Power in your fingertips

The first phablet from HTC, the sleek One Max boasts an impressive 5.9-inch bright, colourful and sharp screen with Full HD 1080p resolution, making it very good for viewing photos and watching videos on the go.

It also comes with a fingerprint sensor that lets you scan up to three fingers to unlock the phone and launch two applications once the phone is unlocked.

Powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 quad-core processor running at 1.7 GHz and One Max is fast and efficient, offering 2 gigabytes of RAM or working memory and 16 GB internal storage.

It runs on Android 4.3 operating system enhanced with HTC Sense user-interface version 5.5.

One Max supports both 3G and 4G LTE connections. For the 3G connection, it supports all 3G bands in Thailand – 850MHz, 900MHz and 2100 MHz.

I tested it on TrueMove H’s 850MHz 3G connection and found the phone had good performance. Its touch screen and menus were very responsive and it downloaded and installed applications fast. I was able to quickly update and check feeds on my Facebook account as well as emails.

The integrated fingerprint sensor makes the use of One Max fun. I scanned my right index for unlocking the phone and the left index for unlocking the phone and launching the camera. I also scanned the right middle finger for unlocking the phone and launching the music app.

The phone will prompt you to select a finger first and then scan the print of that finger a few times allowing you to select whether you want to use the fingerprint for unlocking the phone only or for launching an app as well.

To avoid problems should you fail to scan your fingerprint properly, One Max also prompts you to enter a password to unlock the phone if you fail to unlock it with the fingerprint.

The One Max read my fingerprints quite effectively but you need to be careful that you place your finger in correct position before swiping downwards. I wasn’t aware of this technique at first and was obliged to enter the password after several failed swipes. However, I eventually got the hang of it and it was plain sailing afterwards.

One Max’s 5.9-inch screen is really cool with vibrant colours, sharpness and good brightness. It features Full HD 1080 x 1920 pixels.

The screen is really for framing photos, viewing photos and watching video clips but also makes HTC BlinkFeed app great fun to use.

BlinkFeed transforms One Max’s home screen into a customisable stream of live information. The information is combined with social streams and news. This allows you to stay updated all the time if you are online either with 3G or Wi-Fi connection.

BlinkFeed can fetch information from both local and global content from more than 2,000 media sources and links to more than 10,000 articles per day from some of the world’s leading media companies including AOL, ESPN, MTV, The Financial Times and Reuters.

The home screen looks great and very informative with news photos and headlines. You can tap on each photo or headline to bring up the report for reading. After you have logged on to your Facebook account, your Facebook feeds will be blended with the news headlines.

One Max comes with good-quality four-megapixel HTC UltraPixel camera. HTC decided to use lower the pixel count to boost image quality. The camera comes with f/2.0 28mm lens and 1/3-inch BSI sensor so the camera can also capture good quality images in low-light conditions.

The camera comes with a few fun shooting modes. In one mode, you can compose a shot of sequential motions of your subject in one photo.

The camera is capable of taking up to 20 consecutive shorts by pressing and holding the shutter. Then, you can use the Gallery app to edit the batch photos by selecting the Sequence Shot option, which will prompt you to select five shots to merge into one photo.

Or after you have captured 20 consecutive shots, you can also select the Best shot option to save the best of the images.

Another fun aspect of the camera is the Zoe function, which brings your photo gallery to life. When you are in the camera mode and using the Zoe function, one click of the shutter automatically captures up to 20 photos and records voice, then presents the series of photos like a 3-second video clip. 

You can review the sequence of photos by dragging the progress bar at the bottom and select the photo you want to share to your Facebook wall. You can also upload the photos to HTC Share service for sharing with your friends. Sharing it via HTC Share lets your friend see the photos in motion.

With the Zoe function, the camera starts capturing even before you press the shutter icon and the progress bar will display a white dot that shows the start of your recording.

This function is very useful for capturing a sequence of fast actions but you need to plan ahead and make an arrangement with your subject to move from one spot to another spot in front of the camera, which must be hold still and not pan after the subject.

HTC One Max retails for Bt23,900.

 

 

Key specs

_ OS: Android 4.3 with HTC Sense 5.5

_ Network: 2G/ 2.5G - GSM/GPRS/EDGE: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz, 3G - UMTS/ HSPA: 850/900/1900/2100 MHz with HSPA+ up to 42 Mbps, 4G - LTE: 900/1800/2100/2600 Mhz

_ CPU: 1.7GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 processor

_ Display: 5.9 inch, Full HD 1080p 

_ Storage: 16GB expandable with microSD for up to 64GB

_ RAM: 2GB

_ Connectivity: 3.5 mm stereo audio jack, NFC, Bluetooth 4.0 with aptX, Wi-Fi: IEEE 802.11 a/ac/b/g/n, DLNA

_ Camera: HTC UltraPixel 4 GB 1/3-inch BSI sensor with f/2.0 aperture and 28 mm lens

_ Battery: 3300 mAh embedded recharge?able Li-polymer battery

_ Size: 164.5 x 82.5 x 10.29mm 

_ Weight: 217g