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HTC Windows Phone 8X Review

2012-11-06
hi there this is adaleen park now calm and start full review of the Windows Phone 8x by HTC if you want to learn more about all the new Windows Phone 8 features be sure to search pocket now for our full Windows Phone a review in the meantime let's take a look at the Windows Phone 8x the Windows Phone 8x is one of the first available with a new Windows Phone 8 operating system it's got a Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM 80260 a dual-core 1.5 gigahertz processor with 1 gigs of RAM and 16 gigs of internal storage the front-facing camera has 2.1 megapixels and the rear camera has 8 megapixels while both support 1080p HD video recording the 4.3 inch Super LCD to screen includes 720 by 1280 pixel resolution of course you've got Bluetooth 2.1 Wi-Fi assist the GPS and NFC the weight is 130 grams and thickness is 10.1 2 millimeters at its thickest point powering it all is a 1800 million per hour battery the design of the Windows Phone 8 X is quite impressive in the same way as the Nokia Lumia 800 that is it's got a very smooth integrated shape and this version has a soft touch matte black finish at the top you've got the handset speaker along with some sensors a 2.1 megapixel front-facing camera and an LED light that glows while charging at the bottom are the usual Windows Phone capacitive buttons for search start screen and back on the right side is a very flushed in volume control as well as a camera button and the Micro SIM card slot the buttons are very difficult to feel for without looking at the phone on the bottom you'll see the microphone hole and a microUSB port on the top is the 3.5 millimeter headset jack and the power button again the power button is impossible to feel for and have it at the top of the device it makes it difficult to reach on the back is the 8 megapixel camera with a single LED flash and speaker you'll also see the HTC and Beats Audio logos here in hand the Windows Phone 8x feels very thin and that's because of its tapered shape the center is pretty thick but the edges sloped down to a point these pointy edges make it very uncomfortable to grip since there's less surface area on the edges for your thumb and fingers now let's talk about the software most of our Windows Phone 8 coverage can already be found by searching packing.com for our full Windows Phone 8 review however there are a few customizations that HTC has made which we'll cover here the first big customization is HTC's new live tile for the HTC hub and now as a nice big clock when he says the full width of the Start screen it shows a weather information below that which automatically updates its location periodically throughout the day once you open the HTC hub you'll find most of the same features of the previous version including customizable weather reports printable stock quotes and customizable news feeds HTC's attentive foam features are also available in the Windows Phone 8x you can set it to quiet the rain on pick up increasing volume when the phone is in your pocket and meet the ringer when you flip the phone over you'll also find a few custom apps from HTC both bundled with advice and available in HTC section of the store the flashlight photo enhancer units converter and connection setup are all there however you may notice a lot is missing from previous HTC Windows Phones speaking of missing features I was disappointed to see this some of HTC's best camera customizations options panorama and burst Ramos are not currently available in the Windows Phone 8x HTC is probably working on converting those features to Windows Phone 8 new camera lenses feature so hopefully we'll see those returned in the update meanwhile the cameras seen some other significant improvements first of all it's forced 1080p HD video recording now image quality looks great but the focusing and exposure adjustment changes are a bit slow during recording and the audio quality is very poor even on phone calls no there's more complaints about the audio quality than any other phone I've used this decade those shots have been improved in the sense that the camera shutter is much faster than any other Windows Phone we've tested so far touchscreen and there's barely any focus lag before capturing a photo multi-touch zooming is smooth and quick as well that said image quality isn't spectacular especially when you look at 100% crops compared to other cameras the Windows Phone 8x still has a lot of noise and lacks some detail especially when compared to mid-range DSLR like the Nikon d7000 and even an older phone like the Nokia n8 the front-facing camera has some special additions to it can record video at 1080p HD with its 2.1 megapixel sensor but one of the things I really like is the still image capture option you touch the screen to focus and then a big three to one appears on the screen so that you can recompose your self-portrait before it takes the photo next let's look at the Windows Phone 8 X's Beats Audio support and dedicated audio amplifier the audio volume on the Windows Phone 8x can get very loud it's fantastic when you plug in headphones it automatically turns on the Beats Audio enhancements the included headphones have the flat style wire and work pretty good but once I plugged in some eye beats headphones the audio quality got a lot better and louder I also tried some monster purity headphones which normally I find better than the eye Beats headphones but in this case I think the eye beats brand had better quality in terms of battery life I found the Windows Phone 8x to be disappointing it does not have a removable battery so it really needs to last a full day and night for me however after only eight hours it was generally needing to recharge this is on the international model that doesn't support LTE on my network so I don't have much faith in battery life in terms of pricing and availability the Windows Phone 8x by HTC is currently available on some European carriers and will be available on AT&T and Verizon later this November t-mobile will have the Windows Phone 8x on November 14th for 149 or $1.99 depending on what kind of rate plan you choose our final rating is going to be seven point five out of ten the screen audio amplifier camera performance and operating system are pretty impressive but the pointy edges poor audio recording quality and impossible to feel Hardware buttons can get quite frustrating be sure to give this video a thumbs up and thanks for watching
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