You have seen it two times before and
you will see it two more times. It is HTC's Windows Phone 8X, a Microsoft’s
representative for all mobile things that use the Live Tile interface, and now it
is available on T-Mobile.
HTC
Windows Phone 8X for T-Mobile
As a high-end WP8 phone of the carrier, it
is a bit rigid – it does not have the flexibility of AT&T's version,
because it has only one color (California blue) and a 16GB storage configuration.
With $199 with a 2-year contract, the 8X is an expensive item for those
customers who are interested in the value of T-Mobile (especially when the $150
Lumia 810 is also available). Thus, although we have omitted the evaluation of
its GSM twin brothers, we're here to tell you how Magenta’s version is
different from the other members of the group.
Although we view the carrier’s customizations
just as Lady Macbeth views his hand, Windows Phone offers a significant change in
terms of speed. Therefore, the software experiences across WP8 devices are pretty
consistent. However, bloatware is still there outside. This special 8X still
maintains some standard HTC applications (Hub, Flashlight, Photo Enhancer and
Converter with settings for Beats Audio and attentive phone), which are
available on AT&T and also on other international models. But what makes it
different from the other network-locked models is in the number of carrier apps
it has about 8 in sum including 411 & More, Bonus Apps, Caller Tuner, My
Account, Scout, Slacker Radio, T-Mobile TV and Zynga Games. Fortunately, at
least all of them can be removed with one long click. That's not new to Windows
Phone, but it still makes us excited.
Among the three current 8X models, T-Mobile’s
hardware follows the hybrid design method, mixing its brothers’ aspects.
Looking at the front, the 8X looks like the international model, with HTC logo
below the earpiece. Turn it back, and you will see a small change that marks it
as the American model: the Beats Audio logo was moved on and in its old
location now is the presence of the T-Mobile logo on the speaker grid. As what
is seen on the outside, that is it!
The
Beats Audio logo was moved on and in its old location now is the presence of
the T-Mobile logo on the speaker grid.
If there is no small radio change, the
specifications of this 8X will be almost similar to those of its peers: 4.3-inch
1280x720 Super LCD 2 display, Snapdragon S4 dual-core 1.5GHz, 1GB RAM, 8MP
front-facing 2.1MP rear-camera, and HTC Image CHIP. But while all the three models
have a quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE radio, T-Mobile's unit adds AWS to its quad-band
UMTS/HSPA+ radio (850, 1700, 1900, 2100MHz) and leaves support away for the
900MHz band just as AT&T did for its model. So, while both US models will work
around the world and can claim to have 4G speeds in the states, only AT&T's
will actually run on LTE.
With a similar chipset and no customizations
in the operating system, we were not surprised to see this 8X’s test results were
similar to that of his brother. In fact, we can say the same thing about its
performance compared to another high-end Windows Phone 8 phone, the Lumia 920.
Of course, the explanation for this rests in the inward similarities. As
always, the overall scores do not paint the whole picture. Indeed, there is
something inappropriate in T-Mobile’s model that makes it impossible to achieve
the equivalent real-life performance to our evaluations of our recent reviews
on the 8X. In two special cases, we encountered crashes that led to a reboot;
both of which were caused by the deletion of simply one image in the gallery.
You should note that we were not running any other applications at the same
time, so we were not sure what caused this problem, and we could not reproduce
it.
HTC 8X for T-Mobile
·
WPBench: 225
·
Battery: 2:17
·
SunSpider (ms, lower number are better): 902
·
AnTuTu (*GFX test off): 11,190
Lumia 920 for AT&T
·
WPBench: 221
·
Battery: 2:15
·
SunSpider (ms, lower number are better): 925
·
AnTuTu (*GFX test off): 11,437*
Global Lumia 920
·
WPBench: 227
·
Battery: 2:36
·
SunSpider (ms, lower number are better): 914
·
AnTuTu (*GFX test off): 10,957*
HTC 8X for AT&T
·
WPBench: 219
·
Battery: 2:16
·
SunSpider (ms, lower number are better): 912
·
AnTuTu (*GFX test off): 11,852
Global HTC 8X
·
WPBench: 221
·
Battery: 2:30
·
SunSpider (ms, lower number are better): 914
·
AnTuTu (*GFX test off): 11,775
Nokia Lumia 900
·
WPBench: 92
·
Battery: 4:29
·
SunSpider (ms, lower number are better): 6,902
·
AnTuTu (*GFX test off): 2,596
Nokia Lumia 800
·
WPBench: 86
·
Battery: 2:40
·
SunSpider (ms, lower number are better): 7200
·
AnTuTu (*GFX test off): 2,398
Let's pay a little attention to the scores
above. Two hours 17 minutes is not the only format you can expect from the 8X’s
integrated 1800mAh battery. We doubt that this test result has more to do with
WPBench being a native Mango app and is still not updated with the WP8 kernel.
The battery life does not show much difference from the LTE demands of the
AT&T model, both of which lasts less than just 15 minutes as the global one's
longevity. As a daily worker, you can expect about a full day's charge from the
handset which could be even longer with more of your conservative use.
As a WP8 value issue, there's no way the 8X
can beat Nokia's Lumia 920’s price on AT&T: $100 on-contract is hard to defeat
for the same specifications or even better. As an alternative gateway to
Nokia's Apps that won't make you have to change the carrier, there's always the
Lumia 810 on T-Mobile. But what you get in custom software on the device is what
you need to have in return for less competitive internals. Leave that option
from the equation and you're faced with a choice of two 8X's. And with both
AT&T and T-Mobile trying to carry the 16GB model for a $199 on-contract,
the only thing that separates the two is your preference for AWS or LTE. If you
prefer having T-Mobile's low monthly service fees than AT&T's faster
speeds, just feel free to sign the contract with T-Mobile.
HTC
8X vs. Nokia Lumia 920
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Info
·
Product name: HTC Windows Phone 8X for
T-Mobile
·
Price: $199 on-contract
Specifications
·
Dimensions: 132.4 x 66.2 x 10.1 mm (5.21 x
2.61 x 0.40 in)
·
Weight: 130 g (4.59 oz)
·
Display Type: S-LCD2 capacitive touchscreen,
16M colors
·
Display Size: 720 x 1280 pixels, 4.3 inches
(~342 ppi pixel density)
·
Memory: 16GB internal storage, 1 GB RAM
·
WLAN: Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, dual-band
·
Bluetooth: Yes, v3.1 with A2DP, EDR
·
NFC: yes
·
USB: yes, micro USB v2.0
·
Camera: primary, 8 MP, 3264 x 2448 pixels,
autofocus, LED flash, with geo-tagging, touch focus, 1080p@30fps; secondary, 2.1
MP, 720p@30fps
·
OS: Microsoft Windows Phone 8
·
Chipset: Qualcomm MSM8960 Snapdragon
·
CPU: Dual-core 1.5 GHz Krait
·
GPU: Adreno 225
·
Battery: Non-removable Li-Ion 1800 mAh battery.
Advantages
·
Clever design
·
Lightweight body
·
Splendid display
Disadvantages
·
Weak app system
·
AT&T’s model offers LTE at the same price
Verdict
·
HTC's 8X is a good WP8 choice on T-Mobile. But
at a relatively high $199 on-contract price, it can't compete with AT&T's
Lumia 920.
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