The HTC Windows Phone 8x is one of a new breed of smartphones that sports the new Windows Phone 8 operating system by Microsoft.
The model under review has a 1.5 GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, a 4.3-inch touchscreen with HD 720 resolution, 16 GB of built-in storage (goes up in other models), 4G communication, eight-megapixel main camera with 1080p video recording, Near Field Communication capability, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, Beats audio, and microSIM.
These specifications already indicate that this is some promising piece of hardware and it did not let us down.
Though relatively large in the smartphone family, the handling is good and you can reach almost all corners of the screen with your thumb – if you have a large one.
The screen is comparable to the Retina display of the Apple iPhone 5. This review will not fall into the trap of comparing this smartphone with the iPhone 5 or any other top-notch Android-based model, but here we have a winner. The HTC 8x is one of the top smartphones with the new Windows Phone 8 operating system and we are sure that serious users will find it hard to choose between this HTC, the iPhone and the best Android-based models around (some of them also from HTC).
Microsoft’s strategy is to provide a seamless experience for desktop/laptop/smartphone/tablet Windows 8 users and this is what we felt with this phone and Windows Phone 8 on it.
Being the most recent player in the market, the Windows Phone 8 app store does not provide as many apps as iTunes or Google Play, but many of the most popular apps are already available for Microsoft’s platform. Microsoft’s app store is also laid out in a similar fashion. Windows Phone 8 does the job on a smartphone just like the iOS and Android.
The HTC 8x has enough processing power to handle the operating system but beware that storage is not expandable as it does not have a micro SD slot.
Though it has support for 4G communication we cannot use it in Malta because no operator has launched such a service yet. The same goes for NFC for we are yet to find widespread use of applications in Malta that need NFC.
The cameras are quite good and it handles video well. Beats audio, is becoming quite standard on high-end smartphones, and does a good job on this HTC too.
Battery life with the 1800 mAh is adequate, but you need to be careful and take the usual precautions with brightness, constant Wi-Fi connectivity, and such like.
Our verdict? The HTC Windows Phone 8x can compete head-to-head with Apple’s iPhone 5 and Samsung’s Galaxy S3.
• The HTC Windows Phone 8x was made available for review by Vodafone Malta.