HTC Butterfly S hands on
The HTC One is the one phone all eyes are on in the United States, but it is not the only top of the line device by HTC. The other one is the HTC Butterfly S, a device that features signature features like front stereo speakers with Boom Sound, an UltraPixel camera with Zoe and the Sense 5.0 skin with BlinkFeed. What it does not have is the exquisite unibody aluminum design of the HTC One, nor its all-carrier U.S. availability. In exchange, you get all the joys of a humongous 3200mAh battery.
If the HTC Butterfly S looks familiar that is because it has similar visuals to its predecessor, the HTC Butterfly. Don’t worry if that name still does not ring a bell - in the United States, the phone was available on Verizon as the HTC Droid DNA.
Basically, the Butterfly S seems like a mix of the Droid DNA and the HTC One. The screen is a large and sharp 5-inch 1920 x 1080 pixel display like on the DNA, but the camera is a 4-megapixel one as on the One. The body is plastic like on the DNA, but the front stereo speakers remind of the One. You get the picture.
Starting with design, the Butterfly S nestles in a glossy plastic shell we’ve come to expect more from Samsung rather than HTC. It’s a fairly thick device at 10.6mm and at its large size that thickness gets noticed. The handset weighs 160g (some 5.6 oz), also above the average, but not excruciatingly heavy.
The screen is absolutely gorgeous. It’s a 5-inch Super LCD 3 1080p display with vivid colors and excellent viewing angles.
Basically, the Butterfly S seems like a mix of the Droid DNA and the HTC One. The screen is a large and sharp 5-inch 1920 x 1080 pixel display like on the DNA, but the camera is a 4-megapixel one as on the One. The body is plastic like on the DNA, but the front stereo speakers remind of the One. You get the picture.
Design and display
Starting with design, the Butterfly S nestles in a glossy plastic shell we’ve come to expect more from Samsung rather than HTC. It’s a fairly thick device at 10.6mm and at its large size that thickness gets noticed. The handset weighs 160g (some 5.6 oz), also above the average, but not excruciatingly heavy.
The screen is absolutely gorgeous. It’s a 5-inch Super LCD 3 1080p display with vivid colors and excellent viewing angles.
Interface and features
The interface is Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean with HTC Sense 5.0 with BlinkFeed on top. This is the same skin found on the HTC One with the absolute same features. Performance is buttery smooth throughout. The Butterfly S is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 chip with quad-core Krait 300 processor clocked at 1.9GHz and with 2GB of RAM. There’s 16GB of internal storage expandable via hot swappable microSD cards.
The most controversial features is the UtlraPixel camera. We applauded HTC’s idea to ditch the megapixel race (the camera here is only 4 megapixels) and focus on quality and low-light performance in particular. However, the implementation has not been ideal. Our quick hands on experience showed the camera performed well in low light and above average in other conditions, but we’ll pass final judgment in our upcoming review.
Overall, the Butterfly S looks like a neat device. The not so inspiring plastic build allows the inclusion of microSD memory expansion card slot, and the bulkier size allows for a huge battery. The handset is available in Pacific Asia and parts of Europe right now, and in the United States you can only buy it unlocked via retailers like Negri Electronics. We’ll be testing the device in the next couple of days, so stay tuned for the in-depth review.
The most controversial features is the UtlraPixel camera. We applauded HTC’s idea to ditch the megapixel race (the camera here is only 4 megapixels) and focus on quality and low-light performance in particular. However, the implementation has not been ideal. Our quick hands on experience showed the camera performed well in low light and above average in other conditions, but we’ll pass final judgment in our upcoming review.
Conclusion
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