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HTC One starts to arrive in the UK, following delays

After various mishaps and delays, the HTC One is now available to snap up from some UK retailers.

Luke Westaway Senior editor
Luke Westaway is a senior editor at CNET and writer/ presenter of Adventures in Tech, a thrilling gadget show produced in our London office. Luke's focus is on keeping you in the loop with a mix of video, features, expert opinion and analysis.
Luke Westaway
2 min read

The HTC One is finally starting to appear on sale in the UK, following delays to the 4.7-inch smart phone.

Phones 4U has put the quad-core HTC One in its 'just arrived' category and has the silver option available to buy now, though if you want the phone in black, you'll still be making a pre-order. Deals start at £36 per month for 18 months, including a free phone.

Carphone Warehouse, meanwhile, is still saying 'pre-order' on its site, though lists the phone with 'expected delivery on 28 March', which is tomorrow, so you shouldn't be waiting too long.

Other phone-sellers aren't having so much luck. Expansys says it's expecting stock within three days, while Clove says stock of the silver model has been delayed until 3 April, and the black model delayed until 10 April. The retailer says orders placed after 26 March are likely to ship in late April, suggesting the stock woes haven't completely gone away. Both have priced the blower north of £500.

EE, meanwhile, is still at the pre-order stage, with a 'please allow up to 28 days for delivery' caveat. 

It's not on sale everywhere, then, but it seems as though British high-street retailers are managing to wrangle some stock. With two bank holidays this weekend, I'd advise you leg it to your nearest phone shop rather than wait for the postman to do you a solid.

The One suffered from delays variously attributed to its camera being too complicated or suppliers not thinking HTC is all that big a deal any more.

The phone itself has been well received, earning a fully respectable four stars in our full review. My learned colleague Andrew Hoyle found it sturdy, well built and powerful, but it scuffed easily and wasn't as customisable as some other Android phones. Its 'Ultrapixel' camera has a great flash and a terrific macro mode, but didn't handle more common conditions as well as the iPhone 5.

Are you rushing out to the shops to bag a One? What's sold you on it? Or are you waiting for something else? Drop me a line in the comments below, or over on our unitary Facebook page.