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HTC 8X, Black 16GB (Verizon Wireless)
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Most helpful positive review
28 of 30 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 starsIncredible Phone
ByCharleson December 8, 2012
The HTC WP8X provides a fresh, fun and usable phone experience that makes you happy to use a smartphone again.
Hardware wise, the WP8X is sexy, fun and smartly designed. It's extremely thin and light and the curved edges allow users to easily handle the phone in one hand. The 4.3 inch screen is the perfect balance between screen size and portability, allowing me to carry the phone in my shirt and pants pocket. The screen is also a delight: bright, color saturated, and razor sharp. The resolution beats the iPhone 5 in ppi, and it shows. Text and images come alive and are a joy to view. The Gorilla glass provides excellent protection and a seamless, curved, and beautiful façade.
The HTC design team clearly aimed to create premium device using color accents throughout the phone including the speaker and earpiece grill. It's clever and sets the phone apart from anything else on the market.
The audio quality is by far the best I have ever experienced. Unlike my HTC Sensation, there is no static or hissing; voices sound rich and strong. The speakerphone is also very strong. Callers reported hearing me clearly and some could not tell that I was on a speakerphone. The speakerphone's output was loud and very impressive.
Call quality / reception was exceptional and did not suffer the "death grip" of my Sensation. The HTC WP8 managed to pull in bars and hold them consistently. Unfortunately, HTC WP8 does not support Wi-Fi calling which is something that I enjoyed with my Android handset (when it worked).
The operating system is revolutionary. Previously, I had an iPhone and Android, but was tired of both platforms. The iPhone had become stale, boring, and quite frankly old-fashioned and the Android was just too difficult to use. Both platforms were stuck with an aged design concept of rows of icons launching applications. WP8 takes an entirely different approach to phone UI. The live tiles double duty as launch buttons but also hubs of information that communicate important information at a single glance.
WP8 is also a master of aggregating information. The people hub links with facebook, twitter, my Exchange and LinkedIn accounts and feeds updates from my contacts together. It does not matter where the updates are coming from, information is presented cleanly and uniformly for each of my contacts. How simple; how revolutionary.
When I need to post an update, I do it from one place and WP8 takes care of posting it to all my accounts and services. I don't have to enter LinkedIn, Twitter, etc. separately to post updates. Easy, and something that I longed iOS and Android to accomplish natively.
Xbox Music (formerly Zune) is well done. I have been a long time subscribe of Zune Pass, and the Music app on WP8 really makes it easy to access any song from their catalog. If you use a Windows 8 computer, everything syncs between them automatically. Having the "cloud" at my disposable calmed my fears of only having 16 gigs of phone storage space.
As far as applications, most every application that I used on Android and iOS are present on WP8 (or at least an equivalent). My most used apps are Skype, WhatsApp, a great news reader, and Shop Savvy. These are all present on WP8.
And speaking of Skype, finally, MSFT has managed to produce a deeply integrated Skype experience with flawless call quality. Making a voice calls on my Sensation was a miserable experience. I was disappointed that this first version does not support file transfer, but hopefully this will be added in a future version.
An earlier review said that you can only upload Notes and some Office apps, but this is not true. You just need to download the SkyDrive app from the App Store and everything that you upload to SkyDrive is available on the phone. You need the correct app to open the files, of course.
This is a phone that needs to be experienced. The operating system is fresh and unlike anything you have used before and is a pleasant relief from the antiquated iPhone and Android OS's. To borrow a phrase from Apple, this phone "thinks different" both inside and out!
Hardware wise, the WP8X is sexy, fun and smartly designed. It's extremely thin and light and the curved edges allow users to easily handle the phone in one hand. The 4.3 inch screen is the perfect balance between screen size and portability, allowing me to carry the phone in my shirt and pants pocket. The screen is also a delight: bright, color saturated, and razor sharp. The resolution beats the iPhone 5 in ppi, and it shows. Text and images come alive and are a joy to view. The Gorilla glass provides excellent protection and a seamless, curved, and beautiful façade.
The HTC design team clearly aimed to create premium device using color accents throughout the phone including the speaker and earpiece grill. It's clever and sets the phone apart from anything else on the market.
The audio quality is by far the best I have ever experienced. Unlike my HTC Sensation, there is no static or hissing; voices sound rich and strong. The speakerphone is also very strong. Callers reported hearing me clearly and some could not tell that I was on a speakerphone. The speakerphone's output was loud and very impressive.
Call quality / reception was exceptional and did not suffer the "death grip" of my Sensation. The HTC WP8 managed to pull in bars and hold them consistently. Unfortunately, HTC WP8 does not support Wi-Fi calling which is something that I enjoyed with my Android handset (when it worked).
The operating system is revolutionary. Previously, I had an iPhone and Android, but was tired of both platforms. The iPhone had become stale, boring, and quite frankly old-fashioned and the Android was just too difficult to use. Both platforms were stuck with an aged design concept of rows of icons launching applications. WP8 takes an entirely different approach to phone UI. The live tiles double duty as launch buttons but also hubs of information that communicate important information at a single glance.
WP8 is also a master of aggregating information. The people hub links with facebook, twitter, my Exchange and LinkedIn accounts and feeds updates from my contacts together. It does not matter where the updates are coming from, information is presented cleanly and uniformly for each of my contacts. How simple; how revolutionary.
When I need to post an update, I do it from one place and WP8 takes care of posting it to all my accounts and services. I don't have to enter LinkedIn, Twitter, etc. separately to post updates. Easy, and something that I longed iOS and Android to accomplish natively.
