LONDON - So will all the phones be gold now? The latest gold phone comes from HTC: a limited-edition version of the One that will be worth $4,422 and be distributed to winners of some music awards in the U.K. HTC brought one of these golden models to its Frequencies conference here, and I got to spend a few minutes with it.
This phone is impractical. There's a reason companies don't use real gold as a case material; it's too soft, and it scratches and smudges easily. The gold HTC One came in a locked suitcase and was initially handled only by a white-gloved concierge. As soon as the journalists got their greasy paws all over it, it swiftly developed fingerprints and had to be wiped down a few times.
But you can't deny its goldness. Its goldity. Its golditude? Held next to a "gold" iPhone 5s, it was obvious which of the phones was the goldier. The iPhone merely held a subtle sheen, while the HTC One shimmered and glimmered and shouted. It looked like an award itself. And the tiny amount of gold plating didn't make the phone noticeably heavier, although it did make it feel a little bit slicker. Gold isn't as matte a texture as the aluminum that comes by default on the HTC One.
How does it fare against real luxury phones like the gold Vertu and Mobiado? I didn't have those on hand for a side-by-side comparison, but Vertu uses red gold, which can be a somewhat richer shade than the very gold gold HTC is using. Once again, this thing is designed to be flashy, almost to silly levels. But it's supposed to be distributed with a hip-hop and R&B music award, so it's actually appropriate for the context. It's bling!
Under the four grams of gold, this is just an HTC One. That isn't bad; the One is an excellent phone, with a 4.7-inch, 1080p display, a fast Snapdragon 600 processor and elegant software design. The bigger question is if HTC, like Samsung and Apple, will go further and offer a golden - if not truly gold - option on its phones. That, we aren't seeing yet.
For more, check out the video below, and PCMag's roundup of 7 Solid Gold Phones.