HTC One V Pro Reviews

The HTC One V is an all-around solid performer. It may lack the sex appeal and flashy specs of its larger HTC brothers, but for this class of device, it's hard to beat. The aluminum materials and Leno-esque chin give the One V a great little personality, while quality build and a comfortable footprint make it a joy to use as a daily driver. The One V attaches itself to Sprint's 3G network and holds on tight, connecting calls and powering web-browsing sessions seamlessly. Calls sound great, the display looks good, and the battery outlasted me day in and day out. Toss in the good system software from HTC, the surprisingly good performance from the Qualcomm processor, and excellent media powers, and the One V is a winner in all respects. Perhaps the only bummer is the V's lack of 4G, but you can't have everything. As long as you can live without 4G , the One V is the best device for the money from Virgin Mobile.

The HTC One V for Virgin Mobile offers good software at a good price, but it's a little underpowered.

Going with a prepaid wireless carrier often means having to settle for an aging handset running outdated software. Pouring more salt in the wound, is the steep unsubsidized price you'll likely pay, often hundreds of dollars more than phones sold by major post-paid providers. The $199.99 HTC One V on Virgin Mobile bucks the curve. Not only does this device offer the modern Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich OS, it's compact, sports a premium design plus an attractive display. Frankly it's currently the best buy on Virgin Mobile. Sure it's not a quad-core or even dual-core superphone or have 4G data access, but for a no-contract handset it's a serious deal. I certainly feel it's a better bargain than the $299.99 HTC Evo V which has marginally better specs or the $649.99 16GB iPhone 4S that's outrageously expensive.

For $129.99, the HTC One V certainly has a price that isn't unreasonably high considering its solid mix of features. It also has a distinctive style, and a premium unibody design that stands out from the crowd. That said, $99.99 would be a much more attractive price for this phone considering its outdated processor and lack of a swift 4G connection. I recommend spending a little more cash and splurging for Samsung's latest superphone, the $199.99 Galaxy S III. While we haven't reviewed the U.S. Cellular version, based on our reviews of the device on four other carriers it offers a truly impressive Android experience. I'm talking a massive screen, 4G LTE data where you can get it, plus a nimble dual-core processor...the clear choice for die-hard Android fans. For those who don't need all that horsepower and prefer a more compact size, the HTC One V is a sensible alternative.

The HTC One V gets you modest power at a modest price on U.S. Cellular, but if you spend a little more, you can get 4G LTE and a lot more features.

The One V is a thorough refresh of the Hero/Legend form factor but for a phone that is in the mid-price rather than budget category, the absence of a front camera is a drawback. And don’t forget, the new dual-core S-AMOLED 4in Samsung Galaxy S Advance will soon be available on contract at exactly the same price as the One V.

Great build quality and a fantastic camera, but better-specified phones are available for only a little more money on contract

The One V is the third and final piece of HTC's game plan: a stylish, petite, entry-level model that will hopefully draw in anyone looking for a new phone running Android's latest. Indeed, it's a capable phone on par with several once high-end single-core devices from last year. Even better, this one is cheaper and arrives with Android 4.0, in all its multitasking, adjustable widget glory. It's also a phone that's visibly HTC and exudes as much character as the-lovely One S and One X -- a boon, given the sheer number of Android phones floating around these days.

I'm completely in love with a number of things about the One V. Its design looks fantastic, feels hard-wearing, and is distinctive enough to stand out from the crowd when compared to most of the other handsets in stores today. It's also one of the most affordable ways to grab a handset running Android 4.0, even if it is shrinkwrapped in Sense, though software inclusions like ImageSense do make up for this somewhat. A few things do let the One V down. Minor ergonomic niggles give the handset a sense of form over function, but more serious is the mediocre performance offered by the low specs. For the average user this probably won't matter, though for anyone who wants to use their device for multimedia or gaming, two years might be a long time to spend with an underpowered phone. There's definitely still a demand for phones with smaller screens — I'd personally prefer something a little larger — but it seems odd that these users are forced to compromise on other specs to get what they want. If you're looking for a phone which keeps things simple and excels at all of the essentials, then this could be it.

The HTC One V has wonderful hardware. It's made from real aluminum, it feels wonderful in-hand, and it looks high quality. We hoped that with the power of the tried-and-true 1GHz Snapdragon chip plus Ice Cream Sandwich underpinnings, the One V would be a capable smartphone. Sadly, that is not the case. With major performance issues in the browser and in other areas of the operating system, we can't help but to not recommend the One V until HTC offers a software update to fix these issues. Alternatively, keep an eye on the Android development communities where we might see better-optimized software for HTC's One V. Maybe stock ICS would fare well on this device. We'll keep an eye out.

