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HTC One X vs Sony Xperia S
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The HTC One X arrived after the Sony Xperia S, so it should be better, right? Moreover, it sports either a quad-core Tegra 3 processor, or a dual-core Snapdragon S4, compared to last year's S3 in the Xperia S.
Still, what looked from the onset a battle between the camera modules, since both phones have multicore processors and HD displays – necessary prerequisites for any high-end smartphone these days – turned out to be a bit more than just that when we ran the phones through their paces.
Well, we are not going to tell you right away who wins – we upgraded the phones to their latest firmware versions and charged ahead, so read on for the full picture...
Design:
Both phones come in black or white, and are made of light and durable plastic, which is polycarbonate in the case of the One X - uniformly colored inside and out. There's no arguing that the HTC One X is a large 4.7” device, but the thickness of the Sony Xperia S also makes it feel that way, despite the smaller 4.3” screen. The Xperia S, however, is more narrow, so it is easier to operate it with one hand, whereas with the One X you often resort to your other palm for holding the phone while typing or navigating the interface.
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The HTC One X (left) and the Sony Xperia S (right, top) | ||
The Xperia S has a more boxy, rugged good looks, enhanced by the illuminated strip at the bottom – a signature mark of Sony's NXT design line. The HTC One X, on the other hand, has a slightly curved, while amazingly slim and light chassis for a phone of this size. In the end, the handsets look very distinct and you'll be able to immediately recognize them in a crowd of smartphones, which means the design studios have reached their goal with both devices.
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Right | Left | Top | Bottom |
The sides of the HTC One X (top) and the Sony Xperia S (bottom) | |||
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Backs | Rear cameras | |
The HTC One X (left) and the Sony Xperia S (right) | ||
Displays:
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HTC One X (left) and Sony Xperia S (right) |
The 4.3” Reality Display on the Sony Xperia S gives way to the quality of the screen on the One X in brightness, contrast and viewing angles, which are better on HTC's phone. Sony's display is able to show quite vivid colors straight-on, too, but they get rather washed out with the viewing angle increase. Its black levels look more greyish than the blacks on the One X, making for a poorer contrast ratio, but the most important advantage of the One X's screen is its higher brightness, contributing to better sunlight visibility. Sony's handset sports extremely high 342ppi pixel density, though, since the same 1280x720 pixels are distributed across a smaller footprint, but with 312ppi the One X is no slouch either, so you are unlikely to notice the margin from a normal viewing distance.
Drag the picture or use the keyboard arrows to rotate the phone. Double click or press keyboard Space to zoom in/out
Drag the picture or use the keyboard arrows to rotate the phone. Double click or press keyboard Space to zoom in/out
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46 Comments
This comment is hidden because of its low rating. Show
2. rg987 posted on 03 May 2012, 10:09 12 10
looks dis tym htc have only focused on looks of the phone,screen.......................sony has focused on camera ,screen,looks,loudspeaker.etc
PA review pts. as well as USER review pts. of XPERIA S are HIGHER than ONE X............
one x loses................
6. Mario1017 posted on 03 May 2012, 10:38 4 3
Just proves pa reviews are very wrong. The one x is a better phone, doesn't mean the xperia s is not a good phone, it is. But the s3 was a stupid idea and so was gingerbread
19. mobileuser posted on 03 May 2012, 11:49 8 2
People complaining about the S3 processor on the Xperia S is really wrong. Looking at the price range, the Xperia S is meant for the Mid range level as it is some $150 dollars cheaper whilst the one X is the High end flag ship with a price range of $650. The Xperia S is the flag ship device in the "Mid range" level and no other phone in the "mid range" can compete and surpass the Xperia S in the market right now. So a decent and still fast dual core processor for top "mid range" phone with some high end spec. incoporates in order to give some high end user experience with a mid range price. So if you can paid $650 or whatever contract price for your high end flag ship, by all means. But just taking the processor and complaining about the dated processor is simplily unjusted because of different range phone. It is just like comparing skills at different level which is simply not justified.
30. Mario1017 posted on 03 May 2012, 19:45 3 0
Well, i believe the One S is in this "mid range" category. The S3 is not a bad processor, but you can tell Sony was looking for a top of the line phone with this, not mid range, 12mp camera and 720p display dont scream mid range at all.. Calling this phone mid range is wrong.
31. mobileuser posted on 03 May 2012, 20:49 3 0
I think the Sony LT291 " hayabusa" coming out later this year from Sony will be a more high end phone than this Xperia S because it will have an Snadraggon S4 processor ; bigger screen with larger battery and ICS out of the box. So, Sony has raised the standard of the mid range with this Xperia S to make it a fantastic phone at the mid range which is hard to beat, at least for the moment. I think other manufacturer should follow this standard of the mid range phone as well the price range. This Xperia S should be compared with the HTC one S whilst the Sony Xperia "hayabusa" shiould be compared with this One X. Right now, PA is just comparing a HTC high End phone with the best phone in the mid range from Sony, so the result is not realistic.
32. Mario1017 posted on 03 May 2012, 21:03 1 0
now you're saying the Xperia should be compared to the One S when before you said it had no competition? When this phone came out, it was not considered mid range, why is it mid range now, the mid range is the xperia P
33. Mario1017 posted on 03 May 2012, 21:04 0 0
Sony wouldn't go and make no high end phones, 2 mid, and 1 low end when the phones are going to be released at the same time and when it is their flagship (and only) line
34. RamyRamz69 posted on 04 May 2012, 07:29 1 0
Yeah sure, you can pay an extra 150$ to get a Quadcore SoC which you won't even feel the difference of in everyday use.
Agree on the Gingerbread part though.
37. Mario1017 posted on 04 May 2012, 19:36 0 0
i would rather have the att version with s4. Well ya i would rather spend more money than get a device i dont like very much, common sense.
15. rg987 posted on 03 May 2012, 11:35 4 2
once ICS on the xperia s , ur gonna love that than everything........its awesome.............even ICS on xperia arc is awesome then how wud it be on xperia s...............................unbelieveable...................
24. Commentator posted on 03 May 2012, 12:18 1 4
Seriously, have you ever taken an English class?
25. rg987 posted on 03 May 2012, 12:27 1 0
idiot u r free all the tym bt i hv got to do millions of work a day................so i reduce the no of words in my speech.................but those are understandable too and if u cant then u r a big loser................lol
29. Berzerk000 posted on 03 May 2012, 18:18 1 2
You're overall typing doesn't bother me as much as how many periods you use. I mean really? You don't have to be perfectly grammatical, but the time you take to put all of those dots you can type a few extra letters. And the phrase "i hv got to do millions of work a day" is just ridiculous.
45. Raymond_htc posted on 0 0
can the Xperia S take pictures while video recording? Is Xperia S Android 4.0 ICS? Does the Xperia have Quadcore? Is the xperia S easy to hold or the One X? Is the Xperia S lighter than the One X?
Answer all this and you will know why there are a lot of HTC Fans out there, and why the One X is a great phone, or possibly a breakthrough in technology made by HTC.
4. hitechredneck posted on 03 May 2012, 10:16 18 0
Lets face it Sony came out with a winner without Ericsson.
7. Aaron_R96 posted on 03 May 2012, 10:48 11 2
Have to say, id give the screen to the Xperia S having used both (own the XS) especially when viewing videos and pictures, and I personally prefer the design too, I mean lets face it, the one x still doesn't look incredibly different to last years HTC, whereas Sony have been more adventurous design-wise. Yes the One X is more powerful as shown by the benchmarks and both are brilliant phones, that's just my opinion anyway :)
