*** The official HTC One S thread ***

Just finished writing a very brief review of the TPU gel case there, so here you go :)

http://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1071937-htc-one-s/page__st__15__p__594952971#entry594952971

Firstly, still no sign of the Nillkin Super Shield case :( Going to send Nillkin an email on Monday if there is still no sign, to see what is happening.


So, I decided to buy another case in the meantime till the Nillkin cases arrives, if at all :p

Ordered a transparent black TPU gel case for £2.95 (including the delivery price) on Thursday and it arrived today and first impressions are, not bad considering the price.

The reason I am changing from the Tough case is due to the thickness it adds (more noticeable in the pockets), increase in weight and completely ruining/hiding the sleek & minimal design/look of the One S and the gel case seemed to be the best alternative to the Tough case in order to keep all sides protected but at the same time not increasing the size and weight by a considerable amount. Also, the silicone part of the Tough case gathered a lot of dust around the front edges of the screen area.


Now onto the mini review of the TPU gel case.

Rx6Sk.jpg

There are cut-outs for the bottom & top mic, the 3.5mm audio jack, the speaker, the camera and the USB port.

cCEY0.jpg

COV5Z.jpg

The case is very easy to fit on, a nice fit, not too tight and not loose at all once fitted. The case is relatively flexible, not as flexible as the silicone part of the Tough Case. It isn't as easy of a task to remove the case though, but still quicker and easier than removing the Tough case.

The colour suits the black MAO One S very well, was going to order the pitch black one but then thought that it would be too glossy and look a bit out of the place with my S, as the black model isn't completely black, it has more of a charcoal colour to it. With the transparent black case on, the back of the device looks pretty much the same regarding the colour in all different types of lighting conditions and you can still make out certain things i.e. the beats audio logo and the engraved HTC logo on the back (unfortunately the photos don't really reflect the true colour and doesn't capture the partially see through look :().

The case does look rather cheap overall, especially for the sides, you can see some form of stitching (you will see what I mean in some of the photos) and the glossy/shiny look doesn't help at all.

RRiUc.jpg jEiLj.jpg

But the minimal/sleek design for the front of the S still remains in some ways. Very little bulk is added, maybe just over 1mm to the back of the S, which means that the camera lens is also below the surface now, this is the main reason I want a case as well, as the camera sticks out from the rest of the back by just less than a mm or so, thus more prone to getting scratches on the lens.

Qyo7w.jpg

Vt8p3.jpg

The gel case covers the edges on the front and adds a very tiny amount on to the front so that there is a a raised edge for when the mobile is placed flat down on a surface to stop the screen touching the desk surface.

1EFtt.jpg

NrKmc.jpg

5PEO3.jpg

The power/lock button is very easy to push, a very light push is all that is required, this isn't really a good thing IMO though, as it means that when the mobile is in your pockets (tight trousers etc.) it could very easily keep turning the screen off and on or/and even the mobile off, as for the volume buttons, they are harder to press with the gel case on. It isn't very easy to tell where the buttons are (when not looking at them e.g. in the dark :p) as they aren't raised above the rest of the case, the lock/power button has a tiny indentation around the button and both button areas feel different to the rest of the gel case, more of a "hard" plastic feel.

op2NA.jpg
ZS9ze.jpg

I may have to do a little modding to these parts sometime soon :p :D


It is more comfortable to hold the S with the gel case on, however, it does feel a lot cheaper and not as nice to touch as the ceramic back and the Tough case felt better to touch as well whilst not feeling cheap. Finger prints are shown, however, they are only noticeable when you look at the case from certain angles in very bright light. The case also provides more grip.

MMUYC.jpg
MqwCk.jpg

As for protection/durability, I would say that the case would do a good job protecting the mobile from normal drops and the standard scratches etc. however, a drop onto solid concrete etc. from a good height could damage the mobile i.e. crack the screen as their isn't enough thickness to the case like there is with the Tough case and there would be no shock absorption either. But for daily use, I would say it is perfectly fine.

Hard to say how this will last in the long run regarding wear & tear, if you're careful enough with it and put it in a pocket with nothing else, it should be just fine for a good while I would imagine. Saying that though, the case only costs about £3, so you won't really be breaking the bank buying a new one every couple of months :p


Apart from the cheap looks (largely due to the stitching look on the sides and the glossy finish) and the power/lock button being too easy to activate and lastly the volume buttons being too hard to activate, there isn't really much wrong with this case at all, it does the job for £3 :)
 
Got my HTC One S a few days ago from TalkTalk, absolutely loving it so far as its quite the the upgrade from my old San Francisco.

