HTC One Gold edition

Key Features: 18 carat gold-plated; 4.7-inch Full HD 1080p Display ; Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean; Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 quad-core CPU; 4-megapixel Ultrapixel camera

Manufacturer: HTC

HTC One Gold edition: Hands-on

What is the HTC One Gold edition?

Quite simply, it’s the HTC One we know and love with a wallet-decimating 18 carat gold body instead of the alumnium one.

The special Ones are in limited supply with just five of the golden handsets being made. The winner of the Best Newcomer award at this year's MOBO Awards will be one of the fortunate few to get their hands on the pricey handset.


If the gold iPhone 5S isn't quite bling enough for you, and you want the real deal, HTC will be making one of the gold ones available to the public and will cost £2,750.

HTC One Gold edition - Design

The usual unibody aluminium front and back has been replaced with 18 carat gold and aside from a MOBO 18th annivesary logo laser etched onto the back, is the same in every other way to the standard but still sleek-looking HTC One.

The gold HTC One weighs 147g so it's a minor 4g heavier than the alumnium HTC One. The weight is barely noticeable in the hand and it's still a light and well-weighted handset to hold.



Adding the gold does give it a softer touch, but it can be a haven for fingerprints and smudges as you can see from some of the pictures.

HTC One Gold edition - Features

Beneath the costly exterior it’s just like the One with the same 1.7GHz quad-core processor. It runs on Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean with HTC's slick Sense UI.

The 4-Ultrapixel main camera and a 4.7-inch 1080p Full HD display are all still in place as well along with HTC's BoomSound speakers.

First impressions

The HTC One Gold edition is clearly not going to be for everyone. Even the crassest nouveau-riche rapper might think it's a bit over the top. It's almost £3,000 and unlike the aluminium One, you will need to keep a cloth nearby to keep the smudges off. As luxury phones go we have definitely seen worse, but not many more expensive.

If you have the cash to spend on it we'd suggest investing in a similarly extravagant case to keep the pricey investment well protected.