Comparison: HTC One XL Vs Samsung Galaxy S3

Here We compare the HTC One XL and Samsung Galaxy S3
Form
HTC One XL - 134.8x69.9x8.9mm, 129g
Samsung Galaxy S3 - 136.6x70.6x8.6mm, 133g
With the Galaxy S3's shape, Samsung said it had been inspired by beach pebbles and this has manifested as a much curvier, more rounded design than its predecessor, the Galaxy S2.
The results aren't great. in fact we'd go so far as to say the Galaxy S2 actually looks more up-to-date than the Galaxy S3. The other thing we're not impressed with is the build quality.
We shared the view of many other reviewers with the Galaxy S2 that while the plastics used where not the worst they were also not the best but with the Galaxy S3 this is an area we expected Samsung to improve and it's actually gone the other way entirely.
The Galaxy S3 feels very tacky to touch with scratchy, low-quality plastics and is totally unsatisfactory as a premium model.
The One XL is virtually the antithesis of the Samsung Galaxy S3. The materials used have a very high quality feel and are well worthy of the premium price tag. Not only that, but the shape and design is more interesting too.
HTC has gone for a curvy phone but has also tapered and chiselled some surfaces which compliment the curvature very well indeed. The screen placement, seated into a contoured black panel, is very clever as it makes the display look larger than it actually is.
The HTC One XL is the clear choice here as it lives up to our expectations for a flagship phone wile representing a tremendous effort on HTC's part.
Winner - HTC One XL

Display
The Samsung Galaxy S3 has a large 4.8-inch Super AMOLED HD capacitive touchscreen with a 1280x720 pixel resolution. It uses Corning's Gorilla Glass and sports a pixel density of 306 pixels-per-inch (ppi). Visuals are very crisp and the AMOLED tech means contrast and colour reproduction are both strong.
HTC's One XL has a similarly sized 4.7-inch Super IPS LCD2 capacitive display at the same resolution as its opponent, the pixel density is slightly higher at 312ppi but the difference in clarity between the two handsets should be barely noticeable.
These devices are on a fairly even playing field in this category. It's a draw.
Winner - Draw

Storage
Samsung's Galaxy S3 has a variety of options for onboard storage, there are three variants with either 16GB, 32GB or 64GB and each comes with 1GB of RAM plus a micro SD slot which allows for cards up to 32GB.
The One XL only has one option for 16GB of internal space with 1GB of RAM and no card slot.
Samsung easily wins this round by offering two higher-tier onboard storage options and more flexibility thanks to card capability.
Winner - Samsung Galaxy S3

Processor
The Galaxy S3 is Samsung's first quad core device and uses ARM's Cortex-A9 architecture and Samsung's new Exynos 4212 chipset clocked at 1.4GHz with a Mali-400MP graphics processing unit (GPU).
This setup is as fast with initial benchmarking tests suggesting that it's one of the quickest chips on the market.
However, one of the other super-fast chips in that same elite bracket is the Qualcomm dual core S4 MSM8960 Snapdragon Krait, which the One XL uses. Like it's stable-mates it is clocked at 1.5GHz and features an Adreno 225 GPU.
This is the same setup as the HTC One S and we can say from our hands-on with the device that it is seriously quick and delivers very smooth performance.
Samsung's chip is one of the better quad core setups on the market but we'd say it's on a par with HTC's Qualcomm S4 setup.
Winner - Draw

Operating System
Both phones run on the latest build of Google's Android platform, version 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) which has a number of improvements over previous iterations.
The Galaxy S3 has a few extra added features including the S-Voice assistant, which is similar to Apple's Siri, but most of these features are somewhat gimmicky and we're more interested in the core platform.
Between these two there's not much to compare.
Winner - Draw

Camera
Each handset is equipped with an 8-megapixel primary camera with a back-illuminated sensor (BSI) and a 3264x2448 pixel resolution.
Common features between the two are autofocus, LED flash, geo-tagging, face and smile detection, touch focus, simultaneous 1080p HD and still image capture, multi-shot mode with ‘best image' selector and image stabilisation.
The HTC One XL also has stereo sound video recording and video stabilisation. Samsung's Galaxy S3 has a 2-megapixel secondary camera with video call support and 720p video capture while the One XL has a 1.3-megapixel secondary with similar capabilities.
This one's a draw.

Final Thoughts
Overall the Samsung Galaxy S3 has a pretty decent spec. In terms of hardware it's certainly competitive with the current crop of high-end devices, though, contrary to what was expected it doesn't exceed them or re-define the market.
The problem with it, however, is the build quality, which is just not acceptable for the sort of money you're talking about parting with to get your hands on one.
The One XL is on much the same level for performance and hardware but the outer shell is not only made from better quality materials but it's also designed better, making our decision all the more easier.
The HTC One XL wins everytime.

Posted in: Android,Android 4.0,Comparisons,HTC,HTC Corporation,HTC One XL,HTC One XL Vs Samsung Galaxy S3,ICS,Samsung,Samsung Galaxy S III