By Tom James
The HTC One X is a touchscreen-based, slate-sized smartphone with a quad-core processor.
This is what the blurb will tell you what it doesn’t tell you is that point for point this phone matches up with its the Iphone, it’s more expensive rival.
Screen-wise, the display is outstanding. It boasts a 4.7 inch screen with 720p HD display (the Iphone’s screen is a paltry 3.5 inches), making it perfect for watching films on when you are on the tube or travelling. This is because of it IPS panel LCD display with a pixel density of 317ppi (pixels per inch). Whatever the reason, this is simply the best display out there at the moment. And the best part about the screen/display package? The HTC is widescreen so the formatting is properly done when you do want to watch those movies.
But a phone isn’t just about watching films – a smartphone’s beauty lies in the fact that, when you have One, you have a thousand tools in your pockets. Apps – everything from spirit level apps to train updates to news updates to pretty much anything and whilst both phones have their fair share of great apps, the HTC One’s USP is the homescreen widget. With it’s fluid userface you can easily flick through the 7 homescreens and get a quick overview of what is happening, in the world and with your friends. I have a page dedicated to news widgets, a page dedicated to Facebook and Twitter, a page for my different music widgets, a travel updates page, a calendar widget page and email widget page and then on my home homescreen smaller widgets for things to do today, time and weather and meeting notifications. And why does the widget beat the app? well simply because as I am flicking through these screens I get a summary of everything. The only way I could be more connected is if I was psychic.
In other aspects, the difference between these two products is negligible – the Iphone’s general processing is slightly worse than the HTC but then it’s graphical processing is slightly better. Camera-wise, they are both outstanding but without a microscope you’ll be hard pressed to tell the difference between the two. Both phone sport noise-canceling software making the calling quality above average with a slightly sharper sound coming from the HTC’s earpiece but again no real difference.
Where the One loses to the other is in battery life and storage, the Iphone has consistently outperformed the HTC One by 5-10% on battery life (probably because of One’s Quad-core processor) and whilst the Iphone comes with 3 different memory options (16GB, 32GB and 64GB) the HTC One has only 16 GB).
That said, for me the HTC still comes out on top, so break away from the branding and go out and see for yourself. Be aware, the updated version the HTC One X+ comes to the UK stores on the 22nd October and is promising to be even better!
To contact Tom James email [email protected]
