About Supercars and Superphones

Back in 2009, Google and HTC introduced the Nexus One, the first Google-branded smartphone. The phone was described in a new term, "superphone", in order to emphasis the fact it had features that exceed any other smartphone on the market.

When I heard the term "superphone" for the first time, it instantly reminded me of supercars. Supercars are usually described by their manufacturers in terms such as "high performance", "beautiful" and "exclusive". Those terms are usually true, but Jeremy Clarkson's description is just as accurate, saying most supercars are "big", "impractical", "unreliable" and "trying to kill you".

Superphones are therefore surprisingly similar to supercars: they are usually beautifully designed, have high-quality screens and powerful features. But also, they're usually too big, suffer from unstable software, fragile and have battery life that will hardly suffice for a single workday.

But in the same way that every driver would like to drive a Ferrari, an Aston Martin or a Lamborghini, most phone owners would like to use an iPhone, a Samsung or an HTC. We tend to ignore the faults and focus on the (rather useless) advantages. In the real world, Ford Focus is a much, much better car than a Lamborghini Aventador, but it will never satisfy our dreams. My old HTC Desire is a perfectly acceptable phone but still, I wanted to have the HTC One X.

The HTC One X is certainly a superphone. Its design is impeccable, it has cutting-edge hardware and the best screen I've ever seen in a phone. It's also too big, slightly uncomfortable and will not last more than one day on a charge. It ticks almost all the superphone boxes, except for the reliability issue: it's very stable.

I could have waited a little and buy the superphone of the day, the Samsung Galaxy S III - but I simply could not make myself do it. It is better in almost every hardware aspect than the One X (screen quality would be that exception). But it's still a Samsung: uninspired design, non-elegant design and cheap feeling, despite it being the most expensive phone out there.

Maybe that's the X-factor they talk about in Top Gear, the fun factor. It's not about the hardware, it's about how the device makes you feel. At the end, this is why I chose the One X: the Apple iPhone 4S and the Samsung Galaxy S III are the phones everyone will buy, but I am an HTC fanboy, and this phone just makes me feel happier. This is not rational, but it doesn't have to be. Had I been rational, I would have stayed with my old phone.

Edit: Something must be added here. Unlike supercars, even non-millionaires can afford the latest and greatest superphones. Technology is a great equalizer.