HTC Windows Phone 8S

Overview

Stylish and Feature Rich Windows Phone

Shades

Design

Misc

Camera

Overview of HTC Windows Phone 8S

If you are over enthusiastic about trying out the all new Windows 8, but are also conscious about your budget, HTC Windows Phone 8S might be just what you’re looking for. HTC 8S is pretty much a scaled down version of HTC’s ultimate Windows Phone gadget- HTC 8X. Though 8S is not as feature-packed as 8X, it does come with a sturdy design and a snappy 1 GHz Dual-core processor. However, there’s more to HTC Windows Phone 8S than just that. Find out what more goes into the beautiful beast from HTC.

HTC Windows Phone 8S Design and Build Quality

The phone’s funky design makes it stand apart from the pool of other smartphones. The first thing you notice about HTC Windows Phone 8S is HTC’s choice of bold colours. 8S looks contemporarily stylish in its playful two-tone colour scheme. Red blends in with orange, Black comes with a white stripe, Gray comes with lime green, and blue comes with a shade of lighter blue. The bottom of the phone and the rest of the rear view sport a different colour, giving it an incredibly stylish and indifferently funky look. Besides the awesome colour combination, 8S also comes with a unibody polycarbonate chassis, which gives it a distinctly rubbery feel. Definitely there’s more plastic in the body, but unlike budget phones, 8S does not feel flimsy in hands. The phone’s highly tapered edges make it surprisingly slim, and the curved backside makes HTC 8S-easy to hold and carry along.

Display of HTC Windows Phone 8S

Unlike HTC 8X’s marvellous display, HTC 8S’s 4 inch S-LCD display is not something which could make your eyes pop out. The visuals start appearing little grained while watching Full-HD videos, and it provides a rather subdued performance when handling games with high-graphics. Nonetheless, the 480-by-800 pixel screen with 19:6 aspect ratio still provides some pretty decent performance for watching HD videos, streaming content or browsing web. The display also comes protected by Corning Gorilla Glass, which prevents the screen from getting any surplus scratching.

User Interface

Windows 8’s Live Tile interface is refreshingly different from the highly analogous iOS and Android interface. The Tiles are dynamic- which means there’s always something happening on the screen. The tiles are also highly customizable-like they can be resized to small, medium or large based on you preferences, and can be tweaked to show your messages, Twitter feeds and Email messages, as and when they arrive. It’s perhaps the dynamicity of the OS, which makes it so easy and fun to use.

Performance

Though HTC 8X packs a more powerful processor, you would notice no difference between 8X and 8S, in terms of performance. The 1 GHz dual core chip keeps the phone running effortlessly, and preserves the snappiness of the phone. Besides, the 512 MB RAM makes the multi-tasking experience sweet and smooth. There’s less to complaint about when it comes to HTC 8S’s performance.

HTC Windows Phone 8S Music Player and FM Radio

Windows 8’s default Music player- ‘Music + Video' is perhaps the most beautifully crafted music apps. Though HTC 8S provides decent audio playback while playing media files through phone’s external speakers, the audio performance improves considerably when you tuck your headphones in. The augmentation in the sound quality can be accredited to HTC’s pet project- Beats Audio Technology, which comes embedded in the phone. The bass is lower, the treble is much crisper. If you’re an ardent music-lover, the Beats Audio experience could be an absolute treat to your ears. However, the lack of FM radio in HTC’s 8S comes as an unwanted surprise, and would surely break some hearts.

HTC Windows Phone 8S Camera and Image quality

The 5-megapixel camera comes topped with f/2.8 lens, which snaps some pretty decent photos. That being said, the image quality isn’t something which would blow your mind off. Besides, there’s no front camera, which means no video-calling. However, considering the fact that HTC 8S is a mid-range phone, expecting the camera to do wonders would be nothing less than being just-too-optimistic.

Video Camera and Video quality

Though the 5-megapixel camera snaps some ordinary shots, it’s still capable of recording sophisticated HD (720p) videos. The videos are smooth, and the video quality is crystal-clear. Additionally, the video mode offers lots of options to add several artistic effects, change resolution, adjust the white-balance, sharpness, contrast or saturation.

Apps and Maps

The lack of apps on Windows Phone 8, when compared to iPhone or Android, could perhaps be the only chink in the armour of HTC. However, HTC 8S could be an ideal fit for people who do not fancy trying lots of apps, and can sustain with the most basic ones, for now. As a matter of fact, nearly 60% of the most popular apps for Android and iOS are now available at Windows Phone marketplace. With Windows 8 catching up, expect the number of apps on Windows 8 to rise soon. Microsoft’s default navigation system, however, is another huge disappointment. Sadly, there’s no voice-navigation, transit directions, and the maps are highly inaccurate. It seems Nokia has an edge over HTC when it comes to maps, as Nokia Maps provide far better navigation than Bing maps.

Connectivity and Storage

HTC 8S comes with all sorts of connectivity options like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, and 3G connectivity- nothing much to complain about really. However, when it comes to storage, HTC leaves you with just 4 Gigabytes of storage. Nevertheless, unlike HTC 8X, there’s an expandable memory card option, wherein you can expand the storage up to 32 GB.

HTC Windows Phone 8S Battery Life

Betraying its prolonged legacy of under-performing batteries, HTC 8S comes with a 1700 mAh battery- which promises to last long. Citing the fact that 8S is a 1 GHz phone with a 4 inch display, the battery looks potent enough to last for at least a day- something which is more than amazing by HTC standards.

Value for Money

HTC Windows Phone 8S, beyond doubt, is an absolute value for money. A funky outlook, a powerful processor, an amazing battery life, and the much awaited Windows 8 experience- everything comes bundled up at an economically reasonable price-tag of 22K (approx., may vary).

Verdict

Considering the fact that it’s packed with affluent features and reasonably priced, HTC 8S comes out as an economical alternative to the powerful- HTC 8X. Though HTC had to cut the corners to make it economical, it’s still in par with Lumia 820, or any other Windows Phone. Buy HTC 8S for its unique style factor, and for the amazing Windows 8 experience. It doesn’t get any viable than this. However, if you’re looking for a Windows phone which pulls the socks ever more, Nokia Lumia 820- with an improved camera and 4G/LTE could be a better choice.