SpecEagle review · HTC

HTC Butterfly review: One of the first 1080p phones, with a vivid 5-inch Super LCD3.

SpecEagle Editorial·Dec 2012·$600
Overall
46/100
Class rank
#55 of 82
Tier
Flagship
Buy?
Look elsewhere
The verdict, up front

One of the first full-HD phones.

HTC Butterfly (J Butterfly in Japan) was among the very first phones with a 1080p display — a 5-inch, 441 ppi Super LCD3 that wowed reviewers in late 2012. The small battery was the cost of pushing all those pixels, but the screen was a glimpse of the future.

01Display

72/100

At 72/100 this is one of the strongest display showings among flagship phones of 2012 — 6 points above the cohort average.

TypeSuper LCD3 (early 1080p)
Size5.0 inches
Resolution1,920 × 1,080 px (FHD, 441 ppi)

02Camera

56/100

56/100 trails the 58-point cohort average for flagship phones of 2012.

Main8 MP, f/2.0, BSI
Video1080p
Front2.1 MP

03Performance

60/100

At 60/100 this is one of the strongest performance showings among flagship phones of 2012 — 7 points above the cohort average.

ChipsetSnapdragon S4 Pro (28 nm, quad)
RAM2 GB
Storage16 GB · microSD

04Battery

50/100

50/100 is one of the weaker battery results among flagship phones of 2012 — 10 points under the average. Check the rows below before buying for this.

Capacity2,020 mAh
Standby~ 335 hours

05Build

62/100

62/100 — right at the average for flagship phones of 2012.

06Value

54/100

At 54/100 this is one of the strongest value showings among flagship phones of 2012 — 6 points above the cohort average.

What works
  • One of the first 1080p phones — 441 ppi.
  • Vivid Super LCD3 panel.
  • Quad-core S4 Pro.
  • microSD + jack.
What doesn't
  • Small 2,020 mAh battery struggled with 1080p.
  • Mono speaker.
  • Plastic build.
  • Battery non-removable.
Cross-shop it against
Nexus 5 (LG)
$349 · score 84/100

How this review is built: every section score, spec row and comparison on this page comes from SpecEagle's tracked catalogue — scores weight measured specs against the 82-phone cohort of flagship devices released around the same time. We don't publish invented lab anecdotes. Spot an error? .