The cat is out of the bag, officially. AT&T and HTC have made not just one phone official today, but three. First up is the oft-rumored device, the HTC One X+, which is basically the One X with a spec bump and a darker gray coloring. When it comes to specs, the One X+ will get a boast from the Snagdragon S4 dual core processor, to NVIDIA’s Tegra 3 quad-core, clocked at 1.7GHz, so it should be very snappy. The display remains the same, as does the memory, at 4.7-inches, Super LCD2 display with Gorilla Glass 2 and 1GB, respectively. However, the One X+ leaps over 32GB for 64GB of internal storage, which should make some power users very happy, as should the fact that it will run Android 4.1, Jelly Bean. Like the rest of HTC’s Android line up, the One X+ will come with Sense, but HTC is calling this version, Sense 4+. Even with Sense on the One X+, it will still feature the improved notification system as well as Google Now and Project Butter, which if you don’t know by now, really helps smooth out performance.
Along with the One X+, both AT&T and HTC also announced another “One” device, the VX, which is a mid-range device when compared to the One X+. It features a 4.5-inch display, while it’s also a Super LCD2 display, the resolution is only qHD. It also features a 1.2GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor, 8GB of storage (which is terrible, in my opinion) 1GB of RAM, LTE and a rather meager 5-megapixel camera, but it’ll still be able to record 1080p video. All the other bells and whistles are also present like a front-facing camera, NFC, Bluetooth and an FM Radio. The sad news is that this device will launch with Android 4.0 and not 4.1. HTC did say that it would be updated after its release.
While AT&T and HTC only said these two devices will be available in the “coming months,” they did announce that HTC’s signature Windows Phone device, the Windows Phone 8X will be available this November. That’s great news for Windows Phone fans. The confusing part for me is the VX and Android 4.0, if this device is to go on sale in the “coming months,” why not just have it ready to go with 4.1? If HTC releases it by December or January, there is no reason it shouldn’t launch with the most current version of Android. Which leads me to this question, to anyone who’s purchased a One X already, how does it make you feel that instead of HTC updating your device to 4.1 first, they are just releasing a spec bump phone with it instead? Personally, a product refresh in five months of a flagship device is not a good business decision, it rubs consumers the wrong way and will make your five month old device pointless, because rather than turn that device into mid-range device, HTC releases a device like VX at the time, essentially cannibalizing their own products.
in the end, here’s my concern, HTC’s One X barely made a dent when it originally went on sale, despite favorable reviews. Hell, we loved it. But the fact remains, it didn’t sell well and was subjected to a price drop within two months of its release. If HTC is cramming in a new, faster processor and 64GB of internal storage, will this device be price at $299 or more? If that’s the case, it may be to expensive for average consumers and will once again, get lost in the shuffle.