Here is the One Max, HTC’s phablet. It is HTC’s answer to Samsung’s incredibly successful Galaxy Note line and a competitor of Sony’s impressive Xperia Z Ultra and LG’s lacklustre Vu line:
The HTC One Max’s specs are as follows:
- Measures 164.5 x 82.5 x 10.29mm
- Weighs 217g
- 5.9″ full HD 1080p display
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 quadcore processor clocked at 1.7GHz
- Fingerprint scanner
- Runs Android 4.3 with HTC Sense 5.5
- Ultra Pixel main camera (like the HTC One’s) accompanied by a 2.1 megapixel front-facing shooter
- 16GB/32GB internal memory with support for expandable storage through a microSD card slot to provide up to 64GB additional storage
- 2GB RAM
- Network (wireless) standards: NFC, Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi: IEEE 802.11 a/ac/b/g/n, DLNA
- 2G/3G /LTE support
- HTC’s trademark BoomSound front-facing speakers
- IR Blaster
- 3300 mAh battery
Looking at this device one helps but wonder what it is that HTC is bringing to the phablet race that is new or really interesting about this device. There is already the HTC One and the One Mini and this one seems to be just like an added sibling to complete the family. Looking at the competition, save for diehard HTC fans who will obviously want to get one, the One Max will have a hard time standing up to the likes of the Galaxy Note 3.
As is expected HTC brings its A-game here with the HTC One’s design being the same but the phablet lacks differentiators. Save for the huge 5.9 inch display that offers more space for everything that you want to do (which is the essence of phablets anyway), what else does it do differently or uniquely? I will shun talk of the Snapdragon 600 processor since it is about how well optimized the device is to do what it sets out to but there is no lying that the Snapdragon 800 SoC found in the Xperia Z Ultra and the Galaxy Note 3 is currently the most powerful.
One good thing about the One Max is that it has a removable back unlike the One which had a unibody design.
Oh, and there is a fingerprint scanner oddly placed at the back.
To put things into perspective, here is what one commentator had to say about the One Max
Problem is, people don’t just like the Note because it is bigger. They like it because the software on it makes it more productive too (multiple apps running side by side, good usage of screen estate and a nice stylus)