HTC One X review
Verdict:
A quad-core processor, plenty of storage space and a camera that rivals a compact digital camera - the HTC One X is the best Android phone currently available
Review Date: 17 Apr 2012
Price when reviewed: £485
Best monthly deal: From £27.00 a month (Handset FREE)
Buy it now for: £201
(see more store prices)
Supplier: http://www.handtec.co.uk
Reviewed By: Barry de la Rosa
Our Rating
User Rating
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HTC's One X is a collection of firsts. It's the first HTC handset with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, the first with a 720x1,280-pixel screen, and the first with a quad-core processor; its Nvidia Tegra 3 chipset even includes a GeForce graphics core and a "companion core" - a fifth processor core that takes over essential functions when the phone is idle to save power.
The huge 4.7in screen's IPS panel is bright and colourful, if not quite as punchy as the OLED screens on the Motorola RAZR or Samsung Galaxy Nexus. The screen's contrast also can't match that of its rivals. Blacks weren't as deep and whites not as bright in our side-by-side tests with those phones. Colours were on the vibrant rather than accurate side, although you may prefer this for gaming and reading websites. The 720p resolution is ideal for web browsing; we could easily read headline and summary text on the BBC News homepage in landscape mode, and then double-tap to zoom in to individual stories.
The One X's screen is rounded at the edges and sits proud of its white surround. There's very little space around the screen, except at the bottom where three touch-sensitive buttons handle Back, Home and the new Open Tasks function, which shows which apps are currently running. The handset is light and comfortable to hold, with the matt-white plastic providing adequate grip.
The phone's 1.5GHz quad-core processor makes it run smoothly, although we still noticed some jerkiness and lag when under heavy load - swiping through the home screens still isn't as buttery smooth as on the iPhone. We tested a few games and they all played smoothly, although the phone can get hot at the rear. In the JavaScript Sunspider benchmark it scored 1,746ms, that's around 100ms quicker than the Tegra 3-equipped Asus Transformer Prime, probably due to a higher clock speed.
With the Android 4.0 operating system comes HTC's own Sense 4.0, a collection of apps, widgets and customisations designed to improve on Android's own interface. We've mentioned previously how manufacturers and network operators often load phones with software that can't be uninstalled, and which duplicates or even removes Android's own functions, but Sense has always been one of the less intrusive examples. Sense 4.0 adds features that complement Android's own software.
For a start, Sense beefs up the camera app, adding plenty of extra features that take advantage of the One X's dedicated imaging chip. There's a fast multi-capture mode which you access by holding down the shutter button, and it saves these pictures as a collection so you can browse for the best one. Pictures can be snapped in 0.7 seconds, with a 0.2 second auto-focus, and you can go straight to the camera from the lock screen to speed things up.
Pay Monthly
| Model & Tariff | Mins & Texts | Handset cost | Contract length | Monthly cost | Available from |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() HTC One X+ O2 + 1GB |
Unlimited free minutes Unlimited free texts |
£0.00 |
24 months
|
£27.00 |
![]() More info |
![]() HTC One X+ Vodafone + Mobile Web (500MB) |
600 free minutes Unlimited free texts |
£0.00 |
24 months
|
£29.00 |
![]() More info |
![]() HTC One X+ Dolphin + 250MB |
400 free minutes Unlimited free texts |
£0.00 |
24 months
|
£26.00 |
![]() More info |
![]() HTC One X+ Vodafone + Mobile Web (500MB) |
Unlimited free minutes Unlimited free texts |
£0.00 |
24 months
|
£29.00 |
![]() More info |
![]() HTC One X+ The Full Monty |
500 free minutes Unlimited free texts |
£0.00 |
24 months
|
£26.00 |
![]() More info |
User Reviews
Best Prices
I'll wait for the S3
No memory card slot and a un removable battery were the reasons why I've never had an iPhone. I would have bought one of these straight away if it wasn't for these two faults, but I'll wait and pray Samsung doesn't follow the iPhone route too!
By jscho84233 on 23 Apr 2012 ![]()
Another mistake from HTC
Ditto... no removable battery and no SD card... Why change these. My last 3 phones have been HTC phones and I have been happy with them. Now because of these 2 important omission, I can't upgrade to the HTC one.. Yes it might be the Samsung S3 for me too..
By bokmunc on 23 Apr 2012 ![]()
http://www.techradar.com/reviews/phones/mobile-pho
nes/htc-one-x-1069319/review
By Trevorp on 24 Apr 2012 ![]()
Nokia N8
Expert Reviews should compare the 1X against the Nokia N8 - its camera is superb and definitely outperforms dedicated point-and-shoots. Some of the camera controls have been removed in the N8 which were in the N96/97 such as burst, unred-eye as default, how long should the captured image should stay on the screen after shooting. It also doesn't remember any of the adjustment settings that you do (grid, flash, etc) once you exit the app (it will remember them if you leave it in the background and do multi-task).
By rjd83 on 25 Apr 2012 ![]()
HTC ONE X
The HTC One X is a handsome, speedy handset with power and versatility. You can see that a lot of thought has been applied to key features – the OS, the camera, the Beats Audio – but also to details such as the carefully milled holes that form the earpiece and rear speakers. If you can live with the size, this is currently the best Android smartphone around. Furthermore, older caveats about range and quality of apps and functionality compared to iPhones barely apply anymore. Okay, the App Store and iTunes Store are better than Google Play and Amazon MP3, but really not by much. Similarly, while the experience of iOS could be described as a little slicker, what was a gulf in quality is now more like a narrow alleyway. The sound is all processed via Dr Dre Beats Audio software and hardware, giving improved sonics on everything from the The Byrds to Angry Birds. It’s actually difficult to find things to criticise here. Some might balk at the lack of a microSD slot, but 32GB of built-in storage is plenty, and you also get access to bonus Dropbox storage for two years. Similarly, some don’t like non-removable batteries but if the result, as here, is greater longevity, it’s pretty hard to complain. The web browser works well, including a well-executed, Apple-style Read button that strips out images to leave just text. Zoom in on this and the words reformat to fit the screen. The menu button offers neat extras like a tab option that makes incognito browsing easy and one-press access to Flash player or desktop versions of sites. Battery life hasn’t always been HTC’s strongest suit, the One X rights that. It gives a good 12 hours of power usage, making it to its nightly recharges with few alarms. It’s also one of the first to market with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, the latest version of Android. As ever with HTC, its overlaid with the company’s Sense skin. Sense is far better than similar overlays from LG, Sony and Motorola. HTC Sense is all-encompassing, with really well thought out apps and features. Take the lock screen. There, you drag a ring up the screen to wake the phone, but you can also drag one of four, user-selected icons – defaults are phone, mail, messages and camera – into the ring, to launch that app or function. Lists and menus on Android phones used to have an elastic spring to them as you scrolled. Now when you reach the top of a menu, contacts or missed call list, say, a blue light seeps out to tell you you’re at the end. On the One X, the list’s entries separate like carefully arranged slips of paper sliding apart. It’s really rather satisfying.
By champrizi on 22 Jun 2012 ![]()
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