HTC Butterfly - Beauty at Your Fingertips

    More recently, the abbreviation Full HD caused associations exclusively with modern TVs and monitors for working with graphics. 1920 pixels fell perfectly on 22-27 inches of computer displays, and on the impressive diagonals of home screens they felt quite comfortable. It’s all the more surprising to see the same numbers refer to the compact display of a mobile device.

    Such an impressive resolution has come to smartphones recently, and the number of models on the market can be counted on the fingers of one hand. However, one of them was ahead of the competition and is already on sale. As you can guess, we are talking about one of our new products - HTC Butterfly - the first phone with a Full HD-display, which went on sale in the Russian Federation.




    Due to the fact that interaction with a modern smartphone is mainly carried out with the help of taps on the screen, it is not difficult to explain such serious attention to this component. However, other parameters of the device do not allow him to hit the face with dirt.



    To ensure that favorite games and applications are drawn without delay, the company's engineers used the updated Qualcomm Snapgragon S4 Pro APQ8064 SoC, complemented by the Adreno 320 graphics accelerator. HTC Butterfly shows impressive results both in synthetic tests and during real use, and about delays in work You can safely forget the interface typical of previous-generation Android devices.







    Despite the fact that the diagonal of the display is an impressive 5 inches, the Butterfly can be called light (138 grams) and relatively compact (141 x 70.5 x 9 mm). The battery is non-removable, but we will go through the battery life, but for now we will continue to closely examine the device from all sides.





    Attention is drawn to the red "ribs" at the ends. They combine perfectly with the Beats logo and the bezel of the camera, recalling the associations with HTC One X + and Sensation XE, made in similar colors.



    The familiar flash LED complements the picture, concurrently working as a flashlight. The most interesting, as usual, on the other hand. The display of the device boasts not only a record resolution and pixel density (441 ppi), but excellent color reproduction, excellent viewing angles and good protection from external influences.



    The matrix made using Super LCD3 technology is covered by Gorilla Glass 2, so you can not be afraid of minor scratches and other troubles.





    Before considering the software component, we will go over the remaining characteristics and connectivity options. The 2013 gentleman's set is presented in its entirety: Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi a / b / g / n, NFC, GPS / GLONASS, DLNA for transferring content to compatible TVs, as well as USB with MHL support. To implement the latter, however, an appropriate adapter will be needed, but if necessary, there should be no problems with their acquisition.



    By the way, the microUSB interface connector is protected by a tight plug, and the phone itself claims to comply with the IPX-5 standard, which implies protection against splashes. Of course, dipping it in water is not recommended, but you can pick up the phone in the rain without fear.



    Like all new devices, Butterfly provides communication using a microSIM card inserted in the appropriate tray on the top of the device. A neat clip is provided for opening it, but if the situation is urgent and there is no branded accessory at hand, any one will do.



    In addition to a small metal object, the kit includes a standard headset with a microphone, a pile of useful pieces of paper, a charger with a USB port and a cable for synchronization and charging. Neat and beautiful packaging, in turn, continues the traditions laid down in the One series.





    A large power button is located between the headphone jack and the SIM card tray. The decision to place it in the center reminds of the first "two-symbol" of the company - Desire V, but in this case the button is perfectly highlighted and easily felt even blindly. The volume rocker, in turn, suggests thoughts of a similar HTC One control, and it would not hurt to add a bit of relief. However, under the thumb of her right hand she lies like a glove.



    The internal memory in the device is 16 GB, and operational - as much as 2 gigabytes. Favorite games and background applications will now definitely not “crash”, and the lack of a memory card slot in the European version of the device is designed to compensate for 25 GB of cloud storage in Dropbox. It is enough to log in to the service from a brand new device, as additional space will be immediately provided at your disposal.



    Like HTC One X +, the device runs on Android 4.1.1, supplemented by a proprietary shell HTC Sense 4+. Rumor has it that in the very near future, the NTS company will launch an update to Sense 5.0, demonstrated with the new flagship One, and Butterfly will also touch on this distribution.



