Is the Desire X a good reinvented phone, or
just a backlash from HTC?
Before we go into more detail about the HTC
Desire X, remember the time before the company launched the "One"
series of the Android phones. You may remember such names like Wildfire,
Sensation, Rhyme, and of course, Desire. You may also remember many conversations
about the company's plans to simplify the Android phones, and to release slower
and more considerable phones. So, we were a little confused when we first heard
about the Desire X. HTC has a cheap phone, which is the One V, but it seems
that it is not cheap enough and the Desire C has filled the position at the
most basic level. With a dual-core 1GHz processor, WVGA screen (800x480) and
5MP camera, the specs come from the same era as the original Desire, with a bit
more modern price: $390 in Europe. So, with any "One" brand removed,
but bearing the name that many people will remember lovingly, is the Desire X a
good reinvented phone, or just a backlash from HTC? We spent some time in the
company to find it out.
HTC
Desire X
Hardware
If you check the specs of the original
Desire and the Desire X, you will see that in about 2 years which separate
them, the screen has increased from 3.7 inches to 4 inches (the capacitive
buttons are still present on the X) with RAM of 768MB rather than 512MB, a 5MP
camera and the resolution remains the same. The clock speed does not change,
but this time you will have one more core with Qualcomm MSM8225 Snapdragon
chipset. However, things are not looking to the past.
The overall design of the device mimics
some features from the One series, which gives it a good design and modern
feel. We started from the rear: the removable battery has a matte finish, which
is almost soft, except for a plastic part around the camera lens and LED flash.
The perimeter of the camera is made of plastic with ridges, which almost feels
like a part cut off from the vinyl. Below this is the HTC logo embossed at 90
degrees, and Beats audio brand along the bottom. Located to the left of the
brand are some small holes covering the speaker. This rear casing also contains
the ports for the headphone jack, micro-USB port and mic, as well as the power
button / standby and volume rocker. However, there is no way to insert nails if
you want to remove it; instead you will have to put something into that gap
where there is more leverage (mainly around the top). The benefit here is that
it makes the phone look like a coherent unit. The disadvantage is that getting
under the hood a cumbersome task. However, once you figure out the way, you
will see the 1650mAh battery, the SIM slot and the large microSD port.
The
disadvantage is that getting under the hood a cumbersome task.
It is when you find your way back to the
front of the device that its family lineage becomes more obvious. Apart from
the small drilled speaker holes on the top, and the Android 4.X capacitive
buttons along the bottom, the similarity to the Desire S is very noticeable. There
is the common two-tone bezel at the bottom, where the prominent fascia is found
next to the matte detail cover resting the back, connecting to the outstanding
chin of the phone. When you look around the edges, the finish goes on to both
sides, and contributes to the glossy black chassis around the screen with sharp
cutting edges. The sharp edges really become quite uncomfortable for long and
firm gripping.
The 4-inch super LCD screen is certainly
one of the most astounding elements of the phone. With an average resolution of
800x480, you couldn’t have expected anything more. But the non-PenTile screen is
laminated, with glare reduction and really bright and lively colors. That
feature, along with its not too large size, means that while there may be many
more rich-pixel screens nowadays, what you'll get on the Desire X does not seem
to be of low quality, or secondary. The whites look fresh and clear, but the
blacks are a bit too light, with light passing through and a little blue tones.
We must add that it is not something that causes distraction, but quite noticeable
when placed next to other phones (the Galaxy Nexus or the Acer CloudMobile, for
example). You will be pleased to hear that the lively image reproduction does
not make you sacrifice the expense of the arbitrary contrast, with photos and
videos which seem to have the same level, just like when you are viewing the
files on the desktop.
The
4-inch super LCD screen is certainly one of the most astounding elements of the
phone.
The Desire X’s Radio will tune in to GSM /
EGDE (850/900/1800/1900) and HSPA + (900/2100), but it also has Bluetooth 4.0,
GPS and single-frequency 802.11b/g/n with DLNA support. The Media Player with
one preset feature allows you to "select player" for sharing with
compatible devices. We checked this with Samsung Smart TV Wi-Fi on the same
network, and the phone detected it immediately. Once selected, the video that
we chose started playing, and we did not need to touch the controls on the TV
at any time. Perhaps it was a bit brutal, but effective.
