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I’ve had the HTC One pretty much since day one when it was available on Sprint last spring. I love (almost) everything about it. The camera, the performance, and the size are all exceptional. It also came out at around a similar time as the Samsung Galaxy S5 so I had a choice last year, as it appears I will this year, whether to get HTC’s or Samsung’s flagship Android device.

So here’s my wishlist:

Camera

The HTC One’s camera is UH-MAZING. It really takes some great photos, especially in low light. I dig the colors/saturation. I really, really, really dig the software in the camera app. It’s ridiculously easy to add filters to an existing photo or on the spot while shooting. The best part of the camera software though is the Zoe features. I often take pics of my dogs and they rarely sit still. So having the ability to get a few seconds before and after I hit the shutter is perfect. The other things that Zoe allows you to do (photo-bomber removal, highlight reels, etc) are also very cool but I use those less. This is the single biggest feature that keeps me coming back to Sense-based ROMs when I’ve been over on AOSP-ish ROMs.

The only real negative is that the camera is only 4MP. While that’s great for sharing, viewing on your phone, and probably 80-90% of what you might do with a picture there are times when you need more (lots) more megapixels. For example, because the field-of-view (FOV) is so wide (which is a good thing, imo) sometimes i just want to crop and showcase a tiny portion of the frame. By doing that i’m left with a *very* tiny picture.

I’d also like it if I can capture slo-mo in a larger frame. At least 720p if not 1080p. That’s a minor quibble though.

So if they can get me something in the area of 8MP or higher I will be first in line for the next model.

Quick Reply from Notification Shade

This has been around in Cyanogen, AOKP among others for as long as I can remember. Maybe back to Ice Cream Sandwich, if not further. It’s been in stock AOSP since maybe JellyBean? WHY. OH WHY did HTC remove it in Sense? I can’t even begin to fathom the logic here. It is the single biggest feature that keeps me flashing AOSP-ish ROMs.

Capacitive Buttons

Can we just get rid of these please? I’d rather the screen stretch a little farther. That gives me the easy option (rooted of course) to remap the buttons however I please.

Speakers

I do like the volume from the “BoomSound” speakers. But I’d gladly trade one of the speakers in for more screen or a smaller bezel overall.

Battery Life

More. Just, more. Please.

It’s not that the battery is bad. It’s not. But with all the horsepower under the hood, it’s trivial to say “oops” and have drained half your battery in an hour. I can easily get a day and a half with a little effort, but I’d like to get that much without worrying about it at all.