The HTC One X was not only our most recent prize won via the One-Paw Bandit game, it has been a constant fixture in the Official Smartphone Rankings top 5.  And we are sure that PhoneDog fan MEZHAL CALUZA MARTINEZ ULAO has been a weekly voter helping make sure the One X stays on top.  He has left us an extremely indepth user review that we are happy to feature today.

"It Raised the Bar on Smartphone Tech and Still is a Great Phone to have for 2012" By MEZHAL CALUZA MARTINEZ ULAO on October 16, 2012

I've been using my HTC One X for over a month now, and to be honest I love the way it has been working and helping me get through my day of work and fun with out a hitch. The only problem I have had with the HTC One X was the battery life when I first got it. I updated it to the 1.28 software update and it improved the battery life and further improved the fluidity of the flow of graphics. This week I got to update it to the 1.29 update and it has made things even better. I have constantly found myself trying to drain the battery by bedtime (watching videos, playing temple run, and just browsing the net) but still find that I have a lot of power left. I noticed that if not used and left on its own there is hardly a power leakage happening.

Only concern I have is keeping the phone's camera safe from scratches, hopefully by the week there'll be a case to do just that. Best accessory that I have bought (in SM Mall of Asia) though was the Invisi shield by Zagg which covered my phones entire body from scratches and only cost Php 1,500 with lifetime warranty (note - dont put your phone in your pocket or in tight places till after 72 hours, cause you need to allow the shield to fully settle). No more worries about discoloration and scratches of the white polycarbonate shell case. To help keep the camera safe from scratches I got a black phone sock that covers HTC One X's body quite well.

I have used the iPhone 3G, HTC Wildfire, Samsung Galaxy Y(I still have this one for my sun line), and the Samsung Galaxy W(loved this one cause of the 1.4ghz single core-price was pretty cheap Php12K-10K) prior to my HTC One X. IPhone 3G had enough storage space for me but lagged a lot when I used the applications. HTC Wildfire had a cool HTC Sense Interface but due to lack of RAM space and memory I constantly found myself deleting applications a lot. Temple Run couldn't run on the HTC Wildfire because it was running below 1000ghz cpu power (600mhz to be exact). Samsung Galaxy Y had similar issues with the HTC Wildfire, however I found it more fluid in terms of usability compared to that of the HTC Wildfire, which is why I choose to keep it as a second phone. I sold my HTC Wildfire to get the Samsung Galaxy W (I got the White Edition cause it looked amazing). I just loved the speaker and the fluidity of the Samsung Galaxy W. In terms of memory it has around 4gb of internal memory - 1.2 is useable and the 1.82gb is the USB memory + external memory card slot. Camera is at 5MP too and VGA for the Secondary camera. The one thing I didn't like about the samsung Galaxy W - Temple Run was lagging a lot and I only got to play decently when I have rebooted. RAM is always being fully utilized in the Samsung Galaxy W. If you are a heavy user and rely a lot of multi-tasking for your day to day activities, Samsung Galaxy performs just as well as the IPhone 4. But if you need more gaming and computing power best to go look elsewhere. After a month's usage I gave the phone to my sister as a gift, since she wasn't a heavy user like me and is obsessed with angry birds and not temple run :)

HTC One X is what I chose to go with and there have been so many mixed reviews about the phone. People have said to wait for the Samsung Galaxy S3 or the LG Optimus 4X. I have learned a habit of now reviewing what people say about a phone then testing it myself to see how it works in real life. In comparison I chose the HTC One X for the way it looks and feels. It compliments my personality and style. Samsung Galaxy S3 and LG Optimus looks a bit plasticky and if you bring it down to actual usage irregardless of benchmark tests they all work and feel fluid and handle the daily workloads quite well. I've got over 356 applications now on my HTC One X and to be honest I dont get to use them all, but it was pretty convenient to have them all ready when I want to use them.

Here are the applications though that I use the most:

Navigator - This is free and was able to download offline maps. With HTC One X's GPS working with their map, I have found that I dont need to be online to find my way around plus there is voice guidance (British accent though) to guide me through. Having a big memory helps here. Though I think with Samsung Galaxy W this would work just as well.

