HTC’s recent slew of models sold under their ‘HTC One’ brand puts equal focus on top notch features and product specs as it does on fresh industrial design and materials.
Few companies put as much importance into how their products look and feel. There’s Apple which have has industrial design the cornerstone of their successful corporate identity. Nokia has also impressed with their recent Lumia line of Windows Phones and Motorola’s RAZR line of smartphones integrates Kevlar and waterproofing.
Focusing on new and exciting ways to design mass produced items which cycle so quickly must be challenging for HTC, especially since competition is feverish and the next best smartphone is around the corner.
What sets HTC’s smartphones apart from the competition in the Android smartphone category is their commitment to using the very best materials and also bold designs and form factors while maintaining competitive pricing.
Their flagship HTC One X smartphone () costs $130 on a three-year contract, is milled out of a single piece of hardened polycarbonate. The same type of impact-dispersing material used in hockey helmets.
Scott Croyle, HTC’s VP of design and partner at industrial design firm One & Co says, “each phone (we design) is approached differently. We start with the front view, so if you think of the One X, it’s the way that the white polycarbonate unibody comes round the front that sets it apart from others.”
“We always want to come up with a unique iconic gesture,” Coyle adds. “Sometimes that means it doesn’t have to be metal. It can be plastic if we can figure out a way to do that in a really beautiful, premium way, we can create something unique.
Despite this resilient exterior, the HTC One X is surprisingly lightweight even if it is packed with features and the latest mobile processors and a camera that can take video and photos simultaneously.
Another model, the HTC One S is even thinner and is encased in a lightweight aluminum unibody enclosure.
The One S is HTC's thinnest phone to date, at 0.31 inches (7.87 mm) at its thinnest point. Despite its svelte profile, the HTC One S feels more solid than many of the plastic encased Android smartphones in the market today.
By remaining competitive in specs and features but pushing the envelope on design and materials, HTC hopes to secure an increasing share of the competitive smartphone market.