HTC Windows Phone 8X Review

Windows Phone Central'southward review of the HTC 8X - a powerful yet sleek Windows Telephone eight device

While the Windows Phone 8 launch spotlight has shined brightly on the Nokia Lumia 920, there's another Windows Telephone that has been lurking in the shadows. The HTC 8X launched over at AT&T on the same twenty-four hours and is a respectable Windows Phone within its own correct.

The 8X is fitted with a iv.3" Super LCD screen, NFC (Near Field Communication), BEATS Audio, and an 8MP photographic camera with BSI sensor (helps with low-calorie-free functioning. The 8X is noticeably narrower than the Lumia 920 and reminds me of how the Samsung Focus Flash compared to the Focus Southward.

If you lot adopt a more compact Windows Phone, the HTC 8X isn't a bad option.

The weight, slim profile, Super LCD screen, BEATS Audio, NFC Support, salubrious battery life, respectable photographic camera with BSI sensor.

Random resets, new aspect ratio that isn't ideal for older apps/games, bombardment drain present with some devices, capacitive buttons can be overly sensitive, and occasional lag with the front facing camera.

While there's room for improvement with the 8X, HTC has produced a nice Windows Phone to add to a long line of quality Windows Phone devices.  The slender, calorie-free weight blueprint feels comfortable in the mitt and well suited for pocket carry.  The camera captures quality images and video and as far equally a phone goes, phone call quality was loud and clear.  If the larger Windows Phones aren't your loving cup of tea, the HTC 8X may be right up your aisle.

Video Overview of the HTC 8X

The Body

The HTC 8X measures 5.21 10 two.61 10 .39 inches and weighs in at iv.six ounces. The 8X has a unibody design that essentially means you won't be able to remove the 1800mah battery.

The 8X comes in two varieties at AT&T. Yous have the 8GB version that is currently existence offered in California Blue or Limelight. You too have a 16GB version that is currently available in California Blue.

The 8X'south design has the volume rocker and photographic camera button forth the right side. Up top is the power button and 3.5mm headphone jack. On the left side is the micro-SIM carte slot and at the bottom of the 8X is the micro-USB port.

The buttons on the 8X are really affluent with the trunk, raising upward just enough to be distinguishable. This gives the 8X a sleek feel to information technology just some may detect the buttons hard to dispense.

Speaking of sleek, the HTC 8X's dorsum side and sides are curves to give the Windows Phone a comfortable feel to it. The matte finish is shine only non slick and looks squeamish. The finish looks really proficient on the 8X but we've heard rumblings from others that the paint has begun to chip on the 8X. We haven't experienced such and with the 8X being as thin and light weight, it should handle a skin case nicely.

On the face up of the 8X you'll discover the customary capacitive back, beginning and search buttons. They are backlit when the 8X is in use and are very receptive to the touch. However, the search and back buttons may be too responsive. In simply barely touching the sides of the 8X'south face would activate the search feature. If y'all grip the 8X and your fingers barely wrap around the bottom of the 8X, you'll activate these buttons.

Some other nice feature on the face of the 8X is the LED indicator. The indicator light is a nice bear upon by HTC and on the 8X it rests in the right corner of the ear speaker. It acts as a charging indicator (red for charging, light-green for fully charged) but doesn't wink on missed calls.

Overall, the 8X is designed well. It may not feel as solid equally the Titan or Titan 2 simply with the smaller screen, HTC is able to offer a more than slimmed downwardly, sleek looking Windows Phone.

The Brandish

The four.3" Super LCD screen is protected by Gorilla Glass II giving the 8X a solid level of durability. Epitome quality on the 8X's  Super LCD 2 screen is really overnice. Colors are vibrant with simply the right amount of contrast.

Outdoor performance was decent, along the aforementioned lines equally other Windows Phones. The more directly and brighter the light, the harder it is to view the screen.

The screen's impact responsiveness is on par with other Windows Phones. The merely nit we could find is that with the narrower screen, you lose a fleck of elbow room for typing. It'southward the price you pay for the more than compact 8X. If you do a lot of typing on your Windows Telephone, you may want to take exam out the keyboard before signing on the dotted line.

The 8X'due south screen has an aspect ratio of xvi:9 which is something new. It allows the 8X to make the near of the 1280x720 screen. The downside to all of this is that with older Windows Phone 7 apps and games you get a small blackness bar at the peak of the screen to make upwards for the divergence in the older app'southward aspect ratio and the 8X'due south. As more apps transition to Windows Phone 8, this result should take intendance of itself.

