Phones HTC One X

[blairh]

Keep in mind you also get 25 GB of free Dropbox storage with the One X for 24 months. Not sure if that will help you but wanted to mention it just in case.

Yes, the internal storage is weak on the One X. Honestly, it's not a deal breaker for me. I have a 50 GB music collection but I don't honestly need all that music with me at all times. With the 10 GB available for media I would just include my favorite music and use Google Music when I'm in free wi-fi locations. (Or purchase a 64 GB iTouch if I deem it necessary for long trips, etc.)

I was more concerned about battery life (until reading the recent reviews). The only cons I can now come up with are fragmentation (an issue with all Android devices) and seeing Apple unveil something amazing this fall.

 

[vikingjunior]

I just spent 20 minutes with the One X at my local AT&T store. My second round. Some observations.

The screen just blows away the iPhone 4/4S. It's honestly absurd how sharp it is. Whites are significantly white and everything just looks incredible. (Pictures, video, text, backgrounds, etc.)

Wi-fi was enabled however the sales rep told me they were having an issue with the cellular connection (I didn't ask what exactly). The rep was nice enough to download Chrome Beta for me to mess with.

Chrome Beta over wi-fi was faster than Safari on my iP4. I was able to handle the unit somewhat easily with one hand. I have smallish hands but was able to reach the address bar with my thumb in portrait without too much discomfort. I think the light weight of the device and curved backing help a great deal with respect to using it with one hand.

There were seven levels with respect to increasing and decreasing the volume. I believe the iPhone has 16 levels.

The unit I was handed appeared to have full power. Because ICS does not have a battery percentage indicator by default, I was unable to notice how much battery I lost in my 20 minutes on wi-fi. When I returned the device it did not appear as if the battery icon changed much, or at all.

I do have one serious gripe, and it has to do with Chrome. In order to access your bookmarks, you need to tap 'Menu' and then 'Bookmarks'. On Safari I simply tap the dedicated bookmarks icon. So it's an additional step, and while it may not seem like a big deal, it most certainly is. At least for me it is. That extra tap is a pain in the arse. I spend a lot of time browsing on Safari with my iPhone and I can't get used to that additional step. I can't believe Chrome doesn't have a dedicated bookmark icon like Safari.

The stock browser also has no bookmarks icon. You need to tap 'Menu' then 'Bookmarks' just like Chrome. Puzzling.

Also the Chrome browser does not have a '.com' button on the keyboard. The stock browser on the One X (and Safari of course) do.

Out of curiosity, does anyone know of any Android browser that does have a bookmark icon? Dolphin perhaps? Opera? Perhaps Chrome will adopt this feature down the road.

Anyways, that serious gripe aside, I didn't walk away making a decision. I was banking on using Chrome if I jump ship, but this bookmarks issue really bothers me. I think I'm still going to wait till after WWDC to make a decision.

After farting around with a iphone 4s for the last week and trying to use Safari any Android browser is better then Safari. Honestly you call that double tap a zoom, it goes from super super small text to just super small text. Stretch the screen and now your scrolling from side to side. Reader is inconsistent and useless. Also how do you get to the bottom of the screen quick it doesn't actually scroll down it jerks its way down.

You do realize on android you can have a bookmark or bookmarks icon right on your home screen.

 

[chakraj]

I promise you that if this thread stays alive, you will have a lot of iPhone users coming on here and proclaiming how amazing the One X screen is. It really is that great. Much better than the retina display. (If you can handle the size.)

it actually is a retina display, just a better one. Retina is just a reference to the Pixels Per Inch of a screen. My GNex has a retina display just like a bunch of newer phones.

 

[blairh]

You do realize on android you can have a bookmark or bookmarks icon right on your home screen.

You mean a widget?

----------

it actually is a retina display, just a better one. Retina is just a reference to the Pixels Per Inch of a screen. My GNex has a retina display just like a bunch of newer phones.

Yes, I knew this already.

I messed around with a GNex at Verizon last week and found the screen to be very yellowish compared to my iPhone 4. In contrast my iP4 looks bluish compared to the amazing One X screen.

 

[rjohnstone]

You mean a widget?

I've not seen how to edit the menu in Chrome either, but it is a beta and Google did say they will be changing the menu based on user feedback.
So give them some feedback.
As to the comment, yes, you can add a home screen shortcut to your bookmarks.

Here's a pretty decent write up on Chrome for Android with some nice tips.
http://www.addictivetips.com/mobile/google-chrome-beta-for-android-review-apk-download/

 

[bobTX10]

My One X just shipped and should be here on Friday!!! Im sooooooo excited I can't wait!!!!

