From the specification, ofcourse it looks like the 'one' phone that everyone with a desire for the best should vouch for. But is it really the one for which you should spend RS 42,900? Here is our take on the HTC One which was launched in India earlier this month.

Design 
HTC's products have always been beautiful and the HTC One is no different in that regard either. Its front part is highlighted by the 4.7 inch display; on the top and bottom of which lies thick metal parts, housing the speakers. Its back panel is made of metal and is gently curved that gives a good feeling while holding it.

Unlike other smartphones, in HTC One the keys are not raised, so they won't get damaged during day to day usage. It has a unibody and hence battery is not removable while the micro SIM slot lies on the left hand side. The power button and the 3.5 mm jack are on the top while the volume rocker is on the right hand side; the micro USB cum charger port is at the bottom panel.

For Indian conditions, the HTC One is a perfect device as its display is not a finger print magnet. Its body has also that smooth feeling and is not slippery. But the biggest plus point of its design is that despite having a large screen it is very easy to hold and operate this phone in just one hand.

However, if you are the one who love to boast about the slimness of your handset, then the HTC One would disappoint you as it has 9.3 mm thickness which though itself is on the lower side but is not the lowest in itself as the Samsung Galaxy S4 - its prime competitor - has just 7.9 mm thickness.

However HTC One is not as wide as the Galaxy S4 as it has 68.2 mm width compared to the 69.8 mm of the later. Thus it would be easier to hold the HTC One than the Galaxy S4.

Display 
The HTC One comes with a 4.7 inch display with full HD resolution, which means that it has 468 ppi pixel density which is way above the Samsung Galaxy S4 (441 ppi) and the Xperia Z (441). Even the HTC Butterfly comes with 441 ppi pixel density. Needless to say the HTC One managed to produce awe-inspiring visuals. Even the brightness is so high that you could easily manage to operate it under bright sun light.

User Interface 
One of the main attractions of HTC One is its Blinkfeed user interface which brings the Live Tiles like UI of the Windows 8 operating system. But unlike Live Tiles, I rather enjoyed the Blinkfeed home which clubs updates of Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Flickr etc along with news items of various categories from the likes of Associated Press, Reuters etc in one roof in the form of tiles which are stacked in a very intuitive way on the home. You can also personalise the Blinkfeed home as you wish.

There are other home screens as well like the normal Android handsets.

However, two big omissions that I rater dearly missed is the notification bar. In the notification bar of HTC One, you would only get notifications and a shortcut of Power Save and the Settings options which means that in order to turn on/off the WiFi and Bluetooth, you will have to go to the settings page.

Many have complained about the absence of a third capacitive button just below the display which normally found on most other Android handsets but I had no problem with it. Of course, you will initially struggle a bit to get used to it. For instance, I had a nightmare in finding the recent apps button for which, in HTC One, you have to double tab the home button to open. A long press on the home button will instead open the internet.