HTC One X, Canon DSLR, budget speakers make their mark

Posted by Mgbenka at Sunday, May 06, 2012 |

HTC announced its "hero" phone, the HTC One X, at CES in January, however the phone is finally bringing to light at a U.S. carrier (AT&T, for higher or worse) on Sunday, May 6. The epic buildup did not hurt HTC. When CNET's Brian Bennett got his hands on the dual-core model, he wasn't positive it'd compete, however the all-plastic phone shocked him with its "style, speed, blazing 4G, and power galore" and he gave the phone an Editors' alternative award. whereas it's doable that the Galaxy S and its whizbang extras can earn over four stars from us once its summer unharness, it should not -- and within the meantime, the One X could be a really worthy Android various

HTC One X sets a lofty bar

HTC announced its "hero" phone, the HTC One X, atCES in January, but the phone is finally showing up at a U.S. carrier (AT&T, for better or worse) on Sunday, May 6. The epic buildup didn't hurt HTC. When CNET's Brian Bennett got his hands on the dual-core model, he wasn't sure it would compete, but the all-plastic phone surprised him with its "style, speed, blazing 4G, and power galore" and he gave the phone an Editors' Choice award. While it's possible that the Galaxy S and its whizbang extras will earn more than four stars from us after its summer release, it may not -- and in the meantime, the One X is a truly worthy Android alternative.

A big week for flagship gadgets
The Canon EOS 5D Mark III showed up on Lori Grunin's doorstep this week, too -- another long wait finally at an end. We've been looking forward to reviewing this camera, the next generation of Canon's popular, full-frame Mark II for months and months. The camera didn't disappoint. Its revamped processor makes pro photos cleaner and faster, with better color in video. The ambitious DSLR comes with an ambitious price too, though -- about $4,300 -- making what's possibly the most important thing to know about the 5D Mark III is the fact that it's $1,000 more than the Mark II, which is still a fantastic camera.

Surprise speakers
Jawbone surprised everyone this week with the Jawbone Big Jambox, a bigger version of Jawbone's wildly popular Jambox mini Bluetooth speaker kit. A competitor to the Bose SoundLink system, the Big Jambox sounds a little less warm but looks radically cool. The Big Jambox is like something from Alice in Wonderland, as if Jawbone fed the Jambox some magic cake to make it balloon to three times its original size.
But we found the $250-something speaker soundbar from Haier -- yes, the company that also makes air conditioners -- even more shocking. We fully expected the Haier SBEV40-Slim to produce middling sound, but it turned out to be awesome. Otherwise known as the Haier Slim Evoke, the 1.1-inch think soundbar looks nice and sounds crisp, making it the best budget soundbar deal we can find.