Phones HTC 8X owners

3bs · Dec 18, 2012

I bought this phone just to mess around with WP8 and I wasn't planning on it being my main phone but it looks like it will be for the time being at least. I still have my Nexus 4 but I don't like using 2 phones at the same time so my Nexus 4 has been sitting on my desk ever since I got the 8X. I've been continuing to update the ROM and kernel I have installed but I haven't been using it at all.

This phone really has won me over to the point where I'm not sure when or even if I'll go back to my Nexus 4

BUT some small things still annoy me. Right now it's the keyboard which isn't great. Sometimes it'll autocorrect and a lot of times I have to tap on the word and pick the correction. I'm getting over the whole multitasking issue and I kept pressing back in my apps on my Nexus 4 thinking they were closing like they do on WP8

Edit: The power button is sometimes a PITA to press because it's almost flush with the body.

opinioncircle · Dec 19, 2012

Hey guys, I've got a few questions, which are not pointed out in reviews I've read.

How's the Gmail treatment (with all the fuss surrounding the recent news about it, I'm unsure what to think about it)?
Where is the SIM card, and can it be swapped without taking the battery out (a la blackberry)?
What are some of the strongest apps there?

I'm also looking at the HTC 8S, looking rather fine too

!!

.macbookpro. · Dec 19, 2012

opinioncircle said:
Hey guys, I've got a few questions, which are not pointed out in reviews I've read.

How's the Gmail treatment (with all the fuss surrounding the recent news about it, I'm unsure what to think about it)?
Where is the SIM card, and can it be swapped without taking the battery out (a la blackberry)?
What are some of the strongest apps there?

I'm also looking at the HTC 8S, looking rather fine too !!

I know that when you take the sim card out, which is located on the side of the phone since the covers non-removable, the phone turns off.
Can't really answer the other questions though.

3bs said:
I don't seem to have that option. Maybe it's different on HTC phones?

Thats one thing that only apple do. When they make a phone, its the same phone in any country on any carrier. Verizon 8xs have wireless charging, but thats the only carrier that does that.

opinioncircle · Dec 20, 2012

.macbookpro. said:
I know that when you take the sim card out, which is located on the side of the phone since the covers non-removable, the phone turns off.
Can't really answer the other questions though.

Thats one thing that only apple do. When they make a phone, its the same phone in any country on any carrier. Verizon 8xs have wireless charging, but thats the only carrier that does that.

Thanks for the answer. One last one for the road

When updating apps, does that phone have to restart?

MRU · Dec 20, 2012

Okay so 24 hours with my HTX 8X.

Let me say this is not my first Windows phone, I have in the past had a HTC trophy, and later a Lumia 800.

Whilst the aesthetics and hardware of the HTC 8 X are great (the beats audio works a treat too) there are still some really big downsides still to Windows phone mostly down to software and infrastructure.

1. screen resolution may be high, but very few things take advantage of it really. Even the metro interface itself doesn't really look exponentially improved by the jump to HD over WXGA on previous handsets. The big blocks that make up metro really for most part don't need that high res or look any different when doing so.

2. Unified mail box. Why can we not have one ?

3. Themes, how about a built in colour mixer so we can actually choose our own tile colour properly if one of the main advertised features of windows phone and especially windows phone 8 is it being 'your phone'... Also about time they allowed a background wallpaper or theme / colour much behind the tiles the same as windows 8 on RT and desktop.

4. So a year since my last Lumia 800 and the biggest issue still remains. The app selection is frightfully poor still. Many basic apps just are not there. In fact some apps I previously had like PULSE are not even available anymore, meaning choice is even less.

It's so bad that I actually think Blackberry have more apps, and that's not a good thing....

Then many of the apps are generations behind the iOS and Android versions. Also many apps are not taking advantage of windows 8 and leave border at top of the screen.

Games selection is pitiful, really pitiful. So we have decent processor and gpu and yet the game choice are simply pathetic compared to Android & iOS.

