HTC One X Android phone

HTC's new flagship One X is a beautifully designed smartphone with a great screen and slick software. A very good camera adds to a well rounded package, though poor battery life and inconsistent HTC Sense software are downsides to an otherwise excellent Android device.

A curved block of elegance

To say the HTC One X has an attractive design would be completely underselling it. This single block of polycarbonate plastic is simply gorgeous and is without doubt one of the best looking phones we've ever reviewed. Like the Samsung Galaxy Nexus before it, the One X has a slightly curved profile that makes it both distinctive and comfortable to hold. This curvature is elegant yet subtle — it's hard to notice if you look at the phone front on.

The polycarbonate finish on the HTC One X isn't new, as Nokia has made it a key feature on its Lumia 800 and N9 smartphones. However, we prefer the smooth curves of the One X over Nokia's block shaped Lumia 800. We also prefer the finish of the One X over the plastic design of the Galaxy Nexus. The former is easier to grip and simply feels sturdier and better constructed.This preference is easy to understand once you've held the One X in your hands. The attention to detail in construction and design is very impressive. The earpiece and rear speaker grills are both visible, but rub your finger across them and you can't physically feel the laser drilled holes. The bezel surrounding the screen is so thin it's barely noticeable. The power and volume buttons are perfectly positioned and provide great tactility when pressed. The One X simply feels elegant, a phrase not often associated with Android phones.

That being said, the design of the One X isn't perfect. The camera lens protrudes from the back and therefore directly comes into contact with a desk or table when you sit the phone on it. While the lens itself seems to be protected by a slightly raised outer rim, both the lens cover and the rim itself were visibly scratched after a few days of use.

The edges of the microSIM tray on our review unit were left looking slightly flimsy after it was opened a few times, while the polycarbonate design means a non-removable battery. There's no room for a microSD card slot, either. We also found audio output via the built-in speaker rather low. It's not as low as the volume on the Galaxy Nexus, but it isn't as loud as we expected and often made ringtones and notification tones difficult to hear when the phone was in our pocket. None of these issues are enough to completely overlook the One X, but the lack of expandable memory will annoy many current Android users.The HTC One X has a brilliant 4.7in Super IPS LCD2 display with a HD resolution of 1280x720. It's crisper, brighter and sharper than the Samsung Galaxy Nexus' 4.65in Super AMOLED HD display. It has excellent viewing angles, great sunlight legibility and good colour reproduction. It also has a very high pixel density of 312ppi, putting it only slightly behind the iPhone 4S's ppi of 326.

Next page: Software, performance, camera and more

Sense not always sensible

The HTC One X runs Google's latest 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich software, making it only the second Android phone in Australia (after the Galaxy Nexus) to ship with this latest software. The end result is a slick and fast smartphone that offers blazing performance. What you won't find on the Galaxy Nexus is a UI skin, but that's exactly what you get on the HTC One X. The company's Sense 4.0 UI is the latest version here and HTC says it has attempted to simplify an interface which has often been accused of being too cluttered.

The new version of HTC's Sense has removed some fancy 3D animations and redesigned other UI elements to tie in better with the vanilla Android theme. We love some of its less advertised touches. The software asks you whether you'd like to save an incoming phone number as a new contact. The four dock icons can be completely customised and automatically appear as shortcuts on the lock screen. You can automatically jump to a weather forecast when you've turned off your morning alarm. HTC's well renowned widgets, including the now iconic clock and weather widget, are still available. Best of all, there is no apparent lag or slowdown during general use. Unlike previous iterations of the software the latest version of Sense does not appear to be a greedy, resource hog.

Excellent camera software

One of the best features of Sense on the One X is "ImageSense", which is what HTC calls the enhancements it has made to the camera. The ability to snap a photo in 0.7 seconds with a 0.2 second autofocus makes this one of the fastest cameras we've ever used on any smartphone. From holding your finger on the on-screen shutter button to enable burst mode (up to 99 photos), to being able to take still shots while recording uninterrupted video, HTC's camera UI is near perfect. We love how there is no need to switch from camera to video mode or vice versa. Simply press the video button to immediately begin recording. We also like the ability to add a range of real time effects including distortion, vignette, depth of field and sepia.The quality of images captured by the HTC One X aren't going to replace a stand alone digital camera, but they will suffice for those who would only ever use an entry-level point and shoot. Images we captured were well focussed and relatively sharp, but low light performance was poor and colours often washed out. Like most camera phones, images tend to lack detail when zoomed in and possess a fair bit of noise. Video recording quality is excellent, though autofocus is erratic with movement.Sense also has a few other appreciated features. It comes with Dropbox integration and includes 25GB of free storage. The music player can sync iTunes playlists automatically. The One X also comes standard with Beats Audio qualities, a direct result of HTC's "strategic partnership" with the Beats By Dr. Dre audio company. The Beats Audio profile noticeably enhances bass and works in all applications, not just the music player. However, unlike the HTC Sensation XL, the One X is not bundled with a pair of Beats headphones.

Disappointingly, the HTC One X suffers from below average battery life. We couldn't manage to achieve a full day of use before needing a recharge, even when we turned off automatic synchronising. To be fair, the phone doesn't appear to use much power at all when the screen is off, but the 1800mAh battery certainly drains quickly whenever the screen is in use — it often accounted for over 60 per cent of battery life during our test period