HTC One X Vs Samsung Galaxy Note 2

Introduction:

The Galaxy Note II is here and it features an even larger 5.5” screen, improved S Pen ergonomics, and a beefed up quad-core processor. It is definitely not a handset for everyone, but if you are used to carry big-screen Android phones, the step up is not nearly as big, like when you are coming from a more compact handset.

If you are just now starting to look into larger screens, there are a number of those to take into account before you jump into the Note II adventure. One of the big-screen Android leaders is the HTC One X, which, with its 4.7 inches, is a sight to behold, too, and was the first handset to hit the shelves with a quad-core processor.

Is the Note II the right fit for you, or will an HTC One X be better for your pocket, both literally and figuratively speaking? Read on our comparison to find out...


Design:

There is some truth to the notion that the Note II is simply an oversized Galaxy S III in terms of its design heritage. It uses the same polycarbonate plastic, and especially the white versions seem very much alike save for the size. 

	Android keys	Speakers and front cameras
The Samsung Galaxy Note II (left) and the HTC One X (right)

The HTC One X, however, has a very distinct design, and a beautiful curved polycarbonate unibody, that sits very well in the hand. Speaking of which, most of the time you will be operating a Note II with both hands, whereas one-handed operation is still possible on the One X on occasion.
 

The sides of the Samsung Galaxy Note II (left) and the HTC One X (right)

The Note II, however, has the advantage of expandability, as you can simply remove the thin battery cover, and swap out the microSD card, the large 3, 100mAh battery, or the micro SIM. It is a big plus nowadays when most flagships come with either a sealed battery compartment, only with internal memory, or both, which is the case with the One X.

Backs	Rear cameras	Loudspeakers
The Samsung Galaxy Note II (left) and the HTC One X (right)

Display:

The 5.5” 16:9 screen on the Galaxy Note II is the best HD Super AMOLED so far from Samsung, but the 4.7-incher on the HTC One X, being a top-notch LCD screen, has its advantages. First off, it is brighter than what we have on the Note II, and at 312ppi, has a higher pixel density, since both phones sport 1280x720 pixels with three (red, white and blue) subpixels for each. The Note II sports low screen reflectance ratio, so it is very visible outside but still the One X also has good reflectance, so it is better outside due to the sheer brightness of its screen. 

Both phones sport excellent viewing angles, and vivid, to the point of oversaturated colors in the Note II, yet the white of the One X is closer to the standard than on the Note II. The Super AMOLED display, however, has a much higher contrast, and the video playback is what the Note II will beat any other phone in, because of its sheer screen size.

Interface and functionality:

The Note II sports the newest Nature UX of Samsung with its Smart Stay, Pop Up Play and AllShare Cast streaming features, which we discussed in our Galaxy S III review, but it also comes with Jelly Bean out of the box - an advantage until the One X gets updated.

The Samsung Galaxy Note II comes with the newest Android 4.1.1 version

HTC’s handsets have the Sense UI to counter with, and it comes with quite a lot of useful features, too, not to mention eye-candy and polish, so which one will you pick depends on personal preference. HTC Sense seems a more holistic and deeply interwoven into Android interface, with a more buttoned-down look, whereas the cartoonish TouchWiz icons and widgets are not as visually sophisticated.

The HTC One X runs Android 4.0.3 Ice Cream Sandwich, personalized with the new Sense 4 UI

The HTC One X, however, lacks one very important selling point of the Note II - an S Pen stylus with its own silo, which adds numerous other useful features and apps to the mix.


S Pen apps:

The stylus in the Note II is much improved in comparison with the original - it has a more ergonomic grip now, and the new technology inside allows you to leave faster and smoother ink trace. Moreover, the S Pen has learned new tricks now, too, with the most intriguing one being Air View, which brings up previews of emails, image galleries and button labels when you hover over them. For a full rundown of the S Note features, peak into our Note II review.


Processor and memory:

The Galaxy Note II sports a 1.6 GHz quad-core Exynos 4412 processor, compared to the 1.5 GHz quad-core Tegra 3 in the international One X, which transforms to a 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 with LTE radio for the US edition. The US LTE One X is preferable, since its silicon is made with the current generation 28nm die shrink, as opposed to the 40nm of the Tegra 3, which make the international version behave lower in benchmarks, and the handset heats significantly on top of that, but hey, it was the first smartphone to hit the market with a quad-core processor after all, whatever that means.

We have 2GB of RAM memory in the Note II, double the One X amount, and the US LTE version of the One X start you off with the same 16GB amount of internal memory  - about 10GB are user-available in the Note II, whereas we have about 12GB on the One X, and no memory slot to expand. The Note II has 32GB and 64GB versions announced, however, whereas the One X has its international version with 32GB, and again no microSD slot for expansion.

When we couple the more powerful processor with Android Jelly Bean’s interface optimizations, the Note II comes superior in UI fluidity and app performance, which will hold at least until the One X gets updated, too.


Internet and Connectivity:

The Nature UX browser is very optimized, and powered by a speedier processor on the Note II, but the difference in performance is not that noticeable, as both browsers are quick. However, with the browser in Jelly Bean we are losing Adobe Flash support, and there are quite a few websites that can’t be enjoyed fully, or at all, without Adobe’s piece of software, which the ICS browser on the One X supports.

