Facebook Home On All-New HTC First: All You Need to Know

Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, introduced Facebook's latest product - Facebook Home - in April 2013. Facebook Home is a replacement for Android's standard home screen and is just shipping on one new phone - HTC First. So, what do tech reviewers think about the HTC First? How is Facebook Home on the HTC First? We've sourced out the best reviews!

Tech review: HTC First

With a billion users, it'd be an understatement to say Facebook has done a good job conquering the desktop world. Mobile, however, is the social network's next frontier: although it has a significant presence on every major smartphone and tablet platform, the company has a reputation for bringing its key features to the PC environment long before they arrive on mobile -- if at all.

at Facebook headquarters, CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg officially announced Facebook Home, a small suite of applications that users can install on their Android devices to essentially “Facebook-ize” their phones. The event came after rumors that the social networking giant was finally pulling the trigger on an official handset. Facebook didn't announce a Facebook phone, but it did reveal a partnership with HTC to produce a mid-range handset that would come pre-installed with Facebook Home. Specs at a glance: HTC First Screen 1280×720 4.3-inch (341 ppi) glass display OS Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean CPU Dual-core 1.4GHZ Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 RAM 1GB GPU Qualcomm Adreno 305 Storage 16GB, no expansion slot Networking 802.11a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC Ports Micro-USB, headphones Camera 5.0MP rear camera, 1.6MP front camera Size 4.96" × 2.56" × 0.35" Weight 4.37 oz Battery 2,000 mAh Starting price $99 with a two-year contract. Sensor Ambient light, GPS Other perks Facebook Home Facebook intended to introduce a new way to make the smartphone experience "people-centric." Zuckerberg made the case that most mobile operating systems keep social interaction sequestered to several specific applications, forcing them to exist independent of each other and limiting them to particular lanes. But with an app like Facebook Home installed, the social network becomes the core of the mobile operating system. Notifications and status updates from friends or family become a priority rather than a grid of icons screaming for attention with loud, red-numbered badges. To be clear, the HTC First is a nice looking phone, but it's not a “Facebook phone.” At its core, the First is an Android phone with a Facebook overlay. Once Facebook Home is officially released on April 12 in the Google Play store, five supported devices will all have the same Facebook Home functionality. The HTC First is its own product, which will also arrive at AT&T on April 12, but we’re going to review both the application and the handset as one entity because they’re sold as a package. Think of it as getting two reviews for the price of one. The HTC First is a smaller handset that’s not like the devices recently making headlines—phones like the HTC One, LG Optimus G Pro, and Samsung Galaxy S4, for instance. This is meant for a different subset of users. Unlike the aforementioned devices, the HTC First is only $100 with a two-year contract.  Although mid-range phones are often quietly announced, this handset is seeing more fanfare because of its out-of-the-box features and native Facebook Home integration. It's important to note that this isn't even the first "Facebook phone" that HTC has produced. Back in 2011, Facebook and HTC partnered up to release the HTC ChaCha and Salsa, two Android handsets with convenient Facebook buttons located right on the chassis. But a phone can’t be all about social networking—it should be able to stream video, keep a phone call going, and multitask, all the while feeding into its user’s social networking addiction.