ZTE Era vs HTC One X

We take a look at how HTC's One X compares to ZTE's bid for the quad core competition, the Era.

Form
ZTE Era 7.8mm thick, other measurements TBC
HTC One X - 134.4x69.9x8.9mm, 130g

HTC's One X is one of the nicest looking phones the company has ever produced, alongside its stable-mate, the One S, with which it shares an overall aesthetic style and many distinctive design features.

It's actually a reasonably large smartphone but it's very light in the hand and feels comfortable thanks to a thin profile and a gently curved shape with slightly chiselled edges.

HTC described the One range as having a ‘piano key feel', while we wouldn't say it feels like any piano key we've ever touched it does feel like fairly nice, high quality plastic, despite its light weight the handset feels solid and well put together, no doubt this is in part due to its unibody construction.

That unibody design facilitates the need for a special ‘key' to pop out the micro SIM tray (though we suspect a paperclip would do the job too)  - which is all a bit fiddly if we're honest but as it's something you shouldn't need to do often it doesn't detract from things too much.

The camera port on the back of the handset is a little peculiar looking and won't be to everyone's tastes but the front of the device is particularly sharp thanks to the slick design of the contoured bodywork we mentioned earlier which is just visible as a sliver round the edge of a similarly shaped black panel which houses the screen.

Overall, we think the HTC One X looks great.

The ZTE Era is an attractive device for similar reasons, it's got a nicely rounded and curved shape.

The back panel is particularly  striking with its two-tone silver and blue colouration. From the front you can see some of the silver trim around the outside edge and, like HTC's device, there's a black coloured panel in which the display is seated.

We think the Era looks very nice indeed but the HTC has our vote here.

Winner - HTC One X

Display
The One X features a sizeable 4.7-inch multi-touch display and uses Super IPS LCD2 technology and Corning's reinforced Gorilla Glass. The resolution is an impressive 1280x720 pixels and clocks in at 312 pixels-per-inch (ppi). To put it bluntly it's absolutely gorgeous to look at.

ZTE has opted for a more basic setup, the Era's display is still a decent size at 4.3-inches but its regular TFT capacitive technology here and a lower 960x540 pixel resolution.

By current standards the pixel density is still high enough at 256ppi that it should provide a satisfactory smartphone experience, but there's no getting past the fact that it's considerably lower than HTC's offering.

Winner - HTC One X

Storage
The Era has 8GB of onboard storage which can be expanded by up to 32GB on micro SD cards. It also comes with 1GB of RAM for the processor to chew on.

HTC has sadly decided to omit card storage from the One range, including the One X and is instead relying on a hefty 32GB of internal capacity. Like its opponent it also sports 1GB of RAM.

We think the lack of micro SD storage is one of the main stumbling blocks of HTC's new handsets and, because the ZTE Era can match the One X's internal storage on cards in addition to its 8GB of internal, we're giving ZTE the victory this round.

Winner - ZTE Era