HTC introduced smartphones based on Windows Phone 8
Yesterday, at a presentation in New York, HTC introduced two new smartphones based on Windows Phone 8. The problem is that they could not surprise, please with something special. Concentrating on the design, or rather, copying it from the latest Nokia gadgets, HTC showed the least interesting gadgets among all devices on the new OS from Microsoft.
So, the main feature is a bright design. Without looking closely, new items can easily be mistaken for Lumia. We understand that this is a huge step for a Taiwanese company: to move from a gray corporate design that brings boredom and yawn to bright “tear out the eye” colors. But to take Nokia smartphones as a source of inspiration, honestly, it wasn’t the best idea.
The situation with the name of the devices is also ambiguous. The older model is called Windows Phone 8X. Yes, it’s not a typo, that’s exactly what it’s called – Windows Phone 8X. We understand that there are more insane names (for the same Motorola), but in this case there is a crisis of the entire creative department. So I see a scene: “How do we name our new flagship on Windows Phone 8?”, “Let’s call it Windows Phone 8X!”, “Cool, let’s”.
Moreover, the gadget has problems not only with the name. If the processor and RAM of this device are standard for hi-end gadgets on Windows Phone 8: a 2-core chip with a frequency of 1.5 GHz and 1 GB of RAM; then a modest screen diagonal for the flagship is 4.3 inches, only 16 GB of flash memory (there is no slot for a memory card) and a battery capacity of 1800 mAh they strain. Competitors have much more of everything: for example, the diagonal of the Samsung Ativ S screen is 4.8 inches and there is a slot for a memory card, the Lumia 920 has a diagonal of 4.5 and a 2000 mAh battery.
In other words, HTC’s flagship looks like a poor relative against their background.
The younger model, called Windows Phone 8S, significantly loses to its direct competitor – Lumia 820. If the budget model from Nokia is almost identical in characteristics to the flagship HTC (unless the Lumia 820 has a screen resolution of 800 by 480, and not serious 1280 by 720, there is a slot for a memory card and a slightly less capacious battery), then Windows Phone 8S is a weak model with a 4-inch screen (800×480 resolution), a dual-core Snapdragon S4 with a frequency of 1 GHz and 512 MB RAM. The built-in memory is a mocking 4 GB, however, it can be expanded with a microSD card.
Nothing is clear about the price yet, but if it is at the level of devices on Windows Phone 8 from Samsung and Nokia, HTC will have problems. Its new devices will not stand up to competition with Lumia and Ativ: they are weaker, smaller and devoid of original chips.