Also Im switching from a lifetime of Sprint service to AT&T. Cant wait to taste that LTE goodness

 

[blairh]

I just wish Chrome would leave these tabs at the bottom at all times (as pictured below). Just like how Safari does with respect to a 'bookmarks' and 'add' button. Perhaps Google is planing on adding this once it's out of Beta. To me it just feels like the better system. Having to hit 'menu' and then 'bookmarks' is one extra unnecessary step.

 

[blairh]

My One X just shipped and should be here on Friday!!! Im sooooooo excited I can't wait!!!!

Also Im switching from a lifetime of Sprint service to AT&T. Cant wait to taste that LTE goodness

Please share with us your impressions once you've had at least 24 hours to use it. Thanks.

 

[Skaterbasist]

I sold my IP4 for this phone. Preordered through Amazon and got the HTC One X for $49.99 total... yes, FIFTY bucks (they were price matching that Radio Shack promotion).

Expected delivery date is May 9th. These are gonna be 7 LONG days.

Reviews on the AT&T Version are ALL overwhelmingly positive. The S3 is gonna have some serious competition with this phone.

 

[ChazUK]

I won't. I want to see what WWDC has in store. I also might wait until the next iPhone is released.

There are ways to get around the lack of a dedicated bookmark button. Someone at XDA mentioned using a widget. Then there are always browsers like Dolphin that have bookmark buttons, etc. I would however just prefer to use Chrome if it had a bookmark button.

Anyways, we'll see what happens. I'm not ready to make a decision just yet.

If you can, give ICS+ browser a go as it is very similar to the stock ICS browser and has the "Quick controls" labs feature. Just sliding in your finger from the side of the screen gives you a menu for pretty much everything you need.

Takes a little getting used to but once you do it can be good. I prefer Chrome on myself but I do miss the quick controls but I also like the swipe left/right to move between tabs in Chrome.

 

[blairh]

If you can, give ICS+ browser a go as it is very similar to the stock ICS browser and has the "Quick controls" labs feature. Just sliding in your finger from the side of the screen gives you a menu for pretty much everything you need.

Takes a little getting used to but once you do it can be good. I prefer Chrome on myself but I do miss the quick controls but I also like the swipe left/right to move between tabs in Chrome.

Interesting. How does the speed of the stock ICS browser compare to Chrome?

 

[ChazUK]

Interesting. How does the speed of the stock ICS browser compare to Chrome?

Things seem slightly smoother in the stock browser on my Nexus compared to Chrome for me but the difference in performance is negligible when the tab sync and gesture based functions come in to play on chrome (swipe to change tab, swipe to close e.t.c). I do prefer the extra functionality that Chrome brings.

Lack of flash is sometimes cited as a negative for Chrome but I prefer it as I find flash on mobile sometimes more trouble than it's worth.

 

[blairh]

Things seem slightly smoother in the stock browser on my Nexus compared to Chrome for me but the difference in performance is negligible when the tab sync and gesture based functions come in to play on chrome (swipe to change tab, swipe to close e.t.c). I do prefer the extra functionality that Chrome brings.

Lack of flash is sometimes cited as a negative for Chrome but I prefer it as I find flash on mobile sometimes more trouble than it's worth.

I've always viewed lack of flash on a mobile browser to be a plus. I've been an iPhone user since 2008 and I've never missed it. Honestly.

 

[DodgeV83]

I've always viewed lack of flash on a mobile browser to be a plus. I've been an iPhone user since 2008 and I've never missed it. Honestly.

Agreed. I've never been impressed with flash on mobile, I wasn't surprised when Adobe canned it.

 

[Andru1313]

I went to ATT last night and played around with the HTC and wow very impressed. I could not believe how fast it was and the camera holy moly... snap snap snap. ZERO LAG. Felt nice in the hand and thin. I was real close to just pulling the trigger. I just am so used to my iphone. I want to see what the SIII is going to be before I make a final decision but the HTC is a very nice piece of hardware

 

[blairh]

I went to ATT last night and played around with the HTC and wow very impressed. I could not believe how fast it was and the camera holy moly... snap snap snap. ZERO LAG. Felt nice in the hand and thin. I was real close to just pulling the trigger. I just am so used to my iphone. I want to see what the SIII is going to be before I make a final decision but the HTC is a very nice piece of hardware

It's a tough call for sure. I've grown so accustomed to iOS, using iTunes to sync, getting timely updates. Plus there is that feeling of not knowing what the next iPhone will be exactly and then having buyer's remorse in the fall.

