AT&T will soon be adding a handful of LTE-enabled smartphones to its portfolio. This fall, subscribers can expect its Android-running HTC One X to be joined by the HTC One X+ and One VX. These will share shelf space with the Microsoft-backed Windows Phone 8X by HTC and—making for bit of awkwardness, if you go in for the idea that there’s friction between the Windows Phone backers—the Nokia Lumia 920 and 820.
“The HTC One X has been hailed as the best phone we have ever made, so our best smartphone just got better with the HTC One X+,” Mike Woodward, president of HTC North America, said in an Oct. 4 statement.
Indeed, the One X+ features a 4.7-inch 720p high-definition display like its predecessor, but otherwise dials up its stats. It’s one of the first phones in the U.S. to run HTC’s Sense 4+ user interface with Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean), which is said to offer an improved audio and imaging experience—though the camera and Beats Audio technology have in themselves also been improved.
The processor on the One X+ is a 1.7GHz quad-core Nvidia Tegra 3—said to speed things up by 67 percent—that’s paired with 64GB of storage instead of 32GB. The battery, now a 1,800mAh, offers 50 percent more talk time than on the One X—which will also be one-upped with the option of a Carbon Black finish.
The smaller One VX runs Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) with the HTC Sense 4 UI, features a 4.5-inch display covered in Gorilla Glass and a 5-megapixel camera that can shoot four frames per second and snap photos while shooting video.
At 9.19mm thin, AT&T calls it “one of the slimmest unibody form factors in the industry.”
While the iPhone 5 is 7.6mm thin, the One VX does out-skinny the Windows Phone 8X, which at 10.1mm nonetheless feels quite thin in the hand.
Timed for November, the 8X features a 4.3-inch 720p HD display, an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera with an f2.0 aperture lens, a front-facing camera that HTC has called “more than an after-thought” and Beats Audio technology—a first in a Windows Phone.
“HTC built this hardware from the ground up to really showcase the Windows Phone software,” Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said during a Sept. 19 event in New York City at which he introduced the phones alongside HTC CEO Peter Chou.
The Windows Phone 8X comes in an assortment of colors that previously might have been attributed to Nokia, but you can compare for yourself. In November, the Nokia Lumia 920, in red, white, black, yellow or cyan, and the Nokia Lumia 820 will arrive at AT&T.
These phones are Nokia’s second-generation of smartphones to run a Microsoft OS, and they’re expected to particularly impress with their camera features—despite Nokia’s bad PR move—mapping software and option of wireless charging.
The 820 is the lower-end model of the two, but also something of a spunkier younger sibling. It comes in black, but unlike the 920 features a shell that can be swapped out for other color options or to add the wireless charging feature (these, of course, come at a price). Under the shell is also a microSD slot.
The 820 features a 4.3-inch ClearBlack WVGA display while the 920 features a 4.5-inch PureMotion HD+ WXGA LCD display that’s so touch-sensitive that it responds to the touch of fingernails and can even be used while wearing gloves.
The Lumia 920 will be exclusive to AT&T, and senior vice president Jeff Bradley, predicts that it “will be one of the hottest phones for the holidays.”
All five smartphones will be able to take advantage of AT&T’s 4G network, which it says now covers 275 million people.
