgrade for a fancy camera and faster power). Now here’s the kicker: the first One S had great reception but a broken Compass Sensor and the second One S works fine but doesn’t get reception. OMG, I have to travel back to the store to swap it out for another One S and hope to high heaven that it doesn’t have issues! If it does then I’m stuck with getting the Samsung Galaxy S II or something similar. I don’t know if they’ll let me wait until the Samsung Galaxy S 3 will come out (will ask and hoping they will). Until then I need the luck of the gods with the next One S.
Sunday, April 29th: Went to T-Mobile and swapped out my 2nd phone for a 3rd. I was satisfied this time around with the connection to data services resolved. Got home, loaded apps, contacts, photos, etc. when I noticed something: there’s a pin hole between the Home button and the recent apps button. What the heck is going on here? The phone works now but aesthetically the light emitting from this pin hole is annoying as you can it a glitch made by someone at the manufacturing plant. Also, the HTC Sense Input (think Swype) doesn’t work as well as my other two phones. Again, what the heck? I just don’t get it since this is the third HTC One S I have had within five days and all three had issues. I can’t fault HTC about these issues since they’re all related to where they were manufactured. Damn shame if you ask me and I am considering returning the phone next week and wait until the Samsung S 3 comes out.
What is the different between htc one s & htc amaze 4g. They both have the same specs. The one s just have ics. That is it.
S4 vs S3 processor, Image Sense camera.
Upgraded from Nexus One that had the wrong frequencies for tmo. Generally pretty happy so far. I feel like I have so much more space suddenly.
Only (major) tripup with ICS was spotify, but found their beta.
So far though, i miss the colorful trackball and the search button on the bottom of the screen. I’d gotten used to a long press on the search button to just do a voice command. Now I have to hunt for it? I’m sure I’ll adjust and find the new tweaks eventually.
I’m also not so happy with the keyboard changes. It’s hard to type punctuation. a “?” is a long press on “k” and the comma is way too close to the hide keyboard. I need to search for some tweaks.
I’d get it if it had expandable memory.
From what I am reading, guess I will wait and hope my G2 holds out. I was really excited for the one s.