HTC One SV Review

Camera:

Upon launching the camera application we're greeted by the same familiar user interface seen on all of HTC's recent Android smartphones. And that's nothing to complain about really because the UI offers not only the usual camera features and tweaks, such as various shooting modes and scene adjustments, but also a few bells and whistles like the slow-motion video mode (120 frames per second at 768 by 464 pixels) and the built-in image filters.


But now let's take a look at some actual images. First, a few tech details: the HTC One SV offers a 5-megapixel auto-focus camera with BSI sensor, F2.0 aperture, and dedicated imaging chip. However, you shouldn't be paying too much attention to those fancy terms as the photos that the smartphone captures are nothing beyond average. On the bright side of things, the shutter lag is barely there and consecutive frames can be captured at a very rapid pace. But on the other hand, images lack detail and digital noise can be easily spotted in grayish areas. When it comes to video recording, you can crank up the resolution all the way to 1080p, but again, footage lacks in detail.



HTC One SV Sample Video:



HTC One SV Slow Motion Sample Video:



HTC One SV Sample Video:




So in a nutshell, the HTC One SV gets the job done if all you need is to take a casual photo every once in a while. Just don't expect any miracles out of its 5-megapixel snapper as you're likely not going to get them.


Multimedia:

HTC has always made sure that its Android smartphones perform well in the multimedia department, and the One SV is no exception. The stock music player is rich in terms of features, so you get all the bells and whistles you'd expect like the lock-screen controls and the home-screen widget. There's also SoundHound integration, which you may use to fill all the missing information in the tracks you have stored on your HTC One SV. Last but definitely not least, Beats Audio integration is on board boosting the dynamics and lower frequency spectrum of music listened through the 3.5-millimeter headphone jack.


There is no dedicated video player installed on the HTC one SV. Instead, videos that you have recorded or copied onto the smartphone's memory can be watched using the gallery application. That, actually, isn't that bad of a solution because the video UI has been enhanced with a few handy features. You can capture screenshots of the video being played, share the video on a social network of your choice, or spice up the audio track with the help of Beats Audio technology. Any popular video format you can think of is playable out of the box, except for DivX. All of our video samples, including those in 1080p ran without skipping a frame.