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

[Skillmister]

I almost never have my mobile connection turned on at the moment. As for wifi it seems to be pretty variable even when its sat in one place between 0 and 2 bars. 3 if i move elsewhere in the house.

 

[Richy888]

There most definitely will be a jellybean ROM on XDA for the GS 2 as soon as the sources for it get posted etc. Pretty sure that there will be a fully working one before the S as well.

TBH I think you might like the GS 2 more due to the rooting and flashing etc. you have so much more choice for the GS 2 than any other phone really.


Nice one, how much you get it for?

£225, used.

Yup, the galaxy nexus did seem to have a lot of problems with signal as well (put me off when I was looking at them as well), however, iirc it was just the SIMs that needed to be replaced (only one guy had a really faulty phone iirc), haven't seen those people complaining about the issue since that (on the galaxy nexus thread here).

Did not fancy jumping out the frying pan into the fire

No idea , iirc omega and wanamlite or hydro.... something and checkrom seemed to be the best ROMs.

Better asking in this thread (still a lot of GS 2 owners) to see what the best is nowadays http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18241654&page=621

I'll have a look at what comes as standard and have a read up on the rom situation.

Also, may want to buy the extended battery for the GS 2 in order to match the one S battery life.

Ha! Already I'm forking out

It's a shame really I as really did like the One S. This signal issue is driving me to distraction. I'll hang onto it for a while and see if HTC come up with a fix.

 

[Nexus18]

Pretty nice deal

haha

touchwiz is pretty good, a lot of nice tweaks etc. to it, it just the colour scheme and looks throughout the system, which I can't stand, could always just root and flash a standard de-odexed stock ROM and then put a custom theme e.g. ICS theme on. In some ways the best of both then

Yeah, hoping to see an update soon as we haven't had one for a while now and the 3 dots menu button is ****ing me off

 

[Richy888]

Pretty nice deal

haha

touchwiz is pretty good, a lot of nice tweaks etc. to it, it just the colour scheme and looks throughout the system, which I can't stand, could always just root and flash a standard de-odexed stock ROM and then put a custom theme e.g. ICS theme on. In some ways the best of both then

Yeah, hoping to see an update soon as we haven't had one for a while now and the 3 dots menu button is ****ing me off

Just checked the phone recyclers and they're offering around £195 so even if I decided I didn't want the hassle on the auction site I'm not going to be too far out of pocket. No doubt sums offered will drop over the coming months. Actually once you take eblag and paypal fees off there isn't such a gap?

You can soon get rid the 3 dot menu I've had no issues with TrickDroid rom.

If HTC sort the signal reception job then the I guess the Sammy will be on it's way. Of course I've not received it yet so time will tell.

Time we had an update from HTC? Seems the One S is the poor relation to the One X and is either overlooked or just plain ignored Time to get my stick out and give HTC support a poke again about the signal issue

 

[Nexus18]

Hmm that isn't bad. Yeah the little loss is better than the hassle of selling it on ebay, hate ebay!!

It will drop as you said, but can't imagine it dropping too much within the next few months.

Yeah, will have to give the ROMs etc. another look over sometime and get something done myself if HTC don't bother.......


hehe, please do that, tempted to send an email of to them as well giving of about the lack of support etc. regarding the signal issues (even though I haven't had a problem ) amongst hurrying up already with that tweak for the 3 dot menu button etc.

Indeed, the S is extremely low on their list of priorities, the X has had I think 4 updates so far and will no doubt receive their next one before we get our 2nd update And then the fact that their releasing that connect thing and voice app clearly shows they haven't got their priorities right regarding updates Not to mention that they will probably be concentrating on bringing jelly bean to the devices, hope they can bring all this stuff with improvements, fixes etc. relatively soon, not very hopeful though!

 

[Robbo]

I've got a grey One S here at the moment and I do very much like the cold metal feel, especially in this heat!

I think TW Fox needs to get one as well.

 

[Skillmister]

It's awesome how cold it feels It's almost refreshing to pick up.

We need more people with one in general

 

[sarge78]

My matt black never gets cold like standard aluminium unibody device. The microarc oxidation coating seems very resistant to temperature changes (it only really heats up when using sat nav in the car)

 

[Skillmister]

I'd say my black one gets cold. Although i don't really have much to compare it to. It's definitely cooler than my ipod video with the silver mirror backing and my old phone with whatever covering that had.

 

[Nexus18]

I've got a grey One S here at the moment and I do very much like the cold metal feel, especially in this heat!

I think TW Fox needs to get one as well.

Nice

What do you think of the device overall then?


I am actually surprised that he hasn't got one yet Although I think the lightness and how thin it is puts him off completely

We need more people with one in general

Indeed!



