HTC Windows Phone 8S Review
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HTC Windows Phone 8S is the company’s WP8 midranger, carrying the naming scheme over from the company’s One line of Android handsets. Executed in a two-tone body painted in a variety of colors, it is evidently aiming to attract the attention of the younger crowd, whose urge to stand out is pretty strong.
The phone is a compact and well-rounded offering, with a handy 4” display, dual-core processor, and a 5 MP camera on the back. It does skimp on a few features to reach its price tag, though, like Full HD video recording, and the amount of internal memory, so how does it stack up? Read on the full review to discover...
In the box
- In-ear headphones
- Wall charger
- MicroUSB cable
Design
A compact, well-designed phone is what many people are missing in this day and age of gigantic displays, and that’s precisely what the HTC 8S is offering. It provides the now typical for HTC unibody chassis with tapered back and soft-touch cover, aiding the grip. The handset is thus comfortable to hold and very easy to operate with one hand without thumb-stretching exercises.
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The HTC Windows Phone 8S is a compact, well-designed phone | ||
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You can compare the HTC Windows Phone 8S with many other phones using our Size Visualization Tool.
The two-tone body, which paints the lower section in a different color, including the front part, is catchy, and the combination of hues will make you stand out in the sea of black or white phones out there - you have a choice of Domino, like in our unit, Fiesta Red, Atlantic Blue, and High-Rise Gray. The bottom panel cap is removable, hiding the microSD and SIM card slots underneath, so you can theoretically make the color combos even more versatile with another panel.
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The bottom panel cap is removable | ||
HTC has placed the power/lock key at the top, which is usually a nuisance on larger screen phones, but here it is pretty easy to reach, and provides good tactile feedback, just like the volume rocker on the side. The capacitive keys below the screen are responsive, too, though we noticed erratic behavior a few times, with them staying off when they should be lit, or going on and off for no apparent reason. The front is also provided with an LED notification light in the earpiece slot.
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Right edge | Top | Rear camera |
The sides of the HTC Windows Phone 8S | ||
Display
A run-of-the-mill 4” 480x800 display is what HTC graced the 8S with, and the 233ppi pixel density, while nothing exemplary, is still decent for your everyday tasks.
The display sports good color presentation, and is sufficiently bright for comfortable outside viewing, with nice viewing angles, both horizontally and vertically.
The only gripe with it is that it it smudges very quickly, and needs to be wiped often, be it just for aesthetic purposes.
Fullscreen
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HTC Windows Phone 8S
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- Review 7.5/10
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15 Comments
1. Nathan_ingx posted on 18 Dec 2012, 09:16 3 1
First of all, the black and white look gives me an Xperia NXT feel (way too much).
And secondly, I'll wait for Lumia 620 :) Better hardware and cheaper if i'm not wrong!!
2. Shubham412302 posted on 18 Dec 2012, 09:45 1 1
yes i was even going to comment the same
lumia620 has same specs and cheaper
and even has 4gigs more inbuilt
and lumia 820 is better than tis and has same price
11. Senthilblr posted on 23 Dec 2012, 05:01 0 0
lumia 620 is ok eventhought the design is infrioir . but how you saying lumia 820 is same price. it will be around 27000. so dont distract people with these kind of illogical statistics.
3. iDroid8 posted on 18 Dec 2012, 11:30 0 0
Yes and it has front camera too-wonder why HTC didn't put one in this
8. XPERIA-KNIGHT posted on 18 Dec 2012, 14:36 0 0
that was one of my concerns for this phone...........even though im still using android (and plan on continuing for awhile) i checked the review out on youtube of this phone and thought it was just flat out gorgeous! but remembered that it doesnt have a front facing cam.... :( kinda weird that they did that
but if the lumia 620 is better like you guys say, i just hope its not to damn bulky like the other nokia phones!
14. iDroid8 posted on 26 Dec 2012, 05:44 0 0
no its not-surprised me too, there!
4. Scorpion posted on 18 Dec 2012, 13:18 1 0
The design looks alot like SONY Xperia S or P. I'm not for endless lawsuits, but HTC is an innovative company. It's not like them.
7. XperiaUser posted on 18 Dec 2012, 14:36 0 0
this is the best looking WP around at this price ,i will definitely choose 8S over Nokia 620 coz of its design only . :D
6. nando2do posted on 18 Dec 2012, 14:23 0 0
so, if the pictures are taken from htc they look pale and less of color BUT if is taken from IPHONE then the color is REAL? oh! didnt know that..
10. TitoP posted on 23 Dec 2012, 00:38 0 0
I can finally upgrade and I really want a 4GLTE phone. Since it looks like Sprint isn't getting any WP8 phones anytime soon, I've been thinking about getting one of these since we have AT&T in New York. I really want to test out these 4G LTE speeds for transmitting my graphics design work.
12. Seanburns posted on 24 Dec 2012, 18:12 0 0
I got one of these from ThreeUk store last week and so far no issues whatsoever with it. It runs fast,no issues with 512 RAM,looks and feels greats well built too. Screen is very nice and can read well outdoors too. Call quality signal is solid. I got blue one and it is nice. HD video seems better than the photos but photos are only decent in sunlight but there is a slight left handside focus blur but nothing cannot live with until maybe an update fixes it. I got it for £179
15. Koprivetina posted on 01 Apr 2013, 08:12 0 0
This phone is having some serious issues with sound during calls. I got replacement 3 times, and problem wasn’t resolve. With poor HTC support I was forced to change this phone for Nokia Lumia 610.
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