HTC Makes the Global One X+ Official - 1.7 GHz AP37 Tegra 3, 64 GB of Storage
by Brian Klug on October 2, 2012 4:00 AM ESTFor a while now there has been chatter about HTC updating its One X line, and today those plans have become official with the HTC One X+. The update is a significant spec bump from the existing Tegra 3 based One X, and includes a faster version of Nvidia's Tegra 3 SoC (AP37 in the place of AP33), up to 64GB of NAND, an improved 1.6MP front facing camera, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean with Sense 4+, and a larger 2100 mAh battery. But one of the most important and interesting parts is that the One X+ includes support for LTE without using a Snapdragon S4 SoC, instead HTC will ship a One X+ with LTE support courtesy Qualcomm's MDM9215 baseband, and a version with the same GSM/WCDMA support as the existing One X through another Intel XMM6260 baseband.
The move from Tegra 3 AP33 in the international One X to AP37 affords a jump in maximum single-core CPU clock from 1.5 GHz to 1.7 GHz, and a jump in the GeForce ULP GPU clock from 416 MHz to 520 MHz. Otherwise this is the same 40nm LPG Tegra 3 with four ARM Cortex A9s and a fifth 'shadow core' A9 for hotplugging in idle states. HTC reports an increase in performance of 27 percent over the previous One X (T3) and 37 percent more talk time battery life.
I've put together a comparison table with the details of the One X+ in comparison to the previous One X (T3) and One X (MSM8960) version also known as the One XL. The One XL doesn't go away now that the One X+ is out, either, but the One X+ with LTE does take its place at the high end.
| Physical Comparison | ||||
| HTC One X (AT&T) (Internationally called HTC One XL) | HTC One X (Global) | HTC One X+ (WCDMA) | HTC One X+ (LTE) | |
| Height | 134.8 mm | 134.36 mm | 134.36 mm | |
| Width | 69.9 mm | 69.9 mm | 69.9 mm | |
| Depth | 8.9 mm | 8.9 mm | 8.9 mm | |
| Weight | 129 g | 130 g | 135 g | |
| CPU | 1.5 GHz Dual Core Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8960 | 1.5 GHz Quad Core ARM Cortex A9 Nvidia Tegra 3 AP33 |
1.7 GHz Quad Core ARM Cortex A9 Nvidia Tegra 3 AP37 |
|
| GPU | Adreno 225 |
ULP GeForce (416 MHz) |
ULP GeForce (520 MHz) |
|
| RAM | 1 GB LPDDR2 | 1 GB LPDDR2 | 1 GB LPDDR2 | |
| NAND | 16 GB NAND | 32 GB NAND | 32 or 64 GB NAND | |
| Camera |
8 MP with AF/LED 1.3 MP front facing |
8 MP with AF/LED 1.3 MP front facing |
8 MP with AF/LED 1.6 MP front facing |
|
| Baseband | On-MSM8960 2nd Gen LTE | Intel X-Gold XMM6260 | Intel X-Gold XMM6260 | Qualcomm MDM9215 |
| Screen | 4.7" 1280 x 720 LCD-TFT | 4.7" 1280 x 720 LCD-TFT | 4.7" 1280 x 720 LCD-TFT | |
| Battery | Internal 6.66 Whr | Internal 6.66 Whr | Internal 7.77 Whr (2100 mAh) | |
The One X+ also ships running Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and HTC Sense 4+ which includes improvements to Sense UI and layout. I had a chance to play with the One X+ running Android 4.1 and noted some welcome improvements to the stock HTC keyboard, and that Sense 4+ struck a good balance with the changes made in Android 4.1's UI, including the better notifications and different styling. Both the existing international One X and One S will be updated to Android 4.1 sometime in October.
The One X+ is slightly heavier in the hands (135 vs 130 grams) but doesn't feel all that different and maintains the same external dimensions. I wasn't able to determine if the larger battery includes the higher voltage chemistry that a number of other OEMs have moved to, though it's obvious the energy density has gone up.
The non-LTE One X+ includes the same GSM/EDGE and WCDMA bands as the previous international version (850/900/1900/2100 MHz for WCDMA, 850/900/1800/1900 MHz for GSM/EDGE) and of course the same HSPA+ capabilities since it includes the same Intel XMM6260 baseband. I don't have any word at the moment on what LTE bands will be supported on the One X+ with LTE, but with MDM9215 and possibly WTR1605 we could see more than the One XL. Qualcomm's MSM8960 SoC contains the same IP block that's inside MDM9215 and is still 28nm. It's interesting to see the One X+ using this combination as it may finally put to rest the talk of Tegra 3 being "incompatible" with LTE.