The only time my device gets "warmish" to touch is with gaming (the N64 emulator and some other demanding games) and loads of benchmarks, never do this though so

 

[stoosh]

Hello all,

Good to see lots of people jumping on the HOS bandwagon, it's a great phone and deserves a nice healthy discussion like the one on this thread.

Just to say that a few days ago I had a small respite from work and was able to take both the HOS and S3 out with me.

First of all in bright sunlight the HOS screen blew the S3 away, they both were running at 25% brightness (I like to stay on the conservative side when it comes to screen brightness). Everything on the HOS was a lot more legible, whereas I had to shield the S3 screen just to see which home screen I was on.

I was returning home very late from work and took the liberty of taking a few low light pictures

HOS (flash off auto)

S3 (flash off auto)

HOS (flash off auto)

S3 (flash off auto)

Shots of Oxford Street and surrounds

HOS (auto)

S3 (auto)

HOS (auto)

S3 (auto)

HOS (auto)

S3 (auto)

HOS (auto)

S3 (auto)

I think both phones took decent pictures in the conditions that they were in.

I also did a quick GPS test while I was out

HOS

S3

Both the HOS and S3 performed well in respect to the GPS. The S3 was more accurate and faster with a GPS fix from a cold start, however the HOS locked on 10 of the 12 satellites that it could see. I remember that when I had the HOX the GPS signal fluctuated wildly and my position would be all over the place but with the HOS (I'm not sure why) the signal is steady and my position tracks accurately.

Heat wise (processor using games / wifi / internet browsing / music playback) the HOS performs really well and never goes above 35 degrees, whereas the S3 was warm to the touch and went up to 39.4 degrees and could've easily reached 40 degrees if I carried on using it. It's a testament to the S4 chip that the HOS manages to keep relatively cool!

 

[Skillmister]

HOS impressive in the dark. Nothing in it with the daylight ones really, both do some things slightly better.

 

[Robbo]

Nice

What do you think of the device overall then?

It's nice. The screen isn't all that great but I think it's a bit nicer than the one on the Galaxy S 2. I'm also not someone who gets upset about PenTile matrixes either so that doesn't bother me. I put any lack of sharpness down to the PPI rather than the matrix as a higher PPI/resolution more or less hides it.

It does seem a bit faster than the One X but not so much that I would actually care too much about it. I don't think the speed differences are generally noticeable, certainly not within apps. It's mainly just Sense-related stuff.

I find it so strange that they didn't just make a better flagship phone in the One X, especially as the HTC One S is only going to become less popular if they start using the S3 chip over the S4. Why didn't they do that to start with? Why create a problem where the S competes with the X when the S is clearly designed to be a mid-range phone... as evidenced by the inferior screen, lack of NFC, lack of advertising, lack of updates, lack of storage, etc.

It's good that they've made two nice phones, but annoying that neither are as good as the competition, which is the Galaxy S III. If we face the facts, neither of them can be considered better unfortunately, there are too many holes in the specifications.

I am actually surprised that he hasn't got one yet Although I think the lightness and how thin it is puts him off completely

The metal should stop that concern though really, you can hardly say it feels cheap, weight aside.

 

[Nexus18]

Ah, good to see you back again stoosh!

This thread just keeps growing and growing


Yeah, I am very impressed by how easy it is to see the one s screen in sunlight, with the desire, spica and GS 2 etc. I had to shield the screens to be able to make stuff out easily.

As you have seen in my review probably, I tried getting a photo to show how good it was in bright sunlight, but failed

Nice photos there Have to say I think the HOS looks better overall in all of them except the bus stop shot, not really much of a difference for them all though. Extremely impressive the low lit shots (pretty much in pitch black conditions) by the HOS

Nice GPS test there as well GS 3 beats it by a bit. Will have to give that a try on mine and see what I get, been very impressed with the GPS on the S as well.

 

[Nexus18]

I find it so strange that they didn't just make a better flagship phone in the One X, especially as the HTC One S is only going to become less popular if they start using the S3 chip over the S4. Why didn't they do that to start with? Why create a problem where the S competes with the X when the S is clearly designed to be a mid-range phone... as evidenced by the inferior screen, lack of NFC, lack of advertising, lack of updates, lack of storage, etc.

Exactly! HTC really have made a mess of things, I honestly think this could have been their year again if they had used the S4 in the X as well as also having a MAO aluminium uni-body, had a SD slot for both phones and done a much better job of marketing their phones, not just marketing the X. Possibly given the S NFC as well as that looks like it will be standard in the majority of phones now.

They started off so well with the nexus one, hero and desire and things have just gone down hill since then really although picked up again slightly with the one series. I suppose their wasn't much competition back then though

Would love to know how many X's and S's have been sold? Don't think it would be a lot tbh

It's good that they've made two nice phones, but annoying that neither are as good as the competition, which is the Galaxy S III. If we face the facts, neither of them can be considered better unfortunately, there are too many holes in the specifications.

