However, combined with the inbuilt amplifier and Beats Audio, over a pair of even half-decent headphones the sound quality is always going to be a lot better – we were impressed despite the fact it was irritating to be told people like watching YouTube videos together.
The other big change that HTC has made on the audio front is the addition of dual-dual microphones (our phrase, not HTC's).
This means that on top of the extra microphones to noise cancel bits and pieces, each mic has a dual membrane and monitors sound levels to stop that distortion you'll notice on your Samsung Galaxy S3 when you're filming a concert or your friends shouting in a club.
Or fireworks. Shoot what you want, we don't mind. Not people though. Don't shoot people.
HTC Sense and BlinkFeed
HTC has decided that its Sense UI can be updated again, and while it's not officially saying so, this is HTC Sense 5.0.
This means a more simplified UI on top of Android 4.1.2, with elements like a 3x4 grid of apps showing less on the screen but reducing the clutter HTC thinks is putting people off buying smartphones.
In reality it's just another overlay on top of Android – albeit one that we rather like. We're not fans of the constant changing of the way HTC phones work, especially as most people like consistency, but ditching things like Locations and the internal mapping solutions makes it a lot easier to do the things you care about.
The app launcher, the way the menu works and customisation of what's going on is all improved though, and the prevalence of BlinkFeed means that you're always up to date with what's happening.
While we're on that subject, let's talk a bit more about HTC's bitesize news format – it's all very tile-based and visual so you can get access to the things that matter the most to you.
Well, that's the theory anyway; in reality it's a little more impersonal. You can choose from over 1400 contact sources, ranging from sports to fashion to technology and all in between, but you can't import your own personal feeds which gets a little in the way.
It will cache the pics and the text though so you don't need to worry too much – but in essence you're not going to get a lot more than Facebook, Twitter, some pictures and the pre-chosen news sources at the moment.
The good news is HTC says it's working on bringing more to the ecosystem – be it on the Blink personalisation side, or the camera action – so there's certainly more to come.