Xbox Music (formerly Zune) is well done. I have been a long time subscribe of Zune Pass, and the Music app on WP8 really makes it easy to access any song from their catalog. If you use a Windows 8 computer, everything syncs between them automatically. Having the "cloud" at my disposable calmed my fears of only having 16 gigs of phone storage space.
As far as applications, most every application that I used on Android and iOS are present on WP8 (or at least an equivalent). My most used apps are Skype, WhatsApp, a great news reader, and Shop Savvy. These are all present on WP8.
And speaking of Skype, finally, MSFT has managed to produce a deeply integrated Skype experience with flawless call quality. Making a voice calls on my Sensation was a miserable experience. I was disappointed that this first version does not support file transfer, but hopefully this will be added in a future version.
An earlier review said that you can only upload Notes and some Office apps, but this is not true. You just need to download the SkyDrive app from the App Store and everything that you upload to SkyDrive is available on the phone. You need the correct app to open the files, of course.
This is a phone that needs to be experienced. The operating system is fresh and unlike anything you have used before and is a pleasant relief from the antiquated iPhone and Android OS's. To borrow a phrase from Apple, this phone "thinks different" both inside and out!
Most helpful critical review
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 starsOwned for 1.5 years. WP is awesome, HTC caused my issues. Get a Nokia.
ByJohnon February 22, 2013
Would I buy this phone again? As much as I want to say yes, I must say no.
REVIEW UPDATE 3-21-2014: They finally fixed my biggest issue with this phone, the missed call tone, with a previous update. However, I've had numerous hardware issues since then that started at about a year of owning the phone: The sim card was constantly freaking out telling me it's corrupted (I never removed it). Bluetooth sometimes just didn't want to work. Was constantly getting "cannot send text" when trying to send texts. At this point the HTC 8x is relatively old so I still don't recommend it with so many better options out there. I just upgraded to a Nokia Lumia Icon and couldn't be happier.
Cons with the 8x:
Missed call tone: (Update 3-21-2014: Fixed, finally. Too late HTC.. upgrade your QA process please.) (REVIEW UPDATE 7-23-2013: Still no fix for this missed call tone, it is specific to Verizon and no update since I bought the phone in November-2012 has alleviated it. UPDATE 10-14-2013 The issue persists) I do not know if it still occurs in all new 8x phones, but there is a large community on Windows Phone forums who are experiencing the same issue: After a missed call (if it isn't intentionally ignored by the user using the 'ignore' button), there is a three tone sound, no matter what state your phone is in (silent/vibrate/ring). This happens no matter how your sound settings are configured! For me, this is highly annoying, but not unbearable since my workplace doesn't have a problem with cell phones. However, anytime I go somewhere that complete silence is required (movie theater/musical/church etc etc), I have to turn my phone completely off. To me this is completely unacceptable. I just got my first Windows Phone update today and it did not resolve the issue. I waited to write this review until after the update because I understand all phones can have bugs. Since it wasn't fixed, however, I remove one star from an otherwise 4 star review.
Build quality: Beautiful as it may be when new, the rubberized material is already peeling off revealing a hard plastic layer underneath. Unacceptable after 3 months of use. The glass is supposedly gorilla glass, but mine already has multiple light scratches on the display, and I'm careful with my phone. Also unacceptable. One star removed for build quality. (Note: I've never dropped my phone.)
Pros for the 8x:
Style: The phone looks great (apart from what I mentioned above)
Comfort: Feels really amazing in your hand, it feels MUCH thinner than it actually is.
Camera: Not as good as an iPhone, but it's good. I love the WP8 camera software too.
Battery life: Definitely acceptable for a 4G phone. I rarely get all the way to empty at the end of the day.
Display: Beautiful.
Call quality: Fine.
The Operating System Cons:
Lack of apps: No stars taken off the review for this, since it isn't something specific to this phone, but I have to mention the lack of apps available for WP8. I am not a heavy app user, so this doesn't bother me all that much. For anyone used to the android/iPhone app store that uses a lot of third party apps, this will be a huge problem. Pandora missing is, for me, the most notable. (REVIEW UPDATE 6-6-2013: Pandora now available for WP8.)
Search: It tries to be smart and select the category it thinks you wanted for search (images/web/local) but gets it wrong a lot of the time and it's pretty annoying. The bing results aren't amazing either. I downloaded the google app for search and that alleviates the problem, unless you want to search while in the browser. (REVIEW UPDATE 7-23-2013: This app is still available but hasn't been updated in over a year; I don't believe it's supported by Google any longer.)
Default Alarm software: It doesn't show you the time your alarm is going to go off on the lock screen, and it also doesn't allow you to turn off SNOOZE once you have turned it on without turning off the alarm completely. Not a huge deal but it annoys me.
The Operating System Pros:
Overall I love Windows Phone 8 operating system. It is smooth, easy to use, and nice to look at. This phone delivers that in a wonderful, fast and glitch-free manner. A few notes below--
Integration with Office: I use OneNote, and this is one of the number one reasons I love my phone. It syncs fast and works well. I haven't tested much with Word or other programs, but so far so good.
Facebook integration: (REVIEW UPDATE 7-23-2013: Loving the new Facebook update, works great for me.)Pretty good! Could be better, but the fact that it's semi-fast and not buggy is a pro for me.
Maps: Now that Nokia has released their navigation software, maps is back to being awesome for WP8. Download it from the store! VZW navigation you have to pay by month for.. which in this day and age is pretty outrageous.
