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HTC One X vs Apple iPhone 4S

posted by Ray S. / Apr 04, 2012, 8:30 AM

Introduction:

You might be wondering why we always compare the hot new handsets with the latest iPhone. Well, the explanation is actually pretty simple. Since the iPhone is so popular, and pretty much everyone knows what it offers, it makes for a great reference device! That's the logic behind the article that you're reading right now as well! The HTC One X has been one of the most-anticipated handsets for the first half of this year, and for a reason – this is the first phone powered by a quad-core processor, and not only that. The One X seems like a dream come true for every geek with passion for smartphones. However, it's not only specs these days, so you can't judge a device by its specs sheet. It is time for the One X to go through the ultimate test. It's time for it to face the iPhone 4S!

Design:

The One X and iPhone 4S are complete opposites when it comes to how they look and feel. The biggest differentiating factor here is their size. On one hand, we have the giant One X, and on the other – the very compact (for today's standards) iPhone 4S. For many people out there, the One X might be too bulky to be comfortably held. This feeling is reinforced further by the One X's sharp side edges and excessive width.

The HTC One X (right) vs the Apple iPhone 4S (left)

In terms of construction and materials, both phones are very impressive. Both the One X and iPhone 4S feel extremely solid and well-made. In order to achieve such a thin and relatively lightweight body, HTC has decided to use polycarbonate, which is a high-quality kind of plastic. It is very pleasant to the touch, similarly to the iPhone 4S's all-glass and stainless steel construction. Which one you'd like more depends on your taste. We, personally, prefer the glass of the iPhone 4S to the polycarbonate of the One X.

The sides of the HTC One X (bottom) vs the Apple iPhone 4S (top) - HTC One X vs Apple iPhone 4S

The sides of the HTC One X (bottom) vs the Apple iPhone 4S (top)

Display:

We're again seeing completely different approaches when it comes to the displays of the One X and iPhone 4S. The One X has a 4.7” Super-LCD 2 HD screen, while the iPhone 4S sports a more traditional IPS-LCD screen with a resolution of 640x960. Even though the iPhone 4S has lower pixel count, it actually has the upper hand in the pixel density department (330 ppi vs 312 ppi). However, both displays are incredibly sharp, so you'll have some very hard time finding any jaggedness on them. In this category we'd give our preference to the screen of the One X, not only because it's physically bigger, but mostly because it features some more saturated and vivid colors. It's an awesome screen to watch video or play games on!

HTC One X 360-degrees View:

Apple iPhone 4S 360-degrees View:

FEATURED VIDEO

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119 Comments

1. PhoneArenaUser

Posts: 5498; Member since: Aug 05, 2011

I think that many was waiting for this duel. :)

posted on Apr 04, 2012, 8:34 AM 5

2. -box-

Posts: 3991; Member since: Jan 04, 2012

Why is it that PhoneArena seems to be the only large tech site that isn't at least accepting of (if not impressed with) the OneX? Yes, the iphone is neat and all, but it's dated, bland, overpriced for what it is, has a tiny screen, fragile, and, not to mention, still made in a factory by underpaid and underappreciated workers in unacceptable conditions. Yes, the One X has flaws, but I'm thankful that OEMs are finally starting to release phones designed for Android 4.0 ICS. It should not have taken this long.

posted on Apr 04, 2012, 8:37 AM 42

16. cripton805

Posts: 1485; Member since: Mar 18, 2012

Dude. You can tell they are hyping the iPhone here sooo much its not even funny. When the iPhone is clearly the loser, they dont give a winner or they call it a draw. You can tell when they start the article by calling the HTC huge and start bashing on it from the start (heavily). And when they mention they mention Flash, they brush it off without any insults. The lag is also during the pinch to zoom. Text wrapping causes the screen to go blank for a second while it reconfigures the page. Turn it off and it might not be there. Its been stated on reviews. They dont even mention that here. "What a surprise". They just say unresponsive.

posted on Apr 04, 2012, 9:40 AM 29

27. darkkjedii

Posts: 30685; Member since: Feb 05, 2011

Sore losers suck. iOS is the Yankees, android is the red sox

posted on Apr 04, 2012, 10:15 AM 5

119. Commentator

Posts: 3722; Member since: Aug 16, 2011

Naah, give Android a little credit. I'd say they're the Rays. Blackberry is the Red Sox.

