HTC's Desire series recently welcomed a new member to the family, the Desire X. This phone has a 4" LCD screen, a 5-Megapixel camera, a 4 GB internal memory (with 25 GB free cloud-based storage via Dropbox). It runs on a 1 GHz dual-core Qualcomm processor and Android Ice Cream Sandwich with HTC's Sense overlay. All in all, the Desire X is a mid-range handset that falls just below the One S in HTC's product line-up. Time to take a closer look.
The Desire X (left) next to the One S (right)
Design & Handling
From the front and the side, the Desire X bears a clear resemblance to other HTC handsets. It has the same rounded edges and a pleasant-to-touch casing that's very slightly convex so that the phone sits nicely in the palm of your hand. Ultimately, the Desire X is like a smaller, lighter version of the One S.
The finish is impeccable in the Desire X and assembly is good. We've got not no real complaints here.
Screen
The 4" screen has good contrast (990:1) and colour fidelity is OK, although there's still room for improvement—the Delta E is 6.4, compared with 3.4 for the iPhone 5 and 5 for the One S. Note that the closer the Delta E is to zero, the more accurately onscreen colours are displayed. Screen brightness isn't amazing, but it's within average for current smartphones. In bright sunlight you can still just about see pictures and other info onscreen.
However, screen viewing angles are quite tight here, so the onscreen image looks dark when you view the Desire X display from the side.
Interface & Navigation
Like other HTC handsets, including the One range, the Desire X uses HTC's Sense interface over an underlying Android OS. This adds loads of resizeable widgets for customising your smartphone and an easy-to-use and visually pleasing graphic environment.
The Desire X doesn't disappoint on responsiveness either. Browsing through menus is nice and smooth, and running several apps at once poses no problem. Obviously, the tech specs here are no match for current market heavyweights (in terms of pure performance, the Desire X is a fair way behind), so you may need to forget about playing the most recent power-packed games. However, casual gaming is still within reach.
Multimedia
The Desire X camera is nothing special, but it's fine for users mainly looking to take snaps for uploading to social networking and other websites. While shots are actually a little more detailed and generally sharper than with the HTC One S, the Desire X takes pictures that are quite red-looking and often overexposed. In low-light conditions (evening, dusk, a party, etc.), it can be hard to make much out.
While we've seen some high-end smartphone cameras (iPhone 5, Lumia 920) do a decent job of taking photos at night with no flash, mid-range mobiles like the Desire X haven't yet caught up with this recent technological progress. In other words, the Desire X camera is no match for those in the latest top-of-the-range mobiles. And for a mid-range model, it's only just average. The same goes for the video mode too—it's just about OK for a fall-back solution.
The Desire X handles Internet-related activity well, with a speedy and reasonably well-designed browser. Pages load up quite quickly.
Audio quality is a nice surprise in the HTC Desire X—a first for a product using Beats Audio technology! The headphones out is on par with the best, with a precise output, a good dynamic range and power levels rarely seen, especially with such low distortion. However, as with most smartphones these days, you really need to replace the hands-free kit supplied with some decent headphones if you want to get the best out of your music.
Battery Life
When put to the test with our battery life benchmark for Android phones (Battery BenchMark: using Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, web, multimedia, variable brightness etc.), the Desire X didn't get a particularly impressive result. In fact, with 8 hours and 11 minutes in the benchmark test, the Desire X should just about give a day's use. Plenty of phones do better (like Samsung's Galaxy Note 2 with its monster battery) but some phones also do worse (Motorola Atrix 2, for example).
The Desire X (left) next to the One S (right)
Design & Handling
From the front and the side, the Desire X bears a clear resemblance to other HTC handsets. It has the same rounded edges and a pleasant-to-touch casing that's very slightly convex so that the phone sits nicely in the palm of your hand. Ultimately, the Desire X is like a smaller, lighter version of the One S.
The rear-facing camera is again highlighted with a blue ring
The finish is impeccable in the Desire X and assembly is good. We've got not no real complaints here.
Screen
The 4" screen has good contrast (990:1) and colour fidelity is OK, although there's still room for improvement—the Delta E is 6.4, compared with 3.4 for the iPhone 5 and 5 for the One S. Note that the closer the Delta E is to zero, the more accurately onscreen colours are displayed. Screen brightness isn't amazing, but it's within average for current smartphones. In bright sunlight you can still just about see pictures and other info onscreen.
However, screen viewing angles are quite tight here, so the onscreen image looks dark when you view the Desire X display from the side.
Interface & Navigation
Like other HTC handsets, including the One range, the Desire X uses HTC's Sense interface over an underlying Android OS. This adds loads of resizeable widgets for customising your smartphone and an easy-to-use and visually pleasing graphic environment.
The Desire X doesn't disappoint on responsiveness either. Browsing through menus is nice and smooth, and running several apps at once poses no problem. Obviously, the tech specs here are no match for current market heavyweights (in terms of pure performance, the Desire X is a fair way behind), so you may need to forget about playing the most recent power-packed games. However, casual gaming is still within reach.
Multimedia
The Desire X camera is nothing special, but it's fine for users mainly looking to take snaps for uploading to social networking and other websites. While shots are actually a little more detailed and generally sharper than with the HTC One S, the Desire X takes pictures that are quite red-looking and often overexposed. In low-light conditions (evening, dusk, a party, etc.), it can be hard to make much out.
While we've seen some high-end smartphone cameras (iPhone 5, Lumia 920) do a decent job of taking photos at night with no flash, mid-range mobiles like the Desire X haven't yet caught up with this recent technological progress. In other words, the Desire X camera is no match for those in the latest top-of-the-range mobiles. And for a mid-range model, it's only just average. The same goes for the video mode too—it's just about OK for a fall-back solution.
The Desire X handles Internet-related activity well, with a speedy and reasonably well-designed browser. Pages load up quite quickly.
Audio quality is a nice surprise in the HTC Desire X—a first for a product using Beats Audio technology! The headphones out is on par with the best, with a precise output, a good dynamic range and power levels rarely seen, especially with such low distortion. However, as with most smartphones these days, you really need to replace the hands-free kit supplied with some decent headphones if you want to get the best out of your music.
Battery Life
When put to the test with our battery life benchmark for Android phones (Battery BenchMark: using Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, web, multimedia, variable brightness etc.), the Desire X didn't get a particularly impressive result. In fact, with 8 hours and 11 minutes in the benchmark test, the Desire X should just about give a day's use. Plenty of phones do better (like Samsung's Galaxy Note 2 with its monster battery) but some phones also do worse (Motorola Atrix 2, for example).
Pros
- Design, handling, finish
- Sense interface is intuitive and well-integrated
- A generally responsive handset
- Audio quality
Cons
- Small internal memory
- Screen viewing angles are quite tight
- Photo quality
- High SAR level
Conclusion
The HTC Desire X is a nice smartphone to use and is generally responsive. Multimedia performances are a bit of a mixed bag, though, with excellent audio quality but a camera that could be better.
OUR SCORE
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