The HTC One series is not the savior  

HTC released their forecast for Q3 2012 today, and it’s not looking good.

“HTC saw profit more than halve in the second quarter after European sales disappointed and phones destined for the U.S. market were held up by customs inspections.”

I have to be honest, I think I can see why. The One Series line up has been somewhat of a botched release, not only do there seem to be widespread QA issues, the One series was released around the same time that the Galaxy SIII was. They’ve pitched it against a phone that’s gained almost ‘holy grail’ status in the Android world, and haven’t bothered to price it competitively to it.

I wrote a glowing review on the HTC One X a few months back, and even jumped ship from iOS and donated my iPhone to my girlfriend. It was a great device, initially. After a few months of owning one, though, I am left wanting something more and regretting my initial review. It’s hard to see the issues that are coming so early in a release cycle.

I am stuck with a phone that can’t even get through a day without needing a charge, is unstable, has a cracked screen (despite dropping the device only 15cm) and an OS that HTC pretty much ruined with Sense UI.

I’ve had a lot of history with the ROM flashing scene, and had been holding off jumping back in with the HTC One. I had hoped, that maybe this device would have been the first I don’t have to flash to get to a point where it’s enjoyable to use. However, after becoming curious as to if I could actually use the device without becoming frustrated anymore, I flashed an AOKP release of Jellybean onto my One X. Despite it’s very early development phase, I can tell you now that it’s clear to me that HTC really has botched the software on the One X. My battery life is now *literally quadruple that of the stock ROM and performance is… smooth. Sure, these might be thanks to Jellybean, but I can’t figure out why it’s so poor with Sense UI.

I have colleagues that also purchased the One X and have the same issues. Laggy UI, poor battery life and generally poor build quality. I’ve also personally owned two devices, both with the same issues. However, there are others out there on the XDA forums that are seeing insane battery life. It’s not hard to see why the Samsung Galaxy SIII does so well, it’s earned the title of being the most stable, well built and reliable device that isn’t an iPhone.

Personally, I’m not a fan of the SIII, something about the faux-metal finish and the way it looks irks me. Industrial design is important. I’ll be switching back to the iPhone next month. It’s clear to me why HTC is losing money.