HTC One X review

InternetThe internet experience on HTC devices has always been great and the One X is no different. HTC also uses the stock Android ICS browser to speed up proceedings over previous devices.

Pages render very quickly, with the SunSpider JavaScript benchmark clocking a time of 1977.9ms. In comparison, the iPhone 4S takes 2245ms to load a page.

One of the best features on HTC phones has always been the excellent pinch-to-zoom functionality. Text automatically reformats to fit the page. On other devices you have to manually re-adjust it when the text size has been increased. HTC has also added a "Read" feature, which cuts out the adverts on websites. This provides a book-like experience and makes it much easier to read text.

Full webpages can be viewed in desktop mode

However, the same webpage can be viewed without clutter in 'Read' mode

Adobe Flash is supported so video can still be viewed from sites that haven't made the move to HTML5. There is a neat toggle feature in the menu that allows you to switch on the Flash setting.

Battery

Traditionally, this has been a weak point of many HTC handsets, and even devices like the iPhone 4S have succumbed to poor battery life.

HTC has packed in an 1800mAh battery to try and give the One X an all-day battery life.

In an intensive video loop test, with the screen set to full brightness and mobile connectivity still on, the One X lasted five hours. This may appear poor, but it is unlikely that users are going to be watching multimedia for this amount of time. This can always be extended by adjusting settings such as the brightness.

The 4.7in screen is responsible for sucking up most of the juice and, if you're planning on syncing work email to the device, it could struggle to last a working day. However, with moderate day-to-day use, we found it possible to get over eight hours of battery life.

Like almost all other smartphones on the market, it will require a charge at the end of each day.

The HTC One X is available for free on a two-year, 32 per month contract or there is a SIM-free option that retails for 489.

IT Pro Verdict

Verdict

The One X is an excellent device that comes with a great screen and multimedia features. The Sense 4 interface makes it one of the best Android devices on the market from user experience standpoint. However, business users may still find battery life to be an issue especially as you can't swap out the battery.

OS: Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich with HTC Sense 4 Processor: NVIDIA quad-core Tegra 3 (1.5GHz) Storage: 1GB RAM; 32GB internal Screen: 4.7in (720 x 1280) Super IPS Connectivity: 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, DLNA, micro-USB, DLNA, NFC, 3.5mm headphone socket Other: Gyroscope, proximity sensor, ambient light sensor, digital compass, Beats Audio Bands: GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 MHz; UMTS HSPA 850/900/1800/1900 MHz Camera: 8MP rear with LED flash and autofocus; 1.3MP front Battery: 1800mAh Size: 134 x 70 x 8.9mm Weight: 130g