Apple was once the undisputed king of the smartphones. However, with recent blunders such as the catastrophic new Maps and counterproductive Lightning cable, the iPhone 5 has plenty of rivals worthy of your attention - in particular Microsoft's recently redesigned Windows 8. But is switching really worth the hassle? GQ traded our iPhone for a week with HTC's 8X to find out.
Giving up is (not) hard to do
Swapping your iPhone for Windows (or Android) isn't as
difficult as it might appear - numbers can be switched with ease
and transferring iTunes music and photos to the 8X is simple.
Windows' "People" app is actually superior to Apple's contacts
book: log in via Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn and it will pull
in all your friends details, with profile pictures, Twitter handles
and more. But the best part is the Windows' live tile home screen -
which flickers up to show your tweets, photos and messages in real
time.
Verdict: Makes iPhone feel a little lifeless by
comparison.
Bigger isn't necessarily better
For someone who thinks that smartphone design essentially
peaked with the iPhone 3G, the 8X feels comparatively huge - its
wide 4.3" screen can actually make navigating with just one hand
very difficult. At 130g, the 8X is heavier than an iPhone 5 but
feels noticeably lighter than Nokia's gargantuan Lumia 920.
Size aside, the 8MP camera is sharp enough for your pop-up
restaurant snaps and the Beats audio packs a suitable punch for a
little Kendrick Lamar on your commute.
Verdict: Not overweight, but tough to get a
hold on.
App sore
The biggest drawback with Windows phone is their apps -
whereas iTunes store is packed with millions of pieces of software,
Microsoft's offering is taking some time to catch up. Noticeably,
neither Spotify or Instagram were available for the 8X at the
time of writing. The good news though is that both Twitter
and Facebook's Windows apps are actually better than the iPhone
versions.
Verdict: Noticably lacking compared to iOS - but
expect most developers to release Windows versions fairly
quickly.
In conclusion…
Once your Live Tiles home screen is buzzing with your Twitter
feed, photos and Facebook posts, you'll be converted fairly
quickly; with the addition of a few missing apps, Microsoft could
have an iPhone-killer on their hands. All in all, Windows phone is
definitely worth considering for your next upgrade - just think,
you won't even have that overnight queue outside an Apple store
ever again...
The HTC 8X from free (with a £31 monthly contract). windowsphone.com
Oliver Franklin
Oliver Franklin is GQ.com's features assistant. He has also written for Wired, Men's Health and the London Evening Standard.
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