Sunday, September 30, 2012

HTC makes you The One.

This is the first review I have ever done for something other than a video game. I would appreciate any feedback in the form of comments below. Also, if you enjoyed reading this review and you know others who might enjoy it too please share it via the panel on the right --->

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I can blog from my phone! It's pretty crazy when you think about it. The piece of technology that I am holding in my hand is more than 1000 times more powerful than my first real PC! In ten short years computer's have gone from huge towers that sit under your desk to a thin piece of metal resting in your palm with the power to do everything and more.

I must admit I am biased; I love smartphones. They interest me like no other piece of technology. They provide a portable gateway to the rest of the world, hold a suite of impressive tools and they are fast becoming capable of some pretty amazing things. No longer do you need to carry a phone, mp3 player, GPS, torch, camera etc and as technology progresses they will begin replacing things like car keys, credit cards and soon will even be diagnosing diseases like cancer! HTC has long been a favourite brand of mine and their latest offering firmly cements them on the top of the smartphone pack.

Introducing the HTC One X:

For the tech heads, the HTC One X features a 1.5 GHz Nvidia Tegra 3 quad core processor, 1GB of RAM, Nvidia GeForce ULP graphics and 32 GB of internal memory which puts it on the top shelf when discussing current generation smartphones. All the standard features (Wi-Fi, portable hotspot, Bluetooth 4.0, DLNA, Micro USB 2.0) make an appearance. The One X is basically a small tablet computer. Weighing in at only 130g it is also surprisingly light for it's size. Full specifications can be found here. What all that means in layman terms is that this phone is a beast and at the time of writing boasts probably the most impressive hardware specifications on the market.

It has minimal buttons on the outside, featuring only a power/lock button on top and a volume rocker on the right side of the phone. The left side has the Micro USB connector while the top of the phone also has the 3.5mm headphone jack and the SIM card tray. HTC have gone the way of the iPhone with this handset, making it impossible to remove the battery or add memory and have changed the SIM to a MicroSIM.

Some people may find this a problem but overall I think it's a necessary change.
I have had a few days to play with the handset now and the first thing that stuck out for me is that the speed is incredible. Streaming HD video and running a graphically intensive game (Dead Trigger) at the same time caused barely any slowdown and the main cause was switching between CPU intensive processes. The quad core processor spreads the load remarkably well and I am glad I decided to go with this version rather than Telstra's dual core 4g XL version.

The second thing I noticed about the One X was the sound quality. The HTC Desire HD (my previous phone) was notoriously bad on loud speaker and when playing music and HTC have obviously paid attention in this area. Music sounds crisp and clean and is as loud as my laptop when the phone is placed face down. The addition of Beats Audio enhancements across all applications is a welcome feature, meaning that regardless of what you're doing it's going to sound great.


The free Beats Audio headphones HTC throw in don't go astray either!
Similarly, browsing the Internet is a joy with the 720x1280 312 ppi display providing a huge amount of screen real estate for a phone. A 4.7" screen might be off putting for some people but if you are looking for a device to handle Internet/e-mails comfortably, it is a fantastic size. It's also very snappy, even on a 3G connection. I haven't found any 'squaring' issues while scrolling through web pages with a decent HSDPA connection.

The One X is shipped with a Super LCD2 screen, covered in scratch resistant Gorilla Glass and it rivals S-AMOLED for quality. Put this phone next to a Samsung Galaxy SIII (one of which I have had the pleasure of playing with recently) and you will see that they are both visually excellent. The slightly convex screen on the One X also gives the handset a wide range of viewing angles and even from 45 degrees it looks great.



Even from the side the screen performs admirably.*

Samsung's flagship is another great phone but the One X's power is hard to beat.

Obviously all of this draws a lot of energy and HTC have included a non-removable 1800 mAh battery. Unfortunately this seems to be the only drawback with the phone as it sucks power very quickly when using the full features. I manage about 5 - 6 hours of solid use including Wi-Fi/3G Internet, video, light gaming, calls and texts. The One X will last all day with moderate usage however and power saving techniques (turn off Wi-Fi/Bluetooth, dim screen etc) will make sure you get home before the battery dies. It's really only those instances when you can't get to a power point where you'll have a problem.

HTC have made a number of fundamental changes with their new flagship. Most noticeable are the missing 'Menu' and 'Search' buttons featured on most Android handsets. These buttons have been integrated into Sense 4.0 and replaced with a 'Recent Apps' button, which brings up your last few applications and allows you seamless switching between them. It's as easy and flawless as Alt+Tab on a computer and probably my favourite new feature. What this does is tie your whole device together and allow you to very simply switch tasks on the fly. From playing a game to taking a call, it's just a simple matter of hitting the Recent Apps button to get back into the action.


This feature streamlines the whole feeling of the phone. I love it.

The HTC Sense platform has also undergone a strip down. Gone are a lot of the frivolous features and animations, replaced with sleek user friendly options that are more akin to stock Android than Sense's previous iterations. Widgets and apps can be placed via the same menu, resized and even grouped into easily re-nameable folders. It's a welcome change as some of the HTC Sense platform on previous handsets could be intrusive and annoying at times.  





Finally, I am not much of a photographer but I will mention that the One X boasts a pretty impressive 8MP camera, capable of recording video in full 1080p HD. It is the first smartphone camera to be able to record and take still pictures at the same time, a feature that will undoubtedly be very welcome to some. The camera interface has been stripped back to bare bones, making it simple and easy to use and quick to load at 0.7 of a second and it boasts the fastest capture time of current gen smartphones at 0.2 sec delay between shots.

To state things quite simply, HTC have hit the nail on the head with this handset. It's a beautiful piece of technology that works as it should; flawlessly. It's nice to use a device that feels so seamless that you forget you're on a phone and not your PC or Laptop. If you are looking for a new phone, the HTC One X will not disappoint.

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This post was typed using the Blogger app on my HTC One X. Formatting and pictures were added afterwards.


Credits go to www.anandtech.com www.engadget.com www.gsmarena.com and www.htc.com for pictures and information.

* Not actually a picture of my phone!