If you think that HTC’s flagship Windows 8 smartphone, the 8X, seems like a smashing proposition, then you clearly haven’t caught up with the Taiwanese tech giant’s “other” upcoming product, the One X+. An upgraded and enhanced version of the One X, the X+ has been the theme of substantial speculation of late, and now its reality and imminent arrival seems to have been confirmed, after the device appeared in the most recent edition of O2’s catalogue.

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Pre-loaded With Android Jelly Bean

Shrewdly detected by tech experts GSMArena, the latest addition to HTC’s ‘One’ range looks like a considerable improvement on its predecessor and is set up to be yet another stern iPhone 5 competitor. This is particularly accurate for Android fans, as the One X+ comes with pre-loaded with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, not just accompanied by a vague outline for something like an update at some point in the future – unfortunately the status quo amongst many manufacturers.

Specifications

The One X+ will also feature a significantly upgraded engine room, sporting a quad-core processor – presumably the Nvidia Tegra 3 chip that powers its older sibling – turbo-charged to clock at an impressive 1.7GHz. If correct, it would make the One X+one of the most powerful, non-phablet smartphones out there in the market.

64Gb Internal Memory

Internal storage is another area getting an increase, and while the X+ still won’t feature a microSD slot, it will enhance its capacity to 64GB. While O2 doesn’t leak out any more important details, the X+ will also have an eye-catching 8-megapixel rear-facing camera like its predecessor.

Price

Nevertheless, the catalogue does reveal that the “Pay & Go” option – that’s SIM-free in easier terminology – will be listed at a quite sensible £479.99. Compare that to almost £700 for a 64GB iPhone 5, and the HTC One X+ seems a bargain regardless of bringing some totally impressive specs to the table.

Without doubt, the talking point will be whether the One X+ parks on the UK’s 4G LTE spectrum, currently being rolled out solely and controversially by EE. If the eventually goes through, then there’s little question that the HTC One X+ is going to be a serious consumer option come the productive pre-holiday shopping season when you consider that even the older One X matches up relatively favourably to the iPhone 5.