A few weeks ago, one of Taiwanese phone maker HTC’s communications agencies got in touch with me via Twitter to ask if I wanted to be a brand ambassador for their new phone, the HTC One X. They would give me a free phone, and I would try it out and say what I thought. My proviso was that it would be nothing to do with work; I’d have the phone as Austyn the tweeter, Austyn the occasional blogger, Austyn the freelance brand ambassador. Not Austyn the journo. Suits me. It’s a great phone.

One problem with reviewing the phone was that I was off to India for a week to meet a former housemate, Ellen, and see the Golden Triangle, that tourist route of Delhi-Jaipur-Agra. I took the phone; I didn’t take a data package. So for a week I carried it, alongside my SLR, as an extra camera.

Which is what it’s really good at being. It’s got an 8mp sensor on it, and a massive screen. The screen I framed the photos on was probably larger in terms of square inches than the images my Facebook friends would see when I posted them from hastily snatched wifi hotspots.

Here’s some of the photos. Check ’em out (and click on them for full-sized versions):

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