Never really bothered with apps before but now I have a phone with some grunt I've been on the thing non-stop. Amazed by the battery life as well, seems to last forever!

I am having one issue though, on a few things the sound isn't quite right. For example in GTA 3 and watching some videos I get a sound delay so audio doesn't match the what's on screen. GTA 3 also has a crackling / static sound issue as well.

Anyone else had sound issues?
 
Last edited:
Nexus - that transparent TPU gel caseain't half bad for £3 - quite like it. The seams look a bit rough though.

The Diztronic Matte Back Black TPU Case arrived today. A nice case - fit and finish are quite good - not perfect though.
(quick pics taken with my S2)

7da54357.jpg
417a8461.jpg

4fcdf67c.jpg

8d172c3f.jpg

746e10f9.jpg
 
Got a quick task related question...

I use the task list manager that came with my htc one s. When i add a task it syncs with my calender and appears where it should, and also on my calender widget (clean calender widget pro). But then, a little while later it's there twice! And it's doing my head in!

I've tried looking to see if it's syncing twice (in the accounts and sync settings) but I can't see anything immediately obvious.

Anyone got any ideas?
 
@Nexus18 Hey Mate, excellent video of Sprite doing her kneading very cute!

Great quality video which shows that the HOS is very capable at recording video as well as taking still shots. HTC has done a great job in the imaging department.

I read your review of the TPU case you bought Mate, for £3 it's a bargain and does the job! Shame that your Nillkin case hasn't arrived yet, you got to chase that one up as it's been ages since you ordered it.

@kona786 I'm abit late to the party but some good examples of the S2 / HOS cameras. Both phones handle the scenes very well, I'm confused because the S2 has taken some very impressive stills this time around.

I like your Diztronic case, I've heard good things about it. It looks much better than the case I have on my HOS. I might have to purchase one of these bad boys for myself!

Unfortunately due to work commitments I haven't been able to take sample vids / pics which some members here might be breathing a sigh of relief!

Great to read other members get in on the HOS act, we're multiplying in numbers! Congratulations on your new purchases I hope you enjoy the HOS as much as we have so far!
 
Nexus - that transparent TPU gel caseain't half bad for £3 - quite like it. The seams look a bit rough though.

The Diztronic Matte Back Black TPU Case arrived today. A nice case - fit and finish are quite good - not perfect though.
(quick pics taken with my S2)

snip

Yeah, that is the only real downside to it :(

That case you got looks great :cool:, was going to order it as well, but wanted to get something that would arrive a bit quicker, just as a temporary case till the nillkin case showed up, but if nothing happens with this nillkin in the next week I am going to order that or the Rock case.

How are the buttons to press with that case on kona?

Got a quick task related question...

I use the task list manager that came with my htc one s. When i add a task it syncs with my calender and appears where it should, and also on my calender widget (clean calender widget pro). But then, a little while later it's there twice! And it's doing my head in!

I've tried looking to see if it's syncing twice (in the accounts and sync settings) but I can't see anything immediately obvious.

Anyone got any ideas?

Not really 100% sure, but if you just check on your stock calendar app and your widget calendar settings to make sure that there isn't 2 lots of task items being synced, in the actual apps settings that is, not the accounts and syncing sub menu in settings.

I had to remove my email address in the calendar app and leave the rest ticked/selected e.g. people and other things in order to stop duplicate entries.

Tempted to get that cheap case nexus. Wouldn't want to use it all the time though and thinking about it i'd no doubt end up never using it :p

haha yeah, I would love to keep the S "naked" all the time, but the camera lens sticking out annoys me :p :o and then the chipping issue worries me still especially if I where to accidentally drop it, so no other option really :(

@Nexus18 Hey Mate, excellent video of Sprite doing her kneading very cute!

Great quality video which shows that the HOS is very capable at recording video as well as taking still shots. HTC has done a great job in the imaging department.

I read your review of the TPU case you bought Mate, for £3 it's a bargain and does the job! Shame that your Nillkin case hasn't arrived yet, you got to chase that one up as it's been ages since you ordered it.

Unfortunately due to work commitments I haven't been able to take sample vids / pics which some members here might be breathing a sigh of relief!

