The best smartphone available in market

The Galaxy S3 and the HTC One X are arguably the best phones in the world right now, although it highly depends on your personal liking and use but In terms of specification, they lead iPhone 4s by miles. May be iPhone 5 will have an answer to them…..

The launch of the iPhone over five years ago changed the world of Smartphone beyond imagination.  For most of the users to have a phone which just makes calls and is able to send messages, no longer makes them happy. People now want to use and customize their phone the way they want to.

Smartphones have become incredibly advanced, with some of them exceeding the configuration of an average laptop. The improvement in camera quality on a Smartphone has been so immense that most of us prefer phone’s camera over the bulkier point and shoot cameras. The multicore processors allow multitasking with ease. The touch-screen mechanism allows bigger screens.

While the Apple iPhone 4s may continue to be the flag bearer of Smartphone brigade, it can no longer automatically claim the title of best Smartphone. You can purchase your iPhone at optus shop mount gambier through their Charity Mobile Plan!

The introduction of Android OS by Google led to cut in the strong share of Apple in the world of Smartphone. The year of 2012 is going to be a landmark in the history of android. With the introduction of its latest Android OS ‘Jelly Bean 4.1.0’, the UI has become butter-smooth.  The year also saw launch of the two high-end Smartphones, Samsung Galaxy S3 and the HTC One X. Windows and Blackberry are not making much noise as of now and they are targeted mostly to the loyal customer base.  However you might like to have a look at Nokia Lumia 900 if you want a Windows OS.

The Galaxy S3 and the HTC One X are arguably the best phones in the world right now, although it highly depends on your personal liking and use but In terms of specification, they lead iPhone 4s by miles. May be iPhone 5 will have an answer to them but this is how competition makes technology better with time. If size of the phone plays big factor then iPhone 4s is for you having average display size of 3.5” compared to those of S3 with 4.8” and One X with 4.7”. But you lose the benefits of having bigger screen.

HTC One X (HOX) vs. Samsung Galaxy S3 (SG S3) : Which One?

When you are investing almost INR 40,000 (US $ 750) in a Phone, surely you don’t want to get the technology inside outdated in next two to three years. Both SG S3 and HOX are future proof for at least coming two to three years but you can’t bet on technology; evolves faster than you can imagine.

The HOX and SG S3 are so evenly matched in terms of specification that you can’t go wrong with either of them. So the choice becomes personal likes and feeling. I will try to breakdown the factors which might help you to make a clear decision. I am not considering the general features which are present in all smartphones by default like 3G, WiFi, etc.

Price :

SG S3 >  approx.  INR 38000.00
HOX   >  approx.  INR 36000.00
Check prices in all stores as they vary from stores to stores and also get online quotes from trusted online websites to get the best deal. Also you might like to get your phone insured against thefts.

OS:

Both run Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) with internal software like Touchwiz on SG S3 and HTC Sense on HOX. Note that the HTC is better in terms of quick OS and firmware upgrades.

Build Quality and Looks:

HOX wins here. The looks are certainly better and aesthetic compared to SG S3. HOX has a unibody design made up of polycarbonate while SG S3 is made of high quality plastic. The battery is removable in SG S3. Both of them boast Corning Gorilla glass on screen which is scratch resistant. The HOX is water resistant. Both support only micro SIM card. Overall size is almost same.

Display:

No clear winner. Both have a 1280X720p HD display which will make the gaming and video experience better. The HOX’s Super IPS LCD has a realistic color display while the sAMOLED display on SG S3 is slightly oversaturated. However, it’s a matter of personal taste.

Performance:

No clear winner. SG S3 has a quad-core processor with Exynox chipset clocked at 1.4 GHz while the HOX has a quad-core Nvidia Tegra 3 processor clocked at 1.5 GHz. Note that HOX also has a fifth companion core clocked at 700Mhz which is a battery saver core and gets active during normal works like a phone call and being idle. Also, note that there are not many apps or games in the market right now which may utilize the power of full quad-core. However, Nvidia released many specific Tegra 3 optimized games which provides a console-quality gaming experience on HOX. However, internet browsing speed and normal performance is better on SG S3 by a whisker. The HOX is expected to take a lead when OS upgrade to Jelly Bean arrives for it.

Camera:

HOX is the winner in low light. HTC heavily advertised its camera features and quality while Samsung remained silent. But it’s surprising to see that both perform even in terms of quality. However, in low light and Depth of field, the wide f2.0 aperture of HOX takes the lead. HTC provided a separate chip for the camera which is a welcome move. Both of them have zero shutter lag, ie. You press the shutter and it takes the photo instantly. There are many third-party apps that integrate with the camera app and increase performance. Both record Stunning FullHD 1920x1080p videos. HOX also captures slow-motion video, however at a lower resolution. Intelligent Flash is present on both.

Sound:

No clear Winner. HOX has integrated beats audio software which only works on-ear/headphones,  while SG S3 has its own sound processing software. Both are good but the speakers are modest.

Storage:

SG S3 wins here. HOX has inbuilt 32GB + 25GB of DropBox Online Storage. SG S3 has inbuilt 32GB and expandable up to 64GB using microSD and a 50GB free DropBox Storage. For the average Indian customers Dropbox is not very useful as you need to get data-heavy internet plans to exchange so many dropbox files. However, for many 32GB is more than enough on a Smartphone.

Battery:

Ever since Android was launched, battery life has been the weakest point. If you are a normal user the battery will last easily a day or two. But heavy users might need to recharge both every 14 hours. The HOX has an 1800mAh battery while SG S3 2100mAh, but that doesn’t make much difference. And if you are searching for battery life in Android then stop and better find a Nokia 1100. However, both manufacturers are kind enough to provide slim portable charger which can enter your pocket easily. Both take 2-3 hours to recharge from 0 to 100%.

Bottom-line:

Go to the store and play with both phones. Take the one you like more, you will never regret it. Both of them are a combination of fine art and extreme engineering. If you settled for HTC One X but the budget is tight then HTC One S is the best alternate with just a 0.2” smaller display and dual-core processor.

Personal View:

I liked the design factor of One X and being a photographer  the f2.0 aperture with separate image processing chip became the deal for me. I am running 140+ downloaded apps, 500+ high resolution photographs, 1000+ songs, 3 HD movies, and 50+ HD Videos and I still have more than half of space left, the point is 32GB is more than enough.

There are very few service centers of HTC in India compared to Samsung so that is a risk factor. I am not going to walk with an external battery so removable battery doesn’t matter. I play a lot with images so prefer real color display over saturated sAMOLED. HTC provides faster software updates. The last and least important reason is brand value.