[Q] More than ONE question before getting my phone - AT&T HTC One (M7)

I have an AT&T HTC One arriving shortly as a new customer on AT&T. I understand I have 14 days to try it out, so I want to make sure I put it to a full test. This will be my first HTC device since the Windows Mobile days, so I have a few questions to ask before starting to use my phone. I am not entirely for sure, but I will probably end up rooting and using custom roms, but probably not until the 14 days are over. With that in mind, here are my questions:
1) Should I unlock the bootloader right away? I understand that doing so erases everything on my phone, but it should not cause any problems if I decide to return the phone, right?
2) If I decide to root after the 14 days are up, I do not have to wipe the phone again, do I?
3) If I decide to use a custom rom, do I understand correctly that I will indeed have to wipe the phone again (but not the /sd card contents???) Meaning, my pictures/videos and all that will remain, but I will have to wipe the system?
4) My area does not yet have LTE (coming later this summer), so is there a way for me to turn it off to save on battery, or do I even need to attempt this?
5) I've been using an iPhone 5 since launch and it is still scratch-free without using a case. I'd prefer not to use a case with the One as well, and I only have my phone in my pocket. Is it reasonable to expect that my One will hold up as well as the iPhone 5 in this area?
Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions,
Travis

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1.yes,but it will show tampered in the bootloader but att employees don't usually check so as long as you flash the ruu before you return you should be fine
2.yes, you do because unlocking the bootloader causes the phone to wipe
3.yes, it is recommended to wipe only system and data but not your sdcard
4.if you don't have it in your area then you don't even need to mess with it
5.yes, because I've been using my phone for a while now with no case and everything looks fine but sometimes I do put my case on when I'm clummsy.
6. Click thanks

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drakeymcmb said:
1.yes,but it will show tampered in the bootloader but att employees don't usually check so as long as you flash the ruu before you return you should be fine
2.yes, you do because unlocking the bootloader causes the phone to wipe
3.yes, it is recommended to wipe only system and data but not your sdcard
4.if you don't have it in your area then you don't even need to mess with it
5.yes, because I've been using my phone for a while now with no case and everything looks fine but sometimes I do put my case on when I'm clummsy.
6. Click thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Regarding #2, are you saying that if I am already bootloader unlocked and then decide to root at a later time, I *will* have to completely wipe the phone again? Or is it just the initial bootloader unlock that requires the full wipe?

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i seriously doubt you will be returning this phone before the 14 days. especially if your coming from the iphone 5. this is the only phone that rivals the build quality of iphones. i have had mine since the release for tmobile and not one scratch on it. my girl has the iphone 5 and imo it cant touch this phone.
if apple and android had a baby it would be the htc one.

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Travisimo said:
Regarding #2, are you saying that if I am already bootloader unlocked and then decide to root at a later time, I *will* have to completely wipe the phone again? Or is it just the initial bootloader unlock that requires the full wipe?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No just the initial bootloader unlock unless you decide to change Roms
Sent from my HTC One using xda app-developers app

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skinsfanbdh said:
if apple and android had a baby it would be the htc one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well that's exactly what I'm looking for.
I go back and forth between iOS and Android on a yearly basis, it seems. I've had the iPhone 5 since launch on Verizon, and I just returned the Samsung GS4 because it was very laggy and was locking up at least once per day. I'm going to try the HTC One on AT&T (even though the One has just been confirmed for Verizon later this summer) because I am tired of Verizon's policies. I'm tired of them taking longer than anyone else to get phones. I'm tired of their "customizations" like the persistent WIFI notification on the GS4 that no other carrier has. I'm tired of their locked bootloaders and locked down CDMA network. I'm sure AT&T will have its share of frustrations, but LTE is coming in my area this summer and I'm looking to try something different. I'm keeping my Verizon line for now since I have unlimited data on it, but I'm thinking the 5GB plan on AT&T will be more than enough (and I get a 25% discount through my employer).
Thanks for the help, guys.

