It’s time for another Phone War. This time we’re putting the HTC Droid DNA on Verizon against the HTC One on Sprint, AT&T, and T-Mobile. This is the battle of HTC’s late 2012 flagship and their early 2013 flagship. Both devices have relatively close specs, besides the processors. By now, you should know how we do these wars. We compare the specs of both devices side-by-side, then break down each device’s hardware, software and their pro’s and con’s and finally decide on a winner. If you don’t agree with our decision you can leave a comment below and you can also vote in the poll at the end of the war.
Specifications
HTC Droid DNA
The HTC Droid DNA is also known as the Butterfly and J Butterfly in other areas of the world. The Droid DNA is exclusive to Verizon, as you probably realized by the “Droid” in the name. The hardware on the Droid DNA is awesome. In fact, you can read my review from earlier this year, if you haven’t already. The HTC Droid DNA does have a 5-inch 1080p display, in fact it’s the same display as the One, just a bit bigger. There’s also a 8MP camera on the back and a 2.1MP on the front. The red accents on the side really stand out, at least in my opinion.
On to the software, it’s running Android 4.1 – Jelly Bean along with Sense 4+. Most of us aren’t a huge fan of Sense, but it’s very smooth on the Droid DNA. Google Now works great, along with everything else that comes with Jelly Bean.
Pros
- Display: Super LCD3 panels are just beautiful, no matter the size
- Great looking device
- Battery has great standby
Cons
- Only available on Verizon
- Poor battery life if you use your phone constantly
HTC One
The HTC One is a beautiful device. The hardware is probably the best we’ve seen in a mobile phone in a long time. It’s a metal unibody with dual front-facing speakers, a 4.7-inch 1080p Super LCD3 display which is the same display as the Droid DNA, and a 4mp camera on the back. Yeah the 4MP camera might be a turn off to some, but it’s 4 ultra pixels. Which means they are bigger megapixels and pictures look great with the HTC One. Our review should be coming soon.
As far as software goes, the HTC One is running on Android 4.1 – Jelly Bean along with Sense 5. Sense 5 has been scaled way back. Everything is now flat, and even some early adopters of the HTC One have said that Sense 5 looks like a themed version of Holo.
Pros
- Smaller body, making it easier for more people to use compared to all the 5-inch devices
- Beautiful Display; Super LCD3 displays are just stunning
- Plenty of storage space; no microSD card slot, but there’s still plenty of space on the HTC One
- Available on Sprint, T-Mobile and AT&T
Cons
- Rather small body considering the specs
- Not Available on Verizon
- 64GB version only available on AT&T
Winner?
The winner here would be the HTC One. Even though both devices are very, very similar in specs. The HTC One is newer, with newer software, and more pixels per inch on the display. So should you buy the HTC One? Well if you can leave Verizon, I’d highly suggest getting the HTC One. If not, the HTC Droid DNA is a great device as well.
Which would you choose?