The HTC One Max is an Android

phablet A phablet (, ) is a mobile device combining or straddling the size formats of smartphones and tablets. The word is a blend word of ''phone'' and ''tablet''. The term was largely unused by the late 2010s, since average phone sizes eventually morph ...

smartphone A smartphone is a mobile phone with advanced computing capabilities. It typically has a touchscreen interface, allowing users to access a wide range of applications and services, such as web browsing, email, and social media, as well as multi ...

designed and manufactured by

HTC HTC Corporation ( zh, t=宏達國際電子股份有限公司, p=Hóngdá Guójì Diànzǐ Gǔfèn Yǒuxiàn Gōngsī, first=t), or High Tech Computer Corporation (abbreviated and trading as HTC), is a Taiwanese consumer electronics corporatio ...

. The device is a larger variant of HTC's 2013 flagship high-end smartphone, the HTC One, notably incorporating a 5.9-inch display and

fingerprint recognition A fingerprint is an impression left by the friction ridges of a human finger. The recovery of partial fingerprints from a crime scene is an important method of forensic science. Moisture and grease on a finger result in fingerprints on surfa ...

features. The release of the One Max was met with mixed critical reception; although the software updates introduced in Sense 5.5 were noted as positive improvements, the One Max was panned for using the same hardware as the One and for the operation of its fingerprint sensor.

History

In June 2013, HTC North America's president disclosed plans to launch a "family of devices" around the design and technology of the then recently released HTC One. Shortly after the release of the HTC One in May 2013, leaked information revealed an upcoming HTC-produced

codenamed "T6", which was rumored to include a 5.9-inch

1080p 1080p (1920 × 1080 progressively displayed pixels; also known as Full HD or FHD, and BT.709) is a set of HDTV high-definition video modes characterized by 1,920 pixels displayed across the screen horizontally and 1,080 pixels down the sc ...

display, stylus pen, and a

fingerprint scanner Fingerprint scanners are a type of biometric security device that identify an individual by identifying the structure of their fingerprints. They are used in police stations, security industries, smartphones, and other mobile devices. Fingerpr ...

. Leaked images revealed a device resembling a larger version of the HTC One alongside its standard and Mini counterparts, and competing devices. Other images showed the rumored fingerprint scanner on its rear, and a

Verizon Verizon Communications Inc. ( ), is an American telecommunications company headquartered in New York City. It is the world's second-largest telecommunications company by revenue and its mobile network is the largest wireless carrier in the ...

-branded model for the United States.

Release

The HTC One Max was officially unveiled on 14 October 2013 for an almost-immediate release in European and Asian markets. It was released in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

exclusively by

Vodafone Vodafone Group Public Limited Company () is a British Multinational company, multinational telecommunications company. Its registered office and global headquarters are in Newbury, Berkshire, England. It predominantly operates Service (economic ...

(who indicated that its stock would begin arriving in-store later that week), while Sprint and

Verizon Wireless Verizon is an American wireless network operator that previously operated as a separate division of Verizon Communications under the name Verizon Wireless. In a 2019 reorganization, Verizon moved the wireless products and services into the div ...

confirmed plans to soon release the One Max in the United States. The One Max also includes 50 gigabytes of free

Google Drive Google Drive is a file-hosting service and synchronization service developed by Google. Launched on April 24, 2012, Google Drive allows users to store files in the cloud (on Google servers), synchronize files across devices, and share files ...

storage for 2 years. A black version of the One Max was released in

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

in mid-December 2013, and in late-December 2013, a red version and an amber gold version of the One Max were released in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

Specifications

The HTC One Max uses an almost identical design to the HTC One; however, the Max has a plastic bezel similar to the One Mini, uses a side-mounted power button, and also includes a removable back cover which exposes

SIM card A typical SIM card (mini-SIM with micro-SIM cutout)A SIM card or SIM (subscriber identity module) is an integrated circuit (IC) intended to securely store an international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) number and its related key, which are u ...

and

microSD Secure Digital (SD) is a proprietary hardware, proprietary, non-volatile memory, non-volatile, flash memory card format developed by the SD Association (SDA). Owing to their compact size, SD cards have been widely adopted in a variety of port ...

slots. The One Max inherits hardware features first introduced with the HTC One, such as front-facing dual BoomSound stereo speakers and a 4-megapixel rear-facing camera with an UltraPixel

image sensor An image sensor or imager is a sensor that detects and conveys information used to form an image. It does so by converting the variable attenuation of light waves (as they refraction, pass through or reflection (physics), reflect off objects) into s ...

(however, the camera does not support

optical image stabilization Image stabilization (IS) is a family of techniques that reduce blurring associated with the motion of a camera or other imaging device during exposure. Generally, it compensates for pan and tilt (angular movement, equivalent to yaw and pi ...

). Additionally, a

is located directly below the camera. Internally, the One Max features a 1.7 GHz quad-core Snapdragon 600 processor with 2 GB of RAM, a 5.9 inch

screen with a

pixel density Pixels per inch (ppi) and pixels per centimetre (ppcm or pixels/cm) are measurements of the pixel density of an electronic image device, such as a computer monitor or television display, or image digitizing device such as a camera or image scan ...

of 373 ppi, an

infrared blaster An infrared blaster (IR blaster) is a device that relays commands from a remote control to one or more devices that require infrared remote control. For instance, it may also allow radio-frequency-based (RF) remotes (including those using Blueto ...

and NFC, uses a larger (but still non-removable) 3300 mAh battery, and contains 16 or 32 GB of expandable storage. The One Max ships with a version of Android 4.3 and

HTC Sense HTC Sense is a software suite developed by HTC, used primarily on the company's Android-based devices. HTC Sense, the successor to HTC's TouchFLO 3D, enhances Android with a revamped home screen, keyboard, widgets and HTC apps. The first devi ...

5.5; the update adds

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and

Google+ Google+ (sometimes written as Google Plus, stylized as G+ or g+) was a Social networking service, social network owned and operated by Google until it ceased operations in 2019. The network was launched on June 28, 2011, in an attempt to challe ...

support to BlinkFeed, the option to disable BlinkFeed, a tool for making

animated GIF The Graphics Interchange Format (GIF; or , ) is a Raster graphics, bitmap Image file formats, image format that was developed by a team at the online services provider CompuServe led by American computer scientist Steve Wilhite and released ...

s, and additional Highlights themes. The smartphone has recently been updated to Android 4.4. Users can unlock the phone by vertically swiping on the fingerprint scanner. Up to three fingers can be recognized by the system, and the One Max can also be configured to automatically launch a certain app when a specific finger is detected.

Reception

Some early reviews criticized the One Max for its CPU specifications (specifically, using the older Snapdragon 600 processor instead of a newer 800 model), its use of the same camera as the HTC One, and the awkward placement of the fingerprint scanner. Vlad Savov of ''

The Verge ''The Verge'' is an American Technology journalism, technology news website headquarters, headquartered in Lower Manhattan, New York City and operated by Vox Media. The website publishes news, feature stories, guidebooks, product reviews, cons ...

'' particularly felt that the sensor, which requires users to vertically swipe it when scanning, was positioned too close to the camera, and required an "uncomfortable" hand position to use properly because a user's fingers would naturally lay at an angle on the rear of the device in normal use. The 5.9" display, dual front-facing speakers, removable back cover with expandable storage, the power button placement, and the ability to customize or remove BlinkFeed were praised.

References

External links