Stuck choosing between a Note and a HTC One X

[ifb-online]

I currently have a HTC Desire and it's time to upgrade as my contract is almost up. I have narrowed down to a choice between the HTC One X and a Samsung Galaxy Note.

I want a relatively large screen with 1280 pixels on the long side as I am a webmaster and this will help me manage my websites fairly easily. I'm also a photographer and journalist and both these large screen handsets will serve well for note taking and photo viewing.

As I see it - the Note has a better quality screen (I'm a fan of OLED and have this screen tech in my HTC Desire) while One X has an arguably better UI in Sense that I am of course already mostly familiar with. Not keen on the One X non user-replaceable battery, but am attracted to the quad core processor and overall aesthetic design. I'm also a little worried that the Note is just a fraction too big. I do like the stylus feature of the Note. The Note is slightly cheaper, too. Then again, the One X is designed for ICS, which I already use on my tablet, and ICS has not yet arrived for the Note.

So there you go - which should I buy?

Ian

 

[ArmageddonX]

I would recommend the HTC One X. It looks to be a really fantastic device with a great CPU. The S-LCD2 display is going to be beautiful & Sense 4.0 looks to be the new UI to beat (IMHO)

Good luck with your choice!

~ ArmyX

 

[ifb-online]

I would recommend the HTC One X. It looks to be a really fantastic device with a great CPU. The S-LCD2 display is going to be beautiful & Sense 4.0 looks to be the new UI to beat (IMHO)

Good luck with your choice!

~ ArmyX

Well, why do you think S-LCD2 is better than Super AMOLED?

Strangely, early One X adopters seem disappointed with performance despite the quad core power available.

My Desire is only a sub-GHz single core device with relatively limited memory and I'm not that troubled by its performance, so the dual core 1.4GHz Note should be fine for me.

The prospect of ICS on the Note and Premium Suite is also looking very good.

Ian

 

[ArmageddonX]

Well, why do you think S-LCD2 is better than Super AMOLED?

Strangely, early One X adopters seem disappointed with performance despite the quad core power available.

My Desire is only a sub-GHz single core device with relatively limited memory and I'm not that troubled by its performance, so the dual core 1.4GHz Note should be fine for me.

The prospect of ICS on the Note and Premium Suite is also looking very good.

Ian

I wont get into the S-LCD2 vs AMOLED debate. It's really a matter of personal taste. I prefer the S-LCD2 display.

It sounds like you might really want the Note more than the OneX. My ultimate suggestion is to buy the device you want more.

~ ArmyX

 

[Vicdude]

Get the note, it's lush

Nothing more than a recommendation from the heart.
The size? Believe me, you'll get used to it (AS will your peers) and you'll get used to storing it in different places.
Given your profession, you'll just be kicking yourself if you went with the smaller screened device.
I'm not yet convinced that quad core is actually better. It's a first incarnation and I can't help but think it's marketing hype
This all from an ex Desire user

 

[Vicdude]

Oh, and the switch from Sense to touchwiz..... it was easy

 

[R4nd0mJ0k3r]

The note blows everything else out of the water. If you want a phone with some clever features, get the HTC. If you want a true smartphone, it has to be the note.

I've had mine for three weeks and everybody who I have shown this phone to in any detail wants it, and I have a few mates and colleagues who are some of Apple's Most Extreme fanboys... even they are starting to yearn for android and a galaxy Note after seeing this (My manager at work, a major tech head, said it makes all his Apple Stuff, Mac, Macbook Air, Iphone 4s; feel 'old fashioned').

Another one of my mates has already got rid of his Iphone 4 and upgraded to this... a day after I demo'd it to him.

As for the size... within one hour of use it no longer seemed big to me. It seemed to be the perfect size. I now realise, it is other 'smart'phones that are too small.

Heck, even my GF who pulled the most DISGUSTED face when I first showed it to her ("WHAT? THAT? ITS HUGE!! You'll Look Rediculous!") now wants it.

Yes I'm Biased, yes I love this phone, but from what I can tell, so does everybody else who has seen mine.

- R4nd0mJ0k3r

 

[SteveH0773]

My two year old HTC Desire was replaced yesterday with a Note, which was delivered to my house while I was at work. When I got home, I used the phone for about an hour... Swapping my main apps over, and generally fiddling about. In that hour, I can safely say that I have no doubt I made the right choice.
I also considered the One X, and I do like HTC phones, but I went Samsung just for the change and I have no regrets!

Get the Note!

 

[ifb-online]

I think it's odds-one I will get the Note. I was very focused on getting a One X after originally being attracted to the Note before the One X was announced at the GSM World Congress in Barcelona. But it has been very confusing because many suppliers price the Note higher than the One X in deals, but I now have a competitive deal that is cheaper than a One X by

 

[Pinmac1]

Like you, I am looking to change from the Desire and considered the same 2 that you're looking at. Being of a "certain age" I am after a big screen that I don't need to get my glasses out to peer at! I've had a play with both and I'm sure would be happy with both but I'm going for the Note. The non-removable battery of the One isn't great but it's the removable storage that does it for me. There is a decent 64Gb Sandisk going on Amazon for

 

[GiggityGiggity]

I've had mixed experiences with the Note (which I've detailed in other threads). I've also read good things about the One X. I'd still recommend the Note. And remember, even though the One X has a quadcore cpu apps have to programmed to take advantage of it. Developers are only just starting to catch up with dualcore cpu's. Having a quadcore cpu is only a benefit if the app makes use of it properly. In real terms it's almost irrelevant. And size wise yes it is big. But as everyone else has said, once you've used it for a few hours you won't notice it (unless you have abnormally small hands).