Source: HTC One X+
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tuxRoller - Tuesday, October 2, 2012 - link
...sticking with Tegra is a bit odd.The upcoming Optimus G, Xiaomi phone 2 both look great, and should be a good deal more powerful than this HTC phone.
Here's to hoping next year Nvidia either starts building great SoC or gets less design wins.
MartinT - Wednesday, October 3, 2012 - link
Not odd at all, this is a regular mid-cycle refresh with drop-in replacement parts that improve the product with likely minimal design effort.newbietech - Saturday, October 6, 2012 - link
It's more like a late cycle refresh. Tegra 3 has been around since late last year. Disappointingly, the latest iteration still seems to be made with 40nm technology and still based on Cortex A9 core design. I'll stay tuned for more details but nothing seems to have improved but the clock speed.Nvidia seems to have lost a step in the core redesign department by going for extra cores first. Qualcomm has had 28 nm next gen based processors for months now and with integrated baseband on SOC to boot.
Nvidia has 28 nm next gen based processors coming out next year but they need to figure out how they can integrate the baseband on the SOC.
halcyon - Thursday, October 4, 2012 - link
Does Nvidia Tegra 3 AP37 have dual channel memory?vision33r - Tuesday, October 9, 2012 - link
iPhone 5 > HTC, we know iPhone fans will buy the newest darling.Samsung S3>HTC
Tegra 3 is really an awful crude design. It's like the old days when ATI constantly kick Nvidia's GeForce in the rear. Graphic performance weaker than the Mali400 in the Samsung Exynos and way slower than the new iPhone A6.
No MicroSD card and removeable battery is the biggest joke here. You can't beat Apple by trying to be like them.
phillyry - Saturday, November 10, 2012 - link
It may not help, that's tru.It looks like HTC is hedging their bets on Windows 8 Phone with the 8X.
While I agree with your view that the strategy of trying to beat Apple by being like them is a bad idea, I'd have to disagree that this is entirely true here. The One X and One X+ are offering an Apple-like design / form-factor with the Android OS.
So, I'd say it's more of an offering for people who'd prefer Android over iOS but don't want a phone that falls apart every time you drop it and that feels like a cheap POS.
Removable batteries and SD cards are over-rated. Just give me a good battery and a good amount of NAND built in for a decent price (along with all the other specs we'll all want) and I'm happy.
All devices, from laptops to tablets to phones will ultimately morph to this form-factor because they will need to continue to miniturise. People are not going to be buying laptops, tablets or phones with the criteria in mind that they can be taken apart. That's an old way of thinking and it will go the way of the dodo. People have already started to accept gadgets with non-user replaceable parts because they look better, feel better , and are more durable.
We'll see how many GS3's are still around in three years. I can assure you that there are still plenty of iPhone 3GS's around because when they get launched by a two year old, they don't break.
EricHope - Friday, November 23, 2012 - link
I agree! Wholeheartedly. Couldn't have said it better myself (so I won't attempt to). Let me add, though, that the Nexus 4 ALSO has a non-removable battery, and no Micro SD card, and only a FRACTION of the onboard storage (and no LTE: The killer). So the One X+ looks more attractive to me than the Nexus 4 (though both have great physical design). Perhaps this is a trend we're going to start seeing more of? Sealed cases? Don't get me wrong: I don't LOVE the idea of sealing the backs of these devices, but if you're gonna do it, at least do it RIGHT, and it looks like HTC has in this case. At least they put enough storage onboard (and put in a large enough battery) to future-proof it in some way (certainly more so than the Nexus 4, it seems. At least from a hardware perspective). I think the One X+ is a great product (with the exception of maybe its camera, and the curious multitasking approach, which limits you to 8 open applications at a time) and SHOULD gain more traction than the original One X, but I think HTC suffers from less-than-stellar marketing. This phone seems to have slipped in under the radar of most folks as it is. What HTC (and specifically this phone) needs is a good marketing campaign, which is something Samsung got right, and is now enjoying tremendous success from. I hope HTC can do something similar. They could produce the best phone in the world, but if its not in the general public's face, they're not going to know about it. I went into an AT&T store the other day, to have a play with this phone, and the SALES STAFF didn't know anything about it! Folks who read these forums & articles seem to know about it, but the average person just seems to know about the iPhone & the Galaxy S III. "Marketing, Marketing, Marketing!" is all I say. HTC makes great devices. Now the world just needs to be made aware of their existence.EricHope - Friday, November 23, 2012 - link
Just saw a pretty slick ad for this phone:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOOVCnAcRiQ
So it looks like they ARE marketing it. I'm happy to see that. Hopefully, the world will now discover this excellent phone.