HTC One Max Review & Price in Malaysia - It's really HUGE!

First Impression on HTC One Max

When I first got the HTC One Max, it looks quite huge and even larger than Samsung GALAXY Note 3. It retains the smart, sleek and curvy design of HTC One just that it is larger in size and has the new Fingerprint sensor device right at the back as a new way to unlock your phone/camera.

I've been using HTC One Max for quite sometime and there are things that I like and dislike. The main attraction of HTC One Max is none other than its big screen and dual-stereo speakers with built in amplifier at the side. I personally think that HOM (HTC One Max) is very suitable for entertainment purposes especially if you like to watch a lot of YouTube Videos, Online TV Drama and of course gaming too. I always love playing Clash of Clans using it.

HTC One Max Review and Price in Malaysia

If you've wonder if HTC One Max is good enough for you, scroll down and read more on my personal review:

HTC One Max comes in box with simple design with chargers, earphones, cable and instruction in it.

Specification

• Size: 164.5 x 82.5 x 10.29mm
• Weight: 217g
• Display: 5.9 inch, Full HD 1080p
• CPU Speed: Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 processor, 1.7GHz quad-core CPUs
• Platform: Android with HTC Sense, HTC BlinkFeed
• Memory: 16GB / 32GB. Expansion card slot supports microSD memory card for up to 64GB additional storage (card not included)
• RAM: 2GB
• Battery: Capacity: 3300 mAh
• Camera: HTC UltraPixel Camera, f/2.0 aperture and 28 mm lens
• Front Camera: 2.1 MP, 88° wide angle lens with HDR capability, 1080p Full HD video recording

Since I was using Samsung GALAXY Note 3 and HTC One Max at the same time, I've noticed the different in size and weight too. HTC One Max is definitely larger than Note 3 in size and thickness. The main difference between these two gadget is HTC One Max offer better audio experience for sure (since got two front facing boom speakers) and the fingerprint device as additional function.

HTC One Max fingerprint scanning device right below the camera

New Features in HTC One Max featuring HTC BlinkFeed and Camera's function

• HTC Zoe with Sequence Shot, Always Smile and Object Removal
• Gallery with Video Highlights and HTC Share
• Continuous shooting and VideoPic
• Slow motion video recording with variable speed playback
• Sound Enhancement: HTC BoomSound (Dual frontal stereo speakers with built-in amplifiers)
• Smart Flash: Five levels of flash automatically set by distance to subject
• 1080p Full HD video recording with HDR video

I think the main features about HTC One Max is the fingerprint scanning device that you can use conveniently to unlock your phone/ activate certain apps (Eg. Camera). Although HTC One Max is huge, the phone actually fits my hand perfectly and my fingers automatically placed on the fingerprint device and power button. Therefore you can actually unlock your phone easily with just a side swipe using your finger. You can use another finger to press the Power Button/Volume button (which can act as camera shutter button too)

Random selfie with my handsome bro using front camera

Although the front camera of HOM is only 2.1 MegaPixels, the wide angle lens definitely helps you take a better selfie through a smartphone. Above photo was taken vertically but you can always snap photo horizontally as it can fit in more people.

The scenery of Melaka's Kampung Morten (in red) when you are at the top floor on Ramada Plaza Melaka

Besides that, you can now snap a photo of the beautiful scenery together with yourself in one same picture using the 'Dual Capture' camera feature. That's me pretending to looks cool while enjoying the great view of Kampung Morten from Ramada Plaza Melaka; So many tall buildings under construction in Melaka town right now, hopefully it won't change the way Kampung Morten looks like in future time. If you take the Melaka River cruise you will surely pass by this kampung with red roof houses.

