HTC was one of the pioneers of the Android smartphone market, but over the past couple of years it lost its way. After spending a week with the One X though, we’re happy to say that HTC is back.

Simply put, the HTC One X is the best Android phone since the Samsung Galaxy S II launched last year. It’s gorgeous to look at with its 4.7-inch screen and curved body, blazingly fast thanks to the quad-core processor on board and versatile to use thanks to the 8MP camera and Beats Audio functionality.

Naturally, all these state of the art technologies take their toll on battery life. If you use your phone seriously for any kind of entertainment, you won’t get through a whole day without a power top-up.

But that’s pretty standard for today’s high-end smartphones. And ultimately the benefits outweigh the downsides. The phone snaps to your command with military precision, takes stunning photos – especially for a smartphone – and the Beats Audio boosts the bass to “improve” the audio playback from your phone.

The One X is available from Optus, Vodafone and Virgin. You can pick it up for $0 up front on a $59 cap plan, which is pretty impressive for such a highly-specced phone.

Web: HTC