From Mango to Apollo: The HTC Windows Phone 8X on the Daily
by Dustin Sklavos on January 28, 2013 12:01 AM EST- Posted in
- Laptops
- windows phone 8
- Windows Phone 8X
- HTC 8X
Essentials: The Phone
While the actual telephone part of a modern cell phone isn't necessarily the most important part anymore, it's worth noting that Microsoft has actually changed the interface here a little bit. In Windows Phone 7.5, the number keys were sizable and easy to use, but if you're in a call, the number keys switch to being half-height instead. This is one of those places where I feel like having big number keys that you can mash your idiot fists on is actually more useful, and I was sad to see it change.
That said, failing anything else, the clean Modern UI produces a very functional and easy to use phone.
Essentials: Contacts
I've been spectacularly bullish on the contact management of Windows Phone 7.5 and now 8. Windows Phone does a wicked job of integrating contacts across multiple different platforms, and it does it in a way that feels intuitive and makes migrating between phones much easier than it has been in the past.
If you've been an Android user, you'll be pleased to note that Windows Phone easily imports all of your Google contacts without a fuss. But Windows Phone can also pull contacts from Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Hotmail, Yahoo, and Outlook.com, and it integrates them all into your contact list. If you have one person in multiple places, you can easily link their different networking profiles under a single heading; typically their photo winds up being whatever they're using in Facebook, which trumps whatever you've assigned before under your Microsoft account or under Google.
With 8, though, you can also group people under...well...Groups, oddly enough. On that tab there's also the Rooms functionality, which allows individuals within a Rooms group to share photos and calendars. It can work with other platforms, but it strikes me as the kind of feature that's too parasitic to really justify itself. Groups, on the other hand, allows you to assign individuals to specific groups and thus allow you to only see the social networking feeds of the people you've assigned to those groups.
Where I think Microsoft could stand to simplify the interface a bit more, though, is by integrating the "Me" section with the "People" (contacts) section. People handles your contact list, your Groups, and your social networking feeds, while "Me" shows you your own social networking feed, gives you the option of posting something to the social networks you've entered into the phone, and lists notifications of who's tweeted you or replied to one of your posts on Facebook.
Essentials: Messaging
The Messaging section has gone completely unchanged from Windows Phone 7. There are two pages here: one for text messaging, and one for online chat services. Unfortunately, the "Online" pane really only supports Facebook chat or MSN Messenger; support for additional protocols would be appreciated tremendously. Really this should be closer to a multi-protocol desktop application like Trillian.
The text messaging threads are easy enough to navigate, though. If you receive a text from a number you haven't assigned to a contact, it's also easy to tap the number and add it either to an existing contact or to a new contact entry.
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Sabresiberian - Monday, January 28, 2013 - link
Flash Player is also a security nightmare; I'd love to see it die everywhere.krutou - Tuesday, January 29, 2013 - link
But how are we going to watch our cat videos on YouTube without Flash?ericore - Tuesday, January 29, 2013 - link
Flash Player dominates the web. That isn't changing anything soon. It will take at least 5 years for HTML5 to become the defacto if in fact it ever does. Flash Player is no longer supported on the mobile front, that doesn't mean that its dead or that Microsoft can't integrate the last version into their handset and god forbid acknowledge that 50% of websites use it. They are lazy (will take any excuse) and disrespectful. Flash Player was a security nightmare; that is no longer relevant with the frequent updates.Your outdated dinosaur.
techguy378 - Monday, January 28, 2013 - link
I don't know why anyone would use WP 8. I recently bought a Nokia Lumina 920 phone. It's a great phone, but it can't connect to wifi networks that use WPA2+AES encryption which is what most home wifi networks use. Not good when AT&T isn't offering unlimited data. In my case it kept saying the password was wrong. I tried copying the password from my router's setup page into a text file and uploaded it onto my skydrive. Then back on my phone I copied and pasted that password into the wifi password field. The Nokia phone STILL said it was the wrong password. The phone connected to open wifi networks without a problem. I ended up returning the phone and getting a Samsung Galaxy S3 phone. I'll probably need an extended battery, but at least it works.Faragondk - Monday, January 28, 2013 - link
I use my Lumia 920 on a WPA2+AES encrypted wireless network every day, without any problems.RevLuck - Monday, January 28, 2013 - link
Same here, I've used my L920 with plenty of WPA2+AES wifis and no problems yet. Problem was either with the particular wifi router or PEBKAC.frostyfiredude - Monday, January 28, 2013 - link
Let me third that, on the 8X. Actually it's had the most straight forward set-up of that connection I've experienced yet.rcarroll05 - Monday, January 28, 2013 - link
I'll 4th that. My wife loves her Nokia 920 and I'm really close to trading my iPhone 4 in on one too.. Just waiting for a few particular apps to come out. Got a good laugh about the pebkac reference.Myrandex - Tuesday, January 29, 2013 - link
works fine here iwth WPA2+AES 802.11N network at my home.maximumGPU - Monday, January 28, 2013 - link
a lot of polarised opinions about the OS here. Here's a more balanced take:my daily driver is a lumia 920, and my wife has a nexus 4, so i can give you a quick comparision:
Yes, Android is more flexible, and more customisable, and arguably the superior OS, but windows DOES feel fresh and innovative, live tiles are a great, as well as the social media integration. When i think about the lag fest Android was just a few years ago i can't really critisise msft for winphone7 and 8.
for now Android is a more polihed option, but all msft need to do is roll out updates aggressively and you can bet they'll catch up on features, while still retaining that fresh perspective.
Was an iphone user before, and i think both OS easily outdo IOS.