posted on Apr 14, 2012, 1:48 PM 0

37. bbblader

Posts: 590; Member since: Oct 24, 2011

hmm that is 99,9% of the time but somehow the Nokia 900 beat it

posted on Apr 04, 2012, 10:34 AM 3

49. cripton805

Posts: 1485; Member since: Mar 18, 2012

I read that review and nowhere did it say the Nokia won... as a matter of fact, on the conclusion they stated that you couldn't go wrong with either one. They didn't even call it a draw, win, or loss. Which goes back to my initial statement. I'm not saying one is worse than the other, but when someone makes a firm decision, it doesn't leave any doubt or suspicion and they STATE one or the other as the clear winner or at least say it's a draw.

posted on Apr 04, 2012, 11:57 AM 2

62. bbblader

Posts: 590; Member since: Oct 24, 2011

I haven't used wp7.5 nor iOS in my life. I've only used android and symbian. So yeah I clearly am clueless on both phones But since the lumia line I'm starting to think I should start to buy Nokia phones once again I want both the L900 and the 808PW

posted on Apr 04, 2012, 1:30 PM 1

111. Glim12808

Posts: 394; Member since: Oct 26, 2011

I'm new to WP7.5 and love it and for my 2nd Windows phone, I'm also planning to go back to Nokia when they put out their Lumia WP8 handsets later this year.

posted on Apr 08, 2012, 2:19 AM 0

43. andro.

Posts: 1999; Member since: Sep 16, 2011

Agreed the HTC one x is far ahead of the iphone 4s,admittingly its about 7 months newer although through ifan stupidity and queing for iphones many ifans had to drool at the mouth for several months for stock to come to a regular level to actually be able to actually get the iphones. Pretty much every other website is massively impressed with the one x,Pa is not. Having being using the one x and the one s for the last few days every customer has been impressed!

posted on Apr 04, 2012, 11:03 AM 11

61. Lucas777

Posts: 2137; Member since: Jan 06, 2011

pa always calls it a draw... its not for winners/losers.. its to read a legit comparison between the devices and see the differences for yourself so you can decide... first off, flash is a dead tech... its become less and less used so that is practically a nonissue anymore... and idk where u get heavily bashing.. they say it is large but pleasant, and too large for their tastes... again its a comprehensive review with little better or not better if u find the one x to be the better device, then thats fine... again its to mainly highlight differences with a small amount of necessary opinion and its not like the iphone was heralded for much... they rightly showed the one x being better where it is. such as in the screen

posted on Apr 04, 2012, 1:21 PM 4

88. cripton805

Posts: 1485; Member since: Mar 18, 2012

By rating this phone a 7.8, I think its the lowest rated flagship phone ever. Its definately being bashed to the maxx by this reviewer. As I think its the same one that rated it so low.

posted on Apr 04, 2012, 11:44 PM 4

89. deacz

Posts: 162; Member since: Nov 02, 2011

today flash isnt a dead tech, I use it daily. The first day when I dont have to use it and all my web content loads with html5 thats when its dead.

posted on Apr 05, 2012, 1:21 AM 1

76. babyk

Posts: 379; Member since: Nov 03, 2011

so true thats y i dont really come to this site these guys just bias from every android phone cant compete with iphone no matter what they do they only gonna choose iphone in my opinion hc one x camera is better than iphone i have tested them both

posted on Apr 04, 2012, 5:24 PM 1

121. Ipaboy

Posts: 2; Member since: Apr 18, 2012

hashdahsdhASD\

posted on Apr 22, 2012, 9:13 PM 0

34. gwuhua1984

Posts: 1237; Member since: Mar 06, 2012

Was waiting for this duel, but not from PhoneArena...

posted on Apr 04, 2012, 10:31 AM 16

69. ph00ny

Posts: 1976; Member since: May 26, 2011

It's Ray S Generally, PA folks do not seem that bad at all but Ray's articles are pretty obvious when you read it. Same story over and over again

posted on Apr 04, 2012, 3:07 PM 3

86. cheetah2k

Posts: 2146; Member since: Jan 16, 2011

Agreed. Its the subtle things Ray leaves out such as whats missing from the following bit of text: "The One X has a 4.7” Super-LCD 2 HD screen, while the iPhone 4S sports a more traditional IPS-LCD screen with a resolution of 640x960. Even though the iPhone 4S has lower pixel count, it actually has the upper hand in the pixel density department (330 ppi vs 312 ppi)" Why not mention that the One X screen is 1280x720, when you mention the iPhone 4S supports 640x960? Is the One X d1ck too big for you Ray? And as far as the browsing department goes, I own the 4S, and I am sick the fcuk of zoom in, zoom out, pan, zoom in, zoom out, pan BS when viewing websites.. Also there's still no flash or HTML5 on iOS.. If you're sick of the stock browser Ray, how about downloading Chrome Beta??? Anyways the list goes on. Yet another cash for comments iPhailArena article..

