HTC rolling out Android 4.1 Jelly Bean for One X

Taiwan-based HTC Corporation has started rolling out Android 4.1, Jelly Bean for the HTC One X. The update brings Google’s latest operating system to the One X, along with a newer version of HTC’s own flavour of Android, Sense 4+. Other improvements include a new UI with better performance, a new landing page and a new Event/Map view in the gallery app, and improvements to power management.

The update seems to have been rolled out across the world, as users of the XDA forums from various parts of the world, including India, Brazil, Peru, Argentina, and Sri Lanka have reported of having received the update.

The update has been rolled out in two parts, and owners of the One X will first be prompted to download a 1.65MB package, after installing which a larger update that’s around 360MB in size will be downloaded.

HTC had stated in Taiwan late last month that it would be rolling out Jelly Bean for the One X in Asia. HTC General Manager, Jack Tong, had also stated that the One S too will receive a firmware upgrade. However, he didn’t specify when it would be rolled out to this smartphone.

The Jelly Bean update comes with a host of improvements.

Jelly Bean builds on top of Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich). This operating system is designed to make everything smoother, faster, and more fluid. Notifications are now more dynamic, allowing you to access and interact with alerts from the drop-down notification menu itself without having to open an app. Another interesting feature is that voice typing is now faster, and works even when the smartphone is not connected to the Internet.

Jelly Bean brings a host of new features, but from what we gleaned of the Sense 4+ UI from our review of the HTC One X+, the UI doesn’t feel as smooth as other custom UIs running on Jelly Bean do. While it’s quite similar to Sense 4 in functionality and aesthetics, it feels smoother and quicker. But it's not completely lag-free, and despite Jelly Bean incorporating Project Butter, there’s this very tiny hint of lag that creeps up when swiping between homescreens.

But one notable improvement we did notice immediately was the keyboard. The keyboard that comes with Sense 4+ on the One X+ is a lot more usable and the annoying lag that was present in the old Sense 4 keyboard is now gone. Word prediction and auto-correct also work very well. But we noticed that Sense 4+ missed the power toggles in the notification bar. HTC had this in its previous versions of Sense, so we aren’t sure why they would get rid of it.

If you own an HTC One X and want to update the operating system to Jelly Bean, we recommend you connect to Wi-Fi or a broadband connection before you update as you’ll need a stable connection for the downloads to be completed. Make sure the phone’s battery is charged to at least 80 percent before you start the update as the phone switching off while the update takes place may lead to your handset being bricked. To check for updates, go to Settings -> About -> Software updates -> Check now.