Making it Stick
I own an test HTC device and I’m also a bit of a sucker for technology and gadgets – especially cameras and phones. So when this HTC One X came to us for review, I was really eager to see how the game has changed when compared against the Desire I use (yes, yes, I know it’s long in the tooth already now).
Things have moved on massively in the realm of technology and connectivity on-the-go – both in terms of R&D and also design and aesthetics. The One X looks rather attractive – it’s not loud, but isn’t unassuming either. The 4.7 inch Super IPS LCD2 capacitive touchscreen is enveloped by a 134.4×69.9×8.9mm good looking shell and the phone fits very nicely into the hand and the overall build quality is among the best smart phones I’ve used lately. Yes, you may argue that the finish at the back feels a bit slippery, but I didn’t quite encounter any major issues with it, and the phone didn’t slip out of my grip even once.
The One X comes with an updated version of the HTC UI – Sense 4. There’s been a lot of thought that HTC has put in, in making the best UI yet and using the phone and its several features is really intuitive with Sense 4. Sense 4 goes a long way in making the experience rich and flawless. If you’re familiar with HTC mobile smart phones, you’ll notice and appreciate a default dock at the bottom of the screen in the interface that helps you add / remove applications and toggle from one application to the other. The Sense 4 is a lot about aesthetics and practicality and combined with Ice Cream Sandwich version of Android, it’s a very pleasing and snappy experience.
Going further into the experience of this HTC flagship, it’s got a new keypad – it not only looks much better and smart but also responds a whole lot better to your inputs. HTC keypads have always had an edge against their competitors, but this one pushes the level much further. I also loved the voice input feature – it works very well and I didn’t find it skipping or missing anything that I asked it to type out.
Smartphones aren’t only about looks and style – they’re equally serious tools when it comes to performance. The One X runs on a 1.5 GHz quad-core CPU coupled to Nvidia Tegra 3 chipset. Quad-core processor makes it blazing quick and even running 6-7 applications simultaneously wasn’t an issue at all during our test. Web usage makes for an extremely good experience and I particularly liked the feature where you can skip from one tab to the other. The processor is also sufficiently fast and didn’t keep me waiting or gave any sticky performance experience.
HTC has been banging on about how good the camera is on the One X – so it was only natural that we gave it a thorough test. We’re camera and imaging obsessed chaps after all! The camera is fairly good and the burst mode is my personal favourite – it’s so fast that it can actually rival some of the high end digital SLR cameras. The image quality is good with really rich colours but the auto focus could work a bit better. I’ve not tested the Nokia 808 PureView, but those whom I can rely on when it comes to imaging solutions and reviews, tell me that Nokia holds a massive edge in the camera department. But then again, that’s a 41MP camera – 41, for crying out loud! For an 8MP affair, HTC One X does fairly good, I’d say.
But, a phone is a phone, and should (must) do one thing exceedingly well – make calls and have good sound clarity. I was mainly in the Delhi / NCR region and nowhere did I experience any call drops or patchy signal quality. Call quality is almost excellent and there’s good and sharp sound from the ear piece.
With moderate use I could barely manage one whole day on full charge, and with relatively heavy usage with at least 5 different apps running at a time, using the camera once or twice, and playing a bit of music, its 1800mAh battery (non-removable) ran out of juice in just over 8 hours. So in all, I’d want a bit more battery life – maybe a 2200mAh could help…
