HTC One X+ Review: Basically The Same Awesome Phone

HTC One X+ Review: Basically The Same Awesome Phone


The HTC One X is one of the best Android Phones you can buy. The One X+ ups the phone’s already impressive specs with a 1.7Ghz quad-core Tegra 3 processor. And HTC’s clearly heard customers whining about battery life, because the Plus packs a 2100mAh battery. Can HTC’s new heater fight the good fight against the likes of Samsung’s hot rod Galaxy S III?

Disclaimer: We reviewed a UK version of the One X plus, so we couldn’t test things like its LTE connection. In other words, while we can get a good idea of what the phone is like, we can’t come to an officially official conclusion about it.

What Is It?

HTC’s latest and greatest Android phone: a quad-core beast running Android 4.1 Jelly Bean.

Who’s It For?

Androiders who crave the absolute fastest thing they can get.

Design

Like the original One X? Good! Because this phone looks exactly the same. Thin and light. Our review unit was decked out in a pretty disappointing variant of soft-touch plastic that somehow managed to attract smudges like it was a touchscreen or something.


Using It

As promised, this phone is fast. Apps snap open, games whiz by with zero labour. Jellybean’s impressive Project Butter turns scrolling through lists and screens into some sort of expressionist art: It’s hypnotically smooth. It looks like the original X’s heat issue has been solved by a faster processor (with more cores) that doesn’t have to work as hard. We played graphics-intensive games for hours without it getting uncomfortable, and it never crotch-cooked us riding around in a front pocket all day.

The Best Part

HTC managed to make the phone bigger on the inside while maintaining the original X’s svelte proportions. The two phones are physically identical, and on our official Gizmodo scale, the Plus was only eight grams heavier.

Tragic Flaw

Big phone + stylish jeans = accidental power button-presses that turn the phone off in your pocket.

This Is Weird

The included Beats Audio made sound quality worse on every single pair of headphones we tried. OK, I guess that’s not too weird.

Test Notes

  • Samurai Vengeance remains the Gizmodo standard testing game. We own.
  • The phone managed to pull down an average of 2.8 mpbs via its HSPA connection.
  • The phone lasted all day on a single charge, but it may not fair as well on LTE.
  • Like the HTC One X, this still has the best screen we’ve ever seen on a phone. Bar none. It’s just gorgeous.
  • I like HTC Sense. There, I said it.

Should You Buy It?

HTC is yet to announce an Australian release. But if you’re in the market for a top-end Android phone if or when this phone does hit our shores, you can do a lot worse than this attractive, powerful handset.

HTC One X+

• OS: Android 4.1
• CPU: 1.7Ghz quad-core Tegra 3
• Screen: 4.7-inch Super LCD2 (312ppi)
• RAM: 1GB RAM
• Storage: 32GB or 64GB
• Camera: 8MP rear, 1.3MP front
• Battery: 2100mAh


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