.macbookpro. · Dec 20, 2012

opinioncircle said:
Thanks for the answer. One last one for the road

When updating apps, does that phone have to restart?

no

MRU · Dec 20, 2012

3Bs

Does your 8X music application display the artwork and the artist backgrounds properly ? Mine fails to display many album artwork and never shows the artist info / background wallpaper despite having xbox connect enabled on the phone.

3bs · Dec 20, 2012

MacRumorUser said:
3Bs

Does your 8X music application display the artwork and the artist backgrounds properly ? Mine fails to display many album artwork and never shows the artist info / background wallpaper despite having xbox connect enabled on the phone.

I havent' used it much but for most songs it does. I actually have xbox connect disabled.

3bs · Dec 21, 2012

Battery life has improved significantly. I don't know if it's because I turned off the attentive phone features or set both my emails to 30 mins or just because I needed to cycle the battery a bit. Got back home with 39% left with moderate usage (14 hours since last charge).

I'm going back to my Nexus 4 for a few days and then decide which I'll be using for the foreseeable future (maybe weeks, maybe months

).

3bs · Dec 26, 2012

After about 5 days with my Nexus 4 I'm going back to my 8X. I had lended it to my friend who wanted to give WP8 a try but he said it wasn't for him and that it's too restricting. He's used to having a jailbroken iPhone that's capable of a lot more.

There's nothing wrong with my Nexus 4 I just miss WP8 a lot

How's your experience been MacRumorUser?

3bs · Dec 27, 2012

I don't understand why apps sometimes show a bit of the next page. This is the official Store app so it's not some cheap app by a lazy developer. I guess it's meant to show you there's another page on the right but it just looks so unprofessional.

Liquorpuki · Dec 29, 2012

Just ordered an 8x and wondering what people's thoughts are about the phone a few weeks in. I wanted the Lumia 920 but I'm on Verizon.

If MS doesn't screw up the Surface Pro I'm probably gonna be off the Apple ecosystem by February.

Ainkor · Dec 30, 2012

MacRumorUser said:
2. Unified mail box. Why can we not have one ?

You can have one. Go to settings from in your Hotmail email (Press the three dots on the lower left) and press Linked Inboxes. You can select which ones you want to link.

Someone asked about multitasking too. You can press and hold the back button and you get a screen that you can swipe to the left to go back to an app that is already running. Too bad you can't kill them from this screen though

I bought an 8X mainly for snoozable reminders (iOS can't do) and talk and surf on VZW LTE, which for some dumb reason the iPhone can't do either. I get through a full day (usually about 5 hours of calls, 100+ emails and some random texting) with about 15-20% left.

Not nearly as good apps as my iPhone 5, but still not too bad. Probably the biggest plus for me is sweet Skydrive/Excel integration. I use Excel a TON for work and that's makes it worth it. I would rather have native MS Office on an iPhone honestly

MRU · Dec 30, 2012

3bs said:
After about 5 days with my Nexus 4 I'm going back to my 8X. I had lended it to my friend who wanted to give WP8 a try but he said it wasn't for him and that it's too restricting. He's used to having a jailbroken iPhone that's capable of a lot more.

There's nothing wrong with my Nexus 4 I just miss WP8 a lot

How's your experience been MacRumorUser?

It won't replace my iPhone 5 (just too many apps I use like Instagram and spotify) but its growing on me.

Have you got te portico update 3bs? I haven't recieved it yet and really need it as I'm getting the odd random restart and auto brightness just doesn't work.

My only gripes with the hardware is why beats audio doesn't work with Bluetooth headsets when it did on my one X.

My only gripes with software is mostly down to lack of Apps.

Seriously if my main apps were all available I'd have no issue switching permanently to the 8X, but at the moment they just can't compare.

But sadly I need Instagram, Google apps (currents, drive, gmail, google+), Spotify, pocket, BBC iPlayer, C4OD, TV3 player, RTE player, YouTube, Flipboard to name just a small few. None of which have official apps on W8.

