HTC First Review

Introduction:

Already taking a stab at the so-called “Facebook phone” in devices like the HTC ChaCha and Salsa, which merely employed dedicated Facebook buttons for quick access to certain functions of the app, veteran smartphone maker HTC is once again taking helm in delivering the next Facebook phone. This time, however, Facebook as a company in itself is taking a more profound leadership with this latest venture, seeing that there’s an overhaul with the actual Facebook experience. Tagged as the first phone to offer the all-encompassing Facebook experience, the HTC First seems like the no-brainer device for hardcore Facebook users, but will it have enough uniqueness to call its own, so that it’s a compelling choice over other devices that are bound to also get treated to the new Facebook Home experience?

The package contains:

• microUSB cable
• Wall Charger
• nano-SIM removal tool
• Quick Start Guide
• Product Safety and Warranty Guide

Design:

Always known to deliver the goods when it comes to design, we have to hand it to HTC yet again for concocting a very minimalist and compact design with the HTC First. No, it’s not as stylish as the HTC One, but regardless of that, we appreciate it for its sturdy construction and pancaked look – meaning, everything is simply flush with nothing protruding out of it. Sporting a bezel that’s rounded to offer a pleasant grip in the hand, which is further complemented by its soft touch matte finish, we’re still trying to process that this thing is packing along a once perceived to be large sized 4.3-inch display. It’s big enough to enjoy, but not too big or heavy (124 gr) to hold. Better yet, it’s wonderful to know that the HTC First is available in different colors from the onset to give consumers a level of choice that not too many handsets in its price category are subjected to.



Along the bottom of the display, we’re presented with the usual trio of capacitive buttons – the back, home, and menu keys. By default, the home button jumps us back to the main screen of Facebook Home, but it can also get us back to the standard home screen when Facebook Home is disabled. Other functions of Android, such as accessing the multi-tasking pane and Google Now, are done by double tapping and long pressing the home button respectively. Above the display, there’s an unusual sized 1.6-megapixel front-facing camera that’s capable of shooting 720p video.

Taking a tour around the edges of the HTC First, there’s nothing particularly out of character, as it sports a power button, volume control, 3.5mm headset jack, noise cancelling microphone, microUSB port for charging/data connectivity (no video-out), nano-SIM slot, and microdots that hide away its standard mic and internal speaker. Despite the flush feel of its power button and volume control, it’s nice to find a springy response with them.


On the back side, we continue to see the consistency with the HTC First’s flat design, as the f2.0 lens of the 5-megapixel auto-focus camera and LED flash are flush with the surrounding area. Just like many things nowadays, it features the predictable 1080p video recording. Depending on your taste, you might not like the closed design of the HTC First, which means there’s no access to the battery. At the same time, we’re somewhat not too surprised by the lack of a microSD slot with this one, as it’s increasingly something we’ve been seeing from HTC’s lineup.


Display:

Wrapping our heads around the fact that the HTC First is sporting a fine looking 4.3-inch 720 x 1280 S-LCD 3 display, we’re humbled most that it contributes to a very pocket-friendly handset. Indeed, it’s not as captivating or jaw dropping as other recent displays, but it’s effective enough for our eyes to handle. At a pixel density of 341 ppi, it’s undoubtedly detailed enough to give everything that tasteful level of clarity, and at the same time, we can’t complain about its neutral color reproduction. However, its brightness output isn’t strong enough to repel the harsh glare of direct sunlight. Nevertheless, we’re content with the overall package. It’s big, but not too big. Also, it’s not too overpowering to the point that it’s taking away from the star of the show – the new Facebook Home experience.

Interface and Functionality:

Unlike those other previous attempts at “Facebook phones,” the HTC First seems like it’s succeeding where others have failed. And why’s that you say? Well, rather than giving us a dedicated Facebook button to update our status, which is what we’ve seen with the HTC Salsa and ChaCha previously, Facebook Home is basically more of an in-your-face presentation of Facebook. Believe us when we say that we dig the dynamic way of how Facebook Home replaces the traditional lock/home screen of Android, by aggregating posts from our news feed in a stylish slideshow presentation. Frankly, we appreciate this level of connectedness, but there’s simply one flaw that we find – it doesn’t discriminate in what is shows. To be more specific, it’s those provocative photos that Facebook friends post, that come up the instant we turn on the device. Needless to say, it can make for some hurried excuses when you’re trying to explain it to someone who happens to take notice of it.

In addition, we’re given some basic functions from within Facebook Home – such as liking a post by simply double tapping the screen, commenting, and viewing some notifications. However, for a Facebook experience, we still don’t find it comprehensive enough, which is especially strange seeing that we’re still finding ourselves running the actual Facebook app to check-in, posts photos, and update our status. Regardless of that, hardcore Facebook users will appreciate the new Chat Heads features that Facebook Home offers, which layers the profile pictures of friends we’re talking to on Facebook Messenger. As a whole, it’s a nice start for the in-your-face style of Facebook Home, but after several days of usage, it soon becomes a bit stale – thus, we find ourselves going back to the regular Facebook app for additional functionality.

