HTC ONE X REVIEW, HTC ONE X VERDICT

HTC One X review

New flagship brings quad core power – but is that enough to boost the brand?

The HTC One X brings the best processor, an HD screen and a sublimely thin chassis as the Taiwanese firm looks to recreate the success of the original Desire.

The One X is a phone that's had us intrigued for a while – running a quad core CPU (Nvidia's Tegra 3) plus one of the largest screens on any HTC… and that's without being given a gargantuan name like the Titan.

It's clear from the outset what HTC is trying to do with the One X: shake off the slight doom and gloom surrounding the brand's fall in profits, and bring out a slick, powerful and, more importantly, useable handset that only costs £36 per month (about $57) on a two year deal.

Check out the HTC One X video below to find out the main features it's packing in that slim body.

With Ice Cream Sandwich running from the outset, this is the phone that really takes HTC to the next level – but is it a case of too much, too soon for a brand that's still really just over a decade old?

Design

HTC's phones have been slowly moving towards sleeker design ever since the purchase of One & Co (which may have had more than a little to do with the new naming strategy) and the release of the HTC Legend.

Since then, unibody designs and smooth lines have been a feature of its devices, and that principle has been evolved with the HTC One X.

However, before you read any further, a note of caution: if you're not willing to accept a pretty large mobile, then you're better off waiting for the likes of the HTC One S – the One X is a large piece of phone estate in your hand.

But it's that large 4.7-inch screen that is such a stunning feature of the One X – it's a 720p HD display packed into a chassis that's only 8.9mm thick. Plus it's also using the Super IPS LCD 2 technology that, while it lacks the vivid colour reproduction of Samsung's Super AMOLED range, really brings games and movies to life.

We're not going to get into the pros and cons of OLED vs LCD – suffice to say, it's a matter of choice whether you prefer improved contrast ratios or a more true to life colour reproduction. In our opinion, both are excellent and the One X will certainly not disappoint.

Like the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, it's got a pixel density (screen sharpness) that rivals the iPhone 4S, but does it on a screen that's over an inch larger. It's one of those devices that you have to see to really believe, but there's a good chance you'll confuse it with a shop model with a static image Sellotaped onto the front.

The rest of the phone design is, again, pretty subjective. For the large size, it's very light indeed at 130g. That's quite a bit heavier than the likes of theSamsung Galaxy S2 (14g, in fact) but in reality you'll consider it to be almost impossible to feel in the pocket.

See how the HTC One X fares against the S2 in our speed test video:

The rest of the phone is pretty minimal in design. Unlike the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, we're offered some physical (well, touch sensitive) keys on the front of the HTC One X, meaning the display won't need to jump up and down to show the contextual versions.

There's an expected volume rocker switch on the right-hand side, a power button on the top (accompanied by a 3.5mm headphone jack) and a microUSB slot on the left-hand side – which also doubles a Mobile High-Definition Link to hook up to a TV.

It's a very sparse offering on a phone that's so expansive in its design, and leads to a very minimalist feel, which will likely appeal to many.

That effect is compounded by the microSIM slot on the back of the phone, which requires an Apple-esque device to open it up – and there's no microSD support to be found here either, with the battery locked into the unibody design.

While the smaller SIM will be a slight annoyance to those upgrading from the full-size version, the lack of a microSD slot will be a big worry for many, especially as HD movies and large games will play very well on a phone like this.

There is 32GB of onboard storage, but that's not going to be enough for the ilk of smartphone user that wouldn't buy an iPhone until capacity was raised to 64GB.

The rear of the phone features the 8MP camera, which protrudes quite a lot from the handset, but thanks to the slightly curved nature of the chassis, doesn't affect the phone too much when resting on a table.

The power button on the top of the phone can be quite hard to hit with the phone resting in the palm if you've not got the largest hands in the world, although the travel is such you'll hit it pretty accurately most of the time, which is something some phones fail to manage.

The size is the main design issue we can see for most people – this sleek-looking, lightweight phone will appeal to both men and women, but those with smaller hands will struggle to use the HTC One X effectively without doubling down on their digits

We reviewed the white version of the One X, and it's worth noting that in a few hours it was quite dirty with fingerprint smudges and the like, so be warned you might want to fork out for a case too.

HTC One X review: Verdict

New flagship brings quad core power – but is that enough to boost the brand?

When we got our hands on the HTC One X, it was a mix of trepidation and excitement. How would our first quad core phone on test fare? Could HTC make an HD screen fit well into a phone? Would we get annoyed at the lack of a microSD slot?

We've answered all those questions and more in this in-depth review, and it's clear that the HTC One X is a top-notch phone - but one that just, justmisses out on being the third member of the five star phone clan due to having a substandard battery compared to its peers, even with the recent update to try and rectify the issue.

Oh, where do we begin? The super-thin chassis. The HD screen. The beautiful graphics. The next-generation Android platform, all rolled into one.We liked

Essentially, this is EXACTLY the kind of phone we want to see at the top end of its range if it wants to stay relevant in the smartphone business. Fusing top level CPU power with a beautiful screen (and a whopping one at that) and really thinking about how it wants to strip back its skin on top of the latest version of Android without compromising its identity.

Then there's the likes of integrated DropBox storage, Beats Audio enhancements and the upgraded music player. Plus the improved lock screen, the speedier internet browser and the camera that's among the most feature-rich on the market.

We disliked

We say this is EXACTLY the phone HTC needed to make, and while the One X battery issues have been looked at, we're still not massive fans when a phone manages to power down regularly before bedtime.

The battery life is such a shame here - all the other niggles, like the touchscreen sensitivity and apps failing to register a press, have been eradicated by HTC.

But that battery is a key thing to so many users, and for that reason we have to be hard on this otherwise superb device. Sure, in idle mode the HTC One X survives just fine... but we don't buy a phone to not use it.

Oh, and we nearly forgot the criminal oversight that constitutes the lack of a microSD card slot. Sure, 32GB is plenty, but Android users love to be able to hotswap. Apple has just about managed to get away with it thus far, but we know the lack of said storage slot is going to put off a number of buyers.If we have a GPU with 12 cores, then we want to have a gaming session that lasts more than 2 and a half hours. If you give us an HD screen, make it so downloading a movie then watching it isn't the only thing the phone can do before we need to charge again.

Verdict

Let's not beat around the bush here: we love the HTC One X. You can see how we feel about the battery life, but it's not an insurmountable problem... it's just frustrating that you'll have to be frugal at times with your smartphone usage to get through the day.

But beyond that the HTC One X is a beautiful piece of kit. It's stylishly designed, light, has a cracking screen and comes with enough future-proofing to make us believe our grandchildren may still have one.

The fact it's rocking the latest version of Android will appeal to many too - except those that don't want to get involved with the complexity of Google's OS.

It's not a tricky system to learn, but whether you buy the HTC One X will come down to two things: do you want a phone that rewards you the more you explore its features? And do you mind having to keep a bit more of a strict eye on that battery level throughout the day?

If the answer is yes to the first question and no to the second, then we have good news: you've just found your new phone. The HTC One X is feature-rich, well designed and not another clone in the smartphone market - plus it's got a fancy CPU, gorgeous screen and grand design.

In short: the rivals better step it up in 2012 if they want to stop the HTC sparking a big revival for the popular smartphone brand.

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