 

[rjohnstone]

I went to ATT last night and played around with the HTC and wow very impressed. I could not believe how fast it was and the camera holy moly... snap snap snap. ZERO LAG. Felt nice in the hand and thin. I was real close to just pulling the trigger. I just am so used to my iphone. I want to see what the SIII is going to be before I make a final decision but the HTC is a very nice piece of hardware

If you have any desire to root your phone or play with custom ROM's or kernels, stay away from HTC.
The One series are locked down tighter than a drum and the bloatware cannot be removed. True root can no longer be obtained since the bloat is now stored on a proprietary filesystem.
HTC has pretty much abandoned their unlocking program for 3rd party devs.
They're also pushing the limits of GPL licensing by not releasing source code until as late as possible.

But I have to agree... the One X is a beautiful phone.

 

[El3ctronics]

If you have any desire to root your phone or play with custom ROM's or kernels, stay away from HTC.
The One series are locked down tighter than a drum and the bloatware cannot be removed. True root can no longer be obtained since the bloat is now stored on a proprietary filesystem.
HTC has pretty much abandoned their unlocking program for 3rd party devs.
They're also pushing the limits of GPL licensing by not releasing source code until as late as possible.

But I have to agree... the One X is a beautiful phone.

I've heard the complete opposite....HTC used to be a pain in the ass to root or do anything with but recently they've been much more receptive and accomodating to developers. They even have the site http://www.htcdev.com to assist developers with unlocking their bootloaders and developing for their devices.

 

[Andru1313]

Wow I didnt know that. That is an issue. The one I messed with last night didnt have ICS. My GF rooted her thunderbolt and I rooted my touchpad. I hate the bloatware.....

If you have any desire to root your phone or play with custom ROM's or kernels, stay away from HTC.
The One series are locked down tighter than a drum and the bloatware cannot be removed. True root can no longer be obtained since the bloat is now stored on a proprietary filesystem.
HTC has pretty much abandoned their unlocking program for 3rd party devs.
They're also pushing the limits of GPL licensing by not releasing source code until as late as possible.

 

[rjohnstone]

I've heard the complete opposite....HTC used to be a pain in the ass to root or do anything with but recently they've been much more receptive and accomodating to developers. They even have the site www.htcdev.com to assist developers with unlocking their bootloaders and developing for their devices.

Nope... the One series is not part of that program.
The devs over at Rootzwiki have already discovered the bad news.

http://rootzwiki.com/news/_/articles/dear-htc-can-we-have-our-phones-back-r709

Last week we purchased some T-Mobile One S units for our developers and one of them was chosen to go for a test drive and to try out HTC Dev Bootloader Unlock. This is where we got to know each other and a bit more about HTC's online utility, which nonetheless has disappointed thousands more than just a bit. I am going to let everyone know now: do not plan on just stopping at rooting this and calling it a day, I tried to remove bloat with Root Explorer and came to a brick wall of denial. I found out you also cannot flash custom kernels in recovery mode.

 

[El3ctronics]

Nope... the One series is not part of that program.
The devs over at Rootzwiki have already discovered the bad news.

http://rootzwiki.com/news/_/articles/dear-htc-can-we-have-our-phones-back-r709

The One X already has a full working root and unlock method. I don't know about the One S.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1633071

 

[rjohnstone]

The One X already has a full working root and unlock method. I don't know about the One S.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1633071

So far that is only working on the Rogers (Canadian) version.
No one has rooted an AT&T version yet. Still waiting for the bootloader unlock.

If you read toe Rootzwiki article, you will see that HTC's "unlock" is not really a full unlock. Hance the inability to remove apps from the proprietary partitions.

 

[El3ctronics]

So far that is only working on the Rogers (Canadian) version.
No one has rooted an AT&T version yet. Still waiting for the bootloader unlock.

If you read toe Rootzwiki article, you will see that HTC's "unlock" is not really a full unlock. Hance the inability to remove apps from the proprietary partitions.

2nd part is irrelevant as long as I can install a custom ROM.

The Rogers and AT&T versions are virtually identical so if the Rogers one was able to be rooted you could be sure it's only a matter of time before the AT&T one is as well. Remember, the AT&T version isn't being delivered until tomorrow to those who pre-ordered so almost nobody has it yet...kinda hard to have development on a device before it's released!

 

[onthecouchagain]

The HTC One X suddenly looks a lot more appetizing after the Galaxy SIII unveiling.

 

[blairh]

The HTC One X suddenly looks a lot more appetizing after the Galaxy SIII unveiling.

Completely agree. Other than a physical home button and a 64 GB internal model, I prefer the One X in every other way.