Don’t want to be bothered by Facebook Home? Well, you’re in luck because we can disable it completely under the Facebook Home settings. Interestingly, the HTC First is running a vanilla Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean experience under it all, which some will no doubt appreciate. Beside Facebook Home, there’s nothing out of the ordinary with the rest of the experience, since all of the core organizer apps are the ones we’re familiar using already.

After being accustomed to using smartphones with super-sized displays, we find ourselves fumbling a bit trying to adjust back to typing on the modest 4.3-inch display of the HTC First. Thankfully, we’re soon able to maintain our usual rate of input, despite the smaller sized buttons of the stock Jelly Bean keyboard.



Processor and Memory:

Armed with a dual-core 1.4GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 CPU coupled with 1GB of RAM and an Adreno 305 GPU, it’s not the beefiest spec’d device on the block, but it’s honestly effective enough to deliver an acceptable performance. Naturally, it handles most basic tasks effortlessly, but every now and then, it’s not too surprising for us to experience some kind of stutter or delay with its performance. Like we said, the hardware isn’t terrifying, seeing that the benchmark results validates it.

	Quadrant Standard	AnTuTu	GLBenchmark 2.5 (Egypt HD)	Vellamo (HTML5 / Metal)
HTC First	5830	11446	2313	2235 / 580
HTC One	12481	23308	3551 / 31 fps	2395 / 781
Samsung Galaxy S 4	12078	24701	4437 / 39 fps	1702/704

Increasingly something that’s been common with most of HTC’s portfolio of late, the HTC First lacks expandable storage via a microSD card slot. Therefore, we’re a bit more cautious on what we save, since we’re left with only 11.96GB of free space out of the box.

Internet and Connectivity:

Fortunately, even with the modest hardware under the hood, the HTC First delivers a bang up job with the web browsing experience. Sporting 4G LTE connectivity, there’s little waiting needed for complex pages to load up. Better yet, navigational controls with the Google Chrome browser are predictably smooth and fairly instantaneous.


Being a GSM smartphone, it’s something that’s compatible to work with most of the GSM networks around the world – and it helps that 4G LTE connectivity is in tow! Beyond that, it’s outfitted with the usual array of connectivity features that are commonly available. Specifically, the listing includes aGPS, Bluetooth 4.0, 802.11 a/b/g/n Wi-Fi, mobile hotspot functionality, and NFC.

Camera:

Certainly regarded as ample sized in this day and age, the HTC First is packing a 5-megapixel auto-focus camera with an f2.0 lens. Sadly, we can only recommend using it for outdoor shots taken under sunny conditions. Sorry to say it folks, but it fails to impress us with its soft details, poor handling of dynamic range, bland color reproduction, and its overall washed out look. Don’t hold your breath for better results under low lighting, seeing that things become even more grainy and softer.


At the same time, we’re also not convinced by its 1080p video recording quality as well, seeing that we’re most distracted by the constant presence of artifacting when we’re panning – whether it’s slow or fast, it’s a nagging thing to see all the time.

HTC First Sample Video:



Multimedia:

Relying on the good ol’ Google Play Music app, it’s the same old music player interface we know and love – so yeah, there’s nothing that jumps out too much with it. Behind the microdots, its internal speaker is surprisingly equipped at pumping out robust tones that maintain a pleasant level of clarity – even at the loudest volume setting!


Out of the box, the HTC First supports a wide selection of video codes that include DivX, H.264, MPEG-4, and XviD. Running our customary 1080p video trailer, its performance is steadfast with barely an ounce of strain being evident throughout the playback.

Call Quality:

Aside from the slight amount of crackle heard with voices through the ear piece, calling quality is pretty good with the HTC First. On the other end of the line, our callers have no issue trying to comprehend our voice. Finally, we didn’t find any issue trying to use the speakerphone with our conversations.

Battery:

Stuffed with a 2000 mAh battery, which isn’t user accessible, the battery life of the HTC First will undoubtedly vary depending on your connectivity. With 4G LTE, it’s able to churn out a little over 8 hours of heavy usage before it’s completely tapped. On the flip side, strict HSPA+ connectivity permitted us over 15 hours with normal usage, which consisted primarily of surfing the web, checking out Facebook, sending emails, and replying to text messages.

Conclusion:

Knowing that other smartphones are going to be blessed with the new Facebook Home experience, we can’t tell you to go out and buy the HTC First strictly for that experience. Instead, we recommend it most for its affordable $99.99 on-contract cost with its vanilla Android experience (once Facebook Home is disabled) and minimalist design. As for the Facebook aspect of the smartphone, it’s decent starting point that undeniably will satisfy those who live and breathe Facebook on a daily basis. In the end, though, its dynamic approach to the way our news feed is delivered on the lock/home screen soon becomes worn out and overstays its welcome, as we soon find ourselves going back to the usual Facebook app for that deeper level of connectivity.

Software version of the review unit:
Android Version: 4.2.1
Build Number: 1.05.502.1 CL169849
Kernel Version: 3.4.10-g441f28b

HTC First Video Review: