HTC One Max - A Review

I have been using the HTC One Max for some time now, and it seems that it might be time to provide a review.

I have been using it for about 11 months now and I have learned it's quirks.

First, HTC Sense is worthless.  Generic Android is much better and Sense only gets in the way of doing things.  So, first I turned it off and later I installed the Google Now Launcher which I actually like, though it is far from perfect.

I have my phone from Verizon, and between HTC and Verizon there is far too much bloatware on this phone for my taste.  There are a group of Verizon apps that cannot be uninstalled, which is really annoying, since I use only one Verizon app, the one that lets me check my data usage.

The screen is enormous, which I love and I have never once been sorry that I chose one of the largest phones on the market (5.9").  Unfortunately, HTC made some unfortunate choices which are rather annoying.  The HTC One Max has only two buttons, a home button and a back button.  They are backlit, but the lighting is so feeble that they can only be seen when the phone is off.  So, they can be seen when they cannot be used, and cannot see when they can.  Great work, HTC.  Couldn't you find anything stupider to do?  Oh wait, you did.

Because there are only two buttons, there is no dedicated button to view the list of running programs, so that you can switch between them.  No, you have to double tap the Home button to bring up a screen of the running apps, not a list, but a grid.  Actually, I suppose that makes two stupid choices.  More excellent work HTC.  Double tapping is not easy.  Single tap, home screen, double tab running apps grid.  Only about 40% of the time, my attempts to double tap bring up the Home screen.  The grid is not as good as a list, because when you have 4 or more apps open and want to close an app, you have to slide up through the app above the one you want to close.  About 5% of the time, that switches to the app on the lower line, or the one above it.  It isn't that often, just enough to be annoying.

So, each HTC change makes the phone worse. 

Also, the power button is in a perfect place, so that when you pick up your phone, it will either turn on or shut off, depending on what it was before you picked it up.  HTC, didn't anyone actually test the phone by picking it up?  It seems like a simple and obvious test, but obvious they did not perform that test.  Fortunately, a gel case fixed that.

One last thing, and probably the smallest of all.  The phone is white.  No one in their right mind wants a white phone, and yes, I am looking at all of you white iPhone users...you are NOT in your right mind.  Of course, you chose Apple, so you were mostly there already before proving it my buying a white phone.

So, what is my overall opinion of the HTC One Max?

I love it.

My problem is that I have owned three HTC phones, one of the first batch of Windows Phone 7 Phones (yea, that was a brilliant decision Microsoft), an HD7, and then an HTC Trophy 7.  I loved both of those phones, much more than the HTC One Max.

Hmmm, I wonder why?

Oh, it might be because Microsoft was smart enough to decide not to let OEMs modify the OS, and the hardware was set in stone, 3 buttons on the front, one camera/shutter button on the side.  No alterations.  No deciding that you know better and messing around with it.

The HTC One Max is a very good phone, but if they had left Android alone, and stuck with the standard button arrangement it would be a nearly perfect phone.

I wanted a big screen, and I got it, and that is why I love the HTC One Max.  If it were smaller, this would be an annoying phone.  I look at the HTC One remix on Verizon and notice that the extra hardware buttons are gone and it uses the onscreen buttons and it appears to have all three, so while a 4.5" screen is too small, at least they corrected one problem.

Where to Begin....Again

I have been away from this site for far too long and for the last month or so, I have stayed away because I had been away too long.  I simply do not know where to begin in getting back into putting down my thoughts on this blog.

One thing that has changed is my gadget status.  When I was last writing regularly, I was a gadget-starved gadget junkie.  I am a bit better fed now.

Microsoft Surface

This is the original version and the RT variety, not the Pro.  Quick review.  I love it, even though I do not use it as much as I thought I would.  With the addition of a TypeCover I can do virtually anything on it that I can do on the PC that I am presently typing this on.

Dell Venue 8 Pro

Now, the funny part is that my 8" Tablet runs full Windows 8, while my 10" Tablet runs RT.  I love this one as well.  I got the smaller tablet because I do not like to read on the larger one.  Also, I discovered that my phone, which is one of the biggest on the market isn't big enough for reading on.

On the subject of Windows RT versus Windows 8 is that it really does not make a difference.  I have no legacy programs that I use on my tablets, so the smaller tablet could have RT on it and I would not notice.

HTC One Max

This is the big phone, 5.9", which makes it larger than the Galaxy Note.  I love the real estate, but it has a few annoying things, like the change in the buttons, which is really annoying because you have to double tap the home button to get the running programs list.  It doesn't always work.  Overall, I really like it.

I still have my Hisense Sero 7 Pro, but it gives me problems from time to time and I do not use it much.

So, this is my first time back in a while, but I intend to write more often, so watch out.