HTC One Max Review | Games Look Better on a Bigger Screen

Phablets, good God, are these really becoming a thing? That was my initial reaction to the awkwardly-oversized yet too-small-to-be-a-tablet smartphone, which, according to PC Magazine, have actually existed since 1993.

Building on the worldwide success of their flagship HTC One, Taiwanese phone manufacturer, HTC, stepped into the phablet ring with their first jumbo phone, the HTC One Max. This 5.9” smartphone is over an inch larger than the HTC One, and carries over a lot of the great features of its smaller predecessor while adding some new features such as a fingerprint scanner and microSD slot. HTC was kind enough to send over a unit for the purposes of this review.

 

A side by side picture of the HTC One Max and HTC One
A side by side picture of the HTC One Max and HTC One

The HTC One Max retains a lot of the popular features found in the HTC One, primarily the metal body and its UltraPixel camera, but how do these stack up in relation to some of the new features? Well, read on.

What’s under the hood? Powered by a quad-core, 1.7GHz Snapdragon 600 processor, and boasting 2GB of RAM, the HTC One Max has enough processing power to tackle your daily multi-tasking. The HTC One Max runs on Android 4.3, with 4.4 promised to be releasing soon, and Sense 5.5.

The HTC One Max’s display touts HTC’s Super LCD 3 display, outputting 1080p, Full HD. This makes videos, games, and graphics which are already visually appealing,  look even more amazing. The size of the screen always leaves lots of room when playing games that have on-screen controls.

The enormous sreen real estate on the HTC One Max
The enormous screen real estate on the HTC One Max

If the HTC One and HTC One Max were human beings, it could be said that their family genes are extremely strong. Retaining the sexy metallic body, sleek white trim, and nice bevel, the only noticeable aesthetic, non-size related, differences between the two are the fingerprint scanner on the back, right-side power button, left-side door switch, and a nice minimal silver accent around the front of the phone. Though the power button has been moved from the top and is no longer combined with the IR blaster, which still resides on the top of the phone.

Left side door switch you say? The HTC One Max has a removable back door which allows access to the microSD slot. The other new addition to the HTC One, the fingerprint scanner, leaves a lot to be desired. The sensor can recognize (read save) up to 3 fingers, they can be mixed between hands, or people. It’s located in an awkward position, along the upper middle half of the phone, directly underneath the camera, making it damn near impossible to use one-handedly. To be honest, the novelty wore off within hours, and I haven’t used the scanner much more after that.

Pictureception: A picture of me taking a picture of the liquor bottles above my sink
Pictureception: A picture of me taking a picture of the liquor bottles above my sink

Being that the real estate on the HTC One Max is so enormous,  it’s rather baffling why no precision stylus was included.  This seeming oversight makes it harder to use the bundled note-taking app,  Scribble,  and would make competing devices such as Samsung’ Galaxy Note a bit more appealing.  Of course,  there’s nothing stopping you from getting a third-party stylus.

The battery life on the HTC One is nothing short of superb. The  33000 mAH battery often lasted me over a day (close to 40 hours) on a single charge. By managing your screen brightness as well as connections, one can milk a lot of life out of the One Max, or any other Android phone for that matter.

Overall, the HTC One Max does not disappoint. The all-metal casing and superior build quality attests to HTC’s portfolio of building great phones. That being said though, the HTC One Max is not for everyone. If you’re in the market for a solid phablet, that looks great, sounds great, lasts long, and doesn’t come with unnecessary features, then this is the phone for you.

Share this article:

Share on facebook
Facebook
Share on twitter
Twitter
Share on linkedin
LinkedIn
Share on tumblr
Tumblr
Share on email
Email
Share on whatsapp
WhatsApp

Recent Posts

Gaming News

Free Games for May 2023

Many of us may have forgotten about the many free games available to us each month on various platforms. With the increasing cost of games, we have to take advantage …

Gaming News

Is the Xbox and Activision Deal Dead

In this video, we are going to talk about why the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has blocked the $69 billion deal between Microsoft and Activision Blizzard, the biggest …

Gaming News

Strayed Lights Review: A Dreamlike Action-Brawler with a Heart

Strayed Lights is a stunning action-adventure game that takes you on a journey of discovery and transcendence. You play as a tiny being of light that grows and evolves as …

Gaming News

Ubisoft’s XDefiant Developer Interview

If you haven’t been paying attention, XDefiant is a free-to-play, first-person arena shooter where you can mix and match factions from Ubisoft’s worlds, such as Ghost Recon, Splinter Cell, The …

Partie Screenshot Gaming News

Amazon Partners with Partie to Deliver Exclusive Content

Have you ever wondered what you would get if you combined Discord and a social media network? Well, Partie is exactly the app you need if you want to find …

Trinity Fusion Key Art Gaming News

Save the Multiverse in Trinity Fusion | PAX East 2023

Trinity Fusion is a sci-fi adventure that takes you across multiple realities on a quest to save a multiverse on the edge of total collapse. Explore 3 dark and unique worlds, …