Samsung Galaxy S3 vs HTC One X

We compare Samsung's latest and greatest Galaxy S3 to HTC's Android flagship contender, the One X.

Form
HTC One X - 134.4x69.9x8.9mm, 130g
Samsung Galaxy S3 - 136.6x70.6x8.6mm, 133g

The HTC One X is easily one of the best looking smartphones the company has produced so far, alongside its One range stable-mate, the One S. The One X seems to take a few cues from the Samsung Galaxy Nexus with its smoothly rounded shape, curved glass screen and contoured lines. One thing we particularly love about the One range's construction is the use of a unibody design made from a very high-quality plastic with a matte finish. This is one of the nicer Android handsets on the market when it comes to holding the device in your hand. It feels solid and well-made.

Samsung's Galaxy S3 follows a similar ‘Nexus-like' form factor with smooth curves which Samsung say are inspired by pebbles. Like the One X it has a very appealing and modern look. However, unlike the One X it is made from a very glossy and cheap feeling plastic which does it no favours at all.

We have to give HTC the winning vote here as its build quality fits much more with what we'd expect from a premium smartphone.

Winner - HTC One X

Display
The One X is equipped with a 4.7-inch Super IPS LCD2 capacitive touchscreen with a 1280x720 pixel resolution, Corning Gorilla Glass and a pixel density of 312 pixels-per-inch (ppi). Although there are a few better displays on the market this is amongst the top tier in our view, offering crisp picture quality, good clarity in brighter light conditions, excellent brightness and colour depth.

The Galaxy S3's display is a little larger at 4.8-inches and instead of LCD uses Samsung's Super AMOLED HD technology. This means deeper blacks and better contrast, but although Super AMOLED HD performs better in sunlight than other OLED types it's not going to be quite as good at this as the Super IPS LCD2 of the One X. In terms of clarity, however, things are pretty good here with the same 1280x720 pixel resolution giving a 306ppi pixel density.

Although these screens have some slightly different strengths and weaknesses they both represent the top of their class in both OLED and LCD display tech. We're calling this a draw.

Winner - Draw

Storage
Samsung's Galaxy S3 comes in three storage variants with either 16GB, 32GB or 64GB of onboard space and each type also has micro SD capability for cards up to 32GB, along with 1GB of RAM to support the processor.

HTC's One X has only one storage variant with 32GB of internal capacity, it also has 1GB of RAM but no card slot.

Samsung has stuck to its usual habit of providing plenty of space and plenty of options, making the Galaxy S3 a preferable choice here.

Winner - Samsung Galaxy S3