The One X is HTC's attempt at a game changer. HTC release, to put it simply, a lot of phones; the One X replaces quantity with quality* and seeks to push other smartphones into bigger and better specs in order to keep up with it.
Fitted with an Nvidia Tegra 3 quad-core processor, the One X runs whispery quiet and incredibly fast. Apps load quickly and the One X is able to cope with even the most flash-heavy games without lagging. You'll find loading times minimal and there'll be no need to restart games or the phone in an attempt to get things to work a little faster.
An unexpected bonus of the One X comes in its great battery life. While most smartphones require that you carry around the power cord with you for the rare chance of a laptop or spare powerpoint you can pause to charge up at, the One X remains pretty steady throughout the day.
Benchmark tests have provided some pretty astounding rates – with some reports of the phone being used for five hours for texting, downloading apps, playing games, making phone calls, and browsing the Web with GPS, LTE, and WiFi turned on, only for the phone to lose a bare 30% of its charge. Obviously, your mileage may vary for this one, but if you're impatient with poor battery longevity, the One X may be the answer to your woes.
Despite the impressive specs the One X is packing under the hood, though, it manages to keep the hood itself sleek and compact. The One X is using a big screen – which we'll get to in a moment – but despite that the phone manages to appear fairly minimal. Its 4.7" screen is a full 0.4" bigger than the Samsung Galaxy S II, and yet the One X is less than a cm longer than the S II and only 3mm wider. It's also noticeably slimmer than other smartphones with a screen this big, so it should fit in your pocket comfortably.
Made of a polycarbonate body, the One X is lightweight and easy to handle, and the non-painted polycarbonate means that scratches won't be as obvious as they are on an iPhone.
A particular highlight of the One X is the HD Super LCD2 screen. Arguably the best display image quality on the market today, the One X is a delight to use. It's remarkably sharp, with individual pixels almost impossible to distinguish, has great contrast, nicely saturated colours, and a bright – though not blinding – screen. Viewing angles are great, and you won't find that the phone is suddenly unreadable when you take it out for a spin in direct sunlight.
If you're a fan of the Android OS, you'll find the One X uses it nicely, though some have complained about HTC's Sense skin overlay. This seems to be a bit of a personal issue – some people love it, others hate it. We'd recommend going to any telco store in the city and just asking if you could have a play on the One X to see if it's your style. If not, you might be better off going with some of the other Android phones available – many of which you can get on great $29 plans.
There are some minor gripes around the One X's camera which, despite being 8MP, requires too much fiddling around with turning off Widescreen options to get the best resolution. A dedicated camera key is also lacking, meaning your shots may be a little more blurred than you like with the weight of your hand.
More problematic is that the One X contains only 12GB of storage, and has no place for a microSD card slot, meaning that this isn't the phone to replace your MP3 player with, and you won't be able to take advantage of that great screen and display to watch a lot of movies on your phone.
Overall, though, the One X is one of the best Android handsets out there today, and we recommend it for both the tech-savvy, who will delight over the powerful specs, and the smartphone newbie in your family. It may not be an actual game changer, but we hope that the display will inspire other telephone manufactures to strive for similar heights, and it's definitely a phone that will leave an impact.
*Not to say that we didn't like any of HTC's previous models – we're very fond of a couple, notably the HTC Evo 3D – but it's undeniable that the One X is in another league.
Where to get it
The HTC One X is the latest big boy in town, and as such a lot of providers are rushing to give you some great deals on it. We recommend:
Vodafone's $49 Cap, with an additional $5 per month for the handset. The plan gives you $550 included value of texts and calls and 1GB of data, along with unmetered social networking and Vodafone to Vodafone calls, and a bonus three standard Australian calls per month. Call us for more information about Vodafone or to sign up today on 1300 106 571.
The $60 Optus Plan, with no additional handset costs for the One X. This plan includes $650 included value of calls and unlimited text messages and 1.5GB of data, along with unmetered social networking and Optus to Optus calls. Call Optus for more information or to sign up today on 1300 137 897.
Virgin's Topless $89 Plan, with no additional handset costs for the One X. This plan includes unlimited texts and calls to Australian numbers, free voicemail, 4GB of data, and is also notable for its cheap international rates to certain countries. You can call Virgin for more information or to sign up today on 1300 768 103.
Unconvinced by the HTC One X? For a little bit extra per month, you could get yourself one of Australia's favourite smartphones: the Apple iPhone 4S 64GB, the Nokia Lumia 800, or, to try something different, the brand new Samsung Galaxy Note.
If you're still having trouble finding a plan and/or phone, or have any further questions, please don't hesitate to call us on 1300 850 518 and we'll be happy to help you further.