Back when HTC announced that it wouldn't be making any more "cheap, cheap phones," a lot of us hoped that this would lead to a much more simplified handset lineup from the company. Especially after the reveal of the One Series, it looked like figuring out which device was better than the others would finally become simple. Now, to utterly ruin that hope, here is the HTC One SV! It's better than the One V, but not quite as good as the One VX in some ways, but also doesn't measure up to the One S in others, and frankly my head is spinning at this point.
The HTC One X was (and still is) a fantastic device thanks to its solid hardware, excellent build quality, and stunning display. But it's a little long in the tooth, partially because the newest high-end smartphones have both quad-core CPUs and LTE, and partially because in the smartphone world, anything that's 7 months old is (unfortunately) outdated.
That brings us to the HTC One X+, which is more of a mid-cycle refresh than an all-new model. It keeps the same basic frame and the outstanding display, but packs a more powerful version of NVIDIA's quad-core Tegra 3 CPU, and the AT&T variant even comes with LTE.
Tucked away in HTC's press release about the HTC One X+ and Sense 4+ was one tidbit that should make quite a few people happy:
The Android Jelly Bean with HTC™ Sense 4+ update is scheduled to begin rolling out for the HTC One™ S and HTC One™ X from October.
As most of you probably already know, Jelly Bean (Android 4.1) is the most polished version of Android yet. Coupled with some of the "enhancements" in Sense 4+ - namely, the improved camera software and the Get Started functionality - it should be quite a nice update. With the rollout scheduled to begin "from October," it seems safe to assume it should be out en masse by the end of the year.
In its One X+ announcement, HTC also announced some changes to Sense. While none were groundbreaking (so don't expect a visual overhaul) and not a lot of details were revealed, the company did mention a few things were being upgraded.
Protip: the image on the left is gigantic when full-sized. Apparently HTC's target date was September 24.
The camera software seems to have received the bulk of the changes, starting with the front-facer, which now includes Self Portrait mode (previewed below, left). As you'd expect, it makes taking self-shots easier by "detecting the human face at various angles and applying subtle enhancements to skin and eyes" - in other words, it auto-'Shops you.
Look, I'll admit it up front: 9 times out of 10, when I buy accessories, I buy cheap and generic. A $5 phone pouch is just as good as a $30 one, right? I always thought I was getting the same product without paying for a fancy name stamped on it, a nicer package, and some more marketing. But between my cheap, universal car mount (which, while adjustable, never quite seems to hold any device quite as snugly as I'd like) or my universal arm band (which has required some cutting and doctoring with every new phone I get), one would think I'd know by now that you get what you pay for when it comes to accessories.
Just a few weeks ago, we asked you what phone you would buy if you had to choose one today - the HTC One X, or the Samsung Galaxy S III. Surprisingly, people were pretty closely split, with the tally as of writing 56% SGSIII, 44% HOX. But that was in the sort of limbo-zone when we'd seen plenty of glowing reviews of the One X and the SGSIII had yet to be proven. Now, the field is a little more empty, with international variants of the SGSIII out for a few weeks and a number of reviews having dropped.
I'm not much of a case person. I was never very clumsy with my gadgets and didn't think the added bulk was a worthy trade-off for the added protection, especially in the day and age of ultra-durable plastics and Gorilla Glass screens. But on both fronts, that's changing; it's a lot harder to guarantee the safety of my gadgets when I've got kids (we're both likely to drop things) and there are some very sleek cases on the market. Enter the $20 Spigen Ultra Thin Air case for the One X.
The Ultra Thin Air is, as one would surmise, very thin and very light.
The HTC One X landed in Europe in early April and was released today on AT&T, and as such, earned the distinction of first of the next-gen hardware. But being first isn't always the best - on Thursday, Samsung revealed their new flagship, the Galaxy S III. In European guise, both pack some pretty impressive specs, including a quad-core CPU, 1 GB of RAM, a large, 720p screen, high-quality cameras, and slim profiles. While there's no official word on what the SGSIII's US specs will be, it's likely it will lose two cores in favor of LTE, much like the One X.
I've had the European version of the One X for a few weeks now and in my book, it's the best damn phone on the market right now, bar none. David spent some time with the AT&T variant (which lost some cores and storage but picked up LTE on its trip to the States) and came away equally as impressed, calling it "the best all-around Android phone you can buy in the US today."
Surprisingly, the price is entirely reasonable, too - it checks in at just $550 off contract, $200 on contract from AT&T, or $150 from Amazon Wireless.
It looks like HTC's One X is receiving another OTA update, this time weighing in at ~35MB and bringing the device's software build up to 1.29.401.7. The OTA appears to have begun rolling out today, but unfortunately no one is totally certain what the update accomplishes, as HTC has (as yet) neglected to release an official change log.
Screenshot courtesy of XDA user stathis95194
Though HTC is remaining quiet about the update, some XDA users have speculated that it fixes color temperature/RGB accuracy, and perhaps fixes some other minor issues. In other bad news, the Update.zip file – while it is available for download – is not flashable.



105,712
62,208
0
7,997
