Hardware Overview and Organization Functioning

Instead of using a Qualcomm Snapdragon SoC, HTC has opted for MediaTek silicon in the HTC I X9. This smartphone packs a MediaTek Helio X10 (MT6795) SoC, which is an octa-core blueprint that's comparable to Qualcomm's Snapdragon 617. In other words, this 28nm SoC is still firmly a mid-range scrap that'south virtually suited to 1080p applications.

The Helio X10 features eight ARM Cortex-A53 CPU cores all with the same one.95 GHz maximum clock speed. This is an upgrade on the entry-level Helio P10, which is also an viii-core blueprint, but uses a big.Trivial organization with 4 cores at ane.0 GHz and 4 at 1.8 GHz. In other words, the Helio X10 provides a CPU clock speed boost across the lath. It's besides higher clocked than the Snapdragon 617: another octa-cadre pattern with A53 cores.

On the GPU side nosotros're looking at a PowerVR G6200 clocked at 700 MHz. This is a actually odd GPU to use, considering PowerVR's Series 6 Rogue GPUs were starting time spotted in 2013, however as a relatively high-cease role at the fourth dimension it should suit this mid-range handset well.

For retentiveness, nosotros're looking at 3 GB of 933 MHz LPDDR3 on a 64-bit jitney, providing 14.9 GB/southward of bandwidth. This phone comes with 32 GB of internal storage as standard, plus microSD expansion, and so there should be enough costless space out of the box for many apps and games.

The One X9 packs Category iv LTE support on half dozen FDD and 4 TDD bands, along with quad-band HSPA. This phone is configured for use in Europe and Asia Pacific, so at that place'south just limited support for North American bands. Y'all'll too get Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n/air conditioning on two.4 and 5.0 GHz, Bluetooth 4.2, A-GNSS/BDS, and NFC.

The past few times I've used phones with MediaTek SoCs I oasis't been all that impressed, only I had no such concerns with the HTC I X9. Sure, this handset isn't the fastest on the market, because it doesn't use a high-terminate chip. However, the Helio X10 is a decent mid-range SoC, thanks mostly due to its very high A53 CPU clock speed, and three GB of RAM helps a lot during multi-tasking. App loading performance could be improved, though in-app operation was smooth and stutter gratuitous.

In CPU-limited workloads, the HTC One X9 is around 13% faster than the Motorola Moto G4 Plus, which uses a Snapdragon 617 SoC. Just looking at the 4 fastest cores in each SoC, the Helio X10 is clocked 33% higher than the S617, so I didn't see actual performance gains in line with the increased clock speeds. This is disappointing, only non surprising considering MediaTek'south apparent lack of optimization compared to Qualcomm or other SoC vendors.

It'due south also worth noting that in some general system tests like PCMark, the One X9 was actually outperformed by the Moto G4 Plus.

At the One X9's price betoken, it'due south also competing against older flagships like the Google Nexus 5X, which use a Snapdragon 808 SoC. The Nexus 5X is around xix percent faster in CPU workloads, although I saw gains equally high as 119% in some tests. The Snapdragon 810, seen in another older flagships, is around 30 percentage faster on average.