HTC One max Review - It's Huge

On the camera side we see HTC’s continued use of the 4 MP UltraPixel camera sensor on the back, with 2.0 micron pixels and 1/3" size. It’s the same CMOS sensor from ST (VD6869), and the same optics on top, with 3.8mm focal length and F/2.0 aperture. What’s different is that the One max doesn’t have OIS (Optical Image Stabilization), just like the One mini. That’s a bit unfortunate since OIS was one of the real highlights of the One, and we’ve seen another OEM follow suit with the inclusion of OIS to good success (LG’s G2) and will likely see Samsung do the same. On the front facing camera we have an Aptina AS0260 CMOS sensor with 2.1 MP resolution and 1.4µm pixels.

My thoughts about the HTC One camera system have definitely evolved over time, though I’m still glad HTC took a big risk and went this way, I’d like to see resolution traded off a bit less in the next generation. Good imaging often takes a balanced approach, I’d love to see larger pixels somewhere around 1.65 µm and as many as possible while still being pragmatic about sensor size. I hate to bring up the iPhone 5s as a comparison point, but something without as far of a tradeoff would be great. I’m still a fan of the HTC One camera indoors where other cameras struggle, but outdoors the resolution tradeoff is definitely there. Losing OIS means losing one of the things about the One system that made it special and standout in my mind. I could understand it being gone in the One mini for cost reasons, but the One max really should’ve had it considering its mission – everything about the One, taken to the max.

There’s a couple new features in the camera as a part of Sense 5.5 as well. Dual capture has been added to the camera as a shooting mode. We’ve seen this from other OEMs – it allows the front facing camera to be superimposed on the rear facing camera, or vice versus.

It’s a great feature for taking a selfie in front of something while traveling, which is ultimately its primary use case, I guess. There’s also an ‘anti shake’ mode which seems to be an EIS enhanced mode, but again this doesn’t preclude getting blurry pictures when the One max takes longer exposures, from what I’ve found.

Gallery: Smartphone 2012 Camera Bench - GMB ColorChecker Card


Gallery: Smartphone 2012 Camera Bench - ISO12233 Test Chart


Gallery: Smartphone 2012 Camera Bench - Distortion Grid


Gallery: Lights Off - Controlled Smartphone Camera Comparison


Gallery: Lights On - Controlled Smartphone Camera Comparison 


Gallery: Smartphone Camera Bench

With the exception the performance tradeoff that comes from lacking OIS (higher chance of getting blurry photos from hand shake), imaging performance on the One max is really unchanged versus the One or One mini. I’m not going to go into super great detail here, but again I’d love to see the future One series a bit more resolution without trading off too much sensitivity.

Video

The One max has the same set of video modes as the other One, normal 1080p30, slow motion video, fast HD (720p60) and Video HDR (1080p30). In addition the shot in shot mode also works in video, so you can have yourself superimposed over video of whatever you’re shooting as well.

Video is recorded at a maximum of 1080p30 H.264 high profile with a 21 Mbps bitrate, and stereo audio. 1080p30 is great, but it’d be awesome to see 4K UHD video record which I was spoiled by on the Note 3, that’s another thing that’s a matter of SoC and CMOS needing a bit more.

I took videos on the One max at the standard bench location (MP4) and also compared to the One with OIS to illustrate the tradeoff in stabilized video that comes with its removal. I think it’s fairly easy to make the case that it should’ve been there. I also swear I wiped down the One max front facing glass to prevent glare, but the One max video shows some haze from light leakage. I’d love to see more OEMs move to coated sapphire cover glass on the camera, something I don’t believe HTC has.