Hey everyone, it's Michael with Pocketnow, and today we're doing a quick comparison of
two leading Android LTE smartphones: the Samsung Galaxy Nexus on Verizon, and the HTC One X
on AT&T.
We'll show you how they stack up in a few key areas - specs, build, display, ui performance,
and camera, and which one you should think of buying if you're on the fence.
Okay, these phones are separated by about six months as far as release dates go, so
we're obviously going to see some spec differences under the hood.
The LTE version of the Galaxy Nexus is working with a TI OMAP dual-core processor clocked
at 1.2 GHz.
It also packs a gig of RAM and 32 gigs of storage space, 28 of which are available to
the user.
On the other hand, the LTE One X features a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 clocked at 1.5 GHz.
It's got the same 1 gig of RAM, but only 16 gigs of storage - and only 12 of that is available
to the user.
So if you need a lot of memory, you can stop right here.
The Galaxy Nexus is going to be the winner for you.
But if you do store a lot of your memory intensive content in the cloud, or if you don't need
a lot of storage for some other reason, it's still anybody's game.
Let's check out the build quality.
After carrying the One X as my daily driver for about a week, going back to the Galaxy
Nexus is quite a shift.
It almost feels thick in the hand, much more like a rounded stone than the flat shingle
of the One X.
The casing is only slightly smaller than the One X, but it fits much better in the hand,
probably because of its increased thickness.
It doesn't feel like a giant phone, while the One X really, really does by comparison.
On the other hand, the materials on the One X are just incredible.
As I said in the review, it's almost like holding a piece of futuristic chalk, rather
than plastic.
The polycarbonate casing, along with the clean lines and unique design, just blows away the
generic look of the Galaxy Nexus, which looks okay, but feels almost chintzy by comparison.
But the casing is only as important as what it surrounds: the display.
The Galaxy Nexus rocks a 4.65-inch Super AMOLED panel, while the One X is packing a 4.7-inch
Super LCD-2.
Which one comes out on top?
There's really no room for subjectivity here; unless you have bad eyesight, it's pretty
clear that the One X display just destroys the panel on the Galaxy Nexus.
While they're both 720p displays with excellent, deep blacks and vibrant colors, the One X's
SLCD2 with the RGB pixel arrangement delivers much better whites; they're crisp and clean,
while the whites on the Galaxy Nexus' Pentile Super AMOLED look a lot more like a wet newspaper.
And HTC has really showcased its superior color performance with the animations available
in Sense.
Also, because the Galaxy Nexus uses the softkeys in stock ICS, you're losing a bunch of pixels
at the bottom of the display.
The One X doesn't usually have that problem, thanks to its capacitive keys here, so though
its display is really only maybe a twentieth of an inch bigger, its usable area is significantly
larger.
Speaking of stock ICS, these phones offer two radically different software experiences.
As Google's Android flagship, the Galaxy Nexus is running stock Ice Cream Sandwich, and so
is the One X.
The difference is that the One X is running Sense 4 on top of Android.
In practice, this means that even though HTC has lightened up a lot on Sense, you're going
to get more glitz, and more trim on the One X than on the Galaxy Nexus.
It's all very pretty, but it does weigh down the experience a bit, especially when Sense
has to reload all of its widgets when you jump back to the homescreen from an app.
And the Sense keyboard, as I discussed in my full review, looks pretty ... but is one
of the worst I've used for English typing.
The stock experience, on the other hand, while possessing much less visual flair, is much
more responsive and snappy, and much more apt to "just work" in my experience.
Sure, it's less exciting, but its minimalism is quite appealing.
And the keyboard is phenomenal.
Finally, HTC is making a lot of noise about the so-called "amazing camera" in the One
X.
How does that claim work out in reality?
In short, pretty well.
The saturation is a little higher than what most people will be used to, and the low-light
performance could be better, but the One X's camera delivers better results than the shooter
in the Galaxy Nexus.
And not just because of the 8MP versus 5MP difference, either; the software is what really
gives the One X its leg up over the Samsung contender, allowing users to shoot still shots
in video and to take up to 20 shots in quick succession.
Also, the unified viewfinder is a real time saver.
By contrast, the Galaxy Nexus is a disappointment.
While the camera software on stock ICS is very clean and quick -and I really like the
built-in panorama mode- the sensor?s performance is very disappointing.
Colors are reproduced somewhat more accurately than the One X, but everything is cast in
a slightly gray pallor - it?s almost like you?re shooting through a fine mist, especially
in low light.
So they're both beastly devices with some of the best specs you can get, on the two
biggest networks in the United States.
The LTE Galaxy Nexus is available on Verizon Wireless for $199.99 on contract, and the
LTE One X will be available May 6th for the same price on a two-year agreement.
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So which one to get?
Well, coverage and carriers will make some of that decision for you, but talking strictly
about the hardware: both devices have flagship specs.
If you're looking for a better camera experience, ultramodern design, an amazing display, and
superior battery life, the One X is for you.
But if you want a more solid, more fluid day-to-day user experience, with the probability of somewhat
faster updates from Google, go for the Galaxy Nexus.
This has been Michael with Pocketnow; Give us a thumbs up if you like what you saw.
Thanks for watching, and we'll see you next time.