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Travisimo said:
Well that's exactly what I'm looking for.
I go back and forth between iOS and Android on a yearly basis, it seems. I've had the iPhone 5 since launch on Verizon, and I just returned the Samsung GS4 because it was very laggy and was locking up at least once per day. I'm going to try the HTC One on AT&T (even though the One has just been confirmed for Verizon later this summer) because I am tired of Verizon's policies. I'm tired of them taking longer than anyone else to get phones. I'm tired of their "customizations" like the persistent WIFI notification on the GS4 that no other carrier has. I'm tired of their locked bootloaders and locked down CDMA network. I'm sure AT&T will have its share of frustrations, but LTE is coming in my area this summer and I'm looking to try something different. I'm keeping my Verizon line for now since I have unlimited data on it, but I'm thinking the 5GB plan on AT&T will be more than enough (and I get a 25% discount through my employer).
Thanks for the help, guys.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
this phone doesnt lag. probably the closes thing to the smoothness of ios. and yea dont get that cdma garbage from verizon at&t,tmo or developer version is the way to go as far as custom rom options at least for now. if you want more in depth info check out mike1986. review of the phone. he has only done the first part of the review but he is a developer over on the international thread for this phone.

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skinsfanbdh said:
this phone doesnt lag. probably the closes thing to the smoothness of ios. and yea dont get that cdma garbage from verizon at&t,tmo or developer version is the way to go as far as custom rom options at least for now. if you want more in depth info check out mike1986. review of the phone. he has only done the first part of the review but he is a developer over on the international thread for this phone.
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Click to collapse
Thanks for the reassurance. The lag on the GS4 was unbearable and even worse than I expected given my previous experience with the GS3 a year ago. Even after turning off every S-feature I could find, enabling the developer options and changing the animations, and disabling as much bloatware as I could, the phone still lagged when scrolling and just felt unresponsive at times.
If I really like it, I don't know how long I'll hold onto my Unlimited Data plan on Verizon. On AT&T, I understand that unlimited data users are throttled after 5GB anyway, right? I think 5GB will be plenty, as I normally hover in the 3-4GB range on Verizon each month (and that's with a good deal of music streaming and Youtube watching). I guess if I go over once in a while, I can afford the $10 for an extra gig now and then.
My only concerns right now are battery life and the buttons. I've seen mixed reports on battery life - some saying it is abysmal, others saying it's actually very good. I'm keeping my expectations tempered as I've just been using two of the better phones in this area (iPhone 5 and GS4). I'm not expecting battery life to be as good as those, but if it can last my through my 8 hours of work (no WIFI there), then I'll be okay.
The buttons, I'm sure I'll get used to. But I'm definitely looking forward to the 4.2.2 update that allows for the long press of Home for Menu, right? Will this also give you the option to get rid of the Menu bar that appears below non-standard apps that don't conform to Google's specs?

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For those who are still engaged with the conversation, I have a few more specific questions about customizing if you don't mind... Since this is my first HTC Android device, there are some terms and methods I am not familiar with. I've used the Galaxy Nexus and the GS3 in the past and was able to understand enough to unlock the bootloaders and install custom roms on those devices. However, when reading about the HTC One, there are some things I do not yet understand:
1) I understand that the AT&T, T-Mobile, and International versions are basically identical hardware-wise, right?
2) What is CID, Hboot, and RUU? I don't remember having to deal with any of those terms with the Nexus and GS3. All I understand about the HTC One so far is that I need to unlock the bootloader at HTC's website. I'm sure I can also follow the instructions to root the device. Installing recoveries and custom roms is where things start to get a little foggy for me with this device.
3) I'm probably going to want to stick with a stock rom of some type because I am actually looking forward to some of the HTC features (especially with the camera). If the "Android Experience" rom still has some of the custom software for the camera, etc, then I might be interested in that. Otherwise, I just want to be rooted at 4.2.2 with a debloated device running as smoothly and as stable as possible.
Thanks!

