HTC One X - Review: A non-technical, personal review of AT&T's newest phone. Everyone who buys a phone loves it and they will brag. I am no exception, but the phone does have a few minor problems.
I recently upgraded my boring old cell phone to a new HTC One X (HOX) smart phone running on an ATT plan - also known as the HTC Evo 4G LTE on T-Mobile/Sprint. You can find technical reviews in dozens of other places on the web; what follows here are my observations.
This is an aesthetically pleasing phone that is remarkably thin with sculpted, smooth edges. Everyone, without exception, has commented about how attractive this phone is. It is a pleasure to look at, a pleasure to hold and the features are generally well-designed. But what really stands out is the large 4.7-inch 1280x720 LCD screen. The screen is stunning. The colors are beautiful, bright, smooth and sharp. This new screen size appears to be the new standard on a variety of other branded phones.
The phone comes in two colors: Apple-iPhone white and dark grey. I bought the white. It looks fabulous (thank you Apple for the design and many have confused my phone with an Apple). But, in retrospect, I should have bought the grey. The white phone has stained, picking up some color from the leather case I carry it in. No amount of scrubbing or bleach has been able to clean it.
The backside of the phone is glossy and slippery and your fingers would appreciate a little traction. Some day, with my table-saw set at a low blade-height, I might score a line or two on the backside.
Cases:
Speaking of cases, because of its size, I had a difficult time finding a case that would fit. In the interim, ATT sells a hard-plastic "Candy" shell. Don't buy these. The hard plastic offers no real protection when dropped because the impact is transferred directly to the phone. the salesman said it has a rubberized interior. Nonsense. Other cases, such as an Otter case, are good, but bulky.
Soft-rubber rim-protectors would be ideal, but I've not found any locally. If you buy these, the phone will not fit any any carrying case. The Seidio Active Case has my attention. But one problem I have with all wrap-around cases is a ton of money was spent on a sexy, slim phone, only to hide it in a plastic sleeve. It seems a shame. Because of this, my phone is naked. Be sure to buy a Zagg InvisibleShield screen protector.
Other Observations:
The phone has dual processors and this means I can download, play music and view webpages at the same time. The International version has a quad-core, that I understand nails the battery and this is probably the reason ATT decided on the dual-core. With this, the phone has been smooth in all operations, including multi-tasking and ATT's network can handle this traffic.
Another interesting feature are the two tiny LED lights embedded in the ear-piece grill. The Red shows charging status and the green shows un-read messages or missed calls. The lights are uber-tiny yet surprisingly bright. It is a cool design.
Inevitable iPhone Comparisons
Compared to an iPhone 4s, the One X is 11mm (3/8") wider
and 19mm (3/4") longer. Both have a similar thickness. The One X is 10g (a few ounces) lighter.
The iPhone will feel more substantial and the metal trim gives it a polished look. As usual, Apple exudes quality and the One X does not reach that level. But despite the hard-plastic case, the One X does not feel cheap. With its curved sides, it has an organic feel and it rests comfortably in the hand. By comparison, the iPhone feels blocky and industrial.
The real difference is the screen size. The One X has a 4.7-inch 1280x720 LCD that is a 16x9 DVD movie size and offers more real estate than the iPhone 4s:
iPhone users will complain the One X is too large to hold. Nonsense. The width difference is minor (11mm, 3/8") but admittedly, the length is noticeable. When holding to your ear, the phone (and its mic, along the bottom edge) will seem strangely long when compared to lesser phones. However, in practice, this is a first impression that fades with familiarity and the size of the phone is a benefit.
Software:
The phone ships with Android ICS 4.03 and HTC has announced a future upgrade to JellyBean 4.1.
The Android operating system has a slick notification bar, which shows all inbound text messages, missed phone calls, software updates, etc. A simple swipe exposes all kinds of uncluttered, easy-to-understand notices. It is easy and convenient and has been one of the most pleasurable feature on the phone.
Problems:
The phone does not come with a micro-SD card-slot. This is survivable provided you have a USB cable and a computer near by. Being an Android, the file system is exposed and moving things to and from this hand-held computer is easy, needing only Windows Explorer.