Overall not a bad choice for a phone, definitely not. But personally I would not buy it again. The missed call tone is what pushes that decision from a 'pretty much yes' to a solid no.
REVIEW UPDATE 3-21-2014: They finally fixed my biggest issue with this phone, the missed call tone, with a previous update. However, I've had numerous hardware issues since then that started at about a year of owning the phone: The sim card was constantly freaking out telling me it's corrupted (I never removed it). Bluetooth sometimes just didn't want to work. Was constantly getting "cannot send text" when trying to send texts. At this point the HTC 8x is relatively old so I still don't recommend it with so many better options out there. I just upgraded to a Nokia Lumia Icon and couldn't be happier.
Cons with the 8x:
Missed call tone: (Update 3-21-2014: Fixed, finally. Too late HTC.. upgrade your QA process please.) (REVIEW UPDATE 7-23-2013: Still no fix for this missed call tone, it is specific to Verizon and no update since I bought the phone in November-2012 has alleviated it. UPDATE 10-14-2013 The issue persists) I do not know if it still occurs in all new 8x phones, but there is a large community on Windows Phone forums who are experiencing the same issue: After a missed call (if it isn't intentionally ignored by the user using the 'ignore' button), there is a three tone sound, no matter what state your phone is in (silent/vibrate/ring). This happens no matter how your sound settings are configured! For me, this is highly annoying, but not unbearable since my workplace doesn't have a problem with cell phones. However, anytime I go somewhere that complete silence is required (movie theater/musical/church etc etc), I have to turn my phone completely off. To me this is completely unacceptable. I just got my first Windows Phone update today and it did not resolve the issue. I waited to write this review until after the update because I understand all phones can have bugs. Since it wasn't fixed, however, I remove one star from an otherwise 4 star review.
Build quality: Beautiful as it may be when new, the rubberized material is already peeling off revealing a hard plastic layer underneath. Unacceptable after 3 months of use. The glass is supposedly gorilla glass, but mine already has multiple light scratches on the display, and I'm careful with my phone. Also unacceptable. One star removed for build quality. (Note: I've never dropped my phone.)
Pros for the 8x:
Style: The phone looks great (apart from what I mentioned above)
Comfort: Feels really amazing in your hand, it feels MUCH thinner than it actually is.
Camera: Not as good as an iPhone, but it's good. I love the WP8 camera software too.
Battery life: Definitely acceptable for a 4G phone. I rarely get all the way to empty at the end of the day.
Display: Beautiful.
Call quality: Fine.
The Operating System Cons:
Lack of apps: No stars taken off the review for this, since it isn't something specific to this phone, but I have to mention the lack of apps available for WP8. I am not a heavy app user, so this doesn't bother me all that much. For anyone used to the android/iPhone app store that uses a lot of third party apps, this will be a huge problem. Pandora missing is, for me, the most notable. (REVIEW UPDATE 6-6-2013: Pandora now available for WP8.)
Search: It tries to be smart and select the category it thinks you wanted for search (images/web/local) but gets it wrong a lot of the time and it's pretty annoying. The bing results aren't amazing either. I downloaded the google app for search and that alleviates the problem, unless you want to search while in the browser. (REVIEW UPDATE 7-23-2013: This app is still available but hasn't been updated in over a year; I don't believe it's supported by Google any longer.)
Default Alarm software: It doesn't show you the time your alarm is going to go off on the lock screen, and it also doesn't allow you to turn off SNOOZE once you have turned it on without turning off the alarm completely. Not a huge deal but it annoys me.
The Operating System Pros:
Overall I love Windows Phone 8 operating system. It is smooth, easy to use, and nice to look at. This phone delivers that in a wonderful, fast and glitch-free manner. A few notes below--
Integration with Office: I use OneNote, and this is one of the number one reasons I love my phone. It syncs fast and works well. I haven't tested much with Word or other programs, but so far so good.
Facebook integration: (REVIEW UPDATE 7-23-2013: Loving the new Facebook update, works great for me.)Pretty good! Could be better, but the fact that it's semi-fast and not buggy is a pro for me.
Maps: Now that Nokia has released their navigation software, maps is back to being awesome for WP8. Download it from the store! VZW navigation you have to pay by month for.. which in this day and age is pretty outrageous.
Overall not a bad choice for a phone, definitely not. But personally I would not buy it again. The missed call tone is what pushes that decision from a 'pretty much yes' to a solid no.
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28 of 30 people found the following review helpful
ByCharleson December 8, 2012
The HTC WP8X provides a fresh, fun and usable phone experience that makes you happy to use a smartphone again.
Hardware wise, the WP8X is sexy, fun and smartly designed. It's extremely thin and light and the curved edges allow users to easily handle the phone in one hand. The 4.3 inch screen is the perfect balance between screen size and portability, allowing me to carry the phone in my shirt and pants pocket. The screen is also a delight: bright, color saturated, and razor sharp. The resolution beats the iPhone 5 in ppi, and it shows. Text and images come alive and are a joy to view. The Gorilla glass provides excellent protection and a seamless, curved, and beautiful façade.
The HTC design team clearly aimed to create premium device using color accents throughout the phone including the speaker and earpiece grill. It's clever and sets the phone apart from anything else on the market.
The audio quality is by far the best I have ever experienced. Unlike my HTC Sensation, there is no static or hissing; voices sound rich and strong. The speakerphone is also very strong. Callers reported hearing me clearly and some could not tell that I was on a speakerphone. The speakerphone's output was loud and very impressive.
