Samsung Galaxy S III vs. HTC One X: Head-to-head
- — 22 May, 2012 15:54
If you're in the market for a new smartphone and decided that you don't want an iPhone you'll most likely want an Android phone instead. Two of the hottest phones in 2012 are the Samsung Galaxy S III and the HTC One X.
Both of these Android powerhouses have similar specifications and features, but which one is right for you? Let's compare!
Samsung Galaxy S III
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HTC One X
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Samsung Galaxy S III vs. HTC One X: Display
The Samsung Galaxy S III has a 4.8in Super AMOLED display with a HD resolution of 720x1280. It has a pixels per inch rating of 306ppi — slightly less than the market leading iPhone 4S and just behind the HTC One X and the Samsung Galaxy Nexus. We are yet to get our hands on the Galaxy S III for a direct comparison, but if it is anything like previous Samsung super AMOLED screens the company has another winner on its hands.
The Galaxy S III's screen will certainly need to be a winner in order to challenge the HTC One X. It is without doubt one of the best smartphone screens currently on the market. The 4.7in SLCD display, also with a HD resolution of 1280x720, is slightly crisper, brighter and sharper than the Samsung Galaxy Nexus' display. It has excellent viewing angles, great sunlight legibility and good colour reproduction.
Samsung Galaxy S III vs. HTC One X: Design
Samsung says it worked hard on the ergonomics of the Galaxy S III. Despite a 4.8in screen that is 22 per cent larger than its Galaxy S II predecessor, the Galaxy S III is only 16 per cent bigger and weighs just 133g. It will come in "marble white" and "pebble blue" colours, though the rumoured ceramic design did not come to fruition — the Galaxy S III has a largely plastic build.
While many potential buyers may be put off by Samsung's insistence on a plastic finish, the company has tried to allay those fears by using what it calls a "hyperglaze" finish. This is best described as an additional layer of plastic on top of the casing, creating a brushed metal look.
The HTC One X's design, a single block of polycarbonate plastic, makes it one of the best looking phones on the market. Like the Galaxy S III, the One X has a slightly curved profile and this makes it comfortable to hold. HTC's attention to detail in construction and design is very impressive. The One X simply feels elegant, a phrase not often associated with Android phones.
Samsung Galaxy S III vs. HTC One X: Software
Software is one of the biggest differentiators between rival Android phones. The Galaxy S III runs the latest Ice Cream Sandwich version of Android, but it also comes with the latest version of Samsung's TouchWIZ UI overlay. New software features include Direct Call, the ability to call a contact you are currently messaging by simply holding the phone up to your ear, Smart Alert, which vibrates and flashes a notification LED when you pick up the phone after a missed call, and S-Voice, which appears to be a Siri-like voice recognition feature that can be configured to control various features of the phone. Samsung also includes 50GB of free Dropbox storage for all users, while the popular Flipboard social network aggregator app will be exclusive to the Galaxy S III for a limited time before being made available on other Android phones.
The HTC One X also runs the latest Ice Cream Sandwich version of Google's Android software but includes the company's UI overlay, called Sense, over the top. The new version of Sense has removed some fancy 3D animations and redesigned other UI elements to tie in better with the vanilla Android theme. We love some of its less advertised touches, like asking you whether you'd like to save an incoming phone number as a new contact, the four dock icons appearing as shortcuts on the lock screen and the ability to automatically jump to a weather forecast when you've turned off your morning alarm. However, the interface is inconsistent due to HTC's insistence on capacitive shortcut buttons and there are a number of elements that have changed for the worse. The recent apps menu, the phone app and the on-screen keyboard are three features that we find far more intuitive on the standard vanilla UI of Ice Cream Sandwich.
Whether you prefer TouchWiz or HTC Sense will ultimately come down to personal preference, which makes it tough to call. Some users may prefer the style and UI of HTC phones while others may find Samsung's UI more intuitive or better looking.
Samsung Galaxy S III vs HTC One X: Camera
The Samsung Galaxy S III has an 8-megapixel rear camera and a 1.9-megapixel front facing camera that also shoots 720p video. The rear camera doubles as a full HD 1080p video recorder. Numbers aside, Samsung has made a number of software tweaks to the camera in an attempt to create a better user experience. These include Best Photo, which takes 20 shots in burst mode (six photos per second) and uses software algorithms to select the best photo, Face Zoom, which recognises individual faces and zooms in to take a photo of them, Face Slideshow, which focuses on a single person in an image slideshow, and Smart Stay, which uses the Galaxy S III's front-facing camera to dim the screen when you aren't looking at the phone. The Galaxy III's camera can also take still photos while recording video, a feature HTC first introduced on the One X.