Yon can remove HTC One Max's phone cover easily with just a slide of the button at the side, which reveal the SIM card and microSD card slot together with the non-detachable battery

Battery Life
HTC One Max has a built-in battery with 3300mAh capacity. I used to bring a portable battery pack with me but now I don't really need to use it as it has enough battery life to support my daily usage. If you stream YouTube and surf the web often, it will last you at least half a day. I always use my smartphone for Map Navigation and it is really fast detecting my location and calculating route to a destination, the only down side of HOM is that your battery might easily get overheat when you use GPS Navigation AND charging it at the same time. Hopefully HTC can have a better temperature regulator in future version.

I am not sure why they make battery non-detachable on HTC One Max as that might be troublesome when you found out that your battery is faulty but you will need to send to the repair workshop instead of changing a new battery easily.

HTC One Max running on a quad core processor

Processor Speed and GUI

HTC One Max has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 processor, 1.7GHz quad-core CPUs which provide a smooth GUI and able to multi-task by opperating a few phone application at the same time. So far I didn't encounter any lagging moments when using the smartphone although I used so many apps at the same time (Instagram, Facebook, Snapseed, Twitter, Chrome Mobile, Clash of Clans++)

Video and Audio Experience
The main reason I like HTC One Max is of course its big screen that paired with dual stereo speakers with built-in amplifiers. I enjoy listen to my music through Spotify, watch video through YouTube and no need to worry that my speakers will be covered and miss my call. This is why I love front facing speakers instead of the one sneakily hide behind the phone.

If compare with Samsung's phone screen, HTC One Max has a more balanced color screen when looking at the photos and videos. If you haven't know, Samsung phone's screen tends to be more yellow and concentrated. As far as I know you can disable that mode in the latest generation of Samsung phone.

PS: I will upload a gadget review video of the HTC One Max once I finished with the editing. Stay tuned!


Internet Browsing
In record, I don't have any problem even after open 50++ tabs with Chrome browser. I can still surf the internet easily and the phone still functioning well. All these tabs were links from my social media that I am interested to read more and I usually do a clean up after finish reading it all at once. You do know that there are certain time that you want to open several webpage first and read it later right??

A close up photo of Mimosa Pudica's flower with some bokeh separate the flower from the background

Camera and Video recording
I learnt a new term called "HTC UltraPixel Camera" which they never mention how many MegaPixel the camera is. According to HTC's official website, HTC UltraPixel Camera have functions and features as below:

• UltraPixel Sensor - Engineered with larger pixels, it enables each pixel to capture more than 300% more light than most leading 13 megapixel cameras.
• HTC ImageChip - Offers continuous autofocus, color shading, and noise reduction, as well as more realistic High Dynamic Range.
• F/2.0 Aperture - The largest available smartphone camera aperture, it lets in 44% more light than the iPhone 5.
• Optical Image Stabilization - Drastically reduces blur in still photos and shaky video footage.

Instead of using 'MegaPixel' to define the quality of the phone's camera, HTC used a different attempt to attract users. HTC One Max's camera can snap photos with resolution high enough for normal 4R++ size printing and as wall paper for computer. Of course, the image quality won't be as good as the DSLR and Nokia Lumia smartphone but it can snap better low-light photo with the F/2.0 aperture. As you can see the macro photo of the flower, it manage to separate the flower from the background and makes your photo standout even more; On a side note, nowadays people like to see bokeh and good low light photos from their smartphone, which is why more and more smartphone's camera can snap better photos at night.

A picture of the cat in a pet shop with glittering eyes

Visited a pet shop the other day and here's a picture of the cat with bright huge eyes under low light condition. Besides the normal capture mode, you can use 'Dual Capture' or different color filter to create a different type of images. For example below photo is snapped in black and white (HRD) which I then enhanced it using Adobe Lightroom 5.

Shining ray sunny day - HTC One Max

Didn't manage to save the overexposure on the sky but after turn it into Black and White, the shining rays look more pleasing.

