BARCELONA: HTC is very excited about its One Series of smartphones, and after having a play with the flagship One X handset so are we.

The One X has a 4.7in behemoth of a display that may intimidate some users, but the thin design and lightweight nature of the handset makes it very comfortable to hold and the screen size is great for web browsing and multimedia consumption.

HTC has gone with a 1280x720 resolution and the handset will have a pixel-per-inch density of 312ppi, putting it up there with other high-end devices such as the iPhone 4S.

Under the hood is the Nvidia quad-core Tegra 3 processor, which has been clocked at 1.5GHz and is supported by 1GB of RAM. We found the performance of the device to be very smooth, with no latency detected. This was impressive considering that the Android Ice Cream Sandwich operating system runs the resource hungry HTC Sense overlay on top.

The performance of the camera appears to have been increased greatly and it is good to see that HTC has finally addressed a feature that has let down the performance of previous devices. The 8-megapixel snapper loads up in the blink of an eye and the f2.0 lens and a BSI sensor should make the device a great camera, even in low-light environments.

A number of features that have been added to Sense 4 interface as well. When the applications menu is opened, there are options to search for an app, enter the Android Market or activate the menu. This is particularly useful for users who have dozens of apps over a number of pages.

HTC has chosen to keep three capacitive buttons below the screen as they found that users would still like these to compliment the onscreen controls on Android Ice Cream Sandwich. The buttons are users to go ‘back', ‘home' or bring up most recent apps.

The recent apps feature has been given the Sense treatment and is displayed differently when contrasted with stock Android handsets. Instead of appearing in a list form in the left hand column, active applications are given a large icon and users move between them horizontally as opposed to vertically. A flick upwards on an app will also shut it down.

The only area where we are slightly disappointed is the storage. There is no micro SD support and although HTC will ship the device with 32GB of internal memory, this is likely to make it expensive. Users may be attracted by the 25GB of free storage from Dropbox for two years, though.

The One X will come with NFC capabilities, so it will be ready to make use of the infrastructure being slowly rolled out in locations in the UK and beyond. DLNA is also included as standard, so that images and video can be mirrored to larger HD displays.

From the looks of it, the One X is shaping up to be HTC's best device to date, and could be a serious challenger to other high-end devices on the market.

Nokia launched two high-end devices at its annual Nokia World event in London on Wednesday and we got a chance to spend some hands with the Lumia 800 Windows Phone handset.

The flagship Lumia 800 is set to take the challenge to the Apple iPhone 4S and Samsung Galaxy S II and it bears a striking resemblance to the Nokia N9, which was released in selected European countries and uses the MeeGo platform.

The Lumia 800 exudes high quality craftsmanship, with a one-piece injection moulded body that Nokia touted as scratch proof. The device is also comfortable to hold, but isn't the lightest on the market as it weighs 142g.

Nokia has integrated an 3.7in Amoled screen with a resolution of 480x800 and colours are crisp with blacks particularly deep when compared to other devices. Brightness also seemed very good as we were using the device in a low light environment.

The 1.4GHz single-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor and 512MB of RAM are not the highest specifications around, but the device has been optimised to get the full benefit from the software, much like Apple has with the iOS. This makes the Lumia 800 extremely responsive, and there is no noticeable lag.

The Windows platform will also help the firm attract business users to the device, as it comes with Exchange support and Mobile Microsoft Office suite.

Some key features that set the Nokia apart from competing Windows Phone devices is the eight megapixel camera with an optimised flash for low-light conditions. The Nokia N8 had an excellent camera and the firm has clearly carried this through to the Lumia 800.

With Microsoft having already laid down specifications for the Windows Phone Mango platform before Nokia signed its deal with Microsoft, the Finnish firm has been unable to make its hardware substantially difference to other devices from HTC and Samsung.

However, Nokia has managed to sneak in a few of its own apps, the highlight of which is Nokia Drive, a free voice-guided turn-by-turn navigation system, a first for Windows Phone devices.

With a price of €420, the Lumia 800 isn't cheap, but with the services on offer and good performance it could be winner. Nokia is still behind when it comes to core specifications but as Apple has proved, raw processing power isn't everything.

Nokia is set to embark on its biggest marketing campaign with the Lumia series, so expect to see adverts for the device plastered everywhere in the next few weeks ahead of its November launch.

V3 will have a full review of the device in due course and we also have a video demo of the phone in action:

V3 got its hands on the forthcoming HTC Jetstream Android Honeycomb tablet that aims to take on the iPad 2 and Samsung Galaxy 10.1.

The Jetstream has already been released in the US and looks to be the fastest Android tablet on the market in terms of raw processing power. The 10in device is powered by a 1.5GHz dual-core Qualcomm processor making it twice as fast as the 7in HTC Flyer, which was the Taiwanese firm's first tablet.

We found the Jetstream very responsive and we don't envisage the radical decline in performance over time that happened with the Flyer.

The Jetstream looks and feels remarkably similar to the Motorola Xoom in terms of design. The HTC tablet is not as svelte as the Apple and Samsung devices, but this isn't a bad thing. Build-quality also seems to have been improved, HTC going for the metallic look and solid back cover.

Hardware highlights on the Jetstream include an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera and support for the superfast 4G LTE network. Sadly, the latter will be cut out from the UK device, as the infrastructure is not yet in place.

The Jetstream will be the first HTC tablet to ship with Android Honeycomb in the UK. We are glad to see that HTC customised its Sense interface for Honeycomb, something that has taken some time.

The Sense overlay is generally deemed one of the best features of HTC devices. The Jetstream comes with familiar customisations, including an interactive lockscreen, carousel and widgets, and is unlikely to break the trend.

A potential stumbling block could be the battery life. HTC devices can struggle to last a full day as they need to power the resource-hungry Sense overlay. It will be interesting to see whether the manufacturer has managed to fix this problem, considering the 10in display.

Pricing could be another barrier to purchase. The 7in Flyer was initially set at around £600 and, although this has been reduced, ii's still one of the most expensive on the market despite not having the best performance.