Gadgetory

it seems to be an emerging trend phone companies take their already popular devices and change them just a little bit sometimes it might be for the better sometimes it just might be for the unique well HTC has done the same with its 1 X and given it a plus but is it really that much better than the original 1x is it worth it to jump ship if you've already owned the original 1x well we're here to find out hey it's Josh Berg r400 authority what's going on everybody and this is the HTC One x+ from AT&T I think that's all of it the HTC One x+ is the mid-year update to a previously popular device with a faster processor a lot more storage and a coat of paint this newly updated phone hopes to bring a little change that will help it go the extra mile the original 1 X in white was such a nice looking phone but this time around HTC went with the basically all-black design and the plus at least for this AT&T version the 4.7 inch Super LCD Gorilla Glass display is surrounded with a black border soft keys are on the bottom and the front-facing camera and speaker grille are on the top next to the micro SIM tray coming around the back the HTC n Beats Audio logos are found between them eight megapixel camera and the speaker grille at the bottom the volume buttons are on the right side directly opposite the microUSB charging port in a previous popular HTC phone the incredible the charging port was lowered down on the phone which made the grip tough when plugged in having it higher up is a much better choice the unibody material that surrounds the screen and the rest of the phone is made up of a matted polycarbonate that helps in the comfortable feel of the phone the way comes in at around 135 grams but feels very balanced and perfect in the hand the only discomfort might come from the power button found at the top near the headphone jack users of non HTC phones might be used to having it on the right side next to your thumb so some hamm gymnastics might be needed to comfortably get to the power button and then bring the HTC One x+ back down to a neutral grip especially for people with smaller hands other versions of the One x+ have a red trim most noticeable around the camera but this 18 t version is all black the phone nonetheless is a great looker and even if it doesn't come in white it still looks great this way coming around to the screen the same 4.7 inch screen from the original one X makes a return capable of 1280 by 720 resolution this is the very screen that received quite a lot of praise and for good reason watching content on here is truly a joy as colors are rendered beautifully and text is as sharp as ever the curved Gorilla Glass allows for multiple viewing angles and the brightness is more than adequate even in broad daylight which brings us to the hardware in which there is already one big improvement in storage coming from 16 and 32 gigabyte models before the 1x plus comes stock with an incredible 64 gigabytes of free space alright it's actually around 57 but that's still a great number the lack of expandable memory should be made up for with this as I don't think anyone will really complain about having over 50 gigabytes of free space speaking of no expandable memory the unibody of this phone means that the battery is not removable or replaceable either while there might be a compromise in the storage Department the larger battery here unfortunately doesn't quite keep up with all of the new digs it certainly holds up during a day of typical moderate usage but my battery drain of looping a playlist of videos brought it down to half battery in around three and a half hours furthermore doing more intensive tasks like playing the included Mass Effect infiltrator brought down 10% of the battery in just 15 minutes it looks like the updated processor brings with it all the speed and performance you could want but requires a little bit too much from the battery but that processor definitely deserves a mention an updated version of the original NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor found in the One X now brings in 1.7 gigahertz over the previous 1.5 the result is a very snappy experience that rivals some of the best out there today the Tegra 3 processor and graphics combo might not be the Snapdragon s4 pro but the experience in practice is really nothing to brush off so easily for example in n + 2 - benchmark it may not surpass the Galaxy s3 or the top dogs of the LG Nexus 4 or Optimus G but it is still considered a top-tier phone and it really should be as this is a locked phone my t-mobile card obviously wouldn't work in here but I was able to borrow someone else's ATT Micro SIM for quick testing purposes as such the 4G LTE of of 18 T is indeed fast even if it isn't as widespread as Verizon's coverage other than that you have the Wi-Fi GPS Bluetooth and in this case HTC media link which uses a module plugged into the HDMI port of your TV and then wirelessly to your phone to act as a bridge apparently you just swipe your three fingers up and whatever is on your phone appears on your screen on the TV now I don't have this module but it's very intriguing maybe sometime I'll find a way to test it out and I'll let you know how it works and now we get to a pretty big part of this phones unique identity HTC Sense now I had the HTC incredible with Sense Froyo and while it was a nice OS the jelly bean version found in the 1x plus shows really how far it's come speed has a lot to do with this but various aesthetic changes add to this unique UI first of all HTC S should be commended for getting out their version of jellybean before most of the other devices which still sports skinned versions of Ice Cream Sandwich the lockscreen retains the ring method which has four unchangeable shortcuts right above where you would swipe up I was never a big fan of this unlock method but thanks to the speed of this phone it's just a quick swipe up and you're done anyway in the settings it is possible to change the overall appearance of the lock screen and the widgets that are displayed you can have clocks social widgets or nothing at all the general Android interface has a decidedly black and white theme to it that can be modified in the settings actually quite like the different ways that sense presents situation that stock Android would use blue hues for like when you get to the end of a menu another nice and welcome setting is the ability to change the behavior of the recent apps soft key whereas in stock Android menu buttons are purely contextual it is possible to make the recent apps button do its default behavior one held down and then become a menu button when simply tabbed or vice versa speaking of the recent apps screen these are all presented like a cover flow which is also quite nice all in all sense is a great UI that is unique and easy to use in a way it and other UIs deserve their own in-depth review to go through all of their features but that's for another day I do have to mention on this thing though that I commend HTC for getting jellybean even if it is 4.1 on the One X but it does present an interesting situation let's look at Google now doesn't it look just like the one found in stock Android this is also the same for all other custom phone you eyes and objectively it just doesn't fit in with any of those skin interfaces either it will stay this way or the phone companies will have to find a way to skin Google now - and now we get to the Beats Audio a feature that got a lot of attention with the original One X and then was ultimately deemed not quite as significant as the hype as far as I can tell the Beats Audio and this updated model is the one that should have gotten more attention it should have gotten all the attention because it really is that good well there are no ways to tweak how beats works which I still don't quite understand the simple activation of the audio enhancement really does make music better highs and mids are given an incredible boost in order to keep up with the powerful bass and the bass itself is made fuller and richer adding more dimension it should be noted that a good pair of headphones is more important than anything else but I can definitely say that Beats Audio does its job just like ones I used to know well truth top and finally we have the camera remember how in my lg optimus G review I was excited to see improved optics on all Android smartphones well the already great camera of the original One X makes a return here and is a very impressive specimen I mean how often do you get to hear the technical aspects of the camera in your smartphone this 28 millimeter F 2.0 lens has the same specs as one of my dedicated camera lenses that being said the quality of the camera is really quite good and the resulting 8 megapixel pictures have good colors without much grain video is available at full HD 1080p as well and includes image stabilization or rare thing for smartphones so it is definitely possible to get some good footage and pictures from this camera as you can see here and in the footage at the beginning of this video the interface may not be as awesome as the jelly bean 4.2 camera but it is still easy to use and the options are overlays on the viewfinder rather than separation bars the front facing camera deserves a mention too as it has been upgraded to 1.6 megapixels but that isn't the main reason why pictures from this small camera are surprisingly detailed and crisp another very rare thing for smartphones this all should make hangouts and self-portraits that much better and so there you have it the HTC One x+ is perhaps the full realization of what the manufacturer and perhaps the consumers wanted out of the very well received 1x a faster processor does drain the battery faster in those intensified situations but then again the incredible 64 gigabytes of storage and Beats Audio improvements lend much to this updated devices appeal ultimately if you have the 1x before or you still have it I don't think there's too much here to justify jumping over and paying the upgrade price but if you have never experienced the 1x like me or even a high-end HTC phone this is probably the best place to start for my full written review head on over to Android Authority calm your source for all things Android