Call quality / reception was exceptional and did not suffer the "death grip" of my Sensation. The HTC WP8 managed to pull in bars and hold them consistently. Unfortunately, HTC WP8 does not support Wi-Fi calling which is something that I enjoyed with my Android handset (when it worked).
The operating system is revolutionary. Previously, I had an iPhone and Android, but was tired of both platforms. The iPhone had become stale, boring, and quite frankly old-fashioned and the Android was just too difficult to use. Both platforms were stuck with an aged design concept of rows of icons launching applications. WP8 takes an entirely different approach to phone UI. The live tiles double duty as launch buttons but also hubs of information that communicate important information at a single glance.
WP8 is also a master of aggregating information. The people hub links with facebook, twitter, my Exchange and LinkedIn accounts and feeds updates from my contacts together. It does not matter where the updates are coming from, information is presented cleanly and uniformly for each of my contacts. How simple; how revolutionary.
When I need to post an update, I do it from one place and WP8 takes care of posting it to all my accounts and services. I don't have to enter LinkedIn, Twitter, etc. separately to post updates. Easy, and something that I longed iOS and Android to accomplish natively.
Xbox Music (formerly Zune) is well done. I have been a long time subscribe of Zune Pass, and the Music app on WP8 really makes it easy to access any song from their catalog. If you use a Windows 8 computer, everything syncs between them automatically. Having the "cloud" at my disposable calmed my fears of only having 16 gigs of phone storage space.
As far as applications, most every application that I used on Android and iOS are present on WP8 (or at least an equivalent). My most used apps are Skype, WhatsApp, a great news reader, and Shop Savvy. These are all present on WP8.
And speaking of Skype, finally, MSFT has managed to produce a deeply integrated Skype experience with flawless call quality. Making a voice calls on my Sensation was a miserable experience. I was disappointed that this first version does not support file transfer, but hopefully this will be added in a future version.
An earlier review said that you can only upload Notes and some Office apps, but this is not true. You just need to download the SkyDrive app from the App Store and everything that you upload to SkyDrive is available on the phone. You need the correct app to open the files, of course.
This is a phone that needs to be experienced. The operating system is fresh and unlike anything you have used before and is a pleasant relief from the antiquated iPhone and Android OS's. To borrow a phrase from Apple, this phone "thinks different" both inside and out!
Hardware wise, the WP8X is sexy, fun and smartly designed. It's extremely thin and light and the curved edges allow users to easily handle the phone in one hand. The 4.3 inch screen is the perfect balance between screen size and portability, allowing me to carry the phone in my shirt and pants pocket. The screen is also a delight: bright, color saturated, and razor sharp. The resolution beats the iPhone 5 in ppi, and it shows. Text and images come alive and are a joy to view. The Gorilla glass provides excellent protection and a seamless, curved, and beautiful façade.
The HTC design team clearly aimed to create premium device using color accents throughout the phone including the speaker and earpiece grill. It's clever and sets the phone apart from anything else on the market.
The audio quality is by far the best I have ever experienced. Unlike my HTC Sensation, there is no static or hissing; voices sound rich and strong. The speakerphone is also very strong. Callers reported hearing me clearly and some could not tell that I was on a speakerphone. The speakerphone's output was loud and very impressive.
Call quality / reception was exceptional and did not suffer the "death grip" of my Sensation. The HTC WP8 managed to pull in bars and hold them consistently. Unfortunately, HTC WP8 does not support Wi-Fi calling which is something that I enjoyed with my Android handset (when it worked).
The operating system is revolutionary. Previously, I had an iPhone and Android, but was tired of both platforms. The iPhone had become stale, boring, and quite frankly old-fashioned and the Android was just too difficult to use. Both platforms were stuck with an aged design concept of rows of icons launching applications. WP8 takes an entirely different approach to phone UI. The live tiles double duty as launch buttons but also hubs of information that communicate important information at a single glance.
WP8 is also a master of aggregating information. The people hub links with facebook, twitter, my Exchange and LinkedIn accounts and feeds updates from my contacts together. It does not matter where the updates are coming from, information is presented cleanly and uniformly for each of my contacts. How simple; how revolutionary.
When I need to post an update, I do it from one place and WP8 takes care of posting it to all my accounts and services. I don't have to enter LinkedIn, Twitter, etc. separately to post updates. Easy, and something that I longed iOS and Android to accomplish natively.
Xbox Music (formerly Zune) is well done. I have been a long time subscribe of Zune Pass, and the Music app on WP8 really makes it easy to access any song from their catalog. If you use a Windows 8 computer, everything syncs between them automatically. Having the "cloud" at my disposable calmed my fears of only having 16 gigs of phone storage space.
As far as applications, most every application that I used on Android and iOS are present on WP8 (or at least an equivalent). My most used apps are Skype, WhatsApp, a great news reader, and Shop Savvy. These are all present on WP8.
And speaking of Skype, finally, MSFT has managed to produce a deeply integrated Skype experience with flawless call quality. Making a voice calls on my Sensation was a miserable experience. I was disappointed that this first version does not support file transfer, but hopefully this will be added in a future version.
An earlier review said that you can only upload Notes and some Office apps, but this is not true. You just need to download the SkyDrive app from the App Store and everything that you upload to SkyDrive is available on the phone. You need the correct app to open the files, of course.
This is a phone that needs to be experienced. The operating system is fresh and unlike anything you have used before and is a pleasant relief from the antiquated iPhone and Android OS's. To borrow a phrase from Apple, this phone "thinks different" both inside and out!
