These days, when people think "Windows Phone" they may think Nokia, given the Finnish company's deal with Microsoft to run its mobile operating system on all of its phones. But it may actually be HTC that takes "Best In Show" among the first wave of Windows Phone 8 devices with its flagship 8X handset.
Everything about the HTC 8X has "premium" written all over it, from its slick build with its gentle curves to the 1.5 GHz, dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor. From its Beats Audio to the 4.3-inch, 1280 x 720 resolution, 341 ppi Gorilla Glass 2 display. And, of course, the brand-spanking-new Windows Phone 8 OS.
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Build & Design
Unique builds are kind of the name of the game with Windows Phone devices, and the HTC 8X is no exception. At its thickest point, it's 0.39 inches thick, but given the way the phone's rounded back tapers towards the edges, it actually appears to have a much slimmer profile. And given the fact that it's a slightly larger phone, what with its 4.3-inch screen, one would expect it to be on the heavier side, but it's relatively light at 4.6 ounces.
Much like the rival Nokia Lumia models, the 8X has a unibody design, meaning that the casing can't be taken off and the device's battery is not accessible. But also like the Lumias, the SIM card is handled by way of a small pop-out tray on the upper right-hand corner of the phone; unfortunately, it requires a small (included) key to do so, which makes it more of a hassle.
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Aside from the gently rounded back, part of what makes the 8X such a pleasure to hold in the hand is its matte finish. That being said, the thing is basically a magnet for all manner of dirt, dust, and smudges, but it's a shortcoming I'm absolutely willing to bear given how good the phone feels in my hand. The screen also looks great, given its Gorilla Glass finish and the way the edges of it are flush with the body of the device. There's barely any bezel to speak of, and it adds to the sleekness of the 8X.
In fact, while it may not be flashy or have a bizarre, stand-out design like some of the Lumias, the 8X is definitely still stylish. Its bold color gives it some personality (this particular model was somewhere between blue and purple, but it's also available in black, red, and yellow) and the matching colored trim on the device's receiver grill catches the eye.
Display
The 1280 x 720, Super LCD 2 display on the 8X looks solid and colors are especially deep and vibrant, a perfect fit for an operating system like Windows Phone 8, which is all about colors and lively themes. As a joke, one of my friends recently changed the color scheme on the 8X to bright pink and I was so astounded by how much it popped and how great it looked that I...well, I left it like that.
Its sharpness is definitely up to snuff as well, with an impressive 341 ppi density. The edges of the tiles look perfectly smooth, even when looking at the screen up close. I've dealt with other Windows Phones that have grainy, pixelated displays, which is just a nightmare on an OS like this; the flaws become immediately evident when you can see the individual pixels on the edges of all the tiles on your home screen.
The display's brightness isn't quite as impressive, however. On maximum brightness visibility is just good enough, but that's a bit of a drain on the battery that you're probably going to want to avoid. As soon as you go any lower than max brightness, the screen is just too dark to go unnoticed. For the sake of your battery, you'll probably opt for the auto setting, but it dims the screen to the point that most users will probably be left wanting.
Other Buttons and Ports
The buttons, which are the same color as the body, are low-profile, allowing them to blend into the edges of the phone (though perhaps this isn't the best idea, as they can be a little frustrating to press at times). The power/standby button is on the top edge, while the volume rocker and dedicated camera button are both on the right side.
Other than that, the only other keys are the standard capacitive ones (back, home, search) right below the display. There is also a single speaker on the back of the phone towards the bottom, and the only ports are headphone jack on the top edge and a micro USB port for charging centered on the bottom.
The 8X has a front-facing camera for video chatting, which is located in the upper left hand corner of the phone right next to the earpiece, as well as a rear-facing camera that's centered on the back of the phone. That's probably my only issue with the design of the 8X: I wish that the camera lens was recessed or had a slightly raised ring around it to offer some protection for when the phone is flat down on a surface. That way, the lens wouldn't get scratched up so easily; I have an HTC Trophy and the camera is basically ruined because, like the 8X, the lens is flush with the surface of the phone and is quick to get scratched up the moment I set it down anywhere.
Performance
Possibly one of the most welcome changes that Windows Phone 8 brings is that it now supports multi-core chips. As such, the 8X is powered by a dual-core, 1.5 GHz processor that absolutely crushes the performance of last generation's phones. To get some hard numbers, we used WP Bench to get some benchmarks, but bear in mind that it's technically a Windows Phone 7 app, so it may not be 100 percent accurate.
The CPU speed test produced a benchmark of 229.29 marks, a performance that is miles ahead of the next-highest Windows Phone benchmark, the Windows Phone 7-based HTC Titan II with its 94.51 marks. Browser performance was exceptional as well, with the 8X's Sunspider numbers (909 ms) again blowing the Titan II's 6,445 ms out of the water (lower numbers are better).
Unfortunately, while expandable memory is now a feature that Windows Phone 8 supports, it's optional, not mandatory. As such, the 8X, what with its unibody design, features no expandable memory. There's a decent 16 GB of storage onboard, which should be enough for most users, but serious music/video junkies might find themselves strapped for space at times (though I suppose that's what Microsoft's cloud service, SkyDrive, is for).