My biggest fear is the non-user-replaceable battery. Following Apple's lead, weight and capacity was saved by theoretically molding the battery into the phone, but from the photograph above, it looks like a fairly normal battery, but in this case, the motherboard has to be removed in order to replace it. I understand the reasons for this - there does not need to be a sealed compartment to hold the battery, saving weight and thickness and the connector can be anywhere on the motherboard, but a year from now, when the battery is dead, I'll not be happy. This bridge has yet to be crossed.
Link: Tech Republic Tear-Down of the HTC One X
Compared to my BOCF (Boring Old Cell Fone), an endemic problem with all smart phones is the battery life. With moderate use, expect about a day to a day-and-a-half before charging. In practice, you will be feeding your phone nightly. Fortunately, it uses a standard micro-USB connector and you probably have three or four spare chargers at your house already from an old Kindle or another phone. Take one to the office, just in case. You'll need one for the car too.
Crapware:
The software shipped by HTC and ATT is troublesome. The phone comes with Twitter, Facebook, and a variety of ATT utilities, such as a Code Scanner, Family-GPS tracking, HTC Hub, and a commercial music program called MOG. If you don't use these programs, tough; they cannot be uninstalled. Even worse, they pop into memory at the most unexpected times and each wants an update or patch several times a week. I spend more time than I would like maintaining the phone and the apps consume resources.
The phone comes with an unnamed stock browser, which is surprising, considering this is essentially a Google product that should ship with Chrome. The default browser is easily replaced with Chrome (or Firefox). Unfortunately, you can't uninstall the old browser.
An oddity with Android operating systems is a disturbing inability to close a program. Programs linger around in RAM until their space is needed by someone else and the OS decides to toss the oldest. This is irritating to someone who knows they are done with a program and wants to clean up the mess. In the phone's defense, the self-cleanup works properly and transparently. But I still feel compelled to launch the task manager and kill them. Call it an obsession.
MOG (the commercial music player that comes with the phone) is always surreptitiously launching itself and hiding out in RAM. You would never know it was even loaded, unless you were obsessed with looking at the task manager. At some risk I could Root the phone, void the warranty, and remove these applications, but this is too dangerous and I am too new to the platform to be confident. I wish Google would hear everyone's plea and allow us to remove this junk.
OS and Other Phone Weaknesses:
Newer cell phones have a feature called Near Field Communications. NFC has been around for years as a point-of-sale technique, but is not yet popular. With this phone, two people could be in their address book; bump the phones together and the contact information will upload to the other phone. Both parties are given the opportunity to accept the transaction.
It is slick idea, but only works sporadically, especially on older phones. I suspect both phones have to have the same version of the address book and perhaps the same Android OS and oddly, the feature does not work in the photo album. It would be nice to transfer pictures, movies, calendar entries, notes and music. This still needs to mature.
The photo album does not have a way to mark photos (for later printing), nor does there seem to be an obvious way to rename files. On the plus side, it is easy to tag the photos for emailing or uploading to GDrive.
Finally, the Music Play program has some bugs - especially when trying to play locally-stored music. Google is aware of them and they appear to be trying to stomp them out. In the mean time, in Settings, Apps, clearing cache, seems to fix the problem and missing albums return to the directory.
The Android App Store ("Play Store") has been good and it only took a few minutes to find a slew of interesting programs. Android has a vibrant development community. Installs were painless and I have been pleased with the process.
But the app store is flawed because almost every program is "free" -- provided you don't mind pestering advertisements to or don't mind having half of the features stripped unless you pay. They need a more nuanced way to categorize programs. I suggest "free" for truly free software, "adv" for advertising-supported, and "demo" for reduced features or other limited versions. If it has a dollar-amount, demo could be assumed until paid. In the mean time, the best you can do is download each and uninstall when the advertising becomes unbearable. Alternately, you can read 750 reviews in order to ferret out what you need to know. Android software deserves a separate article sometime in the future.
Conclusions:
I like this phone and I like the style. The speed and capabilities have been a nice change from my older cell phone. Although I have not owned an iPhone, I suspect this phone meets and exceeds Apple's products. It appears to me the Android market has matured.
The phone is $100 with a 2-year contract (there is no way the phone is worth the $500 non-contract retail price). The way my wife put this: What are the odds we will change carriers in the next two years? Sign the contract. We have had a lot of fun with these devices.
Related articles and links:
Keyliner Recommended Apps!
HTC Vendor Blog
Slash-dot Review
TechReadar Review
Plantronics Bluetooth Headset Review
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