The lesser line, as far as the HTC 8X's screen is concerned, it'southward difficult to discover much to complain most. It'southward sharp, has dandy viewing angles and colour representation is authentic.

Hardware

Under the hood the HTC 8X offers you Bluetooth 3.1 (+EDR), GPS, WiFi, NFC and can be updated over the air. All adequately standard with Windows Phones these days.

HTC partnered with BEATS Sound about a year ago and offered the new audio technology on a scattering of Android devices. BEATS Audio (retrieve of a hip hop version of Dolby) can be turned on/off in the 8X's settings and is just available through headphones. BEATS is an acquired taste and is probably all-time suited for matching headphones. With regular headsets, I found information technology to be basically a bass booster. In add-on, the 8X has a pre-amp out for the speaker--one of the first of its kind in a smartphone. As a consequence, the 8X easily produces some of the all-time audio we've heard for a Windows Phone. It's loud but never distorts, which is an impressive feat.

The 8X is driven by a 1.5Ghz Qualcomm dual core processor and is powered by a 1800mah bombardment. Both the 8GB and 16GB versions are fitted with 1GB of RAM.

Battery life with moderate to heavy apply is on par with other Windows Phones lasting throughout the day. Nosotros should notation that some take experienced shorter than normal battery life (4-6 hours) when the NFC is enabled. We aren't sure if in that location is a directly relationship between crummy bombardment life and NFC but with NFC disabled, battery life improved dramatically.

HTC 8X, the phone

As capable as our Windows Phones accept become, information technology's piece of cake to lose sight that these devices are too phones. In that regard, the 8X performs well with call quality. Book was ample with the ear speaker and back speakerphone. Vocalism equally was excellent with no complaints from those on the other end.

The telephone aspect of the 8X is on par with any other Windows Phone out there. The vibrating warning is even so on the weak side only then once more, I haven't seen a solid vibrating alarm since the days of the HTC Tilt days.

The Camera

The HTC 8X has an ultra-wide angle front end facing ii.1MP camera and a 8MP rear facing photographic camera with a 28mm f2.0 lens. The rear camera utilizes a backlit sensor (BSI) that pulls in more light than the more traditional front lit sensor. Combined with the brighter f2.0 lens, the BSI sensor makes the 8X an excellent indoor or low light camera. The 8X lacks whatsoever paradigm stabilization so it won't pierce the shadows the way the Lumia 920 will but the 8X's camera isn't a push button over either.

The front end facing photographic camera, while jittery compared to the Lumia 920, produces very good image quality platonic for Skype users or those who like to do grouping shots with friends. That's due to its high stop hardware: 2.1MP with an F/2.0 lens and a whopping 88 caste viewing angle. That means compared to every other smartphone out there, you see more with this camera. It too prevents you lot from being "too close" during a Skype call.

We should note that the HTC 8X has a defended imaging chip. In a nutshell this means the 8X processes images a lilliputian faster and the camera won't bog down the main processor. Much like a dedicated graphics processor helps take the load off a calculator's processor. It's a decent characteristic and does give the 8X a teeny bit of speed when compared to Windows Phones without the defended chip only doesn't leave them in the dust.

Every bit far as bill of fare controls are concerned, the 8X gives you lot a good for you settings menu to allow you to tweak the camera'south performance as needed.

The 8X gives you control over effects filters (gray scale, negative, sepia, solarize), resolution (VGA to 8MP), white balance, exposure compensation, contracts, saturation, sharpness, ISO and face up detection (on/off). Information technology's a prissy selection of controls and if you don't like messing with a cameras settings, each has an "auto" setting. Sadly, there isn't a panorama or burst setting on the 8X.

HTC 8X Outdoor Photograph Sample (6MP)

HTC 8X Indoor Photo Sample (8MP)

Image quality is solid with slight over exposure noted on those vivid sunny days. I would accept liked to take seen ameliorate color saturation and temperature with the 8X but it's nothing that tin't be corrected with mail-processing/editing software.  Low lite pictures came out well but with the lack of whatsoever stabilization, you lot tin can see softness due to motion blur.