 

[ifb-online]

I can remember when phones much larger than the Note were considered too small Remember the Nokia 2110, my first GSM phone - it replaced an analogue NEC phone and I wondered if anyone would be able to hear me clearly because the end of the phone was so far from my mouth! I was worried that when ICS arrives for the Note there would be some wasted screen area because of the ICS navigation icons, but the Note has extra space on the short side of the screen compared to the One X. I, too, will appreciate not having to squint too hard at the Note's screen, although the One X screen is also pretty big. Having 1280 pixels across will be a near normal web viewing experience on either phone. I hear that some think the Note isn't very smooth in operation. My experience of my Archos 80 G9 tablet being upgraded from Honeycomb to ICS makes me confident that the refinement of the UI performance will be delivered by ICS. Also, my tablet has a lot less horsepower and memory than the Note. I think there is no doubt that the One X looks nicer and was very impressed with HTC's warranty service when my Desire developed a fault, but I think the Note has it by a whisker. I will hopefully order mine today.

Ian

 

[ifb-online]

Like you, I am looking to change from the Desire and considered the same 2 that you're looking at. Being of a "certain age" I am after a big screen that I don't need to get my glasses out to peer at! I've had a play with both and I'm sure would be happy with both but I'm going for the Note. The non-removable battery of the One isn't great but it's the removable storage that does it for me. There is a decent 64Gb Sandisk going on Amazon for

 

[ifb-online]

Well, I have done it! I gave mobiles.co.uk one more chance (the fourth) to call me back, but nothing, so I have gone for the Chitter Chatter deal (thanks eddiewawa!) - and I decided on the Galaxy Note - sorry HTC! Still, a great deal I think;

 

[Pinmac1]

That looks a good deal, Ian. I'm still going to hang on for a while as I still have 3 months left (

 

[fabianfred]

The new Galaxy S3 will have a screen almost as big as the Note...why not wait for that?

 

[NZtechfreak]

Well, I have done it! I gave mobiles.co.uk one more chance (the fourth) to call me back, but nothing, so I have gone for the Chitter Chatter deal (thanks eddiewawa!) - and I decided on the Galaxy Note - sorry HTC! Still, a great deal I think;

 

[Pinmac1]

Fabianfred, the S3 will almost certainly be way too expensive for me. At the moment I'm looking at deals on the Note at

 

[ifb-online]

Aha, I see you have decided!

I was going to chime in as a present owner of both, but it's all settled now by the looks.

You'll love the Note, I am sure (unless the size turns out to be a bother, certainly a problem for lots of people).

No problem still interested to know how you find the two

Ian

 

[Vicdude]

The new Galaxy S3 will have a screen almost as big as the Note...why not wait for that?

Says who?

 

[GiggityGiggity]

Says who?

Exactly. I've seen so much hype and speculation. According to Engadget the German Amazon website briefly listed the S3. According to them it had a 4.7" screen and a 12mp camera. According to a Vietnamese blog it has a 4.6" screen and an 8mp camera. I'll wait until May 3rd for the official announcement thanks.

 

[salla43]

IFB, if you are a webmaster, you are going to need to do a lot of copy and pasting if you want to program on the note?

I really dont know what the HTC is like, but the Note is next to useless in this regard. It's my only complaint with this otherwise nearly perfect device. But it's a bad enough flaw for me to consider shopping around for something better.

 

[ifb-online]

IFB, if you are a webmaster, you are going to need to do a lot of copy and pasting if you want to program on the note?

I really dont know what the HTC is like, but the Note is next to useless in this regard. It's my only complaint with this otherwise nearly perfect device. But it's a bad enough flaw for me to consider shopping around for something better.

I don't intend to do web development using the Note. It won't replace my laptop or office desktop. But the Note will be a much better experience for web browsing with a full-width screen than my Desire. I need to keep tabs on three vBulletin forums, for example, and a bit of blogging. HTML page editing - I will stick to Dreamweaver on the PC. I think the big screen will also make Android's text selection and editing much better than with the small screen I am used to with the Desire. It's certainly better on my tablet which has an 8 inch 1024x768 screen.

Ian

 

[salla43]

I don't intend to do web development using the Note. It won't replace my laptop or office desktop. But the Note will be a much better experience for web browsing with a full-width screen than my Desire. I need to keep tabs on three vBulletin forums, for example, and a bit of blogging. HTML page editing - I will stick to Dreamweaver on the PC. I think the big screen will also make Android's text selection and editing much better than with the small screen I am used to with the Desire. It's certainly better on my tablet which has an 8 inch 1024x768 screen.

Ian

No worries, then. I am hopeful they will at least improve the situation with ICS. The note really is a fabulous device. I did a bit of research on the ONE, and its got no MicroSD, bit of a nono, and battery is sealed too :-( , and only 1800mah, which won't give one much autonomy. The note's bad enough with 2500mah, but we do get the option to upgrade the battery at least

I recommend Dolphin browser, it handles non-mobile views as an option and also has text reflow, which is great.

If ur going from desire to either of these 2 devices you really will feel a major upgrade. I went from a Nokia n900 to this. It's really leaps ahead. I remember at the time i was choosing between the N900 and the desire

Ref final choice, i think its down to what you want to use it for and if the slightly larger "real estate" avlble with the Note and physically bigger size is a boon or impediment to you. But with either you'll be a very happy camper I am sure!

 

[johnb41]

IMO, it's no comparison... if you want a large screen, the Note is your only choice. If screen size isn't a consideration, then your choice is a bit harder, plus you can choose from many other smaller phones. Plus the anticipated Samsung S3 should be out soon. Still, for me, any great new phone to market isn't going to tempt me if it's smaller than the Note.