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Why I’m Buying the HTC One X Instead of the iPhone

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Smartphones have always been a dilemma for me. As someone who spends all day, almost everyday immersed in the tech world it’s easy to get caught up in what the next phone will have. The next great phone is always on the horizon, promising to blow away the just announced “best android smartphone ever” in a matter of weeks.

That’s why I abandoned Android for the iPhone 4 when it launched in 2010. Apple only releases one new iPhone per year, making the upgrade an easier decision.

Read: HTC One X Review

This Sunday, when AT&T releases the HTC One X, I plan on going back to Android, at least for a little while.

Why I’m Buying the HTC One X

There are a few reasons for my decision to switch. At the top of the list is I want to hand down my iPhone 4 to a poor HP Veer 4G user whose phone has been causing far too much grief over the past few weeks.

Larger Display

I could easily pick up an iPhone 4S, but after seeing so many larger phones and playing with a few like the Lumia 900, I want to try a phone with a bigger screen. Sometimes the iPhone just feels a bit constrained. The One X has a huge 4.7-inch display, the same as the screen on the upcoming HTC EVO 4G LTE which I loved when we saw it last month.

Ice Cream Sandwich

One X

I haven’t used an Android phone as my personal phone since the myTouch 3G which ran Android 1.6 when I abandoned it. I’ve briefly played with devices running Ice Cream Sandwich, and actually enjoyed the experience. HTC is adding Sense 4 to ICS on the One X, but the skin isn’t a deal breaker for me. In fact, the lock screen with quick launching icons seems like a great addition to the platform.

The Samsung Galaxy S III might be worth waiting for, and it’s specs might be better than the One X. However, unless Samsung completely changes TouchWiz with the new phone, I don’t think I can seriously consider is as my main phone.

Concerns of Switching

Battery Life

I do have some doubts about the One X, however. Battery life could be a major problem for the phone. HTC said that it thinks users prefer thin phones to phones with larger batteries, which helped influence the design. That’s fine, but I fear that 4G LTE will kill the phone quickly, which means I might have to start carrying around an external battery when I leave the house for more than a few hours.

App Selection and Games

The apps and games on Android are another problem for me. Android has good apps for the social networks I use, but apps like Flipboard, Clear, and Camera+ aren’t in the Google Play Store. There might be some alternatives, but it will take some getting used to.

My iPhone 4 currently has two full folders of games. Granted, I don’t play all of them everyday, but the ones I do play a lot aren’t available on Android. I fear I won’t find games as fun as Jetpack Joyride, Tiny Wings, Super Crate Box, Hero Academy, or Ziggurat on Google’s platform. I’ll have an iPod touch in case I need to play those games, but I see no sense in carrying two devices when I can just carry one.

Thankfully, AT&T offers a return windows of 30 days for new phones. If I find I can’t live with the One X as my main phone within that 30 days, I can always just exchange it for an iPhone 4S.

Either way, I’ll probably just end up getting the iPhone 5 when it launches later this year. I just can’t wait that long for a new phone.

11 Comments

11 Comments

  1. Shreyansh Jain

    05/02/2012 at 9:31 am

    Good Article … But it has an abrupt ending… 

  2. naishuhua

    05/02/2012 at 2:46 pm

    ilovetoshopping.com

  3. rjs

    05/04/2012 at 7:11 am

    “…I fear that 4G LTE will kill the phone quickly, which means I might have to start carrying around an external battery when I leave the house for more than a few hours.”

    I thought the HTC One x had a fixed battery, that may not be possible.

    • Vladimir

      05/07/2012 at 6:49 pm

      keyword here – “external”. Battery is really a problem when you go somewhere and you want using Maps application, maybe skype, some internet browsing and mail, you may end up with empty battery well before the day ends. I’m also considering buying something 10000-15000 mAh external battery for several day trips.

  4. jr

    05/16/2012 at 10:35 am

    The fact that you are so far up apples ass makes me regard this entire article and anything else you ever write as total crap.

    • Forrest

      06/30/2012 at 10:19 pm

      What do you mean by that apple products are the best thing to happen to this world since sliced bread they have great apps the best touch screen available u tell I can play temple run on a fucking android and I’ll switch over while yes apple iPods and iPhones have many flaws they far ouclass any other smartphone and you find me an mp3 player that has an app that allows you to text and make phone calls. Obviously you’ve got ur head so far up some lesser companys ass that you can see the sunshine or the truth for that matter.

      • Android

        10/09/2012 at 6:04 am

        psssst. temple run is available on Android, now!

      • Austin Wang

        12/28/2012 at 9:04 pm

        Have you even tried any of the phones you’re bashing?

  5. bansi

    06/23/2012 at 8:19 am

    hey i also ipod touch but i don’t buy it i go for iphone 5

  6. Ash

    10/06/2012 at 7:20 am

    iPhone 5 as we all can see now is a bitter disaster and hey when I upgrade to a new phone i wanna SEE a new phone not the same shape same icons same icon colors same set up and same strict “don’t you dare change anything on this phone cause Apple knows what you want better than yourself” attitude. I OWN a One X and despite the issues the One X has I love it. Of course i have stripped off the unnecessary crap from the rom and running Franco’s awesome kernel with the companion app. I get about 18 hours of standby time, about 5 hours of display on time(for reading my ebooks) while listening to music simultaneously and I reckon that’s more than what you can ask for from you smartphone. The display is GORGEOUS!! No arguments there. I just love to turn the screen on and look at it just because it look so beautiful. The sound quality, well, do you even have to ask? I’m not a big fan of Beats headsets. I’m more of a Sennheiser guy. I have my Sennheiser HD 280 pro with the Beats enhancer on the One X and it sounds amazing! Regarding games, well, one thing to say. Go to TegraZone and see for yourself! Stop living in Apple’s little fake ‘Disnyland’ and see what other companies are offering you. Apple was good granted! Innovative back then when they were a struggling company who would go all in to create greatness but NOT ANYMORE!! They FAILED to give out a new phone for 2 consistent years. iPhone 4 was a good one. I had one and i liked it. But since Samsung released the S II and Apple released iPhone 4’s’ I’ve been all in Android man! Screw the blood sucking cooperate ‘Fruity Firm’. Delicious ‘Chocolate Factory’ ftw!

  7. strawknight

    10/10/2012 at 2:16 am

    Erm i don’t think you will even need a camera + or any camera software for the OneX, the OneX comes along with all the effects and instagram and is also able to perform continuous shooting

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