3.7in, 480 x 800 pixel AMOLED screen1GHz single core processor5MP camera, 720p videoAndroid 4.0
HTC was only showing non-working samples of its latest baby handset the HTC One V at Mobile World Congress 2012, but we grabbed some hands-on time to check out the hardware and design.
An evolution of the HTC Legend design, the HTC One V sports the same jutting jaw as that phone. However, where that phone had physical buttons the HTC One V has touch buttons incorporated into the glass front. It’s a much more elegant style that, combined with the gray anodised aluminium back, gives the phone a simple, smart appearance.
This has also allowed the screen size to increase to a more useable 3.7in. Actually, this may have something to do with the fact the whole phone is also larger, up from 112 x 56.3 x 11.5 mm to 120.3 x 59.7 x 9.2 mm Resolution has also increased to 480 x 800 pixels, though on this front were weren’t able to make any judgement with it not working.
As with previous jutting-jaw HTC handsets, the back of the angled bottom section slides off to provide access the the battery, memory card (microSD up to 32GB) and SIM slot.
The HTC One V will ship with Android 4.0 installed so should provide a fully up to the mintue set of features. However, what really define where this handset sits in the grand scheme of things are its processor and camera. The former is just a single core 1GHz affair while the camera is only 5MP. Both will be adequate but firmly define this phone as the lower-spec model of the new HTC One trio.
Nonetheless, this is a great-looking phone, and its likely low end price will mean it has widespread appeal, even if it is a little sluggish. We’ll be sure to find out just whether HTC has got the balance right when we review it in full. And with it set to arrive in shops in April, that hopefully shouldn’t be too far away.
