We give the HTC One Max the hands-on treatment, lots of photos inside

The freshly unveiled HTC One Max is here at HQ and we’ve got a bunch of images to share with you guys.

Built around a whopping 5.9″ display of 1080p resolution, the One Max is HTC’s first real attempt at a phablet device and will be taking on the likes of the Samsung Galaxy Note 3, Sony Xperia Z Ultra and LG Optimus G Pro.

The HTC One Max looks, and feels like a bigger HTC One – no surprises there. It’s not the most pocket-friendly size with the addition of the BoomSound speakers above and under the display adding even more to an already pretty large fingerprint. The impressive multimedia might that comes with the ample screen and front-facing stereo speakers, might be worth the trade-off to quite a few people though.

HTC One Max

Compared to the other two smartphones in the One lineup it’s the biggest by far. The difference in screen estate with quite significant (about 57% more than the One and 88% more than the One mini) so there was nothing else you could expect.

HTC One Max in the One lineup

The comparisons with the current king of the phablet realm are unavoidable, so here goes. The HTC One Max sized up against Samsung Galaxy Note 3. The Note 3 has the upper hand with a faster Snapdragon 800 chipset and a healthy gig of RAM more than the One Max, but the HTC flagship counters with a bigger screen and more powerful speakers.

HTC One Max vs Samsung Galaxy Note 3

To put things into even better perspective, here is the HTC One Max sitting next to the LG G Pad 8.3 slate. According to LG this is the largest one-handed tablet and as you can see it’s much bigger than the One Max. Weight is to be considered as well, the One Max is much lighter than the dedicated tablet.

HTC One Max vs LG G Pad 8.3

The HTC One Max design is quite similar to that of its One siblings, but there are a few upgrades here and there. For starters on the back there’s a fingerprint scanner, which unlike Apple’s Touch ID, works with sliding rather than just touching. The back panel is also removable, allowing for a microSD card slot to be mounted, enabling the expansion of the 16GB internal memory. The power button has been moved on the right side, where it’s much easier to reach.

HTC One Max controls

The 3.5 mm headphone jack is located at the top alongside an IR blaster, which to HTC One users will look like a power button at first.

HTC One Max controls

The primary microphone and microUSB connector are located on the bottom, just like on the other two HTC One’s. Held in the hand the HTC One Max feels refined and its high-quality build becomes apparent immediately. It’s a rather large device, though, and one with not too much grip, so you have to be extra careful not to drop it.

HTC One Max in hand

This is just the first installment of our HTC One Max impressions – we are already working on a complete review so stay tuned.