[Device Review] HTC One X
Despite my complaints about the One X, I feel that it is a good phone. I am not a big fan of Sense but I recognize that is subjective opinion and, full AOSP ROM would do wonders to improve my opinion of its usability.
That being said, if you are a fan of Sense and are willing to put up with AT&T’s network this is a great phone for you.
The trend among android smartphone manufacturers recently has been to see which can build the biggest and the most powerful smartphone. There was a time when a 4 inch screen was a monster but no more as average screen size among top-tier devices have pushed closer and closer to the five-inch mark (the tablet/phone hybrid the Galaxy Note notwithstanding). Weighing in at an impressive hand busting 4.7 inches, the One X is HTC’s latest entrant in the heavyweight division.
The HTC One X in brief:
- 4.7 inch Super LCD2 display
- 720 x 1280 pixel resolution at 16 million colors
- 16 GB internal memory 1 GB RAM
- Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 dual core 1.5 gHz processor
- GPRS/EDGE, HSPA+, and LTE mobile data radios
- 8 MP rear facing camera capable of 1080 HD video recording
- 1.3 MP front facing camera capable of 720 HD video recording
- WiFi a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC connectivity
- 1,800 mAh Li-Ion battery (non removable)
HTC One X – The Exterior
There is no way of getting around it, the One X is a massive phone. Measuring 5.3 inches by 2.75 inches by .35 inches, I sometimes found that it was difficult to operate the One X with one hand. Going side to side isn’t to bad but trying to pull down the notification bar with my thumb or trying to press buttons near the top of the screen could be quite a reach.
Despite it’s formidable size, the One X is quite a light weight. It weighs only 4.6 ounces it comes in .2 ounces lighter than my Galaxy Nexus but feels even lighter than that. The downside to that it’s light weight, combined with a smooth, plastic backing made the phone feel cheap and hollow.
My biggest complaint though, was with the power button. It is small and recessed at the top of the device which makes it nearly impossible to turn on with one hand and, even with two hands, sometimes I would have to hit the button repeatedly to get the phone to wake up.
HTC One X – The UI
There is a lot that can be said about the different user interfaces that OEMs have decided that they must place over the stock Android’s and most of that is not appropriate to be printed here. I am not a fan of any of the UIs that are currently in use but I count HTC’s Sense UI as my least favorite.
I will admit that they’ve gone a long way towards cleaning up the confusing mess that earlier versions of Sense were but it still feels very unnecessary and in its current iteration a step backwards in regards to design. Despite coming with Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) it feels like Android 2.3 (Gingerbread). When I first received the One X I actually had to check what version of Android it was running because it doesn’t feel like ICS.
The HTC Keyboard is also a huge disappointment. There was a time when the Sense Keyboard was the envy of most Android users but I found myself so frustrated with the One X’s default keyboard that I changed it within the first hour. The keys are too small, the space key in particular is tiny, and text prediction was pretty much a joke.
HTC One X – The Internals
When it came time to power the One X, HTC did not play around. There are currently two different versions of the One X available. First is the international version, it is powered by a 1.5 gHz quad-core Tegra 3. Second is the North American version which is powered by a 1.5 gHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4.
The One X that I tested had the S4 and it flies. The phone was very responsive and chewed its way through every 3D game that I threw at it. Benchmarks were equally impressive with the One X never falling below 50 frames per second on the graphic tests.
To keep the juice flowing, the One X has a 1,800 mAh Li-Ion rechargeable battery. For reasons that escape me, HTC chose to make the battery non-removable (officially). At first, I believed that this would be a real hindrance to the One X but I was quickly proven wrong. HTC certainly put a lot of work into tweaking the device and I easily could go thirty to forty hours between charges.
HTC One X – The Network
This part was a bit difficult. Not so much to test but to assign blame. With this One X being attached (or some might say shackled) to AT&T’s network I can’t be sure whether any difficulties I found were the problem of the One X or of AT&T’s infamously unreliable network.
Network coverage is about what you would expect. I live in a well populated area and by and large I can full to mostly full bars all of the time. Interestingly, this did not stop the One X from periodically telling me that a connection was not available or that it had timed out.
Data speeds were good, there is not AT&T LTE in my area but the HSPA network was giving me around 3-6 mpbs most of the time.
Call quality, at least on my end was top-notch. I had no difficulty understanding anyone that I talked to and the volume was good. I never dropped a single call. On the other end, though, things were not as good. Callers occasionally reported having difficulty understanding me in addition to weird echos and one person reported hearing a whistling noise on his end.
HTC One X – The Conclusion
Despite my complaints about the One X, I feel that it is a good phone. I am not a big fan of Sense but I recognize that is subjective opinion and, full AOSP ROM would do wonders to improve my opinion of its usability.
That being said, if you are a fan of Sense and are willing to put up with AT&T’s network this is a great phone for you.
James Forestier
Latest posts by James Forestier (see all)
- Green Throttle Adds New Games to the Arena – Thursday, April 25, 2013
- Pocket for Android Updated with new Friend Share feature – Wednesday, April 17, 2013
- Android Breaks Away from the Pack – Friday, February 15, 2013
- LG Optimus LTE and Nitro HD added to the CyanogenMod 10.1 nightlies list – Tuesday, February 5, 2013
