Around the web: HTC One X

While we are still waiting for this phone to be launched in the Philippines this phone is available now in many regions and the reviews are out. Before going to the reviews, we were informed that this phone should be available in the Philippines by April 15 or 16 of this month at a price of around Php30,000. Is this the phone you have been waiting for? 

Size. This phone is big and PCMag has expressed some concern about the size. And that is something a potential buyer should consider. It has a 4.7-inch display and housing that display requires a pretty large case. The original HTC monster phone was the HTC HD2 which was 120.5 mm tall, 67 mm wide and 11 mm thick. The iconic Windows powered HTC HD2 spawned several monster Android flagship phones: the Desire HD, Sensation and Sensation XE and its latest Android iteration is the One X. The One X measures at 134.4 x 69.9 x 8.9 mm. It is 13.9 mm taller and 2.9 mm wider than the HTC HD2. It is a slim 8.9 mm though making it one of the slimmest HTC phones ever built. 

See how the HTC monster phone has grown:

HTC HD 2: 120.5 x 67 x 11 mm

HTC Desire HD: 123 x 68 x 11.8 mm

HTC Sensation and Sensation XE: 126.1 x 65.4 x 11.3  mm

HTC Sensation XL: 132 x 70.7 x 9.9 mm

HTC One X: 134.4 x 69.9 x 8.9 mm

Compared to other large phones, like the 4.65-inch Galaxy Nexus (135.5 x 67.9 x 8.9 mm), the One X is a full 2 mm wider, and that is the dimension that most buyers should consider. Either you want the big screen and are willing to accept the wide girth or not.

As for weight, weighing in at just 130g, pretty much everyone will find the weight acceptable. It is lighter than a Apple iPhone.

Display. While initially I was disappointed that the HTC One X would not come with a Super AMOLED Plus display, part of that disappointment is removed. According to The Verge says the One X's Super IPS  2 display is the best "ever seen on a phone" which "runs circles around the Galaxy Nexus's 4.65-inch Super AMOLED for overall quality". I am already very impressed by the display on the Galaxy Nexus. A better display would be absolutely stunning. 

Phone Arena found the new display "treats us to some very saturated color. Actually, it's much closer to AMOLED, rather than LCD displays in this respect, which isn't a bad thing."

Camera. One area where HTC has lagged behind is camera picture quality. A lot of effort has been put into the camera on the HTC One series, and it looks like that effort paid off. Engadget writes:

Now let's talk about image quality. We pitted the One X against the current cream of the crop -- the N8, Amaze 4G, iPhone 4S and Galaxy Note (which uses the same module as the Galaxy S II) plus Canon's S95 compact point-and-shoot. The camera landed somewhere in the middle of this star-studded pack, marginally beating the Galaxy Note and iPhone 4S while almost matching the Amaze 4G. Sure, it's not in the same league as the N8 (which rivals the S95 in some cases), but this is one stellar camera, especially when you consider that HTC is not positioning this phone as an imaging-centric device like the Amaze 4G.

Battery life.  The HTC One X has a 1800 mAh battery, the largest we have ever seen on an HTC phone. But with a quadcore Tegra 3 processor and a 720 x 1280 pixel display the additional mAh is quickly eaten up.  Tech Radar wrote "Sadly, and this is one the major failings of the HTC One X, the battery life on this device follows many others from the HTC range: meaning it's terrible." Phone Arena says "HTC hasn't yet released the official numbers regarding the 1800 mAh battery's talk-time and stand-by times, however, during our testing, we found it to last a reasonable amount of time, having in mind the One X's gargantuan 4.7” screen and quad-core processor."

Battery life is where a Super AMOLED Plus could have helped the One X, as it does not have to render blacks, it can be more power efficient in many instances than a typical LCD.

Storage. The HTC One X has 32 GB of Internal storage about 26 GB of which is user available. However, it is no expandable. If you are a current HTC user with 1 GB or built in storage which could be increased to 33 GB via a MicroSD card, this should be enough. With the 64 GB being available on the Apple iPhone's, Nokia N9 and Samsung Galaxy S II (32 GB + 32 GB), this may not be enough for some potential buyers. You do get 25 GB of Dropbox storage for two years with the One X.

Is this the phone for you? Me, I am leaning toward the One S as a HTC Desire HD replacement.