Introduction

I've had my One X for nearly a year now. It was my first proper Android device moving away from iOS. I loved it, I loved Sense. But then I tried AOSP-based Android, and from then on, Sense did not make Sense.

But I've recently switched to a Nexus 4, and I prefer it. I will tell you why. I'd like to note that the N4 is going to be great for everyone, the One X is still a solid and brilliant mobile phone.

Software
When Sense first came out, Sense was great. Now Sense sucks. It makes no sense. Most of the changes it makes are not needed anymore. With Sense, Holo apps just do not fit in. They feel as if they have been made for a different operating system.

It also makes the phone extremely sluggish and ends up using more memory then anything else. Of course most of this can be remedied by installing a different launcher, but it still does not fit in with the rest of the operating system.

You can fix this by unlocking your boot loader through HTCDev, which is an awful service, and installing a AOSP-based (CM, AOSP, PA etc) ROM onto the phone. You get back the benefits of being on pure-Android, but you also gain the drawbacks of it not being optimised for your phone, such as battery life, camera, radio etc.

But I switched to a Nexus 4 and it does not have any of them problems. It runs Android how Android is meant to be. The Nexus 4 also gets instant updates, so you don't have to wait for your OEM (or in some cases network) to "mend" Android with their skin.

Hardware

Based on hardware, both phones are on-par. Build quality is great on both. The Nexus 4 feels much more solid however, this is attributed to it being heavier and thicker then the One X.

To sum up the screens, the One X screen is drawn with crayons, where the N4 screen is drawn with pastels. The One X has better colours, but Nexus 4 has better whites.

The Nexus 4 has an edge with 2GB of RAM and S4 Quad Pro. However the HTC One X has a decent Tegra 3 and a respectable 1GB of RAM. The One X also has a storage advantage (32GB vs 16GB). However as someone who uses Spotify with unlimited data, the drop in storage was not a problem for me.

Connectivity

There are only two differences between the Nexus 4 and One X in terms of the radio. The Nexus 4 lacks the FM radio built into the One X but the Nexus 4 has DC-HSPA, which the One X lacks. In terms of real-worlds speed, I was able to get 13Mbps on the One X, but a great 22Mbps on the Nexus 4.

Camera

The One X has a superior camera compared to the Nexus 4. The Nexus 4 photos seem a bit more grainy and have less contrast. However, I do not take many photos, so I was fine with making this sacrifice.

Summary

If you have a HTC One X and are happy with it, keep it. If you want to get into the pure Android experience with no drawbacks, get a Nexus 4.