HTC's new Windows Phones, the first devices from the phone maker that run Windows Phone 8, are very pretty. As the company emphasized at its event Wednesday, they have a nice curved design that feels great in the hand, and they come in some fun colors.
As pretty as the phones are, it's the pretty people who own the HTC 8X (HTC Windows Phone 8X, formally) that will really benefit from its standout feature: a souped-up front-facing camera. The 8X's front cam can capture stills with 2.1 megapixels, record video at 1080p resolution and has a large f/2.0 aperture for better performance in low light.
All that adds up to better self portraits and improved video chatting than you would get on most other phones, including the iPhone 5 (which has a 1.2MP 720p camera in front). HTC even says the front camera even has a wide-angle ability that captures up to triple the area of other front-facing cameras — making sure you can get more of your entourage in group shots.
In my brief hands-on with the device, I found the angle to be large, but not quite triple what I could produce on my iPhone 4S. In the dim hands-on room at HTC's event, the low-light ability didn't seem like anything special — but that's the point, I guess. It was comparable to the rear camera on my iPhone (which I would rate at "enh" in low light), so certainly better than you'll find with most front-facing cameras on phones and tablets.
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The 8X occupies the top end of HTC's current Windows Phone line. In addition to an 8-megapixel camera in back, there's a 2.1MP camera in front that also records 1080p video.
The 8S is smaller, lesser-capable phone, with just a 5-megapixel rear camera and no LTE radio.
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer stood beside HTC CEO Pete Chou to unveil HTC's first phones running Windows Phone 8.
Ballmer said the new phones would serve as "signature" phones for Windows Phone 8, but it's unclear exactly what that means apart from branding (the words "Windows Phone" are formally part of the product names).
The 4.3-inch screen on the Windows Phone 8X has 1,280 x 720 resolution.
For the 8X, HTC says its designers worked hard to create a phone that's "magically thin" (it's 0.4 inch thin).
The new phones have a curved back that's pleasant to hold.
The 8X comes in four colors.
The 8S comes in four color combinations.
The 8MP front camera is very similar to the one you get on HTC's One phones, which is a compliment. The One has an excellent camera, and the 8X's feels very similar, though first-time use is a bit peculiar given there's no onscreen shutter button.
In exploring the buttons on the camera, I found that the 8X shares the camera "lens" ability that Nokia first showed off in the Lumia 920. This isn't an actual lens — instead it's a way for other photography apps to share features with the camera without actually launching them. It's an interesting differentiator for Windows Phone and I'm glad to see it in HTC phones as well as Nokia's.
I like the curve of the 8X, though with the brightly colored trim, the first thing that popped into my mind when I saw it was "Pop Tart." It's quite light (4.6 ounces) for its size — it has a 4.3-inch screen. The HD (1,280 x 720) looked good and sharp indoors, but I didn't get a chance to see it under bright sunlight, which HTC claims it performs very well under.
I didn't have as much time with the Windows Phone 8S, but I think HTC blundered a bit with the color scheme on that phone, which features a dual-color combos. These look kind of cool, but I'm a little skeptical about how many people will go for it — they seem a bit too loud to me.
The 8S's 4-inch 800 x 480 screen is passable, but it has the weakness of not featuring a front-facing camera at all, let alone a well-performing one like the 8X's. There's also only 4GB of storage and no LTE radio — this is basically a toy phone by today's standards.
The Windows Phone 8X, however, looks like a good ambassador for the platform, and its standout feature — the front-facing camera — is a decent stab at a differentiator. But can it stack up against Nokia's Lumia 920? We'll find out in a couple of months.
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