HTC One in PH Specs, Price and Review

As bumpy and controversial the ride may have been, the HTC One, a make-or-break smartphone for the Taiwan-based phone maker, has nonetheless reached Philippine shores. Officially (official), that is, following a not-just-for-media unveiling at one of Bonifacio Global City's swankiest addresses.

HTC's breadwinner is obviously no stranger to Android enthusiasts, largely because of its Apple-inspired, machined-aluminum housing. Of course, it helps that the One is widely regarded as the most beautiful and finely crafted unibody Android handset.

Its insides are downright desirable, too, boasting a Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 chipset armed with a 1.7GHz quad-core processor; Adreno 320 graphics; and 2GB of RAM. At 32GB, internal storage should be plenty. However, take note that the HTC One does not carry microSD expansion.

HTC One

The screen measures 4.7 inches diagonally and uses an improved iteration of IPS-LCD technology. As is customary for signature phones, it is smothered by a sheet of scratch-resistant cover glass. Better still, it boasts 1080p resolution, resulting in the most pixel-dense panel (469ppi) we've laid eyes on.

Also on tap are the following: Android Jelly Bean, albeit hardly recognizable courtesy of HTC's Sense UI; 4- and 2.1-megapixel rear and front cameras; WiFi, 3G, Bluetooth, and NFC modules; and Beats-enhanced front-facing integrated speakers.

The phone is powered by a 2,300mAh lithium-polymer battery, so it likely has enough juice to get you through a full day with normal usage.

The high-end HTC One will fetch an equally premium price of P32,990—P2,000 more than its fiercest Android flagship rival, Samsung's Galaxy S4, might we add—and is slated to go on sale on May 24.

HTC One specs:

•     LTE
•     Qualcomm APQ8064T Snapdragon 600 chipset
•     Quad-core 1.7 GHz Krait 300 CPU
•     Adreno 320 GPU
•     2GB RAM
•     32/64GB internal storage
•     No memory-card slot
•     4.7-inch Super LCD3 capacitive touchscreen with 1080 x 1920 pixels, 469ppi pixel density, and Corning Gorilla Glass 2
•     4-megapixel ("ultrapixel" in marketing speak) main camera with auto-focus and LED flash
•     2.1-megapixel secondary camera that can shoot HD videos at 30fps, has HDR
•     Beats Audio sound enhancement
•     Infrared port
•     Non-removable Li-Po 2300mAh battery
•     137.4 x 68.2 x 9.3mm
•     143g
•     Android Jelly Bean with HTC Sense UI version 5