Putrajaya Alamanda Bamboo's corridor - Snapped using HTC One Max

Since the camera always snap and record in 16:9 ratio, you can snap video that is friendly to be uploaded to YouTube later. I bet it is a good selfie camera and also video recorder to make vlog. Other than some picture effects, I've noticed that HTC One Max has this HTC Zoe funtion:

• HTC Zoe
• HTC Zoe is one of the function embedded in HTC One Max Camera. Instead of snapping a picture, HTC Zoe will record a 1 second video footage through your camera. I am not sure if it is beneficial for you but if I want to record video it will be at least longer than 5 seconds haha

Gaming Experience
Now let's talk about gaming!!  I highly recommend this phone to you who like to play games and watch videos through a phone. The huge and vivid screen always make me really enjoy playing the games accompanied with great hearing experience. HTC One Max is also best to paired with Spotify too since I can listen to high quality music through that little boom box and it has definitely helps me stay longer and work harder in the gym. If you haven't try out Spotify, try it now and search for your favourite songs according to your mode.

Oh ya, if you are playing Clash of Clans, do find me in the "EmberCliff" clan with username 'TianChad' haha

HTC One Max accessories ranging from boombox, stylus, flip case to battery bar

HTC One Max Accessories
By looking through the HTC One Ma accessories list, I personally think that this smartphone is not just a smartphone as it can paired with so many accessories to make it more powerful. If I were to get an accessory, it will be the HTC Power Flip Case as it not only protect my phone but also provide me extra battery usage too. Just check out HTC's One Max website for more details of the stated accessories

Easy transfer from any smartphone to HTC One Max using the HTC Transfer Tool

Conclusion
As you can see from above image, I was copying all my contacts and contents from Samsung GALAXY Note 3 to HTC One Max easily using its HTC Transfer tool. It is really quick if you are switching from one phone to another phone. The main thing I like about HTC One Max is none other than its dual facing stereo speakers right at the side of its huge screen as it gave me the best entertainment and gaming experience I've never experience before. Another thing that I like would be its HTC BlinkFeed who compile all different social media news to one same page. Therefore I can easily stay updated with friends and news from Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google+ and many more at one same page with picture displays on it.

HTC BlinkFeed on HTC One Max

With HTC BlinkFeed, what happens on your home page is in your hands. Feeds. Sites. Friends. Weather. Whatever. It's all streamed live and constantly refreshed so you can have your life at a glance. You can always set the refresh rate so that your battery life can stand longer.

The tiny bad thing about HTC One Max is that you can't scroll down the control panel shortcut to enable/disable certain function (eg. WiFi, Bluetooth) when you are in the midst of using an apps. (Eg. When I playing Clash of Clans and I want to adjust brightness, I will need to go to Home page first then only able to adjust the brightness) Although it is just one step extra it might turn off the user who want quick access to the control panel shortcut. Besides that, HTC One Max is really huge in size so it is inconvenient for people who wear tight jeans. Just imagine that bulky look in your pockets when you greeting someone and people staring at your crotch instead hahaha! Therefore, I think HTC One/HTC One Mini is more suitable for people with smaller hands and like to wear tight pants. Overall, HTC One Max is a smartphone mainly for entertainment purpose but not forgetting the ability to stay updated with friends, news and social media trough the HTC BlinkFeed wall.

What do you expect in future HTC One Max Smartphone? 

With such big phone, I hope that the next generation of HTC One Max will be dust and waterproof as that is really important for people like me who like to travel oversea and deep myself in the sea swimming together with the colorful fishes and challenge the sea urchins! Hopefully the camera can continue to improve as well so I don't need to bring my DSLR!

HTC One Max is currently retail priced at RM 2,399 in Malaysia and available in two color, Glacial Silver and Stealth Black.

Thanks for reading! I took a ride in this private helicopter. You may want to read my trip to SK Malinsau here

If you have any further question about HTC One Max, just leave a comment below and I will try my best to answer it.

Thanks for reading! Press the "Like" button and share with your friend kay? You can subscribe to TianChad @ 永遇乐, be a fans on TianChad @ 永遇乐 and follow @TianChad on Twitter for future blog post update =)