The HTC One X has 8-megapixel camera that is both slick and fast. The One X can snap a photo in 0.7 seconds with a 0.2 second autofocus, can take up to 99 photos in burst mode if you hold your finger on the on-screen shutter button, can take still shots while recording uninterrupted video, and doesn't require users to switch from camera to video mode or vice versa. We also like the ability to add a range of real time effects to photos including distortion, vignette, depth of field and sepia. The One X consistently captures images with high detail and its camera interface is well designed and easy to use.
Samsung Galaxy S III vs. HTC One X: Internals
The Samsung Galaxy S III is powered by the company's new 1.4GHz Exynos 4 quad-core processor, has 1GB of RAM and comes with either 16 or 32GB of internal memory. Samsung says a 64GB model will be available at a later date, while all models have a microSD card slot for memory expansion. The Galaxy S III is a quad-band HSPA+ smartphone, but Samsung will have an LTE 4G model available in the US, Japan and Korea. It is not yet known if a 4G model will be available in Australia.
The HTC One X is powered By NVIDIA's Tegra 3 quad-core processor, 1GB of RAM and 32GB of internal memory. The One X lacks a microSD card slot for extra storage and its 1800mAh battery is not removable. The One X is a quad-band HSDPA smartphone with no LTE 4G compatibility. However, Telstra will soon sell the One XL in Australia, a 4G version of the One X.
Samsung is expected to announce Australian launch details for the Galaxy S III smartphone later this month. The Galaxy S III is expected to be sold on all three Australian carriers — Telstra, Optus and Vodafone.
The HTC One X currently sells through Optus and Vodafone. Telstra is expected to launch the One XL in the coming weeks.
What do you think about the Samsung Galaxy S III and the HTC One X? Is the One X's lack of removable storage and battery a downside? Do you dislike the plastic construction of the Galaxy S III? Let us know in the comments below!
Related articles
• Samsung Galaxy S III preview
• HTC One X review
• Where can you buy the Samsung Galaxy S III?
• HTC One XL review
• Samsung Galaxy S III vs. Galaxy S II: We compare Samsung's Android phones
Comments
Kyle
1
100% going for the Galaxy SIII, loving the phone inside and and outside also all of its new features. HTC one X has nothing
SIII KILLER
2
Hah Kyle, sounds like someone is a little biased. Do a little research before you open your mouth.
Hope you enjoy another cheaply put together phone with that god-awful pentile amoled display.
The U.S dual core HTC One X keeps up almost in all benchmarks. I'll give the SIII props, its going to be fast because the One X is insanely fast and in the real world just doesn't hesitate at all.
Battery life on the One X with the dual core S4 processor is one of the best in terms of efficiency per mAH for a current android.
All those 'special' s-features have already been ripped from the SIII and being used in other devices with other manufactures at xda-developers. SO no problems having those features one the One X very soon :)
Camera is a draw, the One X is already considered on par as one of the best cameras on the market for any android or iPhone, and who cares about front facing camera, its not like you are going to stream at 1.3 or 1.9 MP with video chat anyways. Large camera aperture is something that always suffers in camera phones and having a F/2.0 on the HTC One X is just insane. Low lighting quality improves dramatically, and ability to take stunning portrait/macro photos greatly benefit.
So yeh both phones neck in neck in performance, the HTC One X w S4 dual core leading the way in technology with the first processor based on the next generation Arm A15 architecture and 28nm processing - which is why the dual core beats the tegra 3 quad core in 8 out of 10 benchmarks conducted by AandTech. Plus quad-core drains battery much worse than a dual core, just read all the reviews of battery life on the international one X vs the U.S one X.
Memory, well Samsung has a leg up there, but ATT gives Dropbox 25 GB, plus with Google music there isn't any issues. Music, videos, photos and documents are all hosted on the cloud. Everything else will fit with the 16 GB on board. Its a bummer but not necessarily a deal breaker.
So yes HTC One X in the real world is the better choice and here is why. Look at the iphone; the single best selling smartphone in the world. Why? Well user experience for one, the other... design. If something feels cheap the brain automatically thinks this is junk.
Trust me this is a big reason so many iPhone users don't like androids, they make up their mind as soon as they pick up an android. The One X is the first android or really any smartphone that can keep up with the fit finish and texture of the iPhone 4s.
This in combination with the awesome user experience of ICS, the best screen available on the market and the ridiculous speed that the phone is capable of makes it a winner over the SIII. I'm not a Samsung hater or HTC fanboy, trust me owned plenty of both.. But the One X is just that damn good.. To bad its so underrated in the real world.
htc lovers
3
I like htc becoz it is besttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt 100% geatttttttttttttttttttttttttttt
fuk you samsung glaxy
crazy khan
4
hey frndz i also think buy a htc x 1... itz really amazine guys... hum to dewaane ho gaye bt iska battery backup kaisa hoga pata nahi, so hlp me frnz..............
