HTC One X vs Samsung Galaxy S3 - Help me choose!

I have read a fair number of reviews and both phones have some great points and a few low points.

The screen size and processing look great in both, however I have heard some bad things about the one x battery life which is the main gripe I have with my current phone. That been said I do prefer the styling of the One X but don't like the fact the battery is not removable and there is no expandable storage.

Anyone had the same choice if so what have you gone with?

If I had to pick one now, I'd get the Galaxy S III. I have a One X (and I'm getting the S3). The main reason is that the battery life is noticeably better on the S3, though the One X battery life isn't particularly bad.

They are both excellent phones, make no mistake about that, and any differences are fairly small.

The One X has a few glaring flaws that really have ended up annoying me, I detailed them all here in a mini review:

Robbo said:

So, having used the phone for a few weeks, some thoughts. I've kept it very simple as people who want this phone have probably got it already and everyone else will be waiting for the S3, or not bothering with either.

The Good:

• Looks and feels great, an aesthetically pleasing device overall
• The screen is excellent, aside from the black levels it's pretty much perfect
• The camera is great, there's effectively no shutter lag and the interface and HDR functions are superb
• The battery life is comparatively a step up from HTC devices of old
• Audio quality is surprisingly good
• Wifi and phone signals are both very strong, and call quality in general is great

The Bad:

• Build quality issues plaguing many devices, mine is fine but many are not
• The phone does not feel like a quad-core phone, performance is not all that impressive
• HTC Sense, despite having some nice features, is very badly optimised, the launcher for example has some bad stuttering and it's quite annoying
• The HD video recording isn't nearly as good as it should be
• The battery life could still be better, it won't survive a day of really heavy use
• It takes far too long to charge, 3 hours on the mains and 6 hours on USB is just awful
• The limited storage, despite being reasonably fine could still be better
• The volume buttons feel cheap - typical HTC
• The power (wake) button isn't that easy to reach with one hand, Samsung putting it on the side is far better
• The phone is slippery in nature, you could drop it easily due to the size
• Tegra 3 seems pretty rubbish and has been used as a marketing tool

The Ugly:

• The 3 dot menu at the bottom of all of the apps effectively ruin your screen estate - utterly bizarre and extremely annoying
• Rooting (to fix the menu for example) is guaranteed to void your warranty, something which you don't want to do given the poor quality control HTC seem to have
• The capacitive multi-tasking button was a bad choice due to the above
• The camera ring isn't great looking and is badly exposed
• Unlike the iPhone, many apps aren't optimised for the resolution, meaning things don't look as sharp as they should much of the time

Some of the above can be addressed by HTC, but there have been several updates so far and nothing to get excited about. Samsung have taken a far more sensible approach with the capacitive menu button option, which avoids the awful 3 dot menu problem.

So, I've been quite ruthless as you can see. While this is a great phone, it's far from perfect and it should have been so much better. I'm not so much disappointed with mine... well, I sort of am really.

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It's a shame because I think the One X looks better and has the better screen, but unfortunately it's far from perfect. The S3 is more complete.

Robbo said:

If I had to pick one now, I'd get the Galaxy S III. I have a One X (and I'm getting the S3). The main reason is that the battery life is noticeably better on the S3, though the One X battery life isn't particularly bad.

They are both excellent phones, make no mistake about that, and any differences are fairly small.

The One X has a few glaring flaws that really have ended up annoying me, I detailed them all here in a mini review:



It's a shame because I think the One X looks better and has the better screen, but unfortunately it's far from perfect. The S3 is more complete.

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+1 pretty much the same as i feel. Im just waiting for the pebble blue S3's to come into stock then i shall be getting one but ill also be selling my One X. Sadly from my experiences of the S3 and the One X, the S3 seems to be a better device software wise...HTC really dropped the ball when integrating Sense into ICS sadly...they havent really optimised it very well compared to touchwiz on the S3.

Thanks for the replies, I've just been and played with both at a store today. And if I'm honest I still struggling to make a decision. I prefer the design and looks if the One X, however my head is saying go with the S3 for the better battery and memory expansion. I also think there will be a hell of a lot of development for it as opposed to the One X.

Torn but hopefully I can make a decision over this week. I just think the S3 looks a little too round and the materials are not brilliant which is the only thing putting me off a bit, also the higher price (contract / sim free)

Any more advice would be appreciated.

n30_mkii said:

Thanks for the replies, I've just been and played with both at a store today. And if I'm honest I still struggling to make a decision. I prefer the design and looks if the One X, however my head is saying go with the S3 for the better battery and memory expansion. I also think there will be a hell of a lot of development for it as opposed to the One X.

Torn but hopefully I can make a decision over this week. I just think the S3 looks a little too round and the materials are not brilliant which is the only thing putting me off a bit, also the higher price (contract / sim free)

Any more advice would be appreciated.

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There both similar material, just the One X feels and looks better. Overall if it was up too me I would personally get the S3. Screen wise I personally like AMOLEDS more as I watch a lot of movies/tv so there amazing, but personally come down to. both are amazing.

SoC, the S3 is a lot faster, tegra doesn't keep up as well, and at times you notice the one X lagging, the One S seems faster so I think its more down to the chipset then sense.

Cameras are more or less the same, S3 is slightly better from what I've seen in reviews. Samsung have also had the best 1080p recording out there and still seems the case.

One X looks and feels better, however the S3 felt more comfy in the hand even with its slightly larger screen. They felt very solid, but the One X comes out on top by a lot.

