Winter has fully thawed away and we’re now bouncing into spring. As a smartphone fan, this time of year always blossoms great arrivals as many manufacturers come out of hibernation to show off their latest premium offering to eager tech lovers. With LG and HTC officially releasing their latest and greatest flagship handsets to date, we compare the LG Optimus 4X HD against the HTC One X. Dazzling size and power like nothing before, our handset review pits the super heavyweights of the smartphone market against each other for battle.

Display and Exterior

Both the HTC One X and LG Optimus 4X HD mobile phone prize a gleaming 4.7 inch display; perfect for you to lose yourself in whilst watching that streamed movie online. A screen display 1.2 inches larger than the iPhone range and 0.4 inch above the Galaxy S2, these latest phones were made to give you more. The large screen doesn’t hinder either as the image quality on both displays is fantastic with the LG Optimus 4X HD cramming in 720p High Definition action on its HD-IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen. The HTC One X packs in just as many pixels on the display (720×1280) as the LG Optimus 4X HD, meaning that it’s a dead heat between both handsets for display. For exterior and casing, the LG Optimus appears very similar to the rest of the smartphone market with its safe black rectangle case design. It’s a design that’s effective and has worked for well for the Samsung Galaxy series. LG have made it their own using a dual banding around the edges of the handset. The HTC One X however dares to be different. Its curved design looks fresh, intuitive and well constructed.

Processing Power and Software

Both of our titans also house the same Tegra 3 chip 1.5GHz quad core chip. With so much superpower I’m surprised one of these handsets isn’t coined “Quadzilla” as it makes the big Apple iPhone 4S appear insignificant with its 1.2GHz dual core processor. Both with 1GB RAM, they’re primed ready to take on your extensive multi-tasking demands. As you would expect with both flagship handsets, the LG Optimus 4X HD and HTC One X are served with the supercool Android Ice Cream Sandwich. This combination of power with Android means there are great games to download from Google Play. With HTC Sense 4.0, the HTC One X has the added bonus of HTC Car; an intuitive driving companion that can navigate you to a geo-tagged photo. With no current physical release of the LG Optimus 4X HD, we’re currently awaiting to see how LG will tweak the Android Ice Cream Sandwich user interface with their own features.

Entertainment and Storage

With built in Beats audio software the HTC One X enhances your audio experience. If you’re a bit of a music mogul, you’ll struggle to not be immersed by the powerful sound, as every texture and layer is clearly defined. The HTC One X also comes with one year 25GB dropbox account storage, so you don’t have to worry about having your favourite song on the wrong device. The LG Optimus 4X HD, hosts plenty of space for your favourite tracks, with an internal 16GB memory, expandable by up to 32GB via microSD.

Camera

As both handsets come with 8 megapixel camera’s capable of full HD video record, the kit is there for you take high quality photos on either device. The HTC One X goes a step beyond hardware specs to bring you HTC ImageSense; intelligent software that helps you capture great photos in any condition. The flash will automatically adjust between 8 presets based on the natural light availability already present in the room. With instant capture features, and the ability to take photos whilst video recording, the HTC One X offers that little bit extra of inbuilt software to optimise your photos. The LG Optimus 4X HD picture quality will still give you great photos and these can be easily enhanced using the vast amount of Android apps available on Google Play.

UK Release Date

Fans of HTC will be pleased to know the HTC One X deals are already available on mobiles.co.uk. With an April release, you can pick up the HTC One X as a free handset from £26 per month. The LG Optimus 4X HD has no official release date announced as yet, though with the full specifications announced at the Mobile World Congress back in February, expect to have the handset available for purchase before the end of May.

Our Verdict

The differences between the two handsets are slim. For hardware specifications, it’s a photo finish tie. For those who crave the very best handset, we would recommend the HTC One X mobile phone. The LG Optimus 4X HD, offers impressive specs but just lacks the HTC Sense features that give the edge. With Beats Audio integration and the HTC ImageSense photo capture software, the HTC One X just offers slightly more. This is no fault of the LG Optimus 4X HD, rather that the HTC One X beats anything currently on the market. If you are keen enough to find your own photo and music apps from the Android Market Google Play, then the LG Optimus 4X HD, may be a great way to get your hands on some top technology without the HTC One X price tag. Overall, both fantastic phones available from mobiles.co.uk. Will they stand the test of time and how will they compete against the likes of May 3rd’s Next Samsung Galaxy announcement?