Dennis
5
SIII killer: You obviously have no idea what you are talking about:
The SIII won most benchmarks against the One S (same processor as One X US).
The SIII has much better battery life than the One X (and the One S, with it's Krait, is even worse than the One X, even though it has a smaller screen).
The SIII has a removable battery.
The SIII has a microSD port.
The SIII gets 50GB Dropbox space.
OTOH, I'm not sure why they let the SIII win in the storage department: The SIII only comes with 16GB for now. 32GB and 64GB comes later.
Rip
6
You are not sure what?? "The SIII only comes with 16GB for now"... still beats the HTC cause you can easily slap a 32gb MicroSD and then you'd have 48gb of memory... capisce???
boom
7
s3 can win everything in terms of specifications but it still cannot change the fact that its an ugly looking phone...hahaha
vinnie75
8
Anyone have any experience with the n7000? Any reviews or comments would be much appreciated
Samsung display
9
Samsung has ugly screen resolutio, try watching any video on youtube on any galaxy models and compare with HTC. you will know the difference.
Smart phone guy
10
No removable battery?
No sd slot?
1800 mah battery ?
Two things you must have if you usae your phone for business- Battery life and storage.
Not a real pro phone.
Both of these phones should be ashamed for not having
2 gigs of ram.
onexuser
11
they can rate it any way they want.. Reception is my big thing .. Samsung just cannot seem to overcome there reception issues.. i wanted expandable memory also, but, now that i have the phone .. its perfect *close* Lots of haters it seems ....... But, i sell for AT&T.....
THE HTC ONE X IS AN AWESOME PHONE. BEST I'VE HAD.
robin
12
i already have galaxy s2 one..very nice smartphone even compared to iphone 4.as per my knowledge Samsung is one of the most innovative company in the world now. ~ $40 billion into R&D (2012) is a huge investment. Samsung has just claimed a breakthrough in graphene development, by creating a semiconductor from the material.check <a href="http://www.careace.net/2012/06/22/galaxy-s-ii-price-guide-which-has-the-highest-resale-value-and-why/">Galaxy S II Price Guide: Which has the highest resale value and why?</a> .
daz
13
Defending multi-nationals that you have no alignment with like your children.
ROFL have a cry why don't ya SIII X1 waaaa waaaa waaaa
ricky0702
14
These are all matter of personal opinion, however giving the opportunity
and the MEANS to any of the two phones I will go for Samsung GSIII since it has a removable battery and expandable memory.the Galaxy S III camera is definitely the superior camera.I heard that Galaxy S III and iPhone 4S used the same 8M pixel image senor from Sony.read another briefed comparison of the One X and Galaxy S III here.http://www.careace.net/2012/05/16/superphone-showdown-samsung-galaxy-s-iii-vs-htc-one-x/
siddharth
15
HTC one x all the way kudoz to the makers , I just bought this phone and have been living every bit of it so far, I'm so obsessed I sleep with the phone right next to me , Samsung makers go and make tvs and other stuff coz that is what you guys are good at , and leave.the phone sectors for HTC,bb and apple makers .
Charmaine
16
Im sooo Devistated I just lost my Velocity...:( so getting a One...I looked at the samsung and I just dont like the feel of it...I love the high end feel of the HTC models. They are great phones...:)
low_rida
17
Get a grip.. it's not a war. Personal preference I feel is the biggest factor. Both sweet phones. I just purchased the galaxy 3 today, yet to have a descent look.. to the guy who wrote the second post... lmao , and you told her she sounded biast.. your reaction was like she just said something degrading about your mum..
ml
18
Galaxy s3 has 2gigs of ram.
pine Moore
19
I bought phones, one for me and one for my son. I have the HTC X one and he has the new Samsung. I am sorry to say that my HTC x one has had so many break downs, I am always talking with HTC help desk and last week my phone went into repair. My son is very happy with his phone. I didn’t want the Samsung galaxy because I liked what the HTC has. Unfortunately I was wrong and should have got the Galaxy
Phultruu
20
i want Gullu
Janine Williams
21
Samsung Galaxy S lll may equal or slghtly better the HTC ONE X slightly in some areas, but if you are looking for pure quality of construction and feel of a top performing phone the HTC ONE X wins every time!!!!!
Dave
22
Me and my wife both have a htc one x but both have had problems with the WiFi antenna.
I managed to improve it by pulling the phones apart.
The lack of removable battery and memory I am changing to Samsung and probably the note 3 when it comes out to do away with the ipad.