Sense Vs Touchwiz, for me personally Sense looks a better, and has the usually tight integration with FB. Touchwiz is much more optimised and you can tell it, the phone just fly's. It has millions of nice touches which I loved. Like how they had all the sound options (normally found this on custom roms), notification power widget has many more options, all the gesture controls are nice touches too.

Overall, they're both very good, but I would personally go for the S3, but wished it looked as good as the one X

n30_mkii said:

Thanks for the replies, I've just been and played with both at a store today. And if I'm honest I still struggling to make a decision. I prefer the design and looks if the One X, however my head is saying go with the S3 for the better battery and memory expansion. I also think there will be a hell of a lot of development for it as opposed to the One X.

Torn but hopefully I can make a decision over this week. I just think the S3 looks a little too round and the materials are not brilliant which is the only thing putting me off a bit, also the higher price (contract / sim free)

Any more advice would be appreciated.

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Where are you seeing S3 has better battery? A lot of users who've had both say its pretty close between the two.....

In true OCUK fashion I am an expert on this matter (have no experience of either but have read plenty on the web) and would definitely get the S3.

I'm biased as I have an S2 and love it.

So there you go, a true expert tells you the answer.

I've owned both so far this year and I would say the S3. The One X looks great and feels very nice in the hand, and the screen is fantastic, but...

• It's too big for comfortable one-handed operation (for me, anyway)
• HTC's Android skin is laggy and unnecessarily complex
• Getting custom ROMs on there requires messing about with HTC's website

The S3 isn't perfect, but it's easier to hold, has a microSD slot, the screen is 90% as good as the One X's and the software is less bloated and more logical. But.... I'm still not sure whether I'm going to keep it over my GNex

If you want more info on both, I recommend checking out The Verge's reviews of each phone - they are spot on IMO.

http://www.theverge.com/2012/5/25/3042640/samsung-galaxy-s-iii-review
http://www.theverge.com/2012/4/2/2919202/htc-one-x-review

kitch9 said:

Where are you seeing S3 has better battery? A lot of users who've had both say its pretty close between the two.....

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The S3 has a 2100mah battery vs. the One X's 1800mah battery. Of course, it's software that usually makes the difference but still.

I went for the HTC One X because I don't like the look of the SGS III, simple as.

I chose the s3 and im very glad. The blue one looks v nice irl.
Particularly the latest ones. Its also supendously fast and can handle gta3 on all high settings.

And can you phone people on these mini tablets too?

I mean Christ! Look at the size of the buggers.

I went S3 for battery life and sd card slot. I also fancied a change from Sense. Phone turned up today, no regrets.

+1 for what Robbo and Fallen god have said.

I had the One X (or should I say several One X's - each one of them faulty for some reason or another) for a period of three weeks. Although the One X is a looker, its battery life is abysmal, the Tegra 3 sips juice like there's no tomorrow, Sense is not optimsed for the Tegra 3 and everything has a jerkyness to it. The S3 on the other hand may not be a look and to be honest looks are subjective, the phone is lighting fast and is very smooth.

Touchwiz is the best iteration thus far and whatever colour you choose the phone looks great. You can't go wrong with the S3, with the One X it just feels unfinished, the S3 on the other hand everything is more polished.

Robbo pretty much nails it with his comments. The One X is a great phone but S3 is slightly better (though not to the extent of buying a S3 if you already have a One X.... Robbo just has too much money )

I have spent ages comparing the HTC One S/X and S3, and I'm glad I waited for the S3. Main points for me are the micro SD card slot, swappable battery, no screen flex issues, and seeing as they are similar in price, you would regret going for the handset with the slower and previous generation quad core processor.

I haven't got either phone. What I do have though, is experience of HTC's god awful repair centre. Ten times my delightful phone went back to them over a year and let me tell you I shall never buy a htc again.

Their repair 'technicians' I believe must have studied using Crocodile Clips and thats about it. One phone came back (an upgrade...) without battery, battery back and with a scratched screen.

They finally gave me a new HTC sensation, which got no signal at home and their response to me "you need to hold it between two fingers sir"........

Never ever again.

I've currently got an iphone 4s, but am sorely tempted by the galaxy s3.

Just an update for the thread. In the end if have decided to go for the S3, many thanks for the advice guys

I'm having the same trouble deciding as you did, due for an upgrade in July.

Tech wise I would be happy with either phone, they'll both suit my needs.

My first android phone was an HTC Hero, which to be honest I really liked, was a nicely built phone if not particularly powerful. Which makes me want the One X as I much prefer the feel and finish of it over the S3.

Currently have a Nexus S which in general I really like, apart from the shiny curvy body and the battery life.

So for me:
For better battery life? S3.
For nicer perceived quality (imo)? One X.

If only someone made a phone with the qualities I like from both of these.

BigDannyO said:

So for me:
For better battery life? S3.
For nicer perceived quality (imo)? One X.

If only someone made a phone with the qualities I like from both of these.

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That would be the Apple iPhone 4S then.

What about the one S? Unless storage is an issue for you? (10GB for films, photos etc. 2GB for apps and 25GB for dropbox)

It is excellent for both of those areas that you mentioned and probably the best there is for them IMO.

IMO the perceived/build and looks/design of the S is better than the X whilst having great battery life, pretty much the same as the GS 3 (mrk's and gmans usage). The S can get 4-5 hours on screen time (that is with auto brightness as well), even when spread across 2 days.

Although a GS 3 with an extended battery will easily beat everything then


The only other area where it isn't as good as the GS 3 and X is the screen. Still a great screen on its own though.