Samsung’s Galaxy Note II and HTC’s One X+ are remarkably similar. They retail at around the same price point, depending on your cell phone service provider, and they both run Android’s 4.1 Jelly Bean operating system. They even look relatively similar.
Why the Note II is Great…
Obviously, the Samsung has a bigger screen. It actually has a whopping 5.5 inch screen, which means that reading web pages and emails is a breeze.
It also comes with double the RAM of the HTC, making the device more responsive and better at multi-tasking, so you can open more applications at the same time without risking crashing your phone. It has a built in FM radio, which isn’t too big a deal since there are so many radio apps available, but it’s still nice to have if you’re a radio junkie.
Plus it has faster maximum data speeds, by a factor of twelve. That should mean you get downloads more quickly and that your web pages open faster. However, that’s not always true, since most people have their data speeds capped by their phone companies and never get anywhere close to a phone’s maximum data transfer speed. So, the Samsung is looking pretty good…
Why the One X+ is Better…
There’s only one problem: the One X+ is simply better. Obviously, it’s smaller and thinner, by a factor of about thirty per cent. It’s also lighter, weighing in at 135 g versus the Galaxy’s 180 g.
But the two most important factors are the speed and the screen. The HTC runs a faster processor than the Samsung, coming with a 1700 MHz processor as opposed to the 1600 MHz processor on the Galaxy. That makes the HTC ten per cent more powerful and snappier. Plus, you get more power without losing out on battery life, because of the Samsung’s huge screen the battery life on the two devices is almost the same.
As for the screen, the HTC has a full twenty per cent more PPI (pixels per inch), meaning that the screen is crisper and brighter than the one on the Galaxy.
Smaller Wins Out…
Yes, they’re both great phones. But the sheer fact that the smaller device has more power, and that it has better picture quality means that the HTC One X+ has to take the prize in this competition. We like reading our emails on a big screen, but we love that the smaller device just has more power and is more responsive. It just goes to show that it’s not always size that counts. The HTC One X+ is a far better buy than the Samsung Galaxy Note II.
Phil Turner has a three year old Orange mobile that works, though the keys are a bit small for old fingers.