Yeah the GS 3 is definitely a more "complete package" than either, an upgrade overall compared to both, although the S and X have their strengths in some areas compared to the GS 3. And then some areas come down to personal preference i.e. design/looks, size and software etc.

The metal should stop that concern though really, you can hardly say it feels cheap, weight aside.

haha I know , but this is Fox were talking about here............

 

[sarge78]

The S3 was more accurate and faster with a GPS fix from a cold start

The HOS has no sim card in! You loose quite a bit of speed/accuracy without a network/data signal.

 

[Nexus18]

Didn't even notice that..................

 

[stoosh]

Ah, good to see you back again stoosh!

This thread just keeps growing and growing


Yeah, I am very impressed by how easy it is to see the one s screen in sunlight, with the desire, spica and GS 2 etc. I had to shield the screens to be able to make stuff out easily.

As you have seen in my review probably, I tried getting a photo to show how good it was in bright sunlight, but failed

Nice photos there Have to say I think the HOS looks better overall in all of them except the bus stop shot, not really much of a difference for them all though. Extremely impressive the low lit shots (pretty much in pitch black conditions) by the HOS

Nice GPS test there as well GS 3 beats it by a bit. Will have to give that a try on mine and see what I get, been very impressed with the GPS on the S as well.

Thanks Mate, I like making special guest appearances!

I did see your review and it was a very commendable effort but it's hard to capture a screen's behaviour in bright sunlight!

I agree with you, I too prefer the HOS pictures over the S3, they look better overall, more dynamic.

The camera on the HOS, the way it works, the interface, everything about it, I think HTC have nailed it

@Skillmister Most definitely the low light pictures are the most impressive aspect of the HOS camera.

@sarge78 Good spot I thought it wouldn't make a difference because the network data signal was also disabled on the S3, the use wireless / networks option was also unchecked.

Oh well I'll have to find another sim card and give it another go!

 

[Robbo]

Exactly! HTC really have made a mess of things, I honestly think this could have been their year again if they had used the S4 in the X as well as also having a MAO aluminium uni-body, had a SD slot for both phones and done a much better job of marketing their phones, not just marketing the X. Possibly given the S NFC as well as that looks like it will be standard in the majority of phones now.

This is the frustrating thing. They have the best designs, and what many people consider to be the best screen technology present in the X. They aren't scared of using decent internals, like we've seen with the S4. Things like a MicroSD slot and NFC aren't hard to implement either, even if it means tweaking the design a bit, it would still probably be the best.

Yet from here, they still manage to mess it up. They mix the specs in a bad way and manage to create two phones with off-putting features, while Samsung deliver something that is a straight forward improvement on the previous phone.

Would love to know how many X's and S's have been sold? Don't think it would be a lot tbh

The One X seems to have sold reasonably well, but I don't think the One S has. I imagine both sets of figures would pale in comparison to the S3.

There is also a public perception that HTC are rubbish, I've met loads of people who think they're cheap, nasty and unreliable. Most of them do have iPhones and BlackBerry's, but not all. I inform them that they're wrong, but such an image isn't a positive thing!

It's annoying because at this rate, Samsung are going to run away with the high-end Android phone market.

Yeah the GS 3 is definitely a more "complete package" than either, an upgrade overall compared to both, although the S and X have their strengths in some areas compared to the GS 3. And then some areas come down to personal preference i.e. design/looks, size and software etc.

Given the customisation levels, and the fact there will probably be a stock Jellybean ROM at some point (or at least some good skins), the TouchWiz stuff isn't so bad.

Having tried the S3 properly, I very much like the feel of it and I don't think it looks too bad. The design is far from inspired, but it's good enough.

Let me put it this way, and you're free to disagree, if the One X/S and S3 were all on a table in front of you, and you could pick whichever you like, free of charge, it'd probably be the S3.

However, if it was the One XL with an SD card slot and 2000mAh+ battery, I know which I'd go for... if it had a metal One S like case minus the ugly camera ring from the X too, then better still...!

haha I know , but this is Fox were talking about here............

True! As someone said, if there was a phone with a wood trim he'd be all over it.

 

[Skillmister]

There is also a public perception that HTC are rubbish, I've met loads of people who think they're cheap, nasty and unreliable. Most of them do have iPhones and BlackBerry's, but not all. I inform them that they're wrong, but such an image isn't a positive thing!

Yep. Almost everyone whos seen/heard i got a One S has been like "lol why HTC?" Their opinion soon changes though I think other than the negative HTC stigma the thing putting a lot of people off is just the size. Compared to an iphone (which the majority of these people seem to have) it is a fair bit bigger and it does take a bit to get used to.