The HTC One was my favourite mid-sized Android device of 2013. What happens when you super-size that kind of quality?
HTC One Max: On the plus side
There’s no doubting that there’s a significant market out there for larger screened phones. Samsung’s generally credited for starting the trend with the Galaxy Note line, but it was never going to have the field to itself. I rather liked Sony’s take, the Z Ultra, and at first glance, the HTC One Max should offer the same kinds of advantages.
It’s got a 5.9″ 373ppi 1080p capable display, underneath which lurks a 1.7Ghz quad-core Snapdragon processor along with 16GB of storage. Unlike both the HTC One and HTC One Mini, the HTC One Max supports microSD card expansion, because the rear cover is totally removable.
For the security conscious, there’s also a biometric sensor used to unlock the HTC One Max, in a similar kind of style to the iPhone 5s‘ TouchID sensor. The camera is the same “Ultrapixel” model found on the HTC One, and it’s still a solid competitor, if not quite up there with the Nokia Lumia 1020 or iPhone 5s.
You blew it up!
(in size. Does not contain traces of Ape.)
In benchmark terms, things are still murky on the Android-are-they-cheating front, but for the purposes of comparison, the HTC One Max I tested with clocked in at 1960 on Geekbench 3’s multi-core test. That’s not market leading, but should lead to at least satisfactory Android performance.
HTC One Max: On the minus side
I’m on the record as generally preferring smaller phones, but even with that disclaimer aside, the HTC One Max takes the stylish design of the HTC One and, ultimately, bloats it out.
What’s stylish and comfortable in the hand on the HTC One just feels large and overly clunky on the HTC One Max. It’s a design that doesn’t scale up all that well. The bezel around the screen doesn’t help matters, as you always feel as though you’re carrying around more phone than you really need to.
This isn’t the only problem. The fingerprint sensor on the HTC One Max is on the back, which means you’ll always be searching around with your fingers to actually find it. Even when you do, success is a rarity when it comes to authenticating via fingerprint. That’s nicely security conscious, but it’s also a massive pain in the backside when you just want fast access to your handset.
Works well.
The fingerprint sensor?
Ehhh… no.
It’s great that the HTC One Max can take microSD cards, but the way it does this is via a removable back panel that’s often hard to click back onto the phone. Moreover, the only things you can access from the back panel are the SIM card and MicroSD card slots. If you’re going to make the back removable, why not give it a removable battery as well?
HTC One Max: Pricing
The HTC One Max sells through Telstra outright for $816, or on a variety of plans, starting at $74/month with $600 “worth” of calls, unlimited texts and 1GB of data for a minimum 24-month cost of $1776.
HTC One Max: Fat Duck verdict
Not every design gets better just because it’s bigger, and the HTC One Max is sadly proof of that. I’d still happily have an HTC One as my day to day phone, or even at a pinch the HTC One Mini, but the HTC One Max doesn’t perform well enough to push it ahead of the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 or Sony Xperia Z Ultra, and it spoils the design of the HTC One along the way.