Liquorpuki · Dec 30, 2012

MacRumorUser said:
But sadly I need Instagram, Google apps (currents, drive, gmail, google+), Spotify, pocket, BBC iPlayer, C4OD, TV3 player, RTE player, YouTube, Flipboard to name just a small few. None of which have official apps on W8.

Spotify and Pandora are coming.

I heard Google refuses to develop for Windows, so those Google apps plus YouTube are not coming. Only way it'll happen is if Win Phone 8 gains significant marketshare.

I think this could happen though. That UI with Live Tiles makes most UI's including iOS and BB10 look outdated and generic

.macbookpro. · Dec 31, 2012

3bs said:
I don't understand why apps sometimes show a bit of the next page. This is the official Store app so it's not some cheap app by a lazy developer. I guess it's meant to show you there's another page on the right but it just looks so unprofessional.

View attachment 386092

its the design style,'modern' i think its called

MRU · Dec 31, 2012

Ok so more issues.

There is a bluetooth bug so that if you are lsitening to audio via bluetooth and then take a photo, the audio cuts out on the bluetooth and even after closing the camera and going back to audio you can not get audio to come back out the headset despite it telling you it is....

Only way to fix is a hard restart.

Seriously I need this portico update because it's getting frustrating now.

3bs · Jan 1, 2013

MacRumorUser said:
It won't replace my iPhone 5 (just too many apps I use like Instagram and spotify) but its growing on me.

Have you got te portico update 3bs? I haven't recieved it yet and really need it as I'm getting the odd random restart and auto brightness just doesn't work.

My only gripes with the hardware is why beats audio doesn't work with Bluetooth headsets when it did on my one X.

My only gripes with software is mostly down to lack of Apps.

Seriously if my main apps were all available I'd have no issue switching permanently to the 8X, but at the moment they just can't compare.

But sadly I need Instagram, Google apps (currents, drive, gmail, google+), Spotify, pocket, BBC iPlayer, C4OD, TV3 player, RTE player, YouTube, Flipboard to name just a small few. None of which have official apps on W8.

When I first got it I manually searched for an update and there was one so I updated. I'm not entirely sure what the update was and I can't check what version I'm on right now since I lent the 8X to my friend for a week.

I didn't try audio over bluetooth so I can't really comment on that. In terms of apps I've found alternatives to the apps I use so I'm fine in that department.

MuffCabbage · Jan 2, 2013

Got my 8X a few days ago and its a mixed bag. Battery life is not great so far. I'm gunna try to set email to 15 minutes and see if it helps. The phone has some minor creaks I'm worried about.

I'm okay with the number of apps. The ones I feel like I'm missing out on is Google Navigation/Maps and SnapChat along with dealing with Board Express instead of Tapatalk.

Games are better than I expected and currently loving Krashlander which is a WP exclusive apparently. I was super surprised when my friend couldn't get it on his GS3.

Keyboard is better than iPhone but lacks Swype which I loved.

Smoothness is pretty good, but touch responsiveness is just a smigde below iPhone.

Overall Im still not set on keeping it, but iPhone 5 and GS3 dont sound that great either.

Fix the battery and creaks and Id be keeping it.

Sent from my HTC6990LVW using Board Express

3bs · Jan 3, 2013

MacRumorUser said:
Ok so more issues.

There is a bluetooth bug so that if you are lsitening to audio via bluetooth and then take a photo, the audio cuts out on the bluetooth and even after closing the camera and going back to audio you can not get audio to come back out the headset despite it telling you it is....

Only way to fix is a hard restart.

Seriously I need this portico update because it's getting frustrating now.

I think I do have the Portico update because someone mentioned it added the feature to keep wifi on when the lock screen is on. I have that feature so I must have updated.

----------

MuffCabbage said:
Got my 8X a few days ago and its a mixed bag. Battery life is not great so far. I'm gunna try to set email to 15 minutes and see if it helps. The phone has some minor creaks I'm worried about.

I'm okay with the number of apps. The ones I feel like I'm missing out on is Google Navigation/Maps and SnapChat along with dealing with Board Express instead of Tapatalk.

