HTC Desire X review: Needs and wants

Retail package is par for the course

The HTC Desire X retail package is a pretty standard affair - you get a charger, a USB cable and a basic headset. As with most other Beats audio-featuring HTC smartphones, there're no Beats audio headphones, supplied in the package, so all the label on the back means is that you'd be getting the special equalizer.

The HTC Desire X retail package and its contents

There is no memory card included either, but given the 4GB of internal storage and the fact that keeping the price down is key in this market segment, we are willing to let that go.

HTC Desire X 360-degree view

The HTC Desire X shares its chassis with the HTC Desire V. At 118.5 x 62.3 x 9.3 mm, the Desire X will easily slip into pockets and allow comfortable single-handed use. Entirely made of plastic, it weighs 114 grams.

Design and build quality

The styling of the HTC Desire X is simple and to-the-point. The smartphone is certainly among the better looking in its price range, with the matte plastic on the back looking quite sleek.

The bezel at the front is quite slim, too, which give the Desire X a more high-end look. The only part of the smartphone we are not particularly fond of is the black glossy plate surrounding the camera lens and the LED flash. While we are okay with an accent around the camera, this one is clearly too much to handle.

Above the screen we find a small earpiece. The proximity and ambient light sensors are well hidden in the screen bezel nearby. Unfortunately the Desire X omits a front-facing camera.

The earpiece and a couple of sensors sit above the screen

Below the screen is the usual layout of Back, Home and Task Switcher capacitive keys. Their icons are painted white and light up when you tap on the screen. They offer haptic feedback too.

The trio of keys at the bottom

The left side accommodates the microUSB port for charging and computer connections.

The microUSB port is on the left

On the right we find the long and thin volume rocker. You can use its down button in combination with the power key to take screenshots of the Desire X interface. Sadly, there's no camera key here.

The volume rocker

There's a 3.5mm headphone jack at the top and a power/lock button. The latter is centrally placed right above the earpiece and the unusual position may be something to get used to.

The 3.5 audio jack and the power key

The bottom of the device features only the mouthpiece.

The microphone pinhole is all you get at the bottom

The battery cover of the Desire X has a rubbery feel to it and is virtually fingerprint-proof. It feels nice to touch and offers excellent grip. The 5MP auto-focus camera lens and the single LED flash share a finely grooved metal plate in the top left corner. Below the HTC logo is the loudspeaker grille, with the Beats Audio logo at the very bottom.

The HTC Desire X back

The battery cover is somewhat hard to remove, but the upside is it fits firmly in place and gives the handset its solid feel. The SIM compartment is unobstructed by the battery and the micro SD slot is hot-swappable.

Taking a peek under the hood

We've conducted our battery test on the HTC Desire X and the results are not bad. If you do an hour of talking, web browsing and watching video you'd need to hook up the phone to a power source every 42 hours. Here's the full break down.