I hated the One X. I gave it time to settle in with me and the only thing that I truly enjoyed was the camera. The One X couldn't properly multitask. If I had more than 4 apps open at the same time it would stutter in addition to shutting down one or more of those apps. HTC did this intentionally, of course, to provide as much memory to Sense UI as it could to avoid any sense of lag operating the menus. There was great debate over this when the One X first game out. One issue with custom UI's is the fact that updates are slower to arrive on these devices compared to one that is straight Android with no fillers or additives. Anyone that has owned an HTC device, a Samsung or Motorola device with Sense, Blur and TouchWiz know what I'm talking about. iPhone users don't have this problem immediately because they generally run the same generation of software provided they are still in the supported cycle phase of their life span. Windows Phone users don't have this problem because there is generally one major OS / revision running. BlackBerry users don't encounter this much at all either.
So yes, it's fair to suggest that a custom UI is bloatware. Starting from Gingerbread, the Android interface has been easy to operate. I think that Ice Cream Sandwich and now Jelly Bean have caused a few missteps in the evolution of the OS. The development of Android and Android-based devices occurs at a frightening pace. You can't go more than a quarter in the business world without seeing yet another high-end release from the likes of Motorola, Samsung and HTC. Phones shouldn't be obsolete five seconds after owning them. I shouldn't have to flip on the TV or go to my favorite sites and see the One X+ or the Lumia 920 has been released and it hasn't been much more than six months from launch of the One X and 900. But, to keep up with the Jones's you need to always do one better. Nokia still takes care of its customers - the Lumia 900 brought me into the Windows Phone fold and I still have my 900 to this day. (My daughter is using it) The level of support and involvement in this company compared to what I've seen with Samsung, HTC and Googlrola is suspect.
Computers last two-three years, why can't modern cellphones?