HTC WINDOWS PHONE 8S REVIEW

Nokia might have a special relationship with Microsoft, but HTC was the first to showcase Windows Phone 8 devices in India. We got our hands on the red version of the phone. Does this lower price device come at the cost of performance?

LOOKS: IF LOOKS COULD KILL

HTC must have spent quite a few hours on the design drawing board for the 8S. The result of their efforts is a beautiful phone with a sleek and stunning design. The device has a 4-inch LCD capacitive touchscreen, with three feather touch keys under it for back, home and Bing search buttons. The volume key on the right is large and comfortable to use, as is the power button located on top. A dedicated camera button is also located on the right side of the phone. There is no front facing camera, which we found a bit strange, but it does have a 5.0-megapixel rear camera with LED flash. The overall build of the phone is solid and the matte-finished back panel that runs along the sides makes it easy to grip. Speaking of panels, you cannot remove the one on the back to remove the battery, although you can remove its lower part to insert the SIM and a microSD card.

HARDWARE: A MIXED BAG

The 8S finds itself against some very stiff competition in its price segment, and to its credit, it does come with some very decent machinery underneath that very sleek hood it has. It comes with a 1 GHz Krait dual core processor and an Adreno 305 GPU. Some might consider the RAM to be on the lower side at 512 MB, but we did not see it affecting the performance of the device. To store games, pictures and application data, the 8S carries 4 GB storage, which can be expanded with the help of a MicroSD card. The 4-inch 16 million display supports a 480 x 800 pixel resolution and is protected by Corning Gorilla glass. As for the battery it has 1,700 mAh Li-Ion non-removable battery. On the connectivity front, the phone has 3G, Wi-Fi, USB, Bluetooth and GPS.

SOFTWARE: WINDOWS PHONE 8 MAGIC!

The 8S is one of the new wave of devices featuring the latest edition of Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform – Windows Phone 8. Unlike the previous version of Windows Phone (7.5), this new version uses the full screen with the tile set by removing the arrow bar. The tile menu system works well and is practical for power users, and it works beautifully on the 8S. One can customise the tile set with ease and can quickly increase or decrease the size. The phone does not have many applications but the few it has, are useful. The office suite is good for people who like to keep their documents handy on the go, while the converter converts currencies, weight, speed, temperature, etc., across different units. And we do think that the flash light app will be handy for those needing a ray of light in dark times – it comes with three levels of LED brightness.Those looking for cloud storage will love the 7GB of Skydrive space which comes with the device.

MULTIMEDIA: GOOD SCREEN, MEDIOCRE CAMERA

The 4.0-inch display on the 8S is fine for video playback and gaming. The colours are not exceptional like the HTC ONE X+ but are good for its segment. An area in which the phone excels is sound, courtesy HTC’s Beats Audio tie up. One area where the phone does disappoint, however, is in the camera. The 5.0-megapixel shooter does not deliver very good results. Digital noise is apparent and the colours are not very vivid. Shots without flashin brightly lit rooms and surroundings, however came out fine. This is really one for those well-lit areas and sunny days.

USER EXPERIENCE: NOT BAD

The HTC 8X left us with mixed emotions. We got floored by its sleek appearance and speedy OS, but were extremely disappointed by the camera. The battery easily lasts for a day and a half, although using Wi-Fi can take a heavy toll of it. Call quality is quite good and the device charges quite briskly too. The touch experience was excellent throughout.

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SONY XPERIA E DUAL REVIEW

A few months ago, Sony had released the Xperia Tipo Dual in the market, a device that received a fair deal of acclaim and praise. So it only made sense for the company to roll the affordable dual SIM device once again, this time with the Xperia E Dual, an Android device that might be running an older version of Android but comes packed with features.

LOOKS: DIFFERENT BUT NOT EXCEPTIONAL

There are two things that we can say about the appearance of the Xperia E Dual. First, it is very different from the block-like design that marks other Xperia handsets. Secondly, that in spite of this, the Xperia E does not exactly stand out in a crowd. This is mainly because the design is largely conservative and familiar – the unit we received was all black with a silver strip running along the sides. The front is dominated by the 3.5-inch touchscreen, while the back is made of textured plastic, which makes the phone easy to grip. The SIM card and microSD card slots are located below the battery, and thus not hot swappable. There are three touch panels below the display and three hardware buttons (volume rocker, power/ screen lock and camera) on the right side of the phone. The 3.5mm audio jack is on the top of the phone, and the left side houses the microUSB port. All in all, the phone looks decent enough, but we honestly expected more from Sony.

HARDWARE: THE USUAL FOR THIS PRICE

In terms of hardware, the Xperia E Dual delivers pretty much what one would expect at this price point. The phone is powered by a 1GHz processor and comes with 512MB RAM. The 3.5-inch touchscreen comes with a disappointingly low 320 x 480 resolution, and does not utilise the Mobile Bravia engine that is seen in high-end Xperia handsets. Internal memory stands at 4GB out of which 2GB is available to the users – of course, one can store more using a microSD card. The phone’s dual SIM connectivity supports two GSM networks, and you can designate either SIM as the master SIM from the SIM manager which is available in the notification bar itself. It should be noted that one can make calls and use Internet connectivity only from the master SIM – the secondary SIM can only receive calls. Connectivity options include 3G, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

SOFTWARE: GOOD BUT OLD ICS

When it comes to software, we were disappointed to see the Xperia E Dual running on Ice Cream Sandwich, especially when its single SIM counterpart, the Xperia E comes with the newer Jelly Bean version of the Android OS. That said, ICS is extremely user-friendly and Sony’s Timescape interface does add a fillip to it by bringing social network connectivity right to the users’ homescreen. You get a total of five homescreen panels whose number cannot be increased but which you can customise using widgets and app shortcuts. You can also customise the four buttons in the menu bar as per your needs and requirements. The phone also comes pre-loaded with a number of applications, including WhatsApp Messenger, TOI and Hungama TV.

MULTIMEDIA: GREAT SOUND, SO-SO SNAPS

The Xperia E Dual comes with a music player and FM radio for music lovers, as well as a 3.15-megapixel camera with fixed focus. The camera does a decent job of taking pictures as long as light conditions are good (no, there’s no flash either) and you don’t get too close to the subject. Video too was adequate rather than exceptional. However, the sound quality more than compensated for this. The Xperia E Dual comes with Sony’s traditional Walkman player, with enhancements and equaliser settings. The quality of sound is excellent especially on the bundled headphones. The FM Radio is easy to use but comes with limited options. One can use the Track ID option with which one can download songs playing on the radio, but this does not seem to work that well with Hindi songs. Sony has bundled a pair of headphones worth Rs. 1,490 with the phone, which makes the phone a sound investment, literally.

USER EXPERIENCE: MIXED

Our experience of the Sony Xperia E Dual was a mixed bag. We liked the dual SIM functionality of the device and the sound experience was definitely good. Battery life was exceptional, with a single charge taking it well beyond a day of usage. However, in terms of design and performance, it did not really come up to the high benchmarks set by Sony – there were occasional lags in performance.

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