[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] blackplague1347:
I'm facing the (first world) problem that every indecisive bastard like me dreads: which is more important, hardware or software? Currently, I own two android phones. 1) GSM Galaxy Nexus and 2) AT&T HTC One X.

I got both this summer, because I occasionally get an itch for a new phone and, for the first time, I had the financial ability to get one (or two...). So, I did. First I got the Nexus, then I got the One X. I really feel like I ought to sell one, but I can't for the life of me decide which.

It's software (Nexus) versus hardware (One X).

Software

The Nexus I've had unlocked/rooted since a week or two after I got it and I've been running assorted roms. I've finally settled on CM10 for now (though the latest nightly is less stable than the one I was running previously) and Jelly Bean + Cyanogen is a great combination. It's fast and feature-filled with good battery and few problems to really speak of. Stock Android is also very nice, and the prospect of receiving the latest OS update in the near future is appealing. Having a phone without carrier bloat is quite nice.

My One X came with the dreaded 2.20 firmware which, so far, is unrootable. I begrudgingly give AT&T credit for not only convincing HTC to cripple their device, but for patching up any exploits that the devs have considered using to gain root (so far). The HOX's stock setup is pretty good. Sense isn't bad and, though it's running ICS still, it holds up okay against a Jelly Bean, AOSP ROM. There are hints of stutter from time to time that are, IMO considering the hardware running it, borderline unacceptable. It's not unusable by any means, but with few exceptions, stock One X with ICS and Sense is simply not as nice as a Jelly Bean custom ROM. The battery life could be better, to be honest. Wifi is a battery drain much more so on the HOX than on the GNex. I use wifi in my apartment and at work (sometimes; the wifi at work is terrible). It's lazy of me, but I prefer to just leave wifi on all the time and not piss around with toggles every time I walk to the other end of a building. The biggest drawback, probably, is multitasking. I really like the "recent app" button (or whatever it's called) because multitasking is one of the best things about android. I'm impatient, so multitaking keeps me from waiting around :D Multitasking on the One X's stock firmware is a joke. If I open a page in the browser (which I love) and then check/reply to a text message, returning to the page I was looking at in the browser begins by reloading the page in question. It's bad. Apparently AOSP ROMs fix this problem. I wouldn't know, since I can't root ;)

Hardware

The One X is a beast in terms of hardware. Processor and GPU handle whatever I throw at them, for the most part. The camera kicks ass and I really like the pictures that it produces. Burst mode is awesome and very useful. The sound is good also. I haven't tried "Beats Audio" yet, but I don't really care one way or another about it. My favorite part is the screen. Oh gawd, DAT SCREEN. It's awesomely bright and easy to read in the sunlight, not to mention that it's crisp and seems to almost "float" on top of the glass. Honestly it feels like I'm reading a magazine it's so clear. I love the size also. The One X also has LTE which is nice even though it isn't available in my area yet and probably won't be for a while.

The Nexus has decent hardware. I haven't hit any memorable bumps with the processor or GPU and, in fact, I usually find my processor underclocked. The camera isn't anything to write home about, though I've taken some good pictures with it here and there. I think CM10 added burst mode to the camera, but I haven't tried it yet. The sound is a little quiet for me, but it's usable. The screen looks decent enough, I guess. My eyesight is pretty good so unfortunately the PenTile nature of the screen stands out unless I'm holding the phone at, say, arm's length (and really, who holds their phone that far away for normal usage?). I can live with PenTile but the screen isn't very bright, even at full brightness. My screen protector is tempered glass, and I think it makes the screen more reflective than it should be; so I'm going to reserve judgement on how well I can see the screen outside until I have a chance to replace my screen protector. It's objectively less bright than the One X, however. I like the on-screen buttons, but they take up enough of the 4.65" screen that it's really more like using a 4.3" screen. No LTE here.

Conclusion

So it's a tough call for me. Ideally I could experiment with CM10 or other ROMs on my HOX, but that option isn't available right now. And don't take this the wrong way, but development seems somewhat slow for the HOX compared to other high-end phones. I'm sure the devs are doing a great job, but I wouldn't really know. From what I've read in development threads, there are a lot of wakelocks which lead to poor(er) battery life for the HOX when using AOSP-based ROMs. This doesn't happen on the Nexus (for me at least), probably because of the nature of the phone itself plus the number of devs working on it.

So that sums up my dilemma, if you can call it that. I can't decide what I want to do. I'm slightly leaning toward selling the HOX because I'll probably get more money for it. Then I can dump that money into whatever catches my eye next. But it's hard, because I really do like it a lot. If I could take the screen and camera from the HOX and throw it on my Nexus, I'd be set. But I can't, so that's out the window.

Maybe someone else can help me think of things that I haven't considered? What would you do in this situation?