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Travisimo said:
For those who are still engaged with the conversation, I have a few more specific questions about customizing if you don't mind... Since this is my first HTC Android device, there are some terms and methods I am not familiar with. I've used the Galaxy Nexus and the GS3 in the past and was able to understand enough to unlock the bootloaders and install custom roms on those devices. However, when reading about the HTC One, there are some things I do not yet understand:
1) I understand that the AT&T, T-Mobile, and International versions are basically identical hardware-wise, right?
2) What is CID, Hboot, and RUU? I don't remember having to deal with any of those terms with the Nexus and GS3. All I understand about the HTC One so far is that I need to unlock the bootloader at HTC's website. I'm sure I can also follow the instructions to root the device. Installing recoveries and custom roms is where things start to get a little foggy for me with this device.
3) I'm probably going to want to stick with a stock rom of some type because I am actually looking forward to some of the HTC features (especially with the camera). If the "Android Experience" rom still has some of the custom software for the camera, etc, then I might be interested in that. Otherwise, I just want to be rooted at 4.2.2 with a debloated device running as smoothly and as stable as possible.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1- yes pretty much the same
2- cid is your phone id which tells you what ruu you need. ruu is the stock rom your phone came with. hboot you really dont need to worry about until we get s-off
3- all the custom sense roms include all the htc features so no worries there
---------- Post added at 10:22 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:55 AM ----------
and btw with the battery life when i first got my htc one battery life was average at best but after a few battery cycles it improved.
first week probably averaged about 10-12 hrs with 6hrs on data with the rest wifi
second week 15-20 hrs with 6 hrs data
after that it pretty much leveled out and i average around 30 hrs 6 hrs on data and anywhere from 4-7 hrs screen time and all data is lte i dont turn data to 4g or 3g to save battery. so the first 7-10 days you might be cutting it close to get through the day on a single charge. a lot depends on signal strength though. i think most of those bad battery threads were from people who just got the phone and battery wasnt good at first. might also be because of stock rom. i flashed a custom sense rom the first day i got the phone

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Ok, I got my HTC One today and so far I am loving it! However, I am disappointed to see that there is a persistent notification for "Power Saver". Argh, on the GS4 there was a persistent notification for WIFI (on Verizon), and now this one. What is it with these guys and their non-removable persistent notifications? I guess they think people are that stupid (and maybe most are on), but there should at least be an option to turn it off.
So from what I'm reading, the only thing I can do is to force close it each time, or to root my device and install a mod? Really?

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Travisimo said:
Ok, I got my HTC One today and so far I am loving it! However, I am disappointed to see that there is a persistent notification for "Power Saver". Argh, on the GS4 there was a persistent notification for WIFI (on Verizon), and now this one. What is it with these guys and their non-removable persistent notifications? I guess they think people are that stupid (and maybe most are on), but there should at least be an option to turn it off.
So from what I'm reading, the only thing I can do is to force close it each time, or to root my device and install a mod? Really?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yea pretty much but not really an issue for me because i never intended to stay stock
oh and btw s-off has just been released in the international forum so you might want to keep an eye over there. with that you will be able to go back to complete stock without any trace of unlocking and rooting
hows the smoothness for you? i know your an iphone guy and i would like to hear your feedback

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skinsfanbdh said:
yea pretty much but not really an issue for me because i never intended to stay stock
oh and btw s-off has just been released in the international forum so you might want to keep an eye over there. with that you will be able to go back to complete stock without any trace of unlocking and rooting
hows the smoothness for you? i know your an iphone guy and i would like to hear your feedback
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I'm not too worried about the notification either because I will eventually root and rom... not for a while though.
I am in love with the design of the phone, to be an honest. I feel it tops my iPhone in almost every way in terms of hardware. The iPhone is still more smooth, but I think it's more a matter of Apple prioritizing the touch response and animations over everything else. The One is definitely more smooth than the GS4, though, and I noticed that right away. The Facebook app still stutters, but I think that's just Facebook's fault... it stutters if you scroll before everything has loaded.
I've set up Nova launcher with a shortcut to Blinkfeed (which I actually like). Disappointed that I can't use the HTC widgets in Nova, but I'm finding replacements. Charging the battery now (which I read takes longer than average), and tonight at work will be my first "real" test with the phone.
Thanks for replying.

