As an end-of-year gift, I received the new Windows Phone
HTC 8x
the brand’s latest top-of-the-range model, launched in France in November.
On paper, it has everything to please. A neat design, with bright colors; BeatsAudio™ sound, Dr Dré’s famous system, which this smartphone has exclusively; two photo sensors, one on the front and the main one on the back. The HTC 8x also sports a 4.3″ Super LCD touchscreen that will resist all shocks and scratches thanks to Gorilla Glass 2* technology. Last but not least, the Windows Phone 8 environment and the Store mean that you can enjoy a whole host of music, video and gaming content, as well as ultra-compatibility with Microsoft Office suite products.
So, even though I’m an Apple aficionado with my iPhone, I decided to “give the product a chance” and live the Windows Phone 8 experience: time to test my new smartphone, with no preconceptions.
What a [pleasant] surprise it was when I realized after just a few days that this device, with its on-board software, was really high-performance and met the main needs of today’s mobile user.
The screen is bright and large, with 720-pixel HD quality resolution, better than the latest iPhone 5. It’s also pleasant to use the touchscreen, once you’ve got used to the WP8 system and its little boxes (or tiles as they’re called) to organize like a jigsaw puzzle.
The sound, via headphones, is excellent; we just wish they had been supplied by headphone manufacturer Beats Audio™, for greater consistency with the technology used… As a speaker, it is also excellent, but without the benefit of the Beats system. Nevertheless, with songs or videos from a quality source, the result is really good!
Photowise, there’s nothing to say. For once, the wide-angle front camera lets you take pictures with friends, without cutting anyone off 🙂 With an f/2 aperture, it’s well thought-out. Admittedly, the 2M pixel resolution is basic but sufficient for this purpose, and is made up for by the main APN, on the back of the 8x, which has 8M pixels. Fast, with a powerful flash, you can rely on the photo rendering.
On the video side, the stereo sound doesn’t spoil anything, and the 1080p resolution holds up well. What’s more, you can capture it with both devices, which is equivalent to using a webcam, especially on the front.
With 16GB of memory (almost 20% of which is used by the software), some might be left wanting. But with the 7GB of storage available free of charge via Skydrive (Microsoft’s Cloud system), you can easily reach a total of 20GB for your photos, videos, and so on. For normal smartphone use, that’s more than enough! bearing in mind that with a transfer speed almost 10x faster than the Iphone 5, and possible via the direct micro-USB cable, data migration to your PC is made easy.
The exterior of the HTC, with its sober, fine finish , should delight those who appreciate a certain careful elegance; for let’s not forget that today’s smartphone is an accessory. Its grip is very good, thanks to a matte polycarbonate coating that adheres well to the palm. The only drawback is that the buttons, especially the on/off button, are thin and therefore small. If you’re a fan of bright colors, you’re in for a treat, but not just yet… for the moment, only black and electric blue are available here. We can’t wait for the red and yellow to be more original!
Inside this pretty Windows Phone, a Dual Core SnapDragon S4 1.5 GHz processor and its own GB of RAM. Fast, fluid, nothing to complain about. It’s a featherweight that, in its 130G, has a slot for a micro-SIM (you’ll have to ask your operator) and an NFC chip, and here we say hats off to HTC! because this is the contactless technology that will soon enable us to pay our parking meter, our baguette and communicate with objects without the need for the smarphone to be in contact with them. The future of cell phones is here, so we might as well be there already.
WiFi, Bluetooth and 3G are of course integrated, which is the minimum in terms of connectivity; it’s just a shame that, for such a recent model and with the arrival of 4G, the HTC 8x isn’t yet equipped…
As far as battery life (1800 mAh) is concerned, I can’t say anything, as I went more than 24 hours without having to plug it in. Some tests estimate that video playback and web surfing won’t exceed 5 hours, but it’s rare to devote that much time to such an activity on your smartphone. In any case, it’s something to keep in mind.
Finally, for the Windows 8 environment, which I wasn’t really used to, you get used to it pretty quickly. It’s intuitive, even if we still regret that the store doesn’t offer more applications (for the moment 😉 ). Incidentally, of the 150,000 available, there’s still plenty to choose from, and downloading and installing them is easy!
A few nice extras: child mode, with restricted access, easy synchronization with e-mail accounts (even outside Hotmail) and social networks, really fast application recovery, and even handy pre-installed tools (weather – which even makes the sound of rain, converter, flash…).
One of the weak points in my experience is the keyboard, whose keys are really too narrow when you’re tweeting and typing a lot. Fortunately, the intuitive writing system correctly suggests many words once you’ve typed a few letters. And a notable lack of added value in the current application (let’s avoid the use of “photo editing”, a pale copy of Instagram or Hipstamatic).
To sum up, HTC is positively astonishing with this Windows Phone 8X, which has gone somewhat unnoticed compared to the Nokia Lumia 920, for example.
In addition to its fluidity of use, I’d highlight the comfort of its crystal-clear, bright screen, its visual and sound quality, with ideal ergonomics, and its simply stunning aesthetics.
For those looking for the perfect companion for entertainment, and who adhere to the Windows Phone 8 system of course, this HTC 8x is a smartphone to discover.
It is currently available from Sosh for €439 (+ subscription with no commitment), or can be purchased unlocked for €499. In either case, it comes with a 2-year warranty from Taiwanese manufacturer HTC.
Happy surfing to all those who opt for this brilliant smartphone! And if you have any questions about the HTC 8x, we’d love to hear from you in the comments.
Jessica Gauzi
*NDLR : I didn’t dare cross it out on purpose to confirm that this Gorilla Glass 2 technology is real… but it is, see here
Cette publication est également disponible en : Français (French)