Games are better than I expected and currently loving Krashlander which is a WP exclusive apparently. I was super surprised when my friend couldn't get it on his GS3.

Keyboard is better than iPhone but lacks Swype which I loved.

Smoothness is pretty good, but touch responsiveness is just a smigde below iPhone.

Overall Im still not set on keeping it, but iPhone 5 and GS3 dont sound that great either.

Fix the battery and creaks and Id be keeping it.

Sent from my HTC6990LVW using Board Express

Battery life got significantly better for me after a few days. It could have been me turning off the attentive phone features and setting mail to 30 mins refresh.

I've got most of my major apps. All Instagram alternatives suck one way or another. Not being able to upload pictures isn't a big deal for me because I use it mostly to see my friends pictures.

I don't game much on my phones but my favorite game Plants vs Zombies is available so I'm happy

It's by far the smoothest OS I've tried between WP8/iOS/Android and I've owned a 4 / 4S and Galaxy Nexus / Galaxy S3 / and currently own a Nexus 4.

I love the phone and the OS despite it's flaws and I keep going back and forth between my 8X and Nexus 4 but I can't help but notice how easier it is to get things done on my Nexus 4 and I can do a lot more on it too.

MuffCabbage · Jan 4, 2013

Got a new 8X. Much improved hardware now.

Sent from my 8X using Board Express

3bs · Jan 4, 2013

MuffCabbage said:
Got a new 8X. Much improved hardware now.

Sent from my 8X using Board Express

Glad to hear it.

I see you're using Board Express. I am too but I hate it. Too bad there's no Tapatalk

Liquorpuki · Jan 7, 2013

Got the red 8X last Thursday and took it to Vegas. I'm keeping it

These are the apps I used regularly on iOS
- FB/Twitter
- Navigon
- Worldcard
- Kindle
- GroupMe
- eWallet
- YouTube

All of those are on the WP8 store except for a full-featured version of eWallet and YouTube. I've been watching the whole Google vs WP8 thing and Google seems to be going out of there way to screw MS w/ maps redirects, breaking Youtube on WP8, etc. This should be fun to watch

Things I like:
- Live Tiles. This is a truly next gen UI and makes iOS look boring. If WP8 gains traction, Apple or Android is gonna have to copy it
- The lockscreen. I had it pull pictures from a FB album I have of street art and it's clean (attachment)
- Social network integration through the people hub. I like it, it loads fast, and now I don't have to open up 3 different apps just to get all the info
- Camera apps and filters integrated right into the camera. Scanning QR codes, camera filters, etc directly through the camera instead of having to open a separate app
- A dedicated camera button that doesn't rock the phone when you push it. So damn useful
- The front cam with a huge field of view and a 3 sec countdown. I take a lot of those arms extended pictures with the gf so this is really useful
- Skydrive
- The bass that comes out when Beats Audio is enabled is pretty sick

Things I don't like:
- WP8 still has bugs. I get a pop-up about the Store not being available once in a while when I'm trying to download apps. My photo Skydrive autosync was unreliable too so I disabled it
- The OS needs more features. Off the top of my head, I want to be able to block certain people from the People Hub feed, use live tiles with different colors, and increase the font size in OneNote.
- Porting info from iOS was a pain the ass. I also didn't get most of my texts over the weekend because iMessage on my old phone was still enabled so even though there was no service, anytime someone with an iPhone texted me, Apple's servers rerouted it there. My punishment for jumping ship

MuffCabbage · Jan 7, 2013

Liquorpuki said:
Got the red 8X last Thursday and took it to Vegas. I'm keeping it

These are the apps I used regularly on iOS
- FB/Twitter
- Navigon
- Worldcard
- Kindle
- GroupMe
- eWallet
- YouTube

All of those are on the WP8 store except for a full-featured version of eWallet and YouTube. I've been watching the whole Google vs WP8 thing and Google seems to be going out of there way to screw MS w/ maps redirects, breaking Youtube on WP8, etc. This should be fun to watch

