HTC One max and Sense 5.5: all the new features review

If I may answer for PapaSmurf: Top of the line specs, compact form-factor for a phablet, and a suite of phablet-optimized apps that actually set it apart from the competition. All HTC did was make a huge, bulky version of the One. If I'm going to go big with a phone I need a reason. HTC isn't really giving us any compelling reason to pick this up over the much more compact One. The only upgrade is a fingerprint scanner.

What you really mean is "HTC isn't really giving YOU any compelling reason to pick this up over the much more compact One. For many of us, productivity and bleeding edge specs aren't as important as specific features i.e. screen size, front facing speakers. This device will be perfect for me and many others....just not for you.

I agree with ZPM101. Although the one and Note 3 are too big for my taste, there is a market for this phone. Will it sell as well as the Note 3? Probably not but just because you don't find it compelling doesn't mean others wont. The biggest issue I see here is this OBSESSION with top of the line specs. The same reason many trashed the Moto X and Blackberry Z30, yet many reviewers are praising them. It really is not all about the specs or benchmarks, if the phone's software is well done and properly optimized, the phone can perform just as well as a higher specced phone. I think this phone will be priced between regular size flagships ($200) and the Note 3 ($300) so for $250 it may sell just fine or may go for $200 if it's released for the holidays (premium design, large screen, good specs) at a reasonable price, which may have been HTC's plan all along.

Everything that this doesn't bring including the S-pen. He didn't mention Samsung, yet the Samsung hate always has to kick in. Why not mention Sony/Nokia/LG/Apple etc?

Because this an HTC article?

Speed, design, durability, removable battery, SD card slot, S-Pen, best screen on the market, 3GB of RAM, one of the best cameras on the market, and 50GB of free Dropbox for two years. So, if that doesn't 'wow' anyone, then idk what to tell you. Btw, One Max is ugly and too large.

Most of what you saying is pure opinion. There is no fact in opinion. I personally don't see the need for any phone bigger then 5 in. The ultra Z has better pen input then the note because you can use anything.

1. Speed: HTC One Max doesn't need snapdragon 800 processor to be snappy performer but "king of lag" Samsung does. ( Snapdragon 800 does help note 3 to keep the lagging to the minimum but you can still find some occasional lagging in note 3 ) 2. Design: HTC One Max is definity better looking device than note 3. 3. Durability: Don't make me laugh. 4. Removable battery: Yes, definity a plus point for note 3 but with 3300 mAh and with power flip case ( adds 1200mAh) it's not going to be an issue for most of the people. 5. SD card slot: One Max also has SD card slot. 6. S-Pen: most people stop using that after a few months. 7. Screen: It depends on one's liking. You like AMOLED, some people hate AMOLED, they like IPS LCD. 8. Ram: One Max doesn't need 3 gb ram to be zippy. I do hope you know the main function of the ram. 9. Camera: Yes, Note 3 has one of the best cameras on the market and it's going to be way better than One Max. Hopefully HTC going to fix their camer performence with their next flagship. 10. Online storage: 50 gb additional free google drive online storage being offered exclusively to One Max owner. And your last comment - One Max is ugly - proves that you either just hate HTC or you have ZERO AESTHETIC sense. One Max is tad bigger than note 3 but people not gonna mind it when they experience the awesome boomsound. If you happy with Samsung products good for you but you should learn that some people prefer "user experience" over "spec". One last thing Your "wow" note 3 is a chaep "looking" and "feeling" phone.

This. Until Samsung puts Touchwiz on a diet, they're gonna need top of the line specs to keep it from performing (in day to day operations) like a phone from 2009. I picked up a Maxx, and it flies compared to my S3. The big difference, lack of any detrimental skin & software optimization. I could care less if it gets 30,000 on quadrant, if it stutters, freezes, gets toasty warm during my use, those scores don't mean anything. My Maxx has never gotten anywhere near hot and I've been putting it through the paces during the 14 day trial period. And it's doing this with an inferior, last gen processor. HTC trimmed down their UI and it shows. If they would've had a phone with a battery like the Maxx I would've had a tough decision on my hands. Unfortunately LG has decided to follow Samsung with the "everything but the kitchen sink" approach to their skin. Their skin used to be one of the lightest, now it's right up there with the heaviest. Motorola has done what I always wanted an OEM to do, leave the extraneous crap at the door and compete on build quality & everyday performance. I used to be pro HTC until their skin was canceling out the performance of the newer hardware. I decided to give Samsung a try, and while the TW iteration on the S3 wasn't as bad as HTC had gotten (Sense 3 & 4 mainly), their skin was dragging down the hardware. Why not simply make these features be apps that can be added or at least not so deeply intertwined into the core OS? Performance would increase and updates would be faster. All these engineers and no one can seem to figure this out.

And before anyone says, I realize the One Max has a similar sized battery to the Maxx, but the width is to much. The Maxx is the limit of how big I wanna go. The main things that would make me consider the One Max over the Maxx, is the boom sound speakers & the microSD card slot. But the size is a deal breaker for me anyway.