Great to read other members get in on the HOS act, we're multiplying in numbers! Congratulations on your new purchases I hope you enjoy the HOS as much as we have so far!

Thanks :)

Indeed! :cool:

Yeah, instead of leaving it till Monday, I just sent them an email now asking what has happened :p If I don't hear anything back from them by Wednesday and there is no sign of it still, I am just going to go ahead and get the rock or that matte diztronic case.

haha :D The thread is full of photos etc. it is great! :D

Keep them coming peeps! :p :D

+ 1 to that last part of your post :cool:
 
Last edited:
What are the 2 different versions of this phone... I'm struggling to find out... international/us versions seem to be confusing me!

I'm semi tempted by this phone... I somewhat fancy a change!

I feel my s2 is verging on too big, the s3 and the x are laughable :/

The s could work tho...!
 
I think the international and US versions are the same for hardware, only different baseband.


However, there are 2 versions of the S all over the place at the minute (mainly for the European and Asian markets though), unfortunately under the exact same name as well so hard to tell, which one you get.

First Version:

Has the Snapdragon S4 chip, which is new gen and the best there is and a better GPU (adreno 225)

Second Version:

Has the old gen chip, the snapdragon S3, which is pretty poor nowadays (still good but not when compared to the exynos and S4 etc.) HTC have overclocked the chip though to try and get more performance from it. This has the adreno 220 iirc.

Anyway, the S4 version is superior due to far better performance (whether there will be any real world difference or not, pretty sure there will be in some tasks though and the overall snappy/speed of the phone :p), better power efficiency (hence the amazing battery life) and runs very cool.

HTC are phasing the S4 version out and it is being replaced by the S3 version due to shortages of the S4 chip, demand, price and Samsung buying the rest of it for their GS 3 USA version.


So needless to say if you're looking to upgrade from your GS 2, make you get the S4 version!!!! :p The S3 version has a CPU speed of 1.7GHz and S4 is 1.5GHz.
 
Last edited:
Cool cool, thanks!

Funny, you would usually assume the faster the better :P

Seems like there are more S4 based ones than the S3 ones... or am I being silly?!

Part of me wants to make this move, but part of me doesn't! I'm not unhappy with the sgs2, I just want a change! The better resolution and quicker camera are the tempting items, I don't overly care about the lack of a microsd slot and beats audio!
 
Cool cool, thanks!

Funny, you would usually assume the faster the better :P

Seems like there are more S4 based ones than the S3 ones... or am I being silly?!

Part of me wants to make this move, but part of me doesn't! I'm not unhappy with the sgs2, I just want a change! The better resolution and quicker camera are the tempting items, I don't overly care about the lack of a microsd slot and beats audio!

No problem :)


haha indeed! :cool: :p


There are a lot more people with the S4 one s than the S3 version (everyone on this forum has the S4 version), as the S3 version has only started started to come through about 3 weeks ago iirc. You should be safe getting the S4 version here, however, if you do decide to get one, you better hurry as I can't see them lasting for very long particularly since there have been some fantastic deals on them recently.


I know the feeling :p :o

The only areas where the GS 2 is better than the S is;

- 1080P recording
- storage
- far better developing community at XDA
- durability

Everything else is better on the S by a good amount I would say;

- as you said the camera being the main thing for overall stuff (if you look back the last 15 or so pages :p :o you will see a lot of comparison shots between the GS 2 and S etc.)
- build and perceived quality and IMO looks/design
- performance/hardware especially the CPU
- battery life (according to kona, better than the GS 2 with the extended battery)
- IMO software/sense (you will either love it or hate it, I personally love some aspects of sense but hate others, using the majority of stock sense apps such as the gallery, dialer, sms etc. apps [IMO no 3rd party apps match them overall] but using apex launcher and quick ics browser)
- the screen (although kona prefers the GS 2 screen and thinks it is better for sharpness), it isn't as vibrant as the GS 2, which I personally prefer
- audio (the beats audio is all right, it is more of a custom preset EQ I would say, it does make music etc. sound a bit better, suppose it depends on the type of music you listen to though :p)

Essentially the only thing that holds the S back from being a true flagship device is the screen and limited storage.


The best thing to do is to have a good long play with one and see what you think overall :) You can also see my review of the S (link to it in my sig) :)
 
I'd be buying second hand anyway, so I would always check what I was getting :) Might look into it sooner rather than later tho, perhaps the S4's will start to fetch a slight premium over the S3's?!

