HTC One X gets reviewed: The next generation of iPhone competition starts now
At 4.6-inches the new HTC One X is among the biggest new iPhone competitors, but are Android 4 and Sense 4 enough to make it one of the best?
Android Central has a complete HTC One X review up for your reading pleasure, along with a thorough Sense 4 walkthrough showing us everything that's new and exciting about what just might be, frankly the most exciting new phone from HTC since the Nexus One (notice the similarity in branding?)
Phil Nickinson is pretty much enamored with the HTC One X, loving the display, camera, power, and Sense 4 interface, even if the non-removable battery, lack of a microSD card and giant 4.7-inch screen might not be to everyone's taste.
The leader of the next-generation HTC One series of smartphones has been a breeze to use. Android 4.0 has been improved upon with HTC Sense 4 while still retaining the overall look, feel and function of Ice Cream Sandwich, which in and of itself has an excellent user experience. The camera is a high point, Beats Audio makes music sound better, and you get a bunch of online storage thrown in for free. HTC easily has a winner in the One X.
User swappable batteries and expandable memory used to be two of the things Android users said they preferred over the sealed iPhone appliance model, so it's interesting to see HTC lose those as a differentiator. They've joined the massive screen size brigade, however, something Apple probably won't be doing any time soon.
Vendor specific interfaces are the subject of a lot of disagreement in the Android community, with some disliking them intensely compared to the stock Google experience, and others finding them far more accessible and user friendly. So how did Sense 4 rate?
This latest version of Sense actually is a step backward (or forward, depending on who you ask) in that HTC has ditched the completely custom launcher, instead going with a more traditional (and customizable) scheme, more akin to what's in stock Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. Some features native to ICS have been allowed to shine through, and others have been enhanced. And many of the customizations we've come to know and love in previous versions remain.
Samsung will no doubt be releasing a Galaxy S III at some point, and now that Google owns Motorola, Droid might once again do and do well. And of course, Apple will almost certainly be bring a new iPhone to the table again this fall. Things change fast in the Android Universe and Apple can change the game within the span of a single keynote.
But for right now, kudos to HTC for getting back in the game. They probably won't match the sheer sales numbers of the iPhone 4S but they don't have to -- their competition right now is other Android manufacturers. And for the first time in a while, they look like a serious contender.
Check out the video below, hop on over to Android Central for tons more HTC One X coverage, and then come back and tell us what you think. How does the HTC One X stack up to the iPhone 4S?
There are 35 comments. Add yours.
Whoa, Rene wrote this? This HTC One X must be a pretty nice android phone . . . Lol
I like the widgets, iOS really needs something similar, the OS doesn't seem that fluid (adding stuff to folders seems glitchy), but saying that I don't spend any time in the OS, mainly in apps, so until android has decent apps, and a better way of traveling between them (something like picture in picture), combined with no guarantee that it will get 3 years of OS upgrades I wouldn't consider it.
Decent apps? As someone who lives in both the iOS and Android world I can tell you that the app argument against Android is anything of the past. Honestly, these days I'm almost more likely to open an app in Android than I am in its simply because there increased functionality in a lot of Android apps based on the freedom that the Andoid APIs give app developers versus iOS. I'm more of a function over polish user anyhow, taking an app that might not look as polished as its iOS version simply because I know it has way better ties into OS. Traveling between apps is pretty much the same, hold down(doublick) a button and a list of running apps appears. From there again I prefer Android and it's ability to swipe away running apps to shut them down instead of the trembling apps with flashing x that you have to hit just right. Adding apps to folders is pretty much the same, and again from the video, HTC has improved that, offering the ability to add multiple apps at once. Simply brilliant.
a perfect example of the difference between reading and comprehension
Coming from the holy grail, VZ galaxy nexus and the htc thunderbolt to a 4s there is absolutely a difference. True most apps are found on both markets however there is a HUGE difference. The apps actually work properly on iOS. Every app on my Nexus/thunderbolt/Dinc never worked properly. From no notifications on Facebook, twitter, draw with friends. To apps just flat out crashing. This is far from being unpolished. They just don't work as good. This is not a debate but a fact. So as Android pumps out higher more powerful specs it's only strong as its weakest link. Good luck with your HTC one x blah blah blah. I just want my phone to work and not die in 5 hours.
I have to agree about the app situation between Android and iOS. I just swapped to my Droid X2 to use as a beater phone at the beach. Although most (not all) the apps are on Android, their UI is poor, they are slow (even though the hardware has better specs), they usually have more limited functionality, and they are less stable. Much of this is probably due to developers trying to make their apps run with hundreds of different Android phones, and some is due to the Droid X2's poor pentile display. After only a day I really miss my 4s and can't wait to switch back, but I would rather damage my Droid than my 4s.
I honestly don't get the battery argument from Apple fans. I came from the HTC Inspire 4G to the iPhone 3GS. We all know the battery life on the HTC phones isn't the best. What I didn't know was the battery life on the iPhone is just as bad! I thought Apple battery life was supposed to be epic.
Wrong. Apple fan boys have been lying all along.
I have to agree on the widget aspect; a connected device should be able to handle live-data/connected apps. Being able to compare my email, calendar, to do list... extended weather... or any number of other things simply by flicking back and forth between screens is the one feature I miss the most (Along with the back & menu buttons).
Let me just run over to android central and post about how great the iPhone 4s is... Oh wait I could just stay here on the iOS site but that would make to much sense? How come on my Mazda forums site there is never a jackass telling me how much better a Honda is???
Word!
You should join the idiots over at CrackBerry who complained about them posting an iPad article.
Oh wait, it's suddenly different when another site talks about Apple in a positive light, I forgot.
