Two Months with a One X

I was an early adopter of Windows Phone 7 with the Samsung Focus (I would have gotten an HTC device if I could have, but I wasn't impressed with the HTC Surround, AT&T's only HTC device running WP7), and by the time I was done with it the poor device had been dropped and thrown around and put through the paces of a power user adjusting to the growing pains of a fresh product. I like Metro quite a lot; as annoyed as I was with it as time went on, it is a beautiful visual style and I think that once Microsoft has taken the next two or three product cycles to refine it that it will definitely attract enough users away from the aged feel of iOS and developers to build a robust enough app store to seal the deal. Needless to say, I was very happy to go back to Android - ICS is much more appealing  visually than Froyo, and it was time to try something new. I say new only because the last time I was on Android was on the developer G1 waaaay back in 2009 when Android was first released. Being a big fan of HTC, I was so glad that AT&T finally announced the One X and got it when my upgrade was available. I call my beauty Trinity.

My overall verdict? I'm pretty happy, but not as happy as I wish I was.

Here's what I really use my phone for:

• Music: I use Spotify, Last.FM, and Google Play daily. Whether I'm at the gym or driving to work, I'm relying on Trinity to blast my tunes.
• Email: Work and personal get pushed to Trinity so I can keep up with the latest bug fixes and keep an eye on my personal account for any messages from my dad and other important people.
• Browsing: I was surprised to find that this is the thing I do most on the phone. During the work day, I find articles that I want to read, so I push it to Trinity using the Chrome to Phone extension to read it later. Makes waiting go much slower. 
• Gaming: Temple Run and Fruit Ninja are my games of choice when I'm bored, but this is more like a secondary task.

I can do everything I want, but I'm not happy with my phone. In terms of the hardware, my only complaint is the lack of a dedicated hardware camera button - it takes several steps to actually take a picture on Trinity (unlock phone, tap on camera app, take the picture), and if there's a better way, I have yet to discover it. Admittedly, I do like the fact that my camera doesn't sometimes get activated in my pocket the way my Samsung Focus used to do.

But the software...

WebOS has forever ruined all notification systems for me. Jellybean's notifications might come close to it (I'll have to confirm this since Trinity is still on ICS), but the simplicity of webOS notifications in the lock screen and while the phone is in use is just beautiful. Windows Phone's lock screen notifications weren't as useful since they were icons, but displaying my next meeting and the music player are above and beyond Sense's implementation.

I like Android overall. Any apps I have found on the Apple App Store have mostly been available on Google Play. But I am still left feeling dissatisfied with my phone, something I chalk up to HTC's skinning of Android. Were I a braver person I'd root the device and push stock Android on there, but I seem to be very good at screwing up things like that. So for now, I'll keep using Trinity while secretly lusting after the Galaxy Nexus and its pure Jellybean experience.