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Travisimo said:
Yeah, I'm not too worried about the notification either because I will eventually root and rom... not for a while though.
I am in love with the design of the phone, to be an honest. I feel it tops my iPhone in almost every way in terms of hardware. The iPhone is still more smooth, but I think it's more a matter of Apple prioritizing the touch response and animations over everything else. The One is definitely more smooth than the GS4, though, and I noticed that right away. The Facebook app still stutters, but I think that's just Facebook's fault... it stutters if you scroll before everything has loaded.
I've set up Nova launcher with a shortcut to Blinkfeed (which I actually like). Disappointed that I can't use the HTC widgets in Nova, but I'm finding replacements. Charging the battery now (which I read takes longer than average), and tonight at work will be my first "real" test with the phone.
Thanks for replying.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you can make another screen your home screen with sense launcher so you dont have blinkfeed in your face everytime you unlock the phone. and just so you know i just tried the s-off and it works on my tmo htc one. i successfully got s-off tampered removed and supercid. its confirmed working for at&t also

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skinsfanbdh said:
you can make another screen your home screen with sense launcher so you dont have blinkfeed in your face everytime you unlock the phone. and just so you know i just tried the s-off and it works on my tmo htc one. i successfully got s-off tampered removed and supercid. its confirmed working for at&t also
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I figured out the Blinkfeed thing. Right now I am using Nova Launcher with a shortcut to Blinkfeed when I want to use it. The only thing bad about using Nova is that a bunch of the HTC widgets are not there anymore to use. Power toggles, Clocks/Weather, FM Radio widget, etc are all missing when using Nova Launcher. I understand that HTC widgets are only visible when using the Sense launcher? That's a bummer...
So explain again what the advantage of s-off is? Just so you can go back to completely stock if something goes wrong?
I think I will wait for this upcoming 4.2.2 OTA before deciding whether to unlock my bootloader and/or root. I'll take the time right now just to learn the phone and start reading all of the forums.

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Travisimo said:
Yes, I figured out the Blinkfeed thing. Right now I am using Nova Launcher with a shortcut to Blinkfeed when I want to use it. The only thing bad about using Nova is that a bunch of the HTC widgets are not there anymore to use. Power toggles, Clocks/Weather, FM Radio widget, etc are all missing when using Nova Launcher. I understand that HTC widgets are only visible when using the Sense launcher? That's a bummer...
So explain again what the advantage of s-off is? Just so you can go back to completely stock if something goes wrong?
I think I will wait for this upcoming 4.2.2 OTA before deciding whether to unlock my bootloader and/or root. I'll take the time right now just to learn the phone and start reading all of the forums.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
with s-off and supercid you can install the ruu/ota from any htc one variant except sprint/verizon. but you could use the international ota which is 4.2.2