Looking at your good points, I can highlight Camera for me (I use my phone as my point and shoot, better this is the better), Battery (everyone wants longer life... this ROM and kernal that I'm on now is pants!), Sense I used to use in my Desire days I always quite liked it!

Audio really is a null point, I seldom use it for music... youtube on occasion. The screen I do like on the S2, but I just assumed higher resolution the better it would be (Sharp, Vivid, I like things small lol)

Storage I have used about 8 GB all in all on the S2, 5/6 on the internal and perhaps 2 tops on my 8 GB card :)

I'll need to play with one on wed, my day off!

Nice wee review btw!
 
I'd be buying second hand anyway, so I would always check what I was getting :) Might look into it sooner rather than later tho, perhaps the S4's will start to fetch a slight premium over the S3's?!

Ah then yeah you would need to :)

Yup, most definitely! Especially since the S4 limited supply will be lasting all the way through 2013 as well, apparently :eek: So not many phones will have the chip for a while (apart from top end ones).

Looking at your good points, I can highlight Camera for me (I use my phone as my point and shoot, better this is the better), Battery (everyone wants longer life... this ROM and kernal that I'm on now is pants!), Sense I used to use in my Desire days I always quite liked it!

Yeah, you will definitely love the camera then :) Packed full of features and zero shutter lag whilst having a ton of editing features built into the gallery as well.

And sense V4 is much better than the old versions IMO, very well optimized regarding performance etc.

Audio really is a null point, I seldom use it for music... youtube on occasion. The screen I do like on the S2, but I just assumed higher resolution the better it would be (Sharp, Vivid, I like things small lol)

Likewise for music. I found the audio to be better than the GS 2 audio, more cleaner sound to it and found that it had more "punch" to it when watching youtube videos etc. especially BF 3 gameplay videos :p :D

You do get more screen space than the GS 2 screen (I found it to be quite a considerable amount as well), I personally find things sharper than the GS 2 screen, however, I notice a more blurry/jaggy look on certain things like the notification icons, white text on black backgrounds, but I only notice it when I have the screen like right in front of my eyes and when concentrating on the areas, lol, that is due to the pentile matrix though, not the res. The GS 2 has RGB matrix (used for LCD screens), so it loooks better for those areas.

Still very vivid and vibrant colours on the S, just not as vibrant as the GS 2.

The screen really is great IMO, a lot of review sites slate it as being terrible (due to the pentile matrix) and so I wasn't expecting good things but was very surprised when I seen it in person, it is great on its own, just not as good as the GS 3 and X screens.

Nice wee review btw!

Thanks :)


Damnit was leaving my battery till right at the end to take screenshots of but taking a screenshot at 3% instantly powered it off :rolleyes: Will see if i got any when it comes back on...

:D

Has happened to me before as well. That is why I always take them with 10% or more remaining:D :p

What was the battery life like?
 
Had to get the screen one when it finally came back on :p

2012-06-24_16-37-30.png

2012-06-24_16-58-01.png

2012-06-24_16-33-05.png
Turned the brightness down to zero for the last 5-10 minutes just because i wanted to hit 5 hours :cool: That's roughly what it was on the rest of the time though ^ Overall about an hour and a half MX player bit of gyro/ocean tower and the rest browsing with the occasional text/fb chat.

Seriously long time for it to use virtually no battery overnight :o Especially considering i had sleep cycle thing running and it syncs everything every 2 hours still.
 
Niceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! :cool:

Welcome to the 5 hour club! :D

0HQpA.jpg

:p :D

Yeah everything regarding the battery life is just amazing! :cool:

EDIT:

Just remembered, I think you have got 5 hours on screen time a couple of times before, so welcome back to the 5 hour club then! :p


Now we need to hit 6 hours on screen time! :D :p
 
Last edited:
I'll get some 0% brightness action on the go and try and get 6 hours with the X, just to rain on your parade... ;)

It's okay as long as I don't go outside! :p
 
yeah i've had 5 hours before but not with quite so heavy use i don't think, also slightly higher brightness for the majority this time. Quite consistent though i have to say.

I've not tried it running zero brightness for long periods of time :p Maybe that's next on the cards. I need another formula 1 weekend though so i can justify using my phone all day :D

(*disables all syncing and as many apps as possible in preparation :cool:)

edit: ohhh yes avatar change :D :D
 
Last edited:
Back
Top Bottom