HTC Windows Phone 8S review: Icebreaker
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- AnonD-18125
- fxH
- 20 Dec 2012
AnonD-36731, 20 Dec 2012I own an HTC 8S so am happy to answer questions. My over... moreMost WP7+8 games+apps are still not matured, they need updates for bug fixing, touch control issues. Whatever the WP OS+UI is good indeed :)
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- AnonD-18125
- fxH
- 20 Dec 2012
AnonD-83178, 20 Dec 2012Well, Microsoft has a RAM hungry history, Android using a L... morePls let me speak :D the RAM management of Windows Phone OS (7,8, future 9) is extremely bad when we compare it with iOS and android. And thats true, Windows Phone 8 failed to show any magic on its battery,ram and overall system.
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- AnonD-83178
- vaN
- 20 Dec 2012
AnonD-36731, 20 Dec 2012Cheers,
HTC sell the phone and I got all information from ... moreWell, Microsoft has a RAM hungry history, Android using a Linux kernel can perform well with small amounts of RAM. One would think that WP8 being so limited and have so few features would not be hard on the RAM, but then when we remember that its made by MS it all makes sense.
Im a windows server programmer but at home i am a linux enthusiast, programming practices for the two are very different, using Microsofts APIs you have to think more about saving RAM, if you use their regular classes and collections then you dont need many SQL functions in your program before it consumes shameful amounts of RAM, and its been like that since i started programming on Windows servers with Windows NT4 Server in the late 1990ies, the need for more RAM has been breathing down our neck the whole way.
I wish the Lumia 920 had 2GB RAM, i want to buy one but i know the RAM requirement will increase with every update and every new API, in less than a year 1GB will be a big limitation on WP8. We can be sure these new RAM hungry APIs will come, as it is now the APIs for WP8 are too basic and limited.
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- AnonD-36731
- vxV
- 20 Dec 2012
Cheers,
HTC sell the phone and I got all information from their websites. I didn't expect to have to search the websides of all relevant software and hardware suppliers that had input into the phone in order to find out that there were limitations.
I honestly thought that WP8 was low RAM intensive.
The browser is still slower than a Defy+ in loading a simple page after the phone has a clean start. It isn't all RAM. The browser has many issues.
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- AnonD-83178
- vaN
- 20 Dec 2012
AnonD-36731, 20 Dec 2012Mr GSMarena people. A few things to add to your review ...... moreAbout the browser performance, this review attributed it to the 512MB RAM. Its as i said in a previous comment, get a 1GB device if you want WP8, if you really want 512MB then get an Android phone.
Microsoft clearly states that 512MB is the MIMIMUM requirement for WP8, and still fairly clearly states that 1GB is a minimum requirement as well, if you want full functionality. The way i read it, 1GB is the minimum requirement for WP8 (who does not want full functionality?)
Im quite sure it will be the same for Lumia 620, performance is gonna suffer because of the RAM.
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- AnonD-36731
- vxV
- 20 Dec 2012
Mr GSMarena people. A few things to add to your review ...
- tabs can't be opened from Bing search results so you can't easily browse the sarch results (that made Bing obsolete for me)
- have you not noticed the reflow browsing issues? always zooming, often non-pur fonts. The reflow is surely coded for a larger screen resolution and size. Not allowing user zoom set then reflow is very very poor for a 2012 brower. Can't hide the address bar and can't show the status bar. No forward or back buttons (phone back has a different behavior).
- browsing should have been in your main disadvantages (slow, limited, buggy)
Cheers
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- AnonD-36731
- vxV
- 20 Dec 2012
I own an HTC 8S so am happy to answer questions.
My overall opinion is this:
In summary:
- hardware feels really nice
- tile interface looks great
- common settings are all really hard to get to and can not be pinned
- the browser has severe reflow issues and very limited browser functionality
- limited input options (no swype/gesture keyboard support, voice input awful for most accents)
- data control issues (Data Sense is not included and hard to see current data source)
- battery control issues (all those settings are just so far away)
- some software and screen touch bugs
I want to add that the phone is not necessarily cheap. When browsing there is no way of telling if WiFi has dropped out and you could be on network data. Data Sense is only included by some netowrk providers by arreangement with HTC.
The browsermark statements in this review are accurate. Browsing is slower than my old Defy+. Browsing is also very limited in functionality. Even though Microsoft only allow three sizes in screen to prevent fragmentation the reflow in this reselotion is awful. The reflow always zoooms and often chooses non-pure fonts. You can not select a text size (by zooming in or out) and then reflow ... WP8 IE always zooms in. I would say this is not an issue on the 8X but on the 8S it is really bad.
