SpecEagle review · HTC

HTC One Max review: A super-sized HTC One with a fingerprint sensor and BoomSound.

SpecEagle Editorial·Oct 2013·$650
Overall
50/100
Class rank
#3 of 6
Tier
Flagship
Buy?
Look elsewhere
The verdict, up front

The plus-size HTC One.

HTC One Max scaled up the beloved aluminium HTC One with BoomSound speakers and an early rear fingerprint sensor. At 217 g it was a handful, and the 4 MP UltraPixel camera divided opinion, but the build and audio kept HTC's premium reputation intact.

01Display

68/100

68/100 — right at the average for flagship phones of 2013.

TypeSuper LCD3
Size5.9 inches
Resolution1,920 × 1,080 px (FHD)

02Camera

52/100

52/100 trails the 57-point cohort average for flagship phones of 2013.

Main4 MP UltraPixel, f/2.0
Video1080p
Front2.1 MP

03Performance

58/100

58/100 trails the 60-point cohort average for flagship phones of 2013.

ChipsetSnapdragon 600 (28 nm)
RAM2 GB
Storage16 / 32 GB · microSD

04Battery

70/100

At 70/100 this is one of the strongest battery showings among flagship phones of 2013 — 10 points above the cohort average.

Capacity3,300 mAh
Standby~ 585 hours

05Build

76/100

76/100 puts it above the 72-point average for flagship phones of 2013.

06Value

54/100

54/100 trails the 56-point cohort average for flagship phones of 2013.

What works
  • Premium aluminium unibody.
  • Front-facing BoomSound stereo speakers.
  • Rear fingerprint sensor (early adopter).
  • microSD + jack.
What doesn't
  • Heavy 217 g and unwieldy.
  • 4 MP UltraPixel resolution was low.
  • Used last-gen Snapdragon 600.
  • Rear fingerprint placement was awkward.

How this review is built: every section score, spec row and comparison on this page comes from SpecEagle's tracked catalogue — scores weight measured specs against the 6-phone cohort of flagship devices released around the same time. We don't publish invented lab anecdotes. Spot an error? .