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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Byanonymous momon November 19, 2012
I picked up the HTC 8X on November 15th to replace my HTC Trophy. I am very happy with it so far.
The screen is big and display quality is good. It is lightweight compared to the smaller dimensioned Trophy. I really like the new smaller live tile size and the customizability it gives to your start screen - I can make a bunch of stuff tiny-square size and fit all the things I use most onto the screen without scrolling with my calendar the biggest size to see my next meeting or appointment, mail mid-sized, and everything else extra small.
The sound quality is fantastic. I plug it into the stereo system in my car for my children to listen to their favorite songs - I generally can't tell the difference between normal and fancy audio equipment, but I could definitely tell the difference between my old phone's music play and this one. It sounds crisp and the volume output is so much better.
The camera is okay, but still not the best feature of the phone. I think the camera on the Lumia is better. I usually carry a digital camera for pictres, though, so the few that I snap with my phone of my kids to text to their grandparents works fine for my needs. It works fine for scanning items, too.
The KidZone feature is great, though it is available on all Windows 8 phones. I've set it up with a few games, apps, and songs that my children can use, and so far it has stopped them from buying things a number of times.
Overall a great new phone.
The screen is big and display quality is good. It is lightweight compared to the smaller dimensioned Trophy. I really like the new smaller live tile size and the customizability it gives to your start screen - I can make a bunch of stuff tiny-square size and fit all the things I use most onto the screen without scrolling with my calendar the biggest size to see my next meeting or appointment, mail mid-sized, and everything else extra small.
The sound quality is fantastic. I plug it into the stereo system in my car for my children to listen to their favorite songs - I generally can't tell the difference between normal and fancy audio equipment, but I could definitely tell the difference between my old phone's music play and this one. It sounds crisp and the volume output is so much better.
The camera is okay, but still not the best feature of the phone. I think the camera on the Lumia is better. I usually carry a digital camera for pictres, though, so the few that I snap with my phone of my kids to text to their grandparents works fine for my needs. It works fine for scanning items, too.
The KidZone feature is great, though it is available on all Windows 8 phones. I've set it up with a few games, apps, and songs that my children can use, and so far it has stopped them from buying things a number of times.
Overall a great new phone.
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
ByJohnon February 22, 2013
Would I buy this phone again? As much as I want to say yes, I must say no.
REVIEW UPDATE 3-21-2014: They finally fixed my biggest issue with this phone, the missed call tone, with a previous update. However, I've had numerous hardware issues since then that started at about a year of owning the phone: The sim card was constantly freaking out telling me it's corrupted (I never removed it). Bluetooth sometimes just didn't want to work. Was constantly getting "cannot send text" when trying to send texts. At this point the HTC 8x is relatively old so I still don't recommend it with so many better options out there. I just upgraded to a Nokia Lumia Icon and couldn't be happier.
Cons with the 8x:
Missed call tone: (Update 3-21-2014: Fixed, finally. Too late HTC.. upgrade your QA process please.) (REVIEW UPDATE 7-23-2013: Still no fix for this missed call tone, it is specific to Verizon and no update since I bought the phone in November-2012 has alleviated it. UPDATE 10-14-2013 The issue persists) I do not know if it still occurs in all new 8x phones, but there is a large community on Windows Phone forums who are experiencing the same issue: After a missed call (if it isn't intentionally ignored by the user using the 'ignore' button), there is a three tone sound, no matter what state your phone is in (silent/vibrate/ring). This happens no matter how your sound settings are configured! For me, this is highly annoying, but not unbearable since my workplace doesn't have a problem with cell phones. However, anytime I go somewhere that complete silence is required (movie theater/musical/church etc etc), I have to turn my phone completely off. To me this is completely unacceptable. I just got my first Windows Phone update today and it did not resolve the issue. I waited to write this review until after the update because I understand all phones can have bugs. Since it wasn't fixed, however, I remove one star from an otherwise 4 star review.
Build quality: Beautiful as it may be when new, the rubberized material is already peeling off revealing a hard plastic layer underneath. Unacceptable after 3 months of use. The glass is supposedly gorilla glass, but mine already has multiple light scratches on the display, and I'm careful with my phone. Also unacceptable. One star removed for build quality. (Note: I've never dropped my phone.)
Pros for the 8x:
Style: The phone looks great (apart from what I mentioned above)
Comfort: Feels really amazing in your hand, it feels MUCH thinner than it actually is.
Camera: Not as good as an iPhone, but it's good. I love the WP8 camera software too.
Battery life: Definitely acceptable for a 4G phone. I rarely get all the way to empty at the end of the day.
Display: Beautiful.
Call quality: Fine.
The Operating System Cons:
Lack of apps: No stars taken off the review for this, since it isn't something specific to this phone, but I have to mention the lack of apps available for WP8. I am not a heavy app user, so this doesn't bother me all that much. For anyone used to the android/iPhone app store that uses a lot of third party apps, this will be a huge problem. Pandora missing is, for me, the most notable. (REVIEW UPDATE 6-6-2013: Pandora now available for WP8.)
Search: It tries to be smart and select the category it thinks you wanted for search (images/web/local) but gets it wrong a lot of the time and it's pretty annoying. The bing results aren't amazing either. I downloaded the google app for search and that alleviates the problem, unless you want to search while in the browser. (REVIEW UPDATE 7-23-2013: This app is still available but hasn't been updated in over a year; I don't believe it's supported by Google any longer.)
