JoltVib

From a design perspective, the AT&T version of the One is virtually identical to its international relative — and that's a wonderful thing. The One is by far the nicest piece of Android hardware I have ever held, and its design and build quality really give Apple's iPhone 5 a run for its money. Other Android manufacturers (*cough* Samsung *cough*) have been content with using cheap feeling, unimpressive plastics on their devices, but HTC has really pushed the envelope with premium materials and top-notch fit and finish on the One. To my surprise, the only extra branding that AT&T put on the One was a small, silk-screened "globe" logo on the back of the device, just above HTC's Beats Audio logo. Such a minimal modification of a phone's design is exceptionally rare for American carriers, which love to put their own stamp on devices (Verizon could take some notes here).

Performance-wise, the AT&T One is just as fast and agile as the international model, thanks to the same 1.7GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 quad-core processor and generous 2GB of RAM. Apps open with little to no hesitation, and apart from the occasional jerky scrolling in apps like Chrome, performance was flawless. (The AT&T One's benchmarks were also off the charts.) The other features that HTC has thrown into the One, such as the IR blaster for controlling your TV, worked as expected and are nice things to have, if not make-it-or-break-it features. I found HTC's TV app to be quite impressive — setting up with my Panasonic TV and cable-service-provided DVR took about two minutes, and the remote functions worked without any delay or frustrations. Since I'm constantly using my smartphone when watching TV, it's super convenient to have simple remote control functions accessible right on my device, even if it's not a complete replacement for a proper remote.

Likewise, corny marketing names aside, the One's BoomSound dual stereo speakers are the best sounding speakers I've ever heard on a mobile device and can even show my MacBook Air's (admittedly disappointing) speakers a thing or two. Every smartphone and tablet manufacturer should be take heed: speakers are far more effective when they are placed on the front of the device rather than on the back or sides, and I would love for this design to become a trend for new devices.

Since the AT&T version of the One is tuned to properly work with the carrier's network, it can take full advantage of AT&T's speedy and spreading LTE network. In New York City, the One was able to hit respectable network speeds of 10 to 15Mbps in most locations, though it struggled to connect to the network in very crowded areas in midtown Manhattan, an AT&T sore spot for years. Outside of AT&T's LTE footprint, performance on the HSPA+ network was actually quite good, with download speeds in the 8 to 10Mbps range and the only really noticeable difference from LTE being in the upload speeds, which were in the 1 to 2Mbps range. (LTE uploads were generally in the 8 to 10Mbps window.) Call quality was loud and clear, though there was no mistaking that I was making calls on a cellphone, nor was I ever fooled into thinking I was placing an HD Voice call.

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTEr5yrn5VjsLC5jmtnamtfaXx5e5NqcG9sZGt8qcDCZqannV2WwbV5y62cZqqVq7amww%3D%3D