This entire review is a guest post written by my brother… 
Before I get into my review, a bit about me. I am not a professional blogger but I do write the occasional review. In this instance, I am the brother of @MommyMentor, who in her own right is a connected blogger and user of the #hashtag capabilities. J
What I am is a user of technology. I like to explore features, to connect my worlds and friends, and to enjoy the freedom and flexibility to connect when and where I want to. Through @MommyMentor I had a recent opportunity to give the HTC ONE S a test run.
I was not disappointed. The first grab of the HTC One S from the box told me it was a phone built well. The black ceramic metal body felt solid and well constructed. Immediate power up was lightning quick, faster than I’ve seen any other phone do. The 4.3” screen display was incredibly crisp and brilliantly colored. Before I get into the usage, here are the actual specs:
Display: 4.3” qHD AMOLED with Gorilla Glass
Processor: 1.5GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4
OS: Android 4.0 + HTC Sense 4
Memory: 16GB eMMC, 1 GB DDR2
Wi-Fi: 80.11 b/g/n
Dimensions: 130.9 x 65 x 7.8 mm
Weight: 119.5 grams/4.22 oz
Perhaps I’m a bit old-school, but I like to be able to choose
what I want and don’t want on my phone. The HTC ONE S comes loaded with a lot of software that you may not find useful. Since it was a test
phone I didn’t move beyond the initial “sign up” screen for the Beats By Dr. Dre Audio, HTC Music Hub or T-Mobile Movie and Music apps. It’s not a large number of apps, but they do take up some space.
A quick Internet connection for my home network got
me off and running. The HTC ONE S really out
performed expectation for me here. Web page load time
was less than one second, even with full site format
for some heavy sites like CNN and ESPN.
Navigation between apps reminded me of the classic Windows 7 look, with an angle view of the recently used programs. Pretty cool! Side scrolling allows you to easily see everything you have open. The games and app load perform as expected, plus a bit more.
If you’ve played Words With Friends or Angry Birds on another phone, the HTC ONE S will treat your eyes to a sharp image filled with vibrant color. You’ll love the visibility the screen has, and the AMOLED screenallows some very intricate movement. I tested out the Color Splash FX app,
I was nearly able to outline the shapes without having to zoom in.
Of all this phone can do, my favorite feature was by far the
RESTART button. Call me a geek, but the option
to simply restart vs. power down and back up is nothing
more than two steps saved, but WOW I enjoyed that.
If you’re used to the restart on your home or work PC
(c’mon, who hasn’t had the blue screen of death panic?)
The Pros:
· Construction quality
· Screen size
· Speed of load and power
· Display vibrancy
· Restart button!
· Built in apps (hey, just because I don’t use them
doesn’t mean you won’t)
The Cons:
Pretty short list, really.
· Micro SIM – The HTC ONE S comes with a micro SIM. SIM users can’t simply insert your existing SIM. That means a trip to a T-Mobile store to have your data transferred. Yeah, there’s a chance of data integrity, but for me it’s more the hassle of going. A phone as large as the HTC ONE S has the real estate, why not keep the SIM format.
· Accuweather App – This preloaded app is disappointing in every use.
Every time I turned the phone on Accuweather told me it was raining in my city. Except the time it was snowing. It took several refreshes to get it to load. But when it did, the visuals were amazing!
Your decision?
With Father’s Day coming soon, you should consider
You won’t be disappointed.
–One Brother
Disclosure: My brother was provided with this phone to review for a test period. All thoughts are his own and were welcomed by HTC.
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It was fun to do. -One Brother