Default Alarm software: It doesn't show you the time your alarm is going to go off on the lock screen, and it also doesn't allow you to turn off SNOOZE once you have turned it on without turning off the alarm completely. Not a huge deal but it annoys me.
The Operating System Pros:
Overall I love Windows Phone 8 operating system. It is smooth, easy to use, and nice to look at. This phone delivers that in a wonderful, fast and glitch-free manner. A few notes below--
Integration with Office: I use OneNote, and this is one of the number one reasons I love my phone. It syncs fast and works well. I haven't tested much with Word or other programs, but so far so good.
Facebook integration: (REVIEW UPDATE 7-23-2013: Loving the new Facebook update, works great for me.)Pretty good! Could be better, but the fact that it's semi-fast and not buggy is a pro for me.
Maps: Now that Nokia has released their navigation software, maps is back to being awesome for WP8. Download it from the store! VZW navigation you have to pay by month for.. which in this day and age is pretty outrageous.
Overall not a bad choice for a phone, definitely not. But personally I would not buy it again. The missed call tone is what pushes that decision from a 'pretty much yes' to a solid no.
REVIEW UPDATE 3-21-2014: They finally fixed my biggest issue with this phone, the missed call tone, with a previous update. However, I've had numerous hardware issues since then that started at about a year of owning the phone: The sim card was constantly freaking out telling me it's corrupted (I never removed it). Bluetooth sometimes just didn't want to work. Was constantly getting "cannot send text" when trying to send texts. At this point the HTC 8x is relatively old so I still don't recommend it with so many better options out there. I just upgraded to a Nokia Lumia Icon and couldn't be happier.
Cons with the 8x:
Missed call tone: (Update 3-21-2014: Fixed, finally. Too late HTC.. upgrade your QA process please.) (REVIEW UPDATE 7-23-2013: Still no fix for this missed call tone, it is specific to Verizon and no update since I bought the phone in November-2012 has alleviated it. UPDATE 10-14-2013 The issue persists) I do not know if it still occurs in all new 8x phones, but there is a large community on Windows Phone forums who are experiencing the same issue: After a missed call (if it isn't intentionally ignored by the user using the 'ignore' button), there is a three tone sound, no matter what state your phone is in (silent/vibrate/ring). This happens no matter how your sound settings are configured! For me, this is highly annoying, but not unbearable since my workplace doesn't have a problem with cell phones. However, anytime I go somewhere that complete silence is required (movie theater/musical/church etc etc), I have to turn my phone completely off. To me this is completely unacceptable. I just got my first Windows Phone update today and it did not resolve the issue. I waited to write this review until after the update because I understand all phones can have bugs. Since it wasn't fixed, however, I remove one star from an otherwise 4 star review.
Build quality: Beautiful as it may be when new, the rubberized material is already peeling off revealing a hard plastic layer underneath. Unacceptable after 3 months of use. The glass is supposedly gorilla glass, but mine already has multiple light scratches on the display, and I'm careful with my phone. Also unacceptable. One star removed for build quality. (Note: I've never dropped my phone.)
Pros for the 8x:
Style: The phone looks great (apart from what I mentioned above)
Comfort: Feels really amazing in your hand, it feels MUCH thinner than it actually is.
Camera: Not as good as an iPhone, but it's good. I love the WP8 camera software too.
Battery life: Definitely acceptable for a 4G phone. I rarely get all the way to empty at the end of the day.
Display: Beautiful.
Call quality: Fine.
The Operating System Cons:
Lack of apps: No stars taken off the review for this, since it isn't something specific to this phone, but I have to mention the lack of apps available for WP8. I am not a heavy app user, so this doesn't bother me all that much. For anyone used to the android/iPhone app store that uses a lot of third party apps, this will be a huge problem. Pandora missing is, for me, the most notable. (REVIEW UPDATE 6-6-2013: Pandora now available for WP8.)
Search: It tries to be smart and select the category it thinks you wanted for search (images/web/local) but gets it wrong a lot of the time and it's pretty annoying. The bing results aren't amazing either. I downloaded the google app for search and that alleviates the problem, unless you want to search while in the browser. (REVIEW UPDATE 7-23-2013: This app is still available but hasn't been updated in over a year; I don't believe it's supported by Google any longer.)
Default Alarm software: It doesn't show you the time your alarm is going to go off on the lock screen, and it also doesn't allow you to turn off SNOOZE once you have turned it on without turning off the alarm completely. Not a huge deal but it annoys me.
The Operating System Pros:
Overall I love Windows Phone 8 operating system. It is smooth, easy to use, and nice to look at. This phone delivers that in a wonderful, fast and glitch-free manner. A few notes below--
Integration with Office: I use OneNote, and this is one of the number one reasons I love my phone. It syncs fast and works well. I haven't tested much with Word or other programs, but so far so good.
Facebook integration: (REVIEW UPDATE 7-23-2013: Loving the new Facebook update, works great for me.)Pretty good! Could be better, but the fact that it's semi-fast and not buggy is a pro for me.
Maps: Now that Nokia has released their navigation software, maps is back to being awesome for WP8. Download it from the store! VZW navigation you have to pay by month for.. which in this day and age is pretty outrageous.
Overall not a bad choice for a phone, definitely not. But personally I would not buy it again. The missed call tone is what pushes that decision from a 'pretty much yes' to a solid no.
