Here at the 2012 edition of the CTIA Wireless show, which is taking place in New Orleans, I sat down with smartphone marker HTC to get some time with the company’s One V Android-powered smartphone. Like the other members of the One Series, the One X and One S, the One V features the new Sense 4 user interface running atop of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.
Looking at the device, one is immediately reminded of the much beloved HTC Hero of old, thanks to the One V’s curved “chin” that protrudes from the bottom of the phone. This curve not only makes the phone distinctive looking, but it helps protect the display from scratching and even puts the phone’s microphone in a slightly better position in relation to your mouth. But mostly it just looks cool, and HTC knows it.
The One V is pretty compact, especially compared to the mammoth One X. This is due largely to the phone’s conservatively sized 3.7-inch, WVGA resolution touchscreen display. The small display keeps the One V’s size and weight (115g) down, and makes it perfectly suited for normal people. You know, the type that don’t play professional basketball in the NBA.
Other features of note on the One V include a capable 5 megapixel camera that is backed up by HTC’s ImageSense chip. The camera uses a fast f/2.0, 28mm lens for good indoor shots and can record 720p HD resolution video. Like its more expensive One Series siblings, it can record photos in burst mode and can even shoot photos while recording HD video without skipping a beat.
The One V comes equipped with a reasonable 1500mAh battery, a 1GHz processor, and 4GB of internal storage. Performance from the 1GHz processor is better than expected, and though it doesn’t have all of the bells and whistles of its bigger brothers, the One V has no trouble pushing around Android 4.0 and the Sense 4 interface.