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HTC One X

HTC One X review

Our Rating :
Price when reviewed : £485
inc VAT

A quad-core processor, plenty of storage space and a camera that rivals a compact digital camera - the HTC One X is a superb Android phone.

Specifications

Android 4.0, 4.7in 720×1,280 display

http://www.handtec.co.uk

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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 720×1,280-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.

HTC One X

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.

HTC One X

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.

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Details

Price£485
Rating*****
AwardUltimate

Hardware

Main display size4.7in
Native resolution720×1,280
CCD effective megapixels8-megapixel
FlashLED
Video recording formatMP4
ConnectivityBluetooth, Wi-Fi, USB, NFC
GPSyes
Internal memory32768MB
Memory card supportnone
Memory card included0MB
Operating frequenciesGSM 850/900/1800/1900, 3G 850/900/1900/2100
Wireless dataEDGE, HSPA, WCDMA
Size134x70x9mm
Weight130g

Features

Operating systemAndroid 4.0
Microsoft Office compatibilityWord/Excel/PowerPoint editors, PDF viewer
Email clientPOP3/IMAP/Exchange
Audio format supportMP3, AAC, AMR, WMA, MIDI, WAV, OGG, M4A
Video playback formats3GP, 3G2, MP4, WMV, AVI
FM Radioyes
Web BrowserWebkit
Accessoriesheadset, data cable, charger
Talk time8.9 hours
Standby time24.8 days

Buying Information

SIM-free price£485
Price on contract£31-per-month, 18-month contract
SIM-free supplierwww.handtec.co.uk
Contract/prepay supplierwww.buymobilephones.net
Detailswww.htc.com

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Reviews
HTC One X
HTC One X review
Mobile phones

A quad-core processor, plenty of storage space and a camera that rivals a compact digital camera - the HTC One X is a superb Android phone.

£485 inc VAT