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First reviews of the HTC one come in: Amazing hardware build quality, Sense hinders, camera/battery mediocre

The Verge is the first out the gate with its HTC One review. I found this passage in its conclusion prescient, which mirrors my initial reaction when trying it last month.

In my quest to find the perfect Android phone, I’m still left wanting. I want the One’s hardware, but I want the Nexus 4’s software and promise of timely updates — I’ve said for a year that HTC should offer stock Android phones, and I’m still convinced the company could save itself with the One plus pure Android. I also want a better camera — the One isn’t bad, it’s just mediocre, and I’ve seen better from Android phones. For now, the list of Android phones worth buying is two items long: the Nexus 4 and the One. Personally, I’d buy the One if I had to choose right now, but with the Galaxy S 4 coming in just a few days, I’m pretty lucky I don’t have to choose right now.

The reviews here aren’t retail units. We have a review of one of these on AT&T (for better or worse) coming soon. That means battery life results (we’re not sure how accurate a test they gave it with 2 days) and other variables might change.

As for the 4Mega‘ultra-pixel’ camera, it seems to be a risky tradeoff. Great low-light performance in exchange for the crispness of those extra pixels.

My question to HTC is: Will you ride Sense into obscurity/bankruptcy or give your users the option to use a recent unadulterated Android OS? With the S4 and Google I/O looming, the decision to put so much effort into features that users don’t want is puzzling.

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