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Review: HTC First and Facebook Home

Form Performance FB Home Basics Extras Wrap-Up Comments 10

The HTC First is an interesting beast. Though it is a mid-range piece of hardware, it clearly has high-end aspirations. HTC designed a simple, but effective smartphone that it comfortable to hold and easy to use. The screen easily surpasses most others in this class of device, and the performance on AT&T's network was fine. My only complaints about the hardware are the weak speakers and mediocre camera.

Facebook Home, which is available as a separate download to a bunch of other smartphones, is the selling point as far as AT&T, HTC, and Facebook are concerned. Facebook Home completely replaces the standard Android user interface for one that offers nothing but Facebook content. Whether or not you use it depends on how you prioritize information. Personally, I don't find it appealing because it doesn't give me the info I want from my smartphone's home screen.

The good news is, you can turn Facebook Home off. If you do, you'll have a nice piece of hardware running the cleanest version of Android this side of a Nexus device.

Our Ratings

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Reception

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Camera

Related

Hands-On: HTC First

The HTC First is an Android smartphone dedicated to Facebook Home. Here is a really quick look at the hardware.

Hands-On: Facebook Home

Facebook Home is a new user interface overlay for Android devices that "prioritizes people, not apps." Phone Scoop takes it for a spin.

HTC Announces the HTC First, a Facebook-Centric Phone

Apr 4, 2013
HTC today announced the HTC First, a new phone that takes advantage of the new Facebook Home user interface. It runs Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, but has Facebook Home preloaded as the user interface.

Facebook Announces Facebook Home for Android

Apr 4, 2013
Facebook today announced a new push into the mobile space with new Android-based software that exists as its own user interface overlay. The UI overlay is called Facebook Home, and can be used to replace the home screen of select Android smartphones.

Samsung Refreshes Galaxy S Series with S Pen, New Cameras

Feb 9, 2022
Samsung today announced its lineup of flagship phones for 2022: the Galaxy S22 series. The top-end S22 Ultra sees the biggest changes as it essentially absorbs Samsung's Note series with an integrated S Pen stylus and a more Note-like shape and design, instead of the Contour Cut design of the other models.

HTC First

4.3" display HD+ resolution
Snapdragon MSM8930AA processor 1 GB RAM
2,000 mAh battery
Headphone Jack (3.5mm), NFC

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