Revisiting the HTC One X+: A Nostalgic Look Back at a 2012 Android Pioneer

While searching through desk drawers for a solution to an aging smart TV dilemma, technology features author Marvin Velasco stumbled upon a piece of mobile history: his first-ever Android smartphone, the HTC One X+.

Released in late 2012, the HTC One X+ occupies a somewhat forgotten space in smartphone history. It arrived on the market as an iterative update launched between the well-received HTC One X and the legendary HTC One M7. At the time, the One X+ represented HTC’s most refined attempt at a polycarbonate smartphone design, showcasing a build quality and engineering philosophy that helped pave the way for the era of metal unibodies.

Equipped with a 4.7-inch LCD panel and an NVIDIA Tegra 3 chipset, the One X+ was also one of the early flagship devices to break away from traditional user-accessible features. In pursuit of a sleek, unibody frame, it notably omitted both a microSD card slot and a user-swappable battery—design choices that would soon become standard across the mobile industry.

After locating a compatible micro-USB cable and leaving the device on charge for a few minutes, the vintage smartphone successfully powered back on. It was greeted by the familiar, nostalgic HTC welcome chime and the classic interface of Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. While the software naturally felt deeply dated compared to modern operating systems, holding the device offered an immediate reminder of the distinct physical characteristics that defined an earlier era of mobile hardware.

HTC Created the Pinnacle of Polycarbonate Phones

Modern smartphones frequently function more like pocket-sized desktop computers than traditional handheld communication tools. This evolution is the direct result of mobile engineering pushing performance to desktop levels while expanding display sizes well past the six-inch mark.

By contrast, the HTC One X+ serves as a clear reminder of how compact and pocketable Android devices once were. It easily slips into the slimmest compartments of a small bag without protruding awkwardly or weighing down pockets.

Among its standout physical characteristics is its emphasis on true one-handed operation. Featuring a display measuring under five inches, the glass panel gently tapers toward the edges, allowing users to comfortably reach all four corners of the screen without needing to constantly adjust their grip.

When paired with a curved, matte polycarbonate back, the device provided a secure, tactile grip that prevented slips throughout four years of daily, case-free usage. Nearly a decade and a half after its initial release, the hardware retains a clean aesthetic that makes wrapping it in a protective plastic case feel entirely unnecessary.

Another distinct hardware trait of the One X+ is its top-mounted power button—a placement that is practically exclusive to smartphones of this compact scale. This positioning offers distinct ergonomic advantages, most notably the elimination of accidental screenshot activations. On modern devices, where the power button frequently sits directly opposite the volume rocker under a resting thumb, users often trigger unintentional screen captures or accidentally launch power menus and digital assistants through long presses. Such a layout is virtually impossible to replicate comfortably on the expansive dimensions of today’s oversized displays.

Furthermore, the One X+ featured dedicated capacitive navigation buttons positioned just below the screen. These buttons illuminated whenever the active display was turned on, making them clearly visible in dark environments without requiring software swipes to appear. Because they rested entirely outside the active display area, they left every pixel free of software obstruction and eliminated the navigation ambiguity often associated with modern swipe gestures. These dedicated buttons ultimately vanished alongside the traditional smartphone "chins" as manufacturers aggressively shrunk bezels to maximize screen space.

There Are Some Hardware Choices I’d Rather Forget

Despite its many ergonomic strengths, the HTC One X+ also featured several design choices that have not aged gracefully. Chief among them is the side-mounted charging port. While a side or corner charging placement makes logical sense on modern gaming phones—where devices are frequently held in a landscape orientation while plugged into power or accessories—placing the charging port on the upper-left side of the One X+ felt awkward for a device primarily used in a vertical orientation.

While criticizing the inclusion of a micro-USB port feels redundant given that the sturdier, reversible USB-C standard became ubiquitous only a couple of years later, the absence of expandable storage remains a more frustrating omission. HTC was among the early Android manufacturers to follow Apple’s lead by discarding the microSD card slot. Although the One X+ offered 64GB of internal storage—a generous capacity for 2012—the lack of physical expansion limited long-term versatility, even as the device retained its traditional 3.5-inch headphone jack.

The phone also included a notification LED subtly concealed inside the earpiece grille. Unfortunately, the indicator light was exceptionally small and difficult to spot from most viewing angles, falling far short of the prominent notification implementations found on modern hardware.

It Was Fun While It Lasted

The HTC One X+ marked the end of an era for the manufacturer, serving as its final major polycarbonate release before the company transitioned to metal unibody construction with the launch of the HTC One M7. After brief exploration and a trip down memory lane, the device was powered down and returned to its drawer.

While the nostalgia trip highlighted the distinct charm of early 2010s hardware, it also underscored the practical reasons why the mobile industry evolved in the direction it did. Aside from a handful of folding devices, the vast majority of modern smartphones share a remarkably uniform look and feel—a direct reflection of consumer preferences and market demand.

What remains noticeably absent from the contemporary landscape, however, is the sheer variety that defined the early days of Android. In the early 2010s, a wide array of manufacturers competed fiercely, each bringing distinct brand identities and experimental feature sets to the market. Today, the industry is dominated by a handful of major players offering highly streamlined products. Looking ahead, it remains unlikely that today’s homogeneous smartphone designs will evoke the same sense of distinct character and fond remembrance fourteen years down the line.