The HTC One Google Play edition can now be purchased directly from Google. The device is bootloader and SIM unlocked and features a stock Android build on top of a 32GB HTC One. While the hardware on the HTC One Google Play edition may be identical to what HTC pushed out a few months ago, the stock Android software means a lot of the features that we know and love will no longer be available – a compromise some may be willing to make since software update for the device will be handled by Google. HTC Zoe, BlinkFeed and video Highlights will be missing, but the device will still come with Beats Audio and BoomSound.
The price of the HTC One Google Play edition is set at $599.99. On the connectivity side, user will be able to use the phone on AT&T and T-Mobile’s HSPA+ and LTE networks. For now, the HTC One Google Play edition is only available in the United States, but we expect Google will be increasing availability to other countries shortly after the initial orders ship by July 9th.
Is the HTC One Google Play edition with stock Android on your wish list or do you think the Sense experience offered by HTC is more appealing?
Source: HTC One Google Play edition
Unfortunately you cannot use TMO’s HSPA+ 42Mbps system as a backup when LTE is not available, only the 21Mbps system. The article should have pointed that out as it definitely is a limitation.