HTC One X+ and HTC Windows Phone 8X to be released on the Philippines on November 3, 2012

Yugatech, who is very reliable on this kind of information, reports that we should expect the HTC One X+ and HTC Windows Phone 8X to be available for sale in the Philippine's by November 3, 2012.

HTC releases their new Android phones on the second quarter of each year, and an updated flagship phone is released at the last quarter of each year. The HTC One X+ follows HTC's tradition of the HTC Desire HD and HTC Sensation XE, the upgraded models released at the end of 2010 and 2011.

The HTC One X+ is an upgraded One X. It has the same size and shape but comes in a new black (red themed) color scheme as opposed to the grey and white color schemes for the HTC One X. The HTC One X+ weighs 5 grams more mainly due to a larger 2100 mAh battery, which is larger than the 1800 mAh battery on the One X. More room was made for the battery by using thinner Gorilla Glass 2, instead of Gorilla Glass. Other than that, the HTC One X+ comes with a faster 1.7 GHz quad core  processor. This should help it catch up to the Samsung Galaxy S III both in terms of benchmarks and battery life.

I expect the price to be somewhere between Php27,900 to Php32,900.

The HTC Windows Phone 8X is one of the new Windows Phone 8 devices which brings HD displays and multicore processing to Windows Phones. It is also likely to be the first dual core Qualcomm Krait powered device to be officially released in the Philippines. It should be priced at the same price range as the HTC One X+.

New Smart LTE Plans

Smart's LTE plan was originally Php3,500 a month for 10 GB of data with a speed of 42 Mbps. 

Globe Telecom launched it LTE services a month later with the following packages:

• Tattoo Black Plan 1799 - Plan 1799 comes with free USB dongle and runs at speeds of up to 28 Mbps with a 12 GB cap.
• Tattoo Black Elite 2499 - Plan 2499 comes with free USB dongle and runs at speeds of up to 42 Mbps with a 15 GB cap.

In response Smart has revised its LTE offerings as follows:

• Smart LTE Plan 1749 - Plan 1749 gives you 42 Mbps with a 10 GB cap. 
• Smart LTE Plan 3500 - Plan 3500 comes with free USB dongle and runs at speeds of up to 42 Mbps with a 21 GB cap.

Smart Galaxy Note II now available on pre-order from Smart Communications

Samsung's new phablet, the Android powered Samsung Galaxy Note is now available for pre-order from Smart Communications at this page.

The Samsung Galaxy Note II has a 5.5-inch HD (720 x 1280) display. The Galaxy Note is designed which is designed to be used with a stylus and comes with software optimized for that purpose. With a 1.6 GHz quad core processor and  2 GB of RAM it is also Samsung's most powerful hand held device. A 3100 mAh battery is used to power the large screen and powerful processor and does a good job of that. GSMArena's battery life tests gives it almost 17 hours of talk time, almost 9 hours of web browsing and over 11 hours of video playback.

October 2012 - High End Smartphone Buyers Guide

This first part of this article, covering smartphones priced up to Php15,000, can be found here, while the second part of this article can be found here. Not much has changed since last month. The new iPhone 5 is still not available here and we don't have the new Samsung Galaxy Note II yet either.

8. Sony LT26i Xperia S - Unofficial Nexus (Php22,800 to Php24,990)

The Sony Xperia S is still a good starting point. It is a nice enough Android smartphone. The 4.3-inch HD (720 x 1280) display has the highest pixel resolution of any smartphone in the market. It comes with a good 12 MP camera. Internal storage is a 32 GB, which should be enough for most, even if not user expandable. The battery is a decent size 1750 mAh unit.

But inside, it is more of a great 2011 smartphone, than a 2012 flagship. The HSDPA 14.4 Mbps is radio is a step down from the HSDPA+ found in all of this years top smartphones. The 1.5 GHz dual core processor is a Qualcomm S3, the same one found in last years HTC Sensation XE, and does not compare well with the new Qualcomm S4 and quad core smartphones.

Google's top Android guy, Jean Baptiste Queru, announced that this phone would be getting updates directly from Google, giving it de facto Nexus status. So instead of comparing it against the HTC One X and Samsun Galaxy S III, we are now comparing it against the Google Galaxy Nexus. Compared to the Google Galaxy Nexus, the Sony Xperia S is a very nice alternative indeed for those who want a better camera and more storage.    

