HTC One SV: Review

With the HTC One SV LTE HTC hardware meets Everything Everywhere internet speeds. We’ve seen the marriage before in the HTC One XL and it worked to great effect, save for the hefty asking price. Can the One SV LTE win our hearts and your cash with its humbler cost and respectable spec list? 

HTC One SV LTE review: Design

Design wise, the HTC One SV LTE is a tale of two halves. On the one hand, the back looks immense. Tapered, matte plastic that looks like a smooth wave on a sea of polycarbonate, we’re instantly sold. On the other hand, the high gloss front looks decidedly less premium.

Holding the One SV LTE makes for a happy hand. The removable back panel feels rich and the size is comfortable, especially when compared to large modern day flagships and the upcoming 6-inch plus phablets.

At 9.2mm thick, the One SV LTE isn’t particularly slender, though the tapered sides suggests otherwise. HTC has honed this masterful polycarbonate engineering in their One X series and the 8X; so it’s great to see the skills put into practice on a non-unibody device.

Ports are kept to a minimum: a micro USB port at the base and 3.5mm headphone jack at the top. On the front is the WVGA display along with three capacitive buttons and a 1.6-megapixel front-facing camera.

On the back sits a 5-megapixel camera with flash. Remove it to reveal a micro SIM and microSD card slot along with an 1800mAh battery.

Our design gripes rest with the matte silver banding around the sides, the in-call speaker and high-gloss finish on the fascia. The front in general just feels incongruous and almost Huawei-esque when coupled with the distinctly HTC backing.

Overlook this though and the HTC One SV LTE is a fine bit of kit. Solid, functional and comfortable both in the hand and on the eye.

HTC One SV LTE review: Screen

Speaking of comfortable on the eye, the One SV LTE’s 4.3-inch WVGA screen looks great. We would have hoped that a higher res screen would have made it onboard, but pin-sharpness aside, it's a corker.

The LCD 2 display’s PPI is a mere 217. Nevertheless, HTC inject a resin between the LCD and Gorilla Glass 2 fascia delivering a richer, more superficial looking screen.

Brightness is excellent, viewing angles wide, responsiveness perfect making the display a true highlight of the One SV LTE and helping improve the look and feel of the fascia altogether, despite the resolution.