HTC One V - Friendly on the Pocket

Overview & Design

The HTC One V first caught headlines - well, not exactly - at Mobile World Congress 2012 in Barcelona, alongside a much-publicized quad-core HTC One X. Together with the yet-to-launch One S model, all three smartphones of the One series make up the flagship suite of mobile devices for HTC for 2012. While its higher-end One X cousin is clearly made for users who are tech trend chasers, the One V is made for the other (oft-overlooked) spectrum of consumers: users looking for an affordable, yet highly functional smartphone. The One V aims to fill this space with its ICS-flavored treatment (Android 4.0), Sense 4.0a UI, and a 5-megapixel camera that uses a BSI (backside illuminated) sensor, and touts an F2.0 aperture. Let's take a quick look at the gadget.

HTC has had a long history of making gorgeous phones and it shows in the HTC One V - the device is simply a beauty to look at and one that is definitely not indicative of its price range. The HTC One V comes in a compact aluminum uni-body that looks classy as well as sturdy. However, we advise users to invest in a phone case as the One V is not impervious to scratches and hard knocks. The iconic chin that first made its appearance on the HTC Hero and Desire makes a comeback on the device - not that we are complaining either, since it makes it more comfortable to take a call against your cheek.



Like most Android smartphones currently in the market, the HTC One V is retrofitted with three touch buttons (back, home, multitasking). Physical buttons are plastic long strips that present good feedback and pose no problems with functionality. All four sides of the phone are left uncluttered, adding on to the sense of minimalism that HTC is long renowned for.



For those looking forward to having a taste of the HTC Sense 4.0 UI, well, you definitely have a headstart with the HTC One V. While the device doesn't use the full version of the UI due to its memory and processing limitations (it has 512MB of memory and a single core processor), it does come with a 'lighter' , less eye-candy equipped Sense 4.0a version. In any case, the current HTC Sense 4.0 should hardly pose any learning curve for existing HTC smartphone users.

If you are concerned about fingerprint smudges, you don't have to worry here. The company doesn't seem to take too kindly to glossy covers, resulting in phones that are clad with matte surfaces. From our point of view, this is fantastic as it means lesser fingerprint smudges, a better grip, and a cleaner-looking device. The 3.7-inch display is of course not resistant to fingerprints, but at the very least, it is no worse than other devices in the market.

Features

First and foremost, the HTC One V comes with Android 4.0 and HTC Sense 4.0a user interface, the latter being a lite version that is built to run on HTC devices with smaller memory footprint and a single core processor. If you want a better look at what both offer, take a look at our Android 4.0 Basics article and our recent HTC One X review. We didn't spot any significant changes here, but local HTC representatives have informed us that the HTC Sense 4.0a UI comes with reduced UI animation like the 3D multi-tasking switcher and live wallpaper to ensure a smoother user experience. Prominently, the UI comes with lesser built-in applications (like Stocks, News, Movie Editors) and themes, and leaves it up to users to decide whether they want to include them on their phone, since most of these software can be downloaded via the HTC Hub or the Google Play Store. 

Like the HTC One X, users of the HTC One V can get 25GB of Dropbox space free for two years when they sign on to their account on the phone. Do take note that you can increase your Dropbox storage space by sending referrals to your friends, which will net you an extra 500MB per successful referral. The total user accessible memory on the HTC One V is slightly on the low side (which is why the Dropbox space will come in handy): 0.94GB (for apps) and 95MB (for music, pictures, and other data). Alternatively, you can boost the storage capacity by getting an SD card.

Performance

The HTC One V comes with a single-core processor clocked at 1GHz (yes, you read that right), alongside 512MB of RAM. The HTC One V is part of HTC's first trio of Android 4.0 devices, so for those who are looking to get a taste of Ice Cream Sandwich, this is one more option to consider (and it's not expensive too). As usual, we subject the review unit to the Quadrant benchmark, which can be found on Google Play. To gauge how it performs against the competition, we matched its scores against similar devices using single-core processors such as the HTC Wildfire S, Sony Ericsson Xperia Mini and Sony Ericsson Xperia Ray.

As depicted in the chart above, the HTC One V fared excellently against its competitors, gaining a pretty wide margin over the Xperia Mini and Ray despite all three using the same Qualcomm chipset. We attribute this to better optimization due to its lite version of Sense 4.0 UI and Android 4.0 OS. Compared to its previous affordable range smartphone, the Wildfire S, the HTC One V outperformed it and more than tripled its score. Nonetheless, we do like to stress again that numbers aren't everything.

Apart from benchmarking, the HTC One V ran smoothly and had no problems rendering pages or running graphic-intensive apps, despite its single-core chipset and 512MB RAM. The phone's lag-free performance and generally positive day-to-day experience pretty much did it for us. However, we do realize that the HTC One V has problems with WhatsApp - from time to time, the app would not respond properly (on several occasions, photos couldn't be sent to peers). We're checking with HTC for updates on this aspect.

Imaging

The HTC One V arms itself with a 5-megapixel camera with a backside illuminated sensor. Images looked pretty good, revealing relatively good color reproduction and details. Noise levels are on the high side, especially in night shots, though that's a common occurrence among mobile phones we've tested due to their tiny sensors. Otherwise, the camera did okay; it has other plus points such as its F2.0 aperture and HDR capabilities.

Battery Mileage

Using the same 480 x 800-pixel resolution video that we use across all our mobile device battery tests, we set the same test parameters which includes having the video looped under the following conditions:

• Brightness and volume at 100%
  
   
• Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity turned on
  
   
• Constant data streaming through email and Twitter

The HTC One V lasted the longest at 360 minutes with the Xperia Mini a short distance behind at 331 minutes. A more accurate comparison would be with the Sony Ericsson Xperia Ray, given its similar hardware specs and higher battery capacity of 1500mAh - and the One V still outlasted it by a full hour despite its larger screen. Again, we attribute this performance to the Android 4.0 OS and the more power-optimized HTC Sense 4 UI. With its above average battery mileage performance, the HTC One V fares pretty well in the portability index as well, coming in a close second after the Sony Ericsson Xperia Ray. The latter is significantly smaller and lighter than the former - which explains its pole position in this case.

To give you a real-world gauge, we observed that the phone could last almost a whole day on a single charge, with emails and Twitter feeds pushed constantly to it. Other activities included occasional web surfing and phone calls.

Conclusion

Well, what do we have to say about the HTC One V? At S$398, it is a good value-for-money smartphone with looks to boot. As we have mentioned, HTC has had a record of making phones that are fashionable and sleek-looking, and we are pleased to see the line of execution emulated even in their lower-end models. The One V is primarily targeted at those who are looking for a fuss-free Android 4.0 device without forking out a large sum of money; performance-wise, this single-core processor phone is pretty impeccable, save for the weird WhatsApp bug we noted above. The 3.7-inch screen might be paltry compared to the likes of 4.7-inch giants we see these days, but if you look at it from another angle, it's still slightly bigger the iPhone's screen. In general, the 480 x 800-pixel LCD screen keeps things crisp looking and exhibits adequate levels of brightness. The One V's camera and battery performances are pretty decent as well, and we don't have much to complain about in these two areas, considering its price point.

Of course, the phone is not without its flaws. The single-core processor and small memory footprint could pose problems in the future (especially if you are running many apps with background processes and have stored many files on your phone) but we imagine that the phone isn't made for a crowd with such usage habits (for that crowd, they have the HTC One X to rely upon).

In a niche market with few competitors, the HTC One V is definitely the rising star to look out for - given its affordable price tag and nice all-round performance.

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