HTC 8S Review - Know Your Mobile (blog)

HTC 8S review - Camera

 

The 5-megapixel camera on board the HTC 8S impressed us in the face of curbed expectations. It has an f/2.8 lens so none of the on-paper splendour of its bigger brother or the upper echelon of HTC Androids. That said, results were better than any other £180 handset out there as you can see below.

When it comes to specifics, the HTC 8S takes pictures readily with no delay between pressing the shutter release and taking your shot. Focus is hit and miss. You'll see from the macro sample that it can deliver fantastic close up pictures, but the Windows Phone 8 camera UI and a trepid focus mechanism make achieving such results a trial and error job rife with reframing.

Colours are well saturated though the 8S does have a slight tendency to over expose. Dynamic range could also be a touch better but aside from those niggles, we're undeniably impressed at the value this camera phone provides, all topped off with an LED flash which does a sterling job.

Video is recorded at a resolution of 720p and the results look good overall. There's continuous focus present and detail is strong. Where it falls down is slow exposure refreshing when changing lighting conditions. Also, when recording a video, tapping the screen stops recording. On Android handsets, this re-focuses and makes macro video much easier to shoot. Otherwise though, fair to good results for the price.

 

HTC 8X review - Multimedia and storage

 

Thanks to Windows Phone 8 being better at handling video files than its predecessor, the HTC 8S does a fair job at playing back movies. The 4-inches of screen showcase them well so despite being a small handset, it's still capable as a PMP.

There's no HTC Watch service on board or other movie rental service. This leave a gaping hole in Windows Phone 8's ecosystem, but The Netflix app is a fantastic supplement if you're a member or don't mind forking out an extra £5.99 per month.

There's also a great music service available - Xbox Music. For £8.99 a month, you can have access to a huge variety of streaming tracks which can be saved to your handset for offline listening.

The location of the headphone jack and size of the phone in general make it a great MP3 player and one that we had absolutely no shame pulling out of our pockets thanks to its striking look and feel.

Windows Phone 8's gaming options are sorely lacking and tend to cost a fair bit more than on Android for a whole lot less. This means that despite the HTC 8S' capable dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor, it was over before it even began. 

In saying that, if you're content with a handful of decent titles like Angry Birds, Sonic CD and Asphalt 5, the hardware is capable.

There is a paltry 4GB of memory on board the 8S out of the box with just 2GB available for your own files. This will suffice for a few apps, games, photos and videos but it isn't particularly impressive. With expandability options of up to an additional 64GB via micro SD card though, getting more memory is a piece of cake.

 

HTC 8S review - Connectivity

 

The HTC 8S is loaded with 3G and HSPA+, as well as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and a GPS. The obvious omissions are a front facing camera and NFC, so anyone who needs video calling or contactless payments in the future, be mindful - the HTC 8S won't play ball.

In saying that, web browsing is a sweet deal. The crisp display looks good, Internet Explorer 10 is zippy with the screen being responsive and text reflow doing a great job, even on cumbersome web pages. Benchmarks fall below those of the other 1.5GHz powered Windows Phone 8 devices, though this isn't too noticeable in day to day use.

 

HTC 8S review - Performance and battery

 

As we mentioned in our user interface section, the HTC 8S is the only Windows Phone 8 device we've used which gave us any cause for concern in terms of stability. Menus stuck mid-transition every now and then with a screen tap prompting the transition to complete.

With its 1GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor, it's unsurprising that the HTC 8S benchmarks worse than the likes of the 1.5GHz powered Lumia 820, Lumia 920 and HTC 8X. It's still respectable and we doubt this has anything to do with the occasional glitches - we'd sooner guess the firmware could do with a little more love and attention from HTC.

The 1700 mAh Battery inside the HTC 8S did a great job of getting us through a full day with a spot of tethering, picture taking and video playback. This tallies up with what we'd expect given the spec / screen size and OS.

 

 

HTC 8S review - Conclusion

 

You can pick up an HTC 8X for just £180 offline. That's a fantastic price for a phone that looks and feels better than any Android device below £240. When you consider that we're talking about the Google Nexus 4 - an anomalously value-centric device - it just goes to show how great the 8S looks and feels.

There are a few issues though. For starters, stability isn't where we'd hope and certainly isn't up there with other Windows Phone 8 handsets. Hanging menus is not something we'd expect to see from HTC or Windows Phone. 

In saying that, as a value proposition, the HTC 8S is still undeniably easy to recommend. It represents the sublimation point at which incredible design meets a strong screen, impressive camera and cohesive, user friendly UI.

Will it be for everyone? No. We've discussed the limitations of Windows Phone in detail and these will be the enough to put many off making the leap. If however you're looking for an easy to use, fully featured smartphone, don't want to spend much and aren't too fussed about apps and games, the 8S is without a doubt the one to go for.