Software
The 8X is, obviously, one of the first phones to run Windows Phone 8, which has a wealth of new features and tweaks, all of which are outlined here. As I mentioned in our review, the OS is still clearly in its early stages, so there are the occasional bugs here and there, like my CNN app closing down immediately upon starting, or Facebook notifications not clearing long after I've viewed them. But there are certainly highlights, like the credit card/coupon storing Wallet app (made possible by the 8X's NFC connectivity, a mandatory feature on all Windows Phone 8 devices), Kid's Corner, Rooms (a nexus that you can set up with any of your contacts to share documents, photos, calendar entries, and chat), and improved live tile functionality.
The improved live tiles may be the most welcome change at all, since they're the very essence of what makes the Windows Phone OS unique. Not only can they be resized for more customization options, apps can be "optimized" for Windows Phone 8, which allows for better live tile functionality. The ability to enable push notifications from optimized apps ensures that they're updated more frequently and that they provide more information. This, of course, actually makes them useful and effective at quickly providing information at a glance, rather than just repeatedly showing you content that you've been aware of for the past hour, which was a common occurrence on Windows Phone 7.
Since Windows Phone 8 is still young, it's true that the app selection in the Store isn't as robust as it should be at the moment. But as usual, AT&T has loaded up the 8X with its own suite of apps, including myAT&T -- for viewing data plan details, but it requires an AT&T account -- AT&T Radio, AT&T Navigator, and AT&T Code Scanner. The built-in Bing Vision feature, which is now part of Windows Phone's Bing search, can scan QR codes, rendering the Code Scanner app useless, while Bing Maps and its navigation features ensure that you'll never use the Navigator App. Oh, and nobody cares about the radio. (Quick! Head to the forums!)
The only other preloaded apps are HTC's Hub app -- not all that useful, but good for quick weather updates, especially when they're on a home screen live tile -- and the Yellow Pages mobile app.
One other software aspect that deserves mention is the new desktop syncing app from Microsoft, now simply dubbed the Windows Phone App. Yes, the Zune software a thing of the past, and while I never had a huge problem with the Zune desktop application, I can safely say that I prefer the Windows Phone App.
It's still technically in beta, which might have something to do with the fact that the first Windows Phone 8 handsets won't even be released in the US until the end of this week, but it works well and is easy to use. There's nothing special about it at all, but to me, it's beautiful in its simplicity. The app, which can be downloaded from the Windows Store online, is a little fancier and fleshed-out on Windows 8 or Windows RT, what with its tile-based setup, but it also works just fine on Windows 7.
Aside from telling you your phone's current charge percentage, the app also provides a breakdown of what's taking up your device's storage, sorted by media types. And syncing is a snap. There's a tab for "PC" or "Phone" and then sub-tabs under each option for music, photos, videos, ringtones, or podcasts. Every item under each category has a checkbox by it; all you need to do is tick off the stuff you want to take from your phone and put on your PC (or vice versa) and hit sync and you're done.
Battery Life
The battery life of the 8X is exactly what you would expect from a 4G LTE handset; that is to say, it's good, but not great. Most users will likely through the day with no worries, but will probably find themselves charging the phone every night with heavy or even just moderate usage.
One thing to keep in mind is that Windows Phone 8 now supports push notifications from "optimized" apps, so this serves as yet another source of battery drain to take into consideration when trying to ration out your charge. Like most aspects of the OS, apps seem to use battery life efficiently -- supposedly the new Skype app, for example, will be able to run its code in the background to take video calls at any time but without killing your battery -- but it's still a factor.
To see how much life I could squeeze out of a single charge, I set the brightness to maximum (rather than auto), kept location on, and had push notifications active for everything (so not just my email, but also all my apps that support the feature, including Facebook, CNN, etc.). I also used the phone for sustained periods of time without ever putting it on standby, as I was toying around with all of Windows Phone 8's new features when working on my review. Under these conditions, the phone couldn't even last a full day. I began using it around 11:00 A.M. and received a notification that the battery was critically low around 9:00 P.M.
Cameras
The front-facing, 2.1-megapixel camera has the potential to offer video calls with some good looking feed, but since the new and improved Skype app has yet to be released for Windows Phone 8, I couldn't really test it out (all that's available at the moment are a bunch of lousy, poorly-rated third-party video chat apps in the Store right now). The fact that it has face recognition and will always keep the caller's face in focus is great for video chatting, so I look forward to getting to try it out.
The rear-facing, 8-megapixel camera, however, is mostly forgettable. It's not bad by any means, but it pales in comparison to that of the competition, the Nokia Lumia 920. Where the Lumia 920 receives the benefits of Nokia's Pureview imaging technology -- which is great for low-light shooting -- and OIS, the 8X has neither of these features and is decidedly average in its performance. Video especially could use the help of OIS, as the slightest bit of hand shake (combined with some pretty intense motion blur) made my test videos borderline unwatchable at times.
Conclusion
The HTC 8X is the kind of solid start that Microsoft needs for Windows Phone 8. A piece of hardware like this helps the OS make a great first impression, complementing it with its slender, comfortable build, powerful performance, and good (but not perfect) display.
There is a small amount of room for improvement, like its less-than-impressive rear-facing camera and somewhat mediocre battery life, but neither of these flaws are dealbreakers by any means, especially not when the phone has so much else to offer.
Depending on what your priorities are, this may be the high-end Windows Phone 8 to grab. If you prefer the peculiar design and are big on snapping photos with your phone, the Nokia Lumia 920 and its killer camera get the edge here. Otherwise, the 8X should be your top-notch new Windows Phone of choice.
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