posted on Apr 04, 2012, 10:42 PM 6

112. sudhar131998

Posts: 63; Member since: Sep 06, 2011

iphone clearly beats the htc one x in terms of gaming performance. The reason why I compared them in that aspect is because htc one x was built for gaming due to htc's efforts to make htc one x to make it the first tegra 3 smartphone. It is also better in sound quality playback because beats audio + htc surround system makes the audio the worst. And in terms of surviving for build quality both are good as iphone has survived from 1000ft drops in working condition though the touchscreen was not useable and htc one x quality is also good as its body is made from alluminium which transformed to ceramic therefore prove to be really hard also with gorilla glass 2. In terms of web performance many sites don't compare the falsh performance towwards iphone 4s as adobe said that flash will be discontinuedand html 5 would be used instead and in terms of speed iphone 4s is said to be faster as normally when people use fast phones like htc one x people will still try to find any lags in the ui to prove that the phone is slow. therefore in most senerios they are equal.

posted on Apr 08, 2012, 10:56 AM 0

115. Leo_MC

Posts: 6138; Member since: Dec 02, 2011

Did you ever, ever in your life used HD Voice?! I don't think so; if you did, you could not say stupid things like "iPhone has a better call quality that a HD Voice compatible phone" (even Galaxy Mini has better call quality than an iPhone). Are you sure you are talking about 1.000 (one thousand) ft? That over 300 meters - as much as Chrysler Building. Did you ever dropped a Nokia 5110 from a 5 floor building (that's 40 feet)? If it falls on the concreet, it breaks into little pieces; I don't want to know what happens to an iPhone dropped from 1.000 ft, it probably transforms into atoms and goes back in time :).

posted on Apr 09, 2012, 6:50 AM 1

3. the_s2

Posts: 239; Member since: Nov 22, 2011

Compare iPhone to LG Optimus one or Samsung galaxy ace lol.... Samsung galaxy S at the most :D

posted on Apr 04, 2012, 8:43 AM 5

4. ddxmms

Posts: 170; Member since: Feb 09, 2012

i didn't read this comparison but judging from the brilliant one x review that you did a couple of days,,i think i am already know the result of this comparison.

posted on Apr 04, 2012, 8:54 AM 3

5. bloodline

Posts: 706; Member since: Dec 01, 2011

lol ray.s is such a troll. Easier to use? are you joking? Ray explain to me how I would turn off Wifi, gps etc... on an iphone and now on android. we all know which is easiest, we all know which is faster, we all know which phone has a better build quality, better audio quality and YES BETTER CAMERA Quality!!!!!! As someone stated above me the iphone looks dated, even in the pictures you posted. Ray your reviews are worthless, you have had more complaints than anyone on PA's site.

posted on Apr 04, 2012, 9:01 AM 18

13. KennyWRX unregistered

You don't even need to toggle any of the radios on/off to save battery... that's how easy it is. Dated? Since when does that make a device better or worst? Unless you are the type that need to have a "newer looking" device all the time. Meanwhile, there is another camp that complain of the exact opposite; they complain about too many Android phones that are essentially the same thing. People like you are the reason these companies do that non-sense instead of focusing on software based improvements.

posted on Apr 04, 2012, 9:30 AM 5

17. bloodline

Posts: 706; Member since: Dec 01, 2011

really? Android is the most improved/improving mobile OS on the market, its rate of adoption is miles ahead of the market. No if I pay for a premium contract I want a premium/modernised design, not a design that was constructed in 2009-2010, that is what the iphone 4s is. IMO android is the easier to use, others agree others dont. Phonesarena reviews is subjective its biased of Ray.s personal opinion.

posted on Apr 04, 2012, 9:41 AM 12

28. darkkjedii

Posts: 30685; Member since: Feb 05, 2011

Winers Waaa waaa waaaaa sound like a 3 yr old

posted on Apr 04, 2012, 10:17 AM 1

41. ZEUS.the.thunder.god unregistered

yeah thats how sheep sounds.. Waaa waaa waaaaa & baaah baaah baaah...

posted on Apr 04, 2012, 10:52 AM 3

59. TROLL.ISAHA

Posts: 535; Member since: Mar 28, 2012

Darkjedi 6reds where is all ur ifans gone! U are a 3 year old with that brain of urs!

posted on Apr 04, 2012, 1:17 PM 2

22. -box-

Posts: 3991; Member since: Jan 04, 2012

@KennyWRX; My daily-use phone is a Nokia C7 running Symbian/Nokia Anna, an OS that pre-dates ios, but it's kept fresh with new visuals and efficiency tweaks, so while it's old (started life in 1997), it's not dated due to actual improvements