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skinsfanbdh said:
with s-off and supercid you can install the ruu/ota from any htc one variant except sprint/verizon. but you could use the international ota which is 4.2.2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah, I see. With the AT&T OTA update rumored to be coming out in the next week or two, I think I'll just wait right now before jumping in.
Ironically, LTE just lit up in my area (Quad Cities, Davenport IA area) last night, so I was able to try that out as well!
So my first night at work with the new phone was very successful. Here are some things I noticed when comparing the One to my normal usage on the iPhone 5 with Verizon:
- LTE speeds on AT&T were comparable to Verizon at my workplace. However, AT&T had better penetration because my iPhone (and past LTE Android phones) would drop down to 3G deep inside the building, whereas AT&T stayed on LTE the whole time. In fact, I think the One has only dropped down to 4G (HSPA+) one or two times since I got it, whereas the Verizon phones constantly change between 3G and LTE.
- Battery life on the One was surprisingly good! My normal 8-hour shift consists mostly of playing Doggcatcher podcasts at 1.5 speed through Bluetooth headphones. I also use the phone on my breaks, along with a bit of Hotspot tethering for my iPad. With my iPhone 5, I'm normally at 40-50% battery life when I leave work, and the One was right about there as well. I would say that the One is very efficient when the screen is off, but a bit of a sucker when using the screen. That's to be expected, especially with that nice bright screen. Overall, I am very pleased and quite relieved to discover that I'll make it through a day of work no problem.
- The speakers are amazing! This is the first phone I can actually listen to music on without cringing. Having the speakers in the front of the phone is huge advantage as well. The iPhone 5 is no slouch in the audio department, but the One is noticeably better.
- I like the screen better on the One compared to the Galaxy S4. The latter has better blacks and contrast, but lacks color accuracy and is practically unviewable outdoors. I am definitely getting spoiled by these high DPI displays! The extra screen real estate on the One compared to the iPhone is liberating. Apple needs to release a larger screen iPhone now - not next year - because nobody who uses the larger 1080p screen is ever going to go back to the puny 4" screen again.
More thoughts later...

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Signal an 4.2.2
Travisimo said:
Ah, I see. With the AT&T OTA update rumored to be coming out in the next week or two, I think I'll just wait right now before jumping in.
Ironically, LTE just lit up in my area (Quad Cities, Davenport IA area) last night, so I was able to try that out as well!
So my first night at work with the new phone was very successful. Here are some things I noticed when comparing the One to my normal usage on the iPhone 5 with Verizon:
- LTE speeds on AT&T were comparable to Verizon at my workplace. However, AT&T had better penetration because my iPhone (and past LTE Android phones) would drop down to 3G deep inside the building, whereas AT&T stayed on LTE the whole time. In fact, I think the One has only dropped down to 4G (HSPA+) one or two times since I got it, whereas the Verizon phones constantly change between 3G and LTE.
- Battery life on the One was surprisingly good! My normal 8-hour shift consists mostly of playing Doggcatcher podcasts at 1.5 speed through Bluetooth headphones. I also use the phone on my breaks, along with a bit of Hotspot tethering for my iPad. With my iPhone 5, I'm normally at 40-50% battery life when I leave work, and the One was right about there as well. I would say that the One is very efficient when the screen is off, but a bit of a sucker when using the screen. That's to be expected, especially with that nice bright screen. Overall, I am very pleased and quite relieved to discover that I'll make it through a day of work no problem.
- The speakers are amazing! This is the first phone I can actually listen to music on without cringing. Having the speakers in the front of the phone is huge advantage as well. The iPhone 5 is no slouch in the audio department, but the One is noticeably better.
- I like the screen better on the One compared to the Galaxy S4. The latter has better blacks and contrast, but lacks color accuracy and is practically unviewable outdoors. I am definitely getting spoiled by these high DPI displays! The extra screen real estate on the One compared to the iPhone is liberating. Apple needs to release a larger screen iPhone now - not next year - because nobody who uses the larger 1080p screen is ever going to go back to the puny 4" screen again.
More thoughts later...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As you start reading up on the forums you may find the posts about how AT&T "fluffs" the signal. I am running the international trick droid ver 7.0.0 and it does have the same speed just the signal bar is not tweaked for simulated better signal. Also this rom has build options to remove the three dot menu as well as debloat and turn off power save notification. It runs like butter no laggs. I dont have or use FB so i cant speak for it. Keep us posted on how you like it.