HTC has now formally announced the launch of the HTC One X, its new flagship Android handset. HTC's CEO Peter Chou said that the new phone will be "the one phone you will need, the one camera you will need".

The HTC One X features a huge 4.7-inch, 1280 x 720 pixels, Super LCD display. This is set into the polycarbonate body that measures 134.36 x 69.9 x 8.9mm, making this a slim but large device.

Sitting at the core you have a 1.5GHz quad-core Nvidia Tegra 3 chipset, 1GB RAM, 32GB of internal memory, but unfortunately no microSD card slot. HTC wants to take advantage of the 2-year 25GB Dropbox cloud storage for that.

In terms of cameras you get an 8-megapixel autofocus unit on the back, with a 28mm wide f/2.0 lens, with Peter Chou making a huge deal of the camera during the presentation of the new phone.

It features a backside illuminated sensor, so should offer respectable low-light performance. Naturally it gives you 1080p video capture. There is also a 1.3-megapixel forward-facing camera for all the video chatting you'll be doing.

There is a 1800mAh battery, which isn't user replaceable, and will probably be the most contentious point of the new high-end smartphone.

The HTC One X lands with HTC Sense 4 layered over the top of Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich. This brings a range of tweaks and updates, with HTC looking for a more streamlined user experience, less inhibited by HTC Sense.

There are a range of highlights to the new Sense, including the new ImageSense camera interface that will let you capture simultaneous video and stills, and burst shooting.

You also get Beats Audio throughout the device and access to things like HTC Watch, the company's movie service.

The HTC One X is expected to be available from April 2012.

UPDATE: Orange, Three and Vodafone have confirmed that they will be stocking the HTC One X. 

You can see more pictures and first impressions in our HTC One X hands-on.