Things I like:
- Live Tiles. This is a truly next gen UI and makes iOS look boring. If WP8 gains traction, Apple or Android is gonna have to copy it
- The lockscreen. I had it pull pictures from a FB album I have of street art and it's clean (attachment)
- Social network integration through the people hub. I like it, it loads fast, and now I don't have to open up 3 different apps just to get all the info
- Camera apps and filters integrated right into the camera. Scanning QR codes, camera filters, etc directly through the camera instead of having to open a separate app
- A dedicated camera button that doesn't rock the phone when you push it. So damn useful
- The front cam with a huge field of view and a 3 sec countdown. I take a lot of those arms extended pictures with the gf so this is really useful
- Skydrive
- The bass that comes out when Beats Audio is enabled is pretty sick

Things I don't like:
- WP8 still has bugs. I get a pop-up about the Store not being available once in a while when I'm trying to download apps. My photo Skydrive autosync was unreliable too so I disabled it
- The OS needs more features. Off the top of my head, I want to be able to block certain people from the People Hub feed, use live tiles with different colors, and increase the font size in OneNote.
- Porting info from iOS was a pain the ass. I also didn't get most of my texts over the weekend because iMessage on my old phone was still enabled so even though there was no service, anytime someone with an iPhone texted me, Apple's servers rerouted it there. My punishment for jumping ship

So Im pretty sure there's a way to block people from the People hub. Look around because I know Ive seen it. Havent had any Store problems but I heard it went down for a bit a few days ago. I love the SkyDrive auto upload and its worked fine for me. Something to note is that in Battery Saver mode it wont auto upload, could that be the problem?

iMessage is Apple's fault.

Porting info from my Droid was super simple because all my contacts were in Google, Outlook, FB, and VZW Backup. All it took was inputting my account data and all my emails and contacts were read to go. Obviously no text transfer, but it did manage to back up all my texts when I switched 8X's which was nice.

Likes:

8X design is really nice
WP8 design is great when executed properly by apps
Integration with SkyDrive in the OS
Navigation of the OS and the recent applications fro the back button
Live Tiles when i use them, but honestly I dont use them too much since at this point I have a lot of the background data off to see how it gets through a typical day before I turn them back on (Looking good today with 61% left at end of day with moderate use)
Customization of Home Screen (Though it is a bit of work to fine tune)
Bing Vision/Local Scout/integration of Apps into the hubs (So Yelp gets integrated with the Local Scout for example)
Camera button brings up the camera by holding it down even if phone is locked
Everything is so smoooooth

Dislikes:

Poor YouTube integration (Screw you Google, Im moving my services to Microsoft anyways except YouTube is hard to ignore)
No music/video scrubbing
No text reflow in IE10
Sites often ignore the mobile version
Capacitive search button on 8X triggered alot (But hitting the back button brings you back to where you were)
No Spotify for WP8
Board Express is poor compared to Tapatalk

Power button is a bit hard to press sometimes

Liquorpuki · Jan 7, 2013

MuffCabbage said:
So Im pretty sure there's a way to block people from the People hub. Look around because I know Ive seen it. Havent had any Store problems but I heard it went down for a bit a few days ago. I love the SkyDrive auto upload and its worked fine for me. Something to note is that in Battery Saver mode it wont auto upload, could that be the problem?

In the Store I'll occasionally get a message that says "The Store isn't available at the moment. Please check back in a bit. Error code: 805a01f4". I'm looking around for a fix.

I can filter the People Hub by social network but I have no clue if it's possible to block individuals.

I'd give Skydrive autosync another try but I'm happy with the manual sync anyway because it gives me a chance to delete bad shots.

iMessage is Apple's fault.

Yeah, the porting problems are because of Apple and Verizon. I found a lot of people ran into the iMessage issue. And porting from iOS, there's a field called "iPhone" that ended up as the primary phone # for some of my contacts. VZW Backup doesn't copy this field at all so I had people calling me in Vegas and I didn't know who they were.

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