HTC One S review

HTC’s One S is the middle phone in the new One line-up – it’s slightly smaller and lighter than the HTC One X, and costs slightly less, but it’s got the same camera and HTC’s Sense 4 software. The major difference is that it’s based on a dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset rather than the One X’s quad-core Nvidia Tegra 3 chipset. However, the 1.5GHz dual-core MSM8260A “Krait” processor is anything but second-class – in the SunSpider JavaScript benchmark, the One S scored an impressive 1,816, only just slower than the One X’s 1,746.

Although it doesn’t have the wow factor of the One X’s 4.7in 1,280×720 screen and lozenge-like design, the One S is still an attractive phone. Our black model didn’t really show off the way the screen melds smoothly with the case, but the phone’s oxidised aluminium casing is impressively light and tough – HTC claims it’s five times stronger than normal aluminium. The handset is just 8mm thick and weighs just 120g.

There are a few other differences under the surface: the screen uses a Super AMOLED panel rather than the X’s IPS panel, but it’s just as bright and clear, and benefits from deeper blacks. The 960×540 (qHD) resolution is more than large enough for web browsing, though text isn’t quite as crisp as on its larger brethren. When watching movies its hard to spot the extra resolution, but then the X’s larger screen comes into play. Both screens use scratch-proof Corning Gorilla glass, and we found the One S’s touch interface smooth, responsive and highly resistant to greasy fingerprints.

The One S lacks the X’s NFC chip and comes with half the storage space – you get a total of 16GB rather than 32GB, which translates into 2.2GB of app storage space and 9.9GB of other storage, and as there’s no memory card slot you’ll need to be careful how you manage your photos and music. Like the One X, the One S requires a micro SIM card and you can’t swap out the battery when it wears out.

In use, the One S feels snappy, even with multiple applications open. HTC’s Sense software – a collection of apps and changes to the Android interface – is less impressive, however. It’s less bloated than previous versions, but also feels less consistent. The Friend Stream app, for example, still only pulls in your contacts from Facebook, Twitter and Flickr – a limited collection of services. You would have thought those buying an Android phone might also want to follow their Google+ friends too.

HTC, like other handset makers, also tries to compete with Google in a number of areas, which leads to duplication of effort. The HTC Watch and HTC Hub apps, for example, aren’t anywhere as good as Android’s own Play Store, and the customised Music app is a poor imitation of the standard Android Music app. HTC’s Locations app asks you to pay for a Premium service, when Google’s own Maps and Places apps are far superior and free.

The pre-installed third-party apps are hit and miss: we liked the Polaris office document viewer and editor, which integrates with DropBox, and the TuneIn radio app is worth using, but you can’t uninstall them if you’d rather use something else. At least HTC has now given us the option to disable pre-installed apps from the Apps option menu: this removes the app from the tray and stops the Store from reminding you about updates, but it doesn’t reclaim the space they take up.

The One S has a large saving grace in its Android 4.0 operating system. The changes 4.0 brings are really useful and in fact in one way Sense has prepared us well for Android 4.0’s changed menu placement – instead of a dedicated Menu button, as on previous generations of phones, Android 4.0 places the menu in the top-right, in the same place Sense puts its menus. This isn’t consistent, however, and in some apps (such as Facebook) the bar is at the bottom of the app.

The One S’s camera is identical to the One X’s, so we’ll refer you to that review for the details: suffice to say that it’s the best camera we’ve seen yet on a smartphone, and capable of going up against mid-range compact digital cameras in terms of image quality. It’s especially impressive with low-light shots without the flash, but even everyday snaps show very little noise.

Despite HTC’s belief that people prefer thinner phones over long battery life, the One S’s battery lasted for almost nine hours in our video playback test – a far better result than the One X, which lasted for under seven hours. With a decent battery-saving app such as Juice Defender installed, you should be able to go a couple of days without charging if you manage your usage well.

The One S isn’t as immediately impressive as the One X, but it’s actually a better handset in many ways – thinner, lighter and with better battery life. It’s still fast and comes with Android 4.0, and its camera is identical, but it also shares some flaws, notably the lack of memory card support and a swappable battery. The One S is available from £21 a month on a decent two-year contract, that’s roughly £5 less than the One X. With that price difference, there’s little to choose between these excellent handsets, though we narrowly favour the One X for its high-resolution display.