    In the meantime, we have at our disposal a familiar and convenient interface, with the features of which you are probably already familiar. The richness of branded widgets, the convenience of customization and the wide range of personalization options have long made HTC Sense a brand whose name speaks for itself.



    By the way, the new device can be configured from a computer, pre-selecting the order and location of widgets. In addition, bookmarks in a standard browser, notification sounds and lock screen shortcuts can be configured via the web interface at start.htc.com .



    This will allow you to carry out the procedure for registering accounts with maximum comfort, resulting in a device that is completely ready for use.



    The gallery also still supports displaying information from cloud hosting and other accounts, just enter the necessary accounts once in the settings section. The “default” view was sorted by date, which automatically forms not just albums, but collections of impressions of those places and events where you happened to be.



    In addition, photos are assigned geotags, based on which a photo map of trips and trips is easily and quickly built. However, for adherents of the traditional approach, a standard display order is provided, which allows, if necessary, to exclude certain directories.

    Entire folders are easily placed in the docking panel, and widgets when added to desktops can be displayed both as a general list and with separation by specific suppliers. The number of available desktops traditionally varies from one to seven, so both fans who make all the shortcuts and fans of minimalism can find a suitable option.



    Old applications that are not accustomed to the lack of a Menu button can be used with the same comfort as programs in the Holo-design. It is enough to prioritize the use of the "Recent Applications" button, and a long press allows you to access the context menu without resorting to displaying an interfering on-screen button.



    The dialer, clock, weather, calendar and much more - all these applications are in place, and the level of their execution allows you not to waste time looking for third-party alternatives. The same is true for a music player that successfully activates the Beats Audio profile when connecting a complete headset or its own headphones.



    While listening to music, you can’t notice a fair amount of volume and overall balance of playback, and the ringing speaker will not let you miss an incoming call.



    When a free minute is issued and you want to show your creativity, the HTC Butterfly camera will be very welcome. An eight-megapixel matrix with autofocus, flash and backlight is the industry standard, but thanks to the fast aperture of f / 2.0 and proprietary algorithms for post-processing the output, very worthy frames are obtained.



    The front camera, in turn, takes two-megapixel photos, and both shoot video in a suitable Full HD resolution for this device. When shooting video using the main camera, you can take pictures by simply tapping the corresponding on-screen button, and burst shooting will definitely not let you miss the best shot.



    The most convenient thing in this algorithm is the ability to instantly delete all failed photos by selecting the best one in the preview menu. Such a scheme subsequently saves not only time, but also space in the device’s memory, because each file takes 2-3 MB.

    You can familiarize yourself with examples of pictures taken under various conditions (including in HDR mode) below. All photos are clickable and contain links to the originals in their original resolution. Like HTC One X +, Butterfly allows you to record footage with an increased frame rate (120 fps), which is especially valuable for dynamic scenes and fast-moving objects. An example of shooting a standard video in maximum quality is available here , and the result of the front camera can be found here











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    A reasonable question arises - what about the battery life? It would seem that here is an energy-intensive screen with natural color reproduction and breathtaking resolution, and a powerful quad-core processor, and network services all the time want to synchronize. At the same time, the column “Battery capacity” in the TTX code is far from a record value - 2020 mAh.



    Nevertheless, a nimble and efficient device easily withstands a standard working day, including not only network activity and making calls, but also breaks for resource-intensive three-dimensional games. The screen brightness was automatically adjusted during testing, but it was enough with a margin, and Butterfly has no problems with readability in the sun.



    Of course, if you play the same Real Racing 3 for several hours at a maximum screen brightness, the device will be predictably and completely discharged, but this scenario cannot be considered the main one. In a mixed use environment with configured email accounts and social media accounts, you don’t have to worry about the battery. HTC Butterfly will be your faithful companion from morning to late evening, and every look at it will be fun.

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