HTC were forced to announce their new over-sized smartphone a day early after details of it were leaked online.
The One Max is a "phablet-sized" version of the HTC One with a 5.9" screen, fingerprint scanner and Android operating system.
The device has had lukewarm reviews so far with the fingerprint scanner in particular coming in for criticism.
"Firstly, it's placed in exactly the wrong place. Sitting immediately below the camera lens and requiring a swipe, it pretty much compels you to smudge the lens every time you want to identify yourself.
"As it is, the fingerprint scanner implementation here is clumsy, awkward, and comfortably in line with the long history of failed attempts at making this technology work."
"But it's irritating that you have to press the standby button before you can swipe to unlock the phone, so it's a two-stage process and we'd much rather it was one."
Cnet praised the "big, bright, bold display" but noted the poor processor and weight of the device.
They added:
"If you've been eagerly eyeing up your mate's HTC One but also fancy the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 for some big screen movies, the One Max will be right up your street.
"On paper though, it doesn't stack up as well against the Note 3. It has an older, slower processor, and its camera -- while good -- doesn't quite have the pin-sharp resolution of the Note 3's 13-megapixel snapper."
"We won't pull any punches. The HTC One Max doesn't come close to hitting the heights of the HTC One.
"Put simply, the HTC One Max is just too large and too feature-poor to be considered as a great device in its own right. The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 is at least filled with functionality that's not available on the Galaxy S4, mostly down to the S Pen, and as such is worthy of being called a different device."
The little brother of the Max, the HTC One won "Smartphone of the Year" at the T3 design awards this month.
HTC will be hoping their latest device can build on this turn their fortunes around after posting their first ever quarterly loss earlier in October.