Most the apps I see in the market are for WP7 and the APIs are so limited many do not do what you think they would do.
In terms of the recommended alternate phones in the review i am not a Samsung fan but I think an S2 would be just as cheap now and would perform much better with a better screen and richer features. They are about the same size.
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- Anonymous
- fsB
- 20 Dec 2012
Thanks "advice" & "Jeanandroidfan'' for the explanations.
Even though this is an 8S review, I personally like the idea of trying a Lumia 620 & don't think lack of file management will be too much of a worry, for myself & millions of others who may buy it.
I'm presuming that lack of file management is a Windows Phone 8 issue, and not specific to one manufacturer or another ?
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- no fan boy
- vpY
- 20 Dec 2012
What's wrong with all this sammy fans? This is a WP thread for Christ sake. If you haven't own one before, then don't try to compare your note 2 or s3. There PRICE wasn't even same in the first place. My personal laptop has quad core 3 Ghz! Can your note 2 beat that?
Stop being a blind fans, who been hypnotize by the ads.
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- Anonymous
- v$y
- 20 Dec 2012
This handset does support voice guided navigation....
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- AnonD-79514
- MDV
- 19 Dec 2012
Anonymous, 19 Dec 2012Can someone explain why this is such a disadvantage ? - No ... morefile management is also for full sd card support and decoding etc.. wp has very limited management and has no apps because of limitations !
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- advice
- fwM
- 19 Dec 2012
Anonymous, 19 Dec 2012Can someone explain why this is such a disadvantage ? - No ... morein android u can arrange ur folders how ever u like ,u can rename them like in your pc ,so u will be very organized,regular users will not need to access system files because they might change something and can't reverse it,but if someone wants to access system files he can easily root and then unroot the phone.
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- Anonymous
- Nwm
- 19 Dec 2012
Can someone explain why this is such a disadvantage ? - No system-wide file manager
Are there no WP8 apps that can take care of file management ?
Also, as far as I know, on Android, file management apps can only control the files of downloaded apps, but not those which have been built into the phone's OS - here I'm thinking of HTC's Sense, which has Facebook, Twitter for eg., that you can't delete, unless you root the phone.
Am I correct in my assumption ?'
If so, then again, why would file management be such an issue on a WP8 phone like this ?
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- AnonD-91117
- ttY
- 19 Dec 2012
Awesome colors :)
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- Anonymous
- t7S
- 19 Dec 2012
Anonymous, 19 Dec 2012Yes the Note 2 has very good build quality. Check out yours... moreDude, I accidentally dropped my s2 the screen cracked and scuffs on the side. Dropped my SE vivaz pro. Just a scuff marks on the side no cracked screen. You call that quality?
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- Anonymous
- vaN
- 19 Dec 2012
Anonymous, 19 Dec 2012Samsung have awesome build quality? Since when?"After handling the Note II on a regular basis, we're confident that Samsung's crafted a durable, solid device. (As an aside, you can find a few drop tests circulating the web. Spoiler: it holds up extremely well.)"
That's from Engadgets review. And the drop treats are on YouTube. My note 2 also been dropped and i was not worried at all. It still looks good also, very durable.
Sorry about the autocorrect typos in previous post, i think it's no problem to get the meaning though.
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- Anonymous
- vaN
- 19 Dec 2012
Anonymous, 19 Dec 2012Samsung have awesome build quality? Since when?Yes the Note 2 has very good build quality. Check out yourself in the gsmarena blog, the teardown of the Note Ii. It has a magnesium bracket. And that's not just a small part. After you read it you come ball here and tell us who are mekling plastic phones. The note 2 is an engineering marvel, having opened and repaired countless high end Nokias i can safely say that none of them comes close to what i saw in the note 2 teardown. And not only the note 2, i have personally taken apart a galaxy S2 and found it to be very well built.
Example of bad build quality anyone? Search lumia 920 vibrating defect. Makes a horrible bad sound that disappears when you press on one corner of the display. Reminds me of all the Nokia phones when you had to put a piece of paper behind the battery to make them work. Never seen that on a Samsung.
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- Anonymous
- t7S
- 19 Dec 2012
AnonD-77443, 18 Dec 2012That's a long list of disadvantages there..... Also, wh... moreSamsung have awesome build quality? Since when?
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- AnonD-467
- 0ZJ
- 19 Dec 2012
Fail. No front Camera and dual-core 1GHz only !!
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- Anonymous
- YPb
- 19 Dec 2012
Another colourful plastic toys by HTC. The people simply don't want it.