HTC 8X Night Photograph Sample (6MP)

HTC 8X Outdoor Photo Sample (8MP)

Video quality is expert, possibly a touch better than what we've seen from HTC in the past. The 8X can capture video from 1080p to QVGA. We did note a little lag at times when using the forepart facing camera. Nothing to pull your hair out over but worth noting.  While it was a blustery 24-hour interval when the sample video was shot but the microphone seemed to struggle a lilliputian.

Overall, the 8X has a respectable photographic camera. We've got a closer look at the camera coming up tomorrow but for now, if you opt for the 8X equally your Windows Telephone of choice y'all'll be pleased with the photographic camera's performance. I just wish HTC hadn't gotten rid of the panorama and flare-up modes.

The Software

Asides from all the Windows Phone 8 goodness, the HTC really has a limited amount of bloatware. What is present tin can be useful and if you feel otherwise, information technology all tin be uninstalled.

The 8X has the obligatory AT&T software that includes Family Map, Radio, Navigator, and such. Along with the AT&T software, you volition likewise notice the HTC Hub installed (conditions, news, stock pages) also as a flashlight app, a converter app and HTC's Photo Enhancer.

We'll become ahead and approach the elephant in the room every bit far as exclusive software is concerned. While HTC'due south app store is nice information technology pales in comparison to the Nokia Collection which continues to grow. Agreement that information technology's notwithstanding early, we had hoped to run across HTC take more than of an aggressive position in supporting their Windows Phones. We can merely hope that things selection upward or the 8X might go the way of the Titan 2...a great Windows Phone that had hope simply was quickly disregarded.

Wrapping information technology upwards

The HTC 8X is somewhat of a dramatic deviation from the HTC Windows Phones of the by. From the slimmer torso to the splash of color, the divergence brings HTC in line with competitors who are offering not only the blackness, bourgeois await simply also options for the not-so-bourgeois. In a nutshell, the 8X is a comfortable, light weight, slimmer pick for those non wanting a titan of a Windows Phone.

There's trivial to mutter most with regards to the 8X'south build and design. The capacitive buttons on the face up of the 8X tin can be a trivial sensitive and the flush buttons may be impact for large hands to manipulate simply neither are truly deal breakers.

As far equally performance goes, the 8X moves along nicely merely we did discover ii oddities. First, the bombardment does seem to spring a leak when NFC is enabled. Second, some are experiencing random resets. While I haven't seen such yet on my 8X, Daniel Rubino and Rich Edmonds have sat and watched their 8X's restart spontaneously. We even have a WPCentral Forums discussion on this mystery. (A loose SIM door may be the culprit for some).

Not sure if this is a deal breaker with the 8X but HTC needs to jump on these things and figure out why their flagship Windows Phone has a mind of its own at times.

Nosotros are a little concerned near the lack of HTC apps available for the 8X. Sure, it would be slap-up to come across HTC step up and throw some support behind their Windows Phone merely even the lack of HTC apps isn't a deal breaker with what all you can find in the Windows Telephone Store.

The 8X has a solid perform of a camera and telephone call quality was fantabulous. BEATS Audio may not be everyone's cup of tea but it does give Metallica and AC/DC a bit more gusto.

The Nokia Lumia 920 Comparison (short version)

All in all, the HTC 8X is an enjoyable Windows Telephone. Ameliorate than the Nokia Lumia 920? That's really a subjective question. I think the 920 has the amend photographic camera and a more solid build quality. Nonetheless, with the solid build quality comes a slightly larger and heavier package. By no ways is the Lumia 920 overweight and cumbersome but the HTC 8X is slimmer and lighter.

Characteristic wise, the wireless charging on the Lumia 920 will spoil y'all and I like the actress elbow room the larger screen offers. You also have the intangibles to consider with manufacturer support. We've seen Nokia support the Lumia line of Windows Phone commendably and hopefully HTC will follow suit and make this a non-issue. The lesser line is that I don't call back you tin go wrong with either Windows Phone. It's just deciding which meets your personal tastes and needs the all-time.

All told, the HTC 8X is an fantabulous Windows Phone that will appeal to many. HTC actually needs to address the random resets and battery issues though. Should y'all be in the marketplace for a slim, light weight Windows Telephone, the 8X is worth considering.

Related

• Windows Phone 8 Overview and Review
• HTC 8X Discussion Forum
• HTC 8X Accessories from the WPCentral Store
• Nokia Lumia 920 Review

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Source: https://www.windowscentral.com/htc-8x-att-review

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