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13 of 15 people found the following review helpful
ByJames Baumgardneron November 25, 2012
Facts:
I've been using Android for the past 3 years
My wife loves her some Apple products
I used to own a Blackjack (admitting it is the first step)
I have owned my black HTC 8X for about a week now, and I am really happy with my purchase. From the first turning on of the device, I was pretty much blown away. The phone is slim, with the buttons flush to the body. The back is curved, and the edges are nice and thin. The phone is light, but does feel solid. Lots of screen real estate, and the glass is very responsive. The device has plenty of power, so the experience with apps is very smooth. No shuddering or long delays opening anything. The animations and transitions are all smooth. Very smooth. I won't go into a bunch of detail on Windows 8 Phone OS, but there are tips and hints to help you get used to what is different about this phone from whatever OS you might be coming from.
Camera: There is a nice little button to fire up the camera directly, as well as operating the shutter. There was no noticeable shutter lag, so I was able to snap several pictures in rapid succession. This is important to me, since my kids never stay still.
Sound: Beats Audio! Sound is great from the body's speaker as well. Not much to say here - it works good.
Battery: The verdict is still out on this one, since I've been on vacation the whole time I have had the phone. I habitually charge my phone whenever I'm home and not using it. When I go back to work this week, I'll get a better idea of this, and will post the info for this as well. For the time I have been using the phone while on vacation, it appears to have acceptable battery life.
Apps: You need to know up front that the apps for Windows are not as plentiful as the competing app markets. This will change in the near future, I'm sure, but taking of stock of what apps you must have to survive is highly recommended before you go buying up this phone and then complaining that your favorite fart machine or annoying talking cat doesn't exist in the Store. If this is your first smartphone, you probably don't care as much about this.
Other: I love the Kids Corner feature. If you don't know what this is, but you have kids, I highly recommend reading a review or two. I use Gmail and ActiveSync and both work with no issues. I wish there was an archive button for GMail, but that's not really a huge deal. Podcasts are a pain if you plan on using the built-in as you can't import a podcast that doesn't exist in the Store. Again, I'm sure this will improve, but you might prefer to just get a 3rd party Podcast app in the mean time. Xbox integration is great! Skype/Messenger works well.
Overall, I am very happy with my purchase, and while I'm only 1 week into ownership I would definitely recommend this phone to others.
Jim
I've been using Android for the past 3 years
My wife loves her some Apple products
I used to own a Blackjack (admitting it is the first step)
I have owned my black HTC 8X for about a week now, and I am really happy with my purchase. From the first turning on of the device, I was pretty much blown away. The phone is slim, with the buttons flush to the body. The back is curved, and the edges are nice and thin. The phone is light, but does feel solid. Lots of screen real estate, and the glass is very responsive. The device has plenty of power, so the experience with apps is very smooth. No shuddering or long delays opening anything. The animations and transitions are all smooth. Very smooth. I won't go into a bunch of detail on Windows 8 Phone OS, but there are tips and hints to help you get used to what is different about this phone from whatever OS you might be coming from.
Camera: There is a nice little button to fire up the camera directly, as well as operating the shutter. There was no noticeable shutter lag, so I was able to snap several pictures in rapid succession. This is important to me, since my kids never stay still.
Sound: Beats Audio! Sound is great from the body's speaker as well. Not much to say here - it works good.
Battery: The verdict is still out on this one, since I've been on vacation the whole time I have had the phone. I habitually charge my phone whenever I'm home and not using it. When I go back to work this week, I'll get a better idea of this, and will post the info for this as well. For the time I have been using the phone while on vacation, it appears to have acceptable battery life.
Apps: You need to know up front that the apps for Windows are not as plentiful as the competing app markets. This will change in the near future, I'm sure, but taking of stock of what apps you must have to survive is highly recommended before you go buying up this phone and then complaining that your favorite fart machine or annoying talking cat doesn't exist in the Store. If this is your first smartphone, you probably don't care as much about this.
Other: I love the Kids Corner feature. If you don't know what this is, but you have kids, I highly recommend reading a review or two. I use Gmail and ActiveSync and both work with no issues. I wish there was an archive button for GMail, but that's not really a huge deal. Podcasts are a pain if you plan on using the built-in as you can't import a podcast that doesn't exist in the Store. Again, I'm sure this will improve, but you might prefer to just get a 3rd party Podcast app in the mean time. Xbox integration is great! Skype/Messenger works well.
Overall, I am very happy with my purchase, and while I'm only 1 week into ownership I would definitely recommend this phone to others.
Jim
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
ByEzk1993on February 12, 2013
HTC's 8X is quite possibly the most attractive phone I have ever held, and many people feel the same way. In fact even my Apple fanboy friends have commented on how sexy the phone is and how great it feels in their hand. The 8X offers a great camera, although the resolution of the 8MP option does not fill the whole screen. The camera takes very good pictures and is very quick with the autofocus. The phone performs quite well, never really missing a beat, and it can easily run multiple apps in the background. Sound quality for phone calls is quite good, although nothing beats the sound of audio playback with Beats by Dr. Dre built in. One of my complaints about the phone is because of aesthetic purposes, the hard buttons on the phone are pretty flush with the bezel of the phone, this is especially apparent with the power/lock button, sometimes it is hard to hit the button. The screen is bright and beautiful with really crisp images. One complaint about the screen is the auto brightness sensor is almost too good, there are often times when the brightness is so low that the phone doesn't shine. You are always able to see the phone, it just doesn't pop. Battery life is pretty good, most days I am able to go two or three days between charges. As far as the OS goes, Windows Phone 8 is a great OS that is clever and colorful. It is easy to personalize and easy to use, it really just works. The only complaint about the OS is a lack of apps, anything you need you will most likely be able to find, but there are certain apps that are still missing at this point, but I assume they will make their way to the OS eventually. This is a really great phone and I highly recommend it.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
ByJayLon February 12, 2013
Based on hardware alone, this is easily the most portable device running Windows Phone 8 on the market. It's only slightly bigger than the HTC 8S but both are remarkably smaller and lighter than other Phone 8 devices without compromising screen size. The front-facing camera has a wider capture angle than other phones and makes it easy to take group pictures. The body is easy to hold and the touch screen is very responsive. The end result is a device that feels solid in your hand and lets you easily see the work you're doing while on the run. It's a fantastic device!