Camera 360 - I love this application because it allows me to use my phone's camera like an SLR camera without the need for external filters. This application works quite well for Samsung Galaxy W as well. But if you try it with the Samsung Galaxy Y you'll find that the camera orientation is skewed pretty badly. If you find that the photo is not being saved to the gallery simply change the effects and re-save. This also works amazingly with the iPhone 4s.

Instagram - I don't think I need to talk much about the use and benefits of instagram since over 10million people have already downloaded it and it does take amazing shots as well as edits photos pretty well. What I normally do though is I take pictures using my HTC One X's Camera(HTC has amazing effect edits similar to that of Instagram and Cam360) or the Cam 360 then edit it further in Instagram which uploads the final edits to my Facebook, Twitter, and Foursquares account. HTC One X's Camera is at 8MP for the main and 1.3MP for the front(only used this one for skype and vanity shots). You'll need to have at least 1GHz cpu power to be allowed to download and use this application.

Streamzoo - like Instagram but better cause I dont have to be forcefully cropping the shots I took unlike in Instagram all shots taken have to be cropped to fit Instagram's profile shot requirements. Same functionality as well but unfortunately isn't as popular as Instagram.

Evernote - I jot down minutes of the meetings, email agendas, create to do checklist, and share it with people seamlessly either via email or to their evernote accounts. Works well with my Samsung Galaxy Y and Samsung Galaxy W. I think it would work well with the HTC Wildfire but may cause a lot of lag for the unit. You can also use it on your PC to take webclips and later view it on your smartphone device. I also use it to take snapshot for documents and notes that I can review for later - makes it a lot easier than retyping a whole document (of course for this one it would be best if you use a phone with at least 5MP clarity wise)

Dolphin Browser and its add ons - This one works extremely well and much better than the pre-installed android internet browser. I use the battery saver addon and evernote add on for this. You can also set it to auto delete the cache and history for optimized used when exiting the application.

Google Apps - There are several that comes pre-installed but the ones that aren't such as Google drive I strongly recommend to get. It is free and works just as well as DropBox with a bigger storage capacity.

TuneIn Radio - Allows me to listen to local radio stations over the net. Easy to use and sound quality is amazing. Just make sure you have a speedy internet connection when you use it.

DI Radio - House music radio station to get them bootie thumping happening. I love listening to party and dance music when I am working and this one works just as well as podcast radio stations on my iTunes.

Temple Run - Who hasn't gotten caught up with this game as of yet. If you haven't best to try it out and be prepared to spend a lot of time on it. To be able to download this you'll need to get a phone that runs on a 1Ghz CPU processor but be warned, single core units may have lag moments. On the HTC One X and am sure with its quad core brothers that are now out in the market, Temple Run Gaming is going to be really fun and smooth to play with.

Over all

I use the Camera application more than anything. Video and Burst Shot Applications have made taking shots fun and convenient. Picture Quality is Amazing, even the front camera resolution is just as great. With applications such as Camera 360, Instagram and Streamzoo, + HTC One X's internal effects edits make even more of a difference with the quality of shots. Just be very careful with camera and make sure it is protected from scratches as this is the most vulnerable part of the phone. I used to bring a Sony Cybershot Camera when I travel around, now I just bring my HTC One X. The Navigator Helps me get around just as well as our CarNavi and works better than that Hyundai Santa Fe's internal GPS unit. I would strongly recommend grabbing this phone and if you need a referral as to where to buy this here in the Phil at a lower cost give me a PM and I'd gladly guide you to the shop of my friend in Parksquare Beside Glorietta. In CashCashPinoy they have this on sale at Php29K with my friend and another shop they currently have it on Php28K. They are also selling the Samsung Galaxy Note at Php25K just in case you were interested in that pretty amazing tablet like phone-Phablet I think is what Samsung Peeps are calling it.

I'll be using my HTC One X to take shots in our Bangkok Trip next week so standby for that article. I am pretty sure I'll be able to take amazing shots with it on the trip. Also already downloaded the Map of Thailand so I should be able to Navigate around the City quite easily.

Till then...

Display 5/5
Battery Life 3/5
Apps & Media Support 5/5
Reception & Call Quality 5/5
Design/Form Factor 5/5

Overall 4.6

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Want to read more HTC One X user reviews? Enjoy them from here.