The HTC One Max is the much larger brother of the award-winning HTC One smartphone, which was one of the first Android smartphones to pull off an awesome looking metallic body design. When the HTC One first came out, it was simply awesome and got very good reviews from practically everyone in the tech industry. Now, the HTC One Max offers you the same HTC One-like design in a larger 5.9-inch display phablet form factor but at a much higher retail price of RM2499. Looking to sweeten the deal, some sellers are offering the HTC One Max with an RM100 discount for a total price of RM2399 here in Malaysia. Should you buy it for that RM100 discount? Check out our analysis on the HTC One Max for a better idea of the pros and cons involved.
Design - Just like the HTC One Mini but bigger and heavier
Before the HTC One Max came out, a smaller version of the HTC One smartphone came out in the form of the HTC One Mini. It had lower-end tech specs, a smaller 4.3-inch screen and a design which combined the rounded back, chamfered edges and aluminum unibody of the HTC one with a plastic edge. The HTC One Max is nearly identical to the HTC One Mini, offering the same aluminum unibody with plastic edges. While the aluminum unibody gave the HTC One and the HTC One mini a bit more of a solid feel compared to other too-light smartphones, the HTC One Max is now to heavy, weighing in at a massive 217g, making it one of the heaviest phablets in the market.
It is also 10.3mm thick, 1mm thicker than the HTC One which is still a fairly thin 9.3mm. This makes the grip feel a lot like a tablet, and thanks to the larger screen size, makes you look like calling an a tablet as well. Unlike the HTC One, which felt balanced, many reviewers are finding that the HTC One Max is top heavy, so if you were to hold it a little loosely on the bottom, it could threaten to flip right out of your hands. While the 5.9-inch screen is a nice view, the resolution remains the same as the HTC One, resulting in a drop of pixel density to 373 ppi. Can you fit this into your pocket? Probably not, unless you're wearing oversized baggy jeans or like carrying your phone in your back pants pocket.
Tech Specs and Features - The same old hardware with a hard to use fingerprint scanner
The HTC One Max uses the same 1.7GHz Snapdragon 600 chipset and processor and 2GB of RAM as the HTC One but offers a number of new features. This includes the aforementioned 5.9-inch screen which now has Corning Gorilla Glass 3 for better protection. It also has support for expandable memory with a microSD slot that can handle up to 64GB. While the 3300 mAh battery is bigger it is still not removable. A fingerprint scanner on the back located directly below the same old 4MP ultra pixel camera lets you swipe your fingerprint as an alternative to typing in a passcode. Everything else is the same as the HTC one, which you can check with our Technave.com comparison tool. While the fingerprint scanner on the back could have been a deal breaker, it isn't very easy to use as you have to flip it to the back and swipe your finger carefully before it reads your fingerprint properly, defeating the purpose of putting the fingerprint sensor on the back in the first place.
Performance and Price - Too little, too late
AT RM2399 with the RM100 discount already included, getting the HTC One Max is more or less like buying the same old technology of the HTC One at a much higher premium price. For RM2399, you can get most Snapdragon 800 powered Android smartphones and even the 64-bit A7 powered Apple iPhone 5S, all of which are faster and outperform the HTC One Max in every way (better camera, performance, design, etc). While the HTC One Max still looks nearly as good as the HTC one, the design is starting to get a bit tired, and that is the only reason to get the HTC One Max, because you like the design. Even the HTC One can be bought from RM1970 which is what we'd recommend you doing if you're still deadset on the design. So, should you buy the HTC One Max with an RM100 discount? In answer to our earlier question, only if you're one of those people who like to collect stuff, then the HTC One Max would be a good smartphone to add to your HTC One smartphone collection, but probably not with an RM100 discount. Fortunately, there are other Malaysian sellers that offer lower prices.
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