We stack the HTC One XL up against an oversized smartphone 'phablet', the Samsung Galaxy Note.
The HTC One XL takes on one of the few handsets around that's bigger, the Samsung Galaxy Note.
Form
HTC One XL - 134.8x69.9x8.9mm, 129g
Samsung Galaxy Note - 146.9x83x9.7mm, 178g
The Samsung Galaxy Note resembles an enlarged Galaxy S2. The vast screen takes up most of the front panel and is centrally positioned creating an even amount of bodywork above and below, along with a thin bezel at the edges of the display for an up-to-date look.
The back panel is slightly curved and has a textured surface which grips well and looks quite modern.
There are some chrome accents around the edge and around the camera lens and home button. Apart from the chrome things are looking very minimalist and elegant – the whole thing has a premium feel and appearance.
For the size of this phone it's very thin and lightweight which contributes further to the overall impression of high-end design.
The size can be a bone of contention or a big plus point depending on how you look at it. It is a more cumbersome beast than most handsets and certainly making calls can be a concern for fear of looking comical. Hands-free kits and headphones are one way round this - for some this is an ideal solution, but others may not agree.
HTC has struck gold with its design of the One range. Previous models from the company were very uninspiring, but with the One XL and its companions we can honestly say HTC has produced some of the most striking handsets around.
The screen has also been well implemented as it sits inside a shaped and shiny black slab. On the white model this contrasts really well with the bodywork and also means there's a narrow sliver of the outer shell along the outside edge, making the screen itself look bigger and the front of the device generally more interesting.
Lastly, the materials HTC has used for the unibody outer shell are some of the nicest we've encountered on a smartphone, easily up there with Nokia's polycarbonates.
We do like the Galaxy Note but HTC has delivered something really rather special with the One XL.
Winner - HTC One XL
Display
Samsung's Galaxy Note has one of the largest smartphone screens and borders on tablet size at 5.3-inches.
It's a Super AMOLED capacitive multi-touch display with a 1280x800 pixel resolution and a pixel density of 285 pixels-per-inch (ppi), producing some extremely sharp visuals with plenty of colour depth, contrast and an overall pop which is very satisfying for gaming, browsing and multimedia.
Having a screen this clear is good generally but when it's this size it is actually quite stunning, browsing and gaming are particular joys on this hefty expanse of glass.
The One XL also has a Super IPS LCD 2 capacitive display at 1280x720 pixels and 312ppi. We love the display set up on this device – it's about as close to perfect as you can get.
Colour reproduction here is equally vivid and the IPS LCD 2 technology should perform better than most in bright light conditions.
Both displays feature Corning Gorilla Glass so they should be more resilient to knocks and scrapes.
We actually find it pretty difficult to a pick a winner here as both are impressive to look at, particularly the One XL.
Winner - One XL
Storage
HTC's One XL has 16GB of storage space onboard and 1GB for boosting the processor, but there's no micro SD capability here. Meanwhile, the Galaxy Note has options for either 16GB or 32GB with each variant also sporting 1GB of RAM and micro SD support for cards up to 32GB.
Samsung's Galaxy Note is holding all the cards here with a higher-tier onboard storage option plus the flexibility of micro SD.
0 comments:
Post a Comment