TOO much sense you're welcome, champ
i'd like to see a benchmark test run for the HTC ONE X and iPhone 4s. Instead of speculating which is best let the numbers speak for themselves. And come on... Apps? Seriously? how long will all the iPhone fans tell us the same thing. Till a month ago iPhone users are in such a sad state that their only line of defence was that they had temple run and android didn't. As much as Andorid can't be everyones cup of tea, the same goes for the iPhone as well. Afterall u can't turn on a flash light on the iphone without jailbreaking.
@vimal - while I understand where you're going with that flashlight joke, its 's not accurate. There's no jailbreak required for using the flash as a light. Now, you'll need to jailbreak to do anything like change your launcher or have Widgets in notification center.
I'm really starting to
Darn publish button -
Not @vimal - I was going to say I'm really staring to wish there was a requirement for people to actually use an OS as a daily driver for 30+ days before they were allowed to talk about how one is better than the other. They both have good qualities and they both have parts that need improvement. But more bloggers (and users) really need to spend more time with the other mobiles before flaming the other side.
You can easily download a number of flashlight apps that use the camera flash as a light without jailbreaking.
how long will all the iPhone fans tell us the same thing?
For as long as tech blogs report this fact. I've just finished listening to the verge podcast where Joanna stern said she was leaving android for the iPhone because if the apps. Where josh (who has an android) responds that it is a big issue. But what do they know right ? Right ?
There are plenty of apps in the App Store that allow you to use the LED flash as a light.
Wrong.
Nothing worse than a troll posting about something they know nothing about.
Problem I have is I cannot have the 20 seconds back that it took to read your drivel and respond to it. Move on, tool.
Very cool looking phone. I like posts like this. It's good to see what iPhone competitors are offering. Both the hardware and software look slick. Competition keeps the whole market on their toes and when that happens the customer always wins ;-)
Kudos to you. This is one of the most intelligent (and true) statements I've ever read on a Mobile Nations website.
Well, I think HTC has done a great job to develop HTC One X and Sense 4, I have used and Android Phone and owned an iPhone 4,I have a BlackBerry now (don't ask me why lol) what I can say is, DAMN Apple should be jealous! This interface is one of the best ones I've seen. The way lockscreen handles the weather 3D effect is amazing.
I actually don't like the interface of iPhone so much mostly because of the lack of customizations.
The lack of apps is not a problem in Android, because there isn't one, I prefer the catalog used by android because they're usable apps. For example if you wanna use whatsapp and ShoundHound in the iphone you should have to pay like 10 dollars and both are free in android also apps such as Angry Birds Space and other Super Apps. Android's getting bigger and I Would say that it could shallow iOS in the same way Windows did with MacOS.
I have always been an iPhone user, never owned an Android, but I'm liking this HTC One X a lot!
I live in both the Android and iOS worlds. My phone is an Android (Droid X) and I own an iPad. I truly love both of them. Android has some very cool phones out there and this HTC is very exciting. Widgets are just plain awesome and fun to mess around with. I do wish that my iPad had the same ability. Yet, in the same breathe, I will tell you the apps that I use on my iPad are incredible. I know Android is trying to catch, and maybe they eventually will. I love the fact that with my iPad I know that I will be getting updated OS's, with Android, you just really don't know.
My perfect phone - the coolness of Android w/the apps of iOS. I've said that several times to friends and family. My upgrade time with Verizon is coming up in the next few months and honestly, I just don't know what I'm going to do. A new Android or the new iPhone 5?????
Another oversized android phone. And only 16gb for AT&T's version.
New hardware, same story with everything else though, bad software. Fragmented android. Subpar apps. Maybe an android update sometime next year from HTC, maybe not. No direct support from Google. Lame browser.
Apple doesn't have anything to worry about here.
what?? what subpar apps? tablet apps, yes. but phone apps are pretty much the same. and what la me browser? uhh u can DL great browsers too, such as dolphin or chrome. i have a galaxy nexus and it's great. you dunno what the hell ur talking about man. ur so blind.
Yeah? That was RIM's thinking about Apple and Android 5 years ago..
And look where that thinking got them..
I am an Apple fan, but the company cant just not worry about what the other companies are building.
And this thing here is a beast.. And the tired old (fragmented this and sub-par that) is just your ignorance showing.. Understand we as Apple fans NEED the other companies to continue to build the better mousetrap as it were.. As that competition is what will continue to push the envelope in the smart phone world..
And with that WE the consumers are the winners..
competition started with the galaxy nexus 5 months ago rene~
That was still 2011. This is the first biggie of 2012. GNex also lacked good casing and camera. This is a better packaged.
I realllly like what I see but I've owned both the Evo and Evo 3D and am burned by HTC. I simply don't feel confident in staying with them for another year. My goal is a GNex on Sprint, when it hits.
Nooooo, last year hardware, and not that good compared with other Samsung phones released last year. After using both a GNexus and Samsung Galaxy SII, the latter wins hands down, but ain they are least years hardware.
Looks like it has a lot of potential, from an Apple prospective having my iPhone linked with this type of visual device and integrated Siri control is both a echo of future technology seen in old SciFi movies and a logical progression given the current state of mobile technology. I believe the combination of visual projections, augmented reality and voice control wrapped up into out mobile devices is the next step in personal computing. The technology will need to mature as with anything else and I can see it the possibility for both failure points and successes should it not be developed properly. From a tasking prospective I would find this very usefull, an example would be at work where you may not be able to keep an eye on incoming messages while in a meeting or group discussion. The other side of the coin is the control of incoming information, if running applications are allowed to push advertisements or you can not throttle what information is displayed the visual displays can become overwhelming or intrusive. I would love to see this available for the iPhone and Siri, I found the concept video exciting as to the possibility and prospect of such technology and product.
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