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
ByBoardHeadon January 5, 2013
I switched from iPhone, which was novel when I could view web pages and listen to music on good headphones in 2009. Android bloat ware and poorly tested/rated apps were disappointing.
My first email to my work exchange account was from a customer with an excel spreadsheet statement of work. I use excel on a daily basis. Wow.
I see lots of reviews about various app needs but I don't understand how much of a priority these are compared to productivity. I can not do statistical analysis or write specs on an iPhone or android.
My first email to my work exchange account was from a customer with an excel spreadsheet statement of work. I use excel on a daily basis. Wow.
I see lots of reviews about various app needs but I don't understand how much of a priority these are compared to productivity. I can not do statistical analysis or write specs on an iPhone or android.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
ByAmazon Customeron December 30, 2012
I can't believe more people are not converting to Windows phone 8. This is by far the the easiest phone to set up, and Facebook and messaging is built in. You don't even need a Facebook app, probably because Microsoft owns a big chunk of Facebook.
Windows phone 8 beats android and IOS easily. I was worried about not getting the Nokia 822, because I wouldn't have Nokia music and Nokia drive, but I've noticed I just don't need them.
Amazon - please make an Amazon music app for Windows or I'm going to Xbox music pass.
Windows phone 8 beats android and IOS easily. I was worried about not getting the Nokia 822, because I wouldn't have Nokia music and Nokia drive, but I've noticed I just don't need them.
Amazon - please make an Amazon music app for Windows or I'm going to Xbox music pass.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
ByGregHon September 14, 2013
(note: I'm using this phone through Verizon)
I've been wanting to make the switch to a windows phone for a long time. I'm a software developer and I generally use Microsoft tech, so i thought it would be a good fit.
pros:
The interface is slick, and easy to use. There is a decent selection of free apps, camera is good. The phone itself looks great.
cons:
Before beginning. I had NO problems with this phone until a month after using the phone. I don't want to say I take bad care of my phone...but i really have no explanation as to how these problems started.
1. SIM error. This happens several times a day. You cant send, or receive any texts/calls/data requests. A simple reboot usually fixes this
2. Sometimes, if it cant read the SIM on reboot, it will get stuck in a "continual reboot cycle" (phone keeps booting up and shutting down immediately after boot)...The phone is useless during this stage until you find a tool and pop out the SIM yourself and re-seat it.
3. The battery is non-removable.
4. When you plug in headphones, the volume doesn't get loud enough. Bad for when you're at the gym..the naturally loud gym music overpowers the volume you can get from your "beats audio" enabled device. Ive tried several pairs of headphones/earbuds.
5. When you unplug your headphones...every once in a while when the external speaker turns back on, the volume is incredibly low, borderline unhearable. A reboot fixes this.
6. (might be verizon). But sometimes the phone doesn't ring at all, and you get a new voicemail tone. This happens when I'm at work with 4/5 bars. Makes you wonder how many phone calls you just miss all together.
Are you still reading this? Buy a Nokia if your going to go for windows phone.
I've been wanting to make the switch to a windows phone for a long time. I'm a software developer and I generally use Microsoft tech, so i thought it would be a good fit.
pros:
The interface is slick, and easy to use. There is a decent selection of free apps, camera is good. The phone itself looks great.
cons:
Before beginning. I had NO problems with this phone until a month after using the phone. I don't want to say I take bad care of my phone...but i really have no explanation as to how these problems started.
1. SIM error. This happens several times a day. You cant send, or receive any texts/calls/data requests. A simple reboot usually fixes this
2. Sometimes, if it cant read the SIM on reboot, it will get stuck in a "continual reboot cycle" (phone keeps booting up and shutting down immediately after boot)...The phone is useless during this stage until you find a tool and pop out the SIM yourself and re-seat it.
3. The battery is non-removable.
4. When you plug in headphones, the volume doesn't get loud enough. Bad for when you're at the gym..the naturally loud gym music overpowers the volume you can get from your "beats audio" enabled device. Ive tried several pairs of headphones/earbuds.
5. When you unplug your headphones...every once in a while when the external speaker turns back on, the volume is incredibly low, borderline unhearable. A reboot fixes this.
6. (might be verizon). But sometimes the phone doesn't ring at all, and you get a new voicemail tone. This happens when I'm at work with 4/5 bars. Makes you wonder how many phone calls you just miss all together.
Are you still reading this? Buy a Nokia if your going to go for windows phone.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
ByD. Thomason December 16, 2013
I've had this phone for less than a year, bought it in Feb 2013, and I started having the famous SIM Error in October. Before that I had issues with random rebooting and text messages not sending until after I toggle airplane mode on/off. I dealt with all these issues for a few months but could no longer take it this past month as it happens way to frequently. I don't even care to send it in for a warranty replacement because I just don't want this model phone anymore. Switched out to my dads old phone for the time being before i decide what to do. Just be careful before buying this phone.
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