HTC’s not doing too well. The company recently reported their first quarterly loss, and while they haven’t issued any forecasts for Q4, this holiday quarter is going to be dominated by flagship phones from Samsung, Apple, Sony, and even LG, giving little room for the Taiwanese company to breathe. So what’s the plan to get back into shape? Ehhh, it appears to be to copy Samsung. The HTC One Max is, quite literally, a blown up HTC One. You could easily say the same thing about the Note, but then you’d be wrong, because of all the tweaks done to make better use of the bigger display.

Anyway, enough of what I think about the One Max. Various publications have had the device for about a week under embargo. Now that the embargo has lifted, let’s hear what they have to say.

The Verge

Vlad Savov wrote the review of the One Max, in which he gave the phone a frighteningly low 6 out of 10, saying the build quality isn’t as good as it should be, the fingerprint scanner is a joke, and that the camera is just plain non-competitive with today’s smartphones. He liked the front facing speakers, however, and I guess that is a bright spot for those of you who watch video all day.

Here’s the final paragraph of his review, which says it all really.

“I can think of no good reason to buy the One max over the original One or even the One mini. And if you absolutely must have a large-screen device, Samsung’s Galaxy Note 3 does a better job at almost everything while also being smaller and lighter.”

Pocket-now

Michael Fisher gives the One Max an 8 out of 10, which seems odd if you watch the video above. He says the One Max feels more like a blown up One Mini instead of a blown up One, citing build quality issues. He’s quite furious that the camera lacks optical image stabilization, unlike the original One. He actually calls HTC’s decision to do this “soul crushing”.

But despite that, Fisher just falls in love with the front facing speakers, which, according to him, sound even better than those on the half year old 4.7 inch One. That’s something that I thought would be impossible, but there you go.

Let’s skip the pleasantries, does he recommend the phone?

“Does the phone do a good job of fulfilling the function it was designed for? And the answer to that question is yes. It may not sell in huge numbers, but for those phablet-shoppers looking more for an oversized smartphone than a miniature tablet, the HTC One max definitely has a lot to offer – even if we’re not entirely sure why it exists.“

Android Central

Phil Nickinson and Alex Dobie spent a good half hour talking about the One Max over the weekend, a conversation that they recorded for posterity. But last night, while I was asleep, Alex published his review. He admits that the device he’s testing is pre-production, but then I think HTC is lying to him because they said they want to have the One Max on store shelves by the end of this month. Alex’s unit has the same build quality issues cited by the previous reviews, so that’s something to be alarmed about.

Like Michael, Alex says “the Max is a bit louder than the regular One, likely due to the larger chamber size.” Funny, larger chamber size is the same phrase that multiple sites are using. You can tell HTC bought a bunch of people on an all expenses paid trip to London, wined and dined them for a few days, and hoped for the best.

But let’s get to the conclusion, buy or no buy?

“The choice between the One Max and a competitor like the Galaxy Note 3 is going to come down to what you want to do with the device. The Note, with its smaller screen and shorter chassis is certainly more hand-friendly, as well as speedier and capable of taking better photos. But the One Max delivers a better audio experience and a more premium-feeling chassis. On the other hand HTC offers little on the software side to justify the Max’s enormous frame, whereas Samsung brings clever multitasking tricks like multi-window and pen window to the table.”

Slash Gear

While there’s no video review to share, Vincent offers one of the more critical takes of the device. Read this and try not to tell me that he doesn’t want to throw the phone against a wall.

“The innovation that endeared us to the original HTC One is absent this time around. The HTC One max slaps the One onto a photocopier, hits “enlarge”, and then grafts on a half-baked biometrics system. It’s too bulky, too heavy, and lacks key features of the original like optical image stabilization.

Most damning, however, is the fact that HTC simply hasn’t taken full advantage of the larger screen size. We’re used to phablets being big and demanding compromise in how much space they take in your pocket or bag, but the accepted deal is that they pay it back in extra functionality. Instead, the One Max gives you the same software experience as on the One, just on a device that’s more unwieldy to hold.”

The Inquirer

And finally, the website I grew up on back when blogging didn’t exist, we have TheINQ. Carly Page wrote the review, and she says the phone was a challenge to hold. And I don’t mean it’s hard to get a good grip on it, I mean she felt pain in her wrists because it weighs close to a quarter of a kilogram. She also didn’t like the plastic trim around the device, which to her made it feel cheap compared to the original One.

Moving on to performance, despite the One Max having “only” a Snapdragon 600, Carly noticed “no hiccups during our time with the handset”, which is great. The same can’t be said about the fingerprint sensor on the back of the phone. Carly “had enough of passing [my] fingertips across the sensor unsuccessfully” that she “decided to turn off the feature.”

Final words?

“The HTC One Max seems to have lost some of the appeal of the firm’s previous HTC One device releases. While its extra display real estate will be attractive for those after an HTC smartphone ideal for web browsing, gaming and watching videos, we found that the device felt somewhat unfinished.”

Conclusion

It looks like HTC screwed up, which is a damn shame. I wish the company took the money they spent on fingerprint scanners and instead invested it into the newer Snapdragon 800. Because in all honesty, had HTC put a more advanced chip inside the One Max, and tightened up their build quality issues, I would have actually purchased one over the Note 3 simply because of those front facing speakers and larger LCD display.

Oh well, maybe next year, assuming HTC is around in a year.