With the One series HTC are in their best shape in a while and we don't need to investigate who's to blame. The big bad One X and One S will proudly plead guilty as charged. But it would be unfair to deny the HTC One V its little share of credit. The One V is built on the solid foundations of the Desire, and its DNA can be traced all the way back to the Legend and the Hero. If you ask us, the One V rings quite a few right bells. However, not having the luxury of an unlimited budget, it had to accept compromise with the level of equipment. To some the One V may seem like the point in the One series where HTC stopped inventing and started reusing. We personally don't mind a true classic being brought back to life. Here's the catch though: the One V is interested in users who are too young to remember the HTC Hero. Young as in new to the smartphone game. Anyone who would call the HTC Hero a classic must've developed a good enough eye to tell that the One V is a phone that would've made sense in 2010. OK, late 2010. The Desire S is almost the exact same package - and it even has more RAM.

Well, what do we have to say about the HTC One V? At S$398, it is a good value-for-money smartphone with looks to boot. As we have mentioned, HTC has had a record of making phones that are fashionable and sleek-looking, and we are pleased to see the line of execution emulated even in their lower-end models. The One V is primarily targeted at those who are looking for a fuss-free Android 4.0 device without forking out a large sum of money; performance-wise, this single-core processor phone is pretty impeccable, save for the weird WhatsApp bug we noted above. The 3.7-inch screen might be paltry compared to the likes of 4.7-inch giants we see these days, but if you look at it from another angle, it's still slightly bigger the iPhone's screen. In general, the 480 x 800-pixel LCD screen keeps things crisp looking and exhibits adequate levels of brightness. The One V's camera and battery performances are pretty decent as well, and we don't have much to complain about in these two areas, considering its price point.

The HTC One V may be a low-cost handset, but it does have enough incentives such as the BSI sensor and ICS that make it worth considering. Sadly, the single-core processor is a little dated and not up to par, so you may encounter some lag if you like to play games. With a retail price of $317 without an operator contract, the One V seems to be good value for money if you want a cheap Ice Cream Sandwich device that can take semi-decent images.

Overall there is a lot to like about the HTC One V. It is a well-designed phone, small in modern terms, but still giving you enough space to interact with the display, accepting the fact that you'll have to live with doing more zooming in webpages if you're browsing on the go. HTC Sense is also a great UI, it pulls together a lot of what Android offers through any number of apps and for those looking for integration right out of the box, there is plenty on offer. The immediate concern is the pricing. With this phone landing on a £20 a month contract, you could pick up a deal on one of last year's devices for around the same price. You might not get the latest software, but you could get a larger display or more powerful hardware. The final word is that the HTC One V is a competent performer. If you're after a more compact Android handset, and as long as you accept it's limitations, it's well worth considering.

An all-round impressive handset, the HTC One V is a smartphone that has filtered down a selection of previously used specs to a new budget-friendly price tag, packaging it in an impressive and desirable shell in the process. Although those looking for a selection of groundbreaking specs might instead plump for the handset's HTC One X sibling or an iPhone 4S, Samsung Galaxy S2 or Motorola Razr, for a possible first smartphone or a transition phone on the way to the big hitters, users could do far, far worse that this 3.7-inch screen, 5MP camera-packing powerhouse.

So, is the HTC One V worthy of consideration given its features? It’s a good all-rounder, and we’d go as far to say that the build quality is best in class, not to mention better than some more expensive phones thanks to the high quality materials and construction. You’re also getting the latest software in Ice Cream Sandwich, and while Sense 4.0 might still be a love/hate situation, we imagine those jumping into the smartphone world for the first time will get along with it swimmingly. The problem, then, comes down to overall performance. The single-core processor found within the One V is now 18 months old, and it definitely rears its ugly head in certain situations, most notably in the browser. It’s a frustrating issue that’s simply unavoidable. The HTC One V really needed a slight boost in the processor department that would have cemented its position as one of the best entry-level Android smartphones. As it stands, it’s merely a decent one, and we wouldn’t feel comfortable recommending it at the prices that have been announced by the Carphone Warehouse (£20.50 a month), or the unlocked price for that matter (£225). If you’re lucky enough to find one a little bit cheaper than those prices, definitely consider picking one up.

Getting your hands on an HTC One V is going to cost you about $370 off-contract, which is definitely a reasonable price considering what you get in exchange. The smartphone has style and character that few devices in its price category can match, and we are pretty happy with it for the most part. The only things that we were unimpressed with were the poorly executed stock web browser, mediocre 720p video, and lack of sufficient on-board storage, but other than that, we have little to complain about. Still, there are a few smartphones that you might want to check out before getting the One V. For example, if you want a bit more display real estate, the Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc S comes with a 4.2-inch screen, and the HTC Sensation offers a 4.3-inch display along with a dual-core processor. Both of these smartphones, however, will cost you a little bit extra. The Samsung Galaxy W is priced similarly to the One V and offers similar features and performance, but does not look like that premium of a device. Another 3.7-incher that is worth considering is the female-oriented HTC Rhyme. –Not to be forgotten is the Sony Ericsson Xperia ray, which is even more compact with its 3.3-inch screen and is just as reasonably priced.

The HTC One V may be the baby of the company's new One series of smartphones, but it comes with much of the same software features as higher priced models like the One X and the One S.