9. HTC One X - Second best (Php25,500 to Php27,900)

The higher end Sony offerings are hard to recommend for as they are powered by Qualcomm S3 systems. The LG Optimus 4X HD wins the hardware battle, matching the  HTC One X specifications wise, and offering in addition a MicroSD card slot and a larger user replaceable battery. But the battery life tests of the LG Optimus 4X HD are disappointing (Source: GSM Arena) and LG's record on software updates is deplorable. Right now, in terms of software support, I rate LG at the bottom.

Who supports their devices best?  

1. Google with Nexus devices

2. Sony

3. HTC

4. Samsung (good on flagship phones, deplorable at all other categories)

5. LG 

Overall, the HTC One X gets my recommendation by a hair. It is a very good phone for the asking price with a 4.7-inch HD (720 x 1280) display, a quad core Tegra 3 based processor, 32 GB of internal storage, fast HSDPA+ 21.1 Mbps connectivity and a good 8 MP camera.

10. Samsung Galaxy S III - The best smartphone ever built (Php29,900 to Php32,990)

This phone has no weak spots. It has a beautiful 4.8-inch HD (720 x 1280) SuperAMOLED display.  The 8 MP camera excellent in terms of quality as well as features. Connectivity is via a fast HSDPA+ 21.1 Mbps radio. The Samsung built Exynos Quad is substantially faster than the Tegra 3 found in the HTC One X. It comes with a large user replaceable 2000 mAh battery, which combined with the power efficient Exynos Quad gives it better battery than life the HTC's, LG's and Sony's offerings. It is the best smartphone in the market. The most you can complain about is that it comes with only 16 GB of internal storage, but it is expandable via a Micro SD card slot. 

Drawbacks... well will cost you a lot more than anything else.

Samsung Galaxy Note? I think the Samsung Galaxy Note should still be on this list, and I have seen it for as low as Php25,000 with an official warranty, but with the Galaxy Note II being available in a few days, I guess I would wait and check out the price of the new one.

Sony Xperia miro - Sony is leaving no stone unturned

I just finished writing the entry level smartphone buyers guide a few days ago, when the Sony Xperia miro became available in the Philippine market. It really looks like Sony is launching a very serious challenge to Samsung for the in the top smartphone manufacturers crown. While that is a pretty tall mountain to scale, hardware wise I think Sony is winning.

The Sony Xperia tipo is already my favorite entry level smartphone with a suggested retail price of Php7,690, and available as low as Php7,150 with an official warranty. At risk of offending some readers, anything less is not worth the money. Anything cheaper will be running an old version of Android or Symbian.

The Sony Xperia tipo comes out of the box with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. If the Xperia tipo is never updated during its like, Android 4.0 will keep it a viable platform for the next two years or so, in terms of software compatibility. Being a newer phone, and given Sony's track record in updates, it is also a decent chance of getting update an OS update.

The Xperia miro costs more than the Xperia tipo with a suggested retail price of Php10,490, which is much higher than the Xperia tipo. On the shelves, we have seen the new Xperia Miro at just Php9,100 with an official warranty. This makes the price gap less than 2K.

Sony Xperia miro quick specs:

• Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich)
• 3.5-inch display with a 320 x 480 resolution
• 800 MHz Qualcomm processor on MSM7225A
• Adreno 200 graphics 
• 4GB internal storage (2.5 GB user available)
• microSD slot up to 32GB
• 512 MB RAM
• 5 megapixel camera with LED flash and Auto focus
• VGA front camera
• HSDPA 7.2 Mbps
• WiFi and WiFi Hotspot functionality
• aGPS
• USB 2.0, Micro USB, Bluetooth
• FM Radio
• 1500 mAh battery

For 2K more the Xperia miro gives you a larger display (3.5 versus 3.2 inches), a better camera (5 MP versus 3.2 MP), and a front camera.  One big difference I think, is instead of the chunk 13 mm thickness of the Xperia tipo, the Xperia miro is a trim 9.9 mm.

I still like the Xperia tipo, but if budget allows, the Xperia miro is work the extra 2K or so.