By Stan Schroeder For MASHABLE
BARCELONA: Although HTC CEO Peter Chou said the company’s new strategy is to offer customers one device that has it all, HTC actually launched three devices from the HTC One range, with HTC One X being the flagship phone.
I had a chance to play a bit with the HTC One X and HTC One S (the HTC One V was also present, but HTC wouldn’t let us turn it on), and I came away impressed.
Both devices are based on Android 4 or Ice Cream Sandwich and the latest version of HTC’s overlay UI, Sense 4. HTC One X is the more powerful one, though, with quad-core Tegra 3 on board, and it shows: the device is, simply put, the fastest Android handset we’ve ever held in our hands.
Everything – and I mean everything, including the 0.7-second photo snapping HTC is so proud about – feels really smooth and snappy. The Sense UI feels really subtle in its latest iteration, and it doesn’t slow down the experience one bit.
This doesn’t mean that the HTC One S is slow; in fact, if One X didn’t exist, HTC could call this device its flagship phone and I wouldn’t complain. I didn’t spend a whole lot of time with it, but it felt just as fast as its elder brother.
Physically, both devices are incredibly light, and this goes especially for the HTC One X. With its 4.7-inch form factor, you’d expect a heavier device, and its lightness makes it feel less clunky in your hand – though I’m still not sure whether a 4.7-inch screen is too big for a smartphone.
Which leads us to the physical traits of the HTC One S – it has a 4.3-inch screen and a black aluminum case, which many will prefer to the polycarbonate unibody case of the One X. It’s very thin – 7.95 milimeters, and it feels sturdy but light in your hand. If you don’t mind the slightly weaker specs compared to the One X, it might even be a better fit for you than HTC’s flagship Android.
Check out our videos and photos of HTC One X and HTC One S below, and give us your opinions in the comments.
