Hands-on with the TELUS HTC One X

The TELUS version of the HTC One X is no different inside than its white Rogers counterpart, but we thought we’d take a look at the device from an aesthetic standpoint. The darker shade is, in my opinion, a better choice for those who want to keep marks and scratches to a minimum.

The dark grey colour borders on charcoal, and feels perhaps a bit more professional than the white version. Offered exclusively on TELUS, the grey version comes with the same great specs we looked at during the One X review: a 4.7-inch 720p Super LCD2 screen, a 1.5Ghz dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor, 1GB RAM, an 8MP camera with ImageSense technology and all the fixin’s.

The TELUS version of the One X comes out of the box with the newest build I’ve seen so far for the Evita (the LTE variant). Version 1.91 is fast, fluid and fixes may of the issues present in the 1.73 Rogers build. We’re hoping that Rogers pushes out an update as soon as possible. Apps take less time to load and are generally more stable, and I noticed an uptick in the speed of the camera app.

I also noticed that the camera is better able to focus on macro objects, although at times the subject takes a bit of cajoling to get sharp. As you can see from the shots above, the 8MP camera has no issues with close-up objects, something the Rogers version tended to struggle with.

As for the TELUS LTE network, the One X is a beast. As you can see from the scores above, I had no trouble reaching speeds of 39Mbps in downtown Toronto.

The only bloatware app to speak of is TELUS’ App House, which curates a list of carrier billing-approved apps such as Rdio and Skype, and some recommended utilities for looking after your data usage. It’s unobtrusive and, in some cases, quite helpful, and can be disabled from the Settings menu if you don’t want it. Kudos to TELUS for being cognizant of its customer base.

The TELUS HTC One X is available for $129.99 on a 3-year term and $629.99 outright.