The browser of the Samsung Galaxy Note II

The built-in browser of the HTC One X

The Galaxy Note II has a 100 Mbits LTE radio and also 21 Mbits HSPA+ connectivity, whereas the One X comes with HSPA+ radio in its international version, but offers an LTE/HSPA+ combo in the US. These speeds are, of course, theoretical, and depend on your carrier network.

Both handsets are loaded with a variety of radios, like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, DLNA, and NFC, using the versatile MHL port for wired connectivity.


Camera:

We get an 8MP camera module with LED flash with both handsets, and the performance of the cameras is extremely snappy. The handsets have proprietary image signal processors, and HTC has even called its tech the HTC ImageChip. The phones take subsecond times to focus and take a picture with no shutter lag, and yet the One X is faster in that regard. 

Camera interface of the Samsung Galaxy Note II

Camera interface of the HTC One X

We get similar shot modes, like HDR or Panorama, and numerous effects to apply on your pictures and video with both phones, but the number of effects is richer on the One X, and the interface is easier to navigate than the cluttered one on the Note II.

There is a Best Photo mode on the Note II, akin to the Burst Shot mode on the One X, taking a lot of pictures at once in rapid succession, and suggesting which one to keep afterwards. We also have the Best Faces mode on the Note II, too, which keeps the best pose and look of your photo subjects, and also a Low Light mode is present on both phones for situations where luminance is an issue.

The pictures themselves are better when coming from the Note II, as the One X saturates and applies overzealous noise suppression algorithms, which fade the level of detail. More over, the One X sometimes has purple fringing issues, and as a whole its images look more unnatural than those from the Note II.

Samsung Galaxy Note II
HTC One X Outdoor samples

Strong	Medium	Low light	Darkness
Samsung Galaxy Note II
HTC One X Indoor samples

Video capture is with 1080p on both handsets, but while on the Note II it goes with smooth 30fps both inside and outside, on the One X it is captured with the choppier 23fps outside, and even less indoors. Moreover, the One X sometimes struggles to lock and keep focus during video capture. HTC’s phone sports better stereo audio quality while filming than what is captured by the noise-canceling mics of the Note II.

Multimedia:

Both phones support tune categorization and equalizer presets, but the Sense music player on the One X is with sleeker-looking interface, and it has the Beats Audio branding on its side, although it is not that much of an advantage in reality.

The Nature UX music player

Beats Audio is available in the music player of the HTC One X

When it comes to loudspeaker performance in playing music, the Note II wins hands down, with one of the most powerful speakers we’ve heard on a smartphone, which on top of that doesn’t sound flat, and outputs pretty clean sound, even at the highest volume, whereas the speaker on the One X comes wimpy in comparison.

Both video players support high-def video playback, but we have the Pop Up Play function on the Note II, where you can simply detach the video currently played, and keep doing something else, while it plays in a moveable pop-up windows brought at the front at all times.

In the default folder view the Gallery on the Galaxy Note II gets the screen split, with the categories on the left, and their content on the right, taking good better advantage of the large screen real estate, and the same goes for the YouTube app. We also get a 3D Timeline view of the pictures and video in chronological order, or a spiral 3D view, rumored to be borrowed from Samsung’s Tizen OS. 

There is a choice of 3D views in the Gallery app

The Sense gallery on the One X is sleek-looking, too, and it offers a rich picture editor app integrated, which is a separate download on the Note II with a Samsung account registration needed.

The Sense gallery

Call quality:

Both handsets sport a pretty good call quality, with clear voices both in the earpiece, and on the receiving side. The Note II is much stronger in the earpiece, though, and with fuller sound. The noise-canceling mics on the phones do a good job at isolating the surrounding noise for the receiving end when you start to speak.


Battery:

Needless to say, the larger 3,100 mAh battery on the Note II, coupled with the more frugal processor, beats the 1,800 mAh sealed unit of the One X, regardless of its smaller screen

There are no official talk times yet from Samsung, but we made one very unscientific test to check how the Note II stacks up against the Note and the Galaxy S III during the HD Super AMOLED’s most frugal consumption - video playback. We charged all three phones to 100%, put them in airplane mode, pumped up the brightness to the max, and ran the same HD video for an hour and change. At the end the Note showed 83%, the Galaxy S III showed 87%, while the Note II’s monster battery discharged only 8%, bringing it down to 92%.

The HTC One X is rated for 6 hours of video playback, and with the Note II you will likely get more than double that, but the AMOLED screen will be much more power-consuming while browsing the web, for example, since the white backgrounds rev up its display power draw.


Conclusion:

The HTC One X has certain advantages before the Galaxy Note II, like a brighter screen and a beautiful, light and compact unibody design, but in most other aspects it gives way to Samsung’s giant. If looks are your thing, you are probably wondering how are people appearing in public with something like the Note II anyway.

Samsung’s handset has a large, beautiful HD Super AMOLED screen, too, and its way larger battery ensures much better battery life than what you will get with the One X, plus you can swap the battery, or put a microSD card in it, unlike the sealed unibody design of HTC’s phone.

When we add the number of extra functions brought around by the S Pen stylus of the Note II, it becomes a more complete package compared to the HTC One X, but only for users who are willing to go all the way up to its  size.