HTC 8X in the flesh, first impressions

HTC’s flagship handset under the Windows Phone 8 line-up is the HTC Windows Phone 8X. HTC claims Microsoft liked the line-up so much they asked HTC if they could just name it like WP8, which they did.

HTC introduced the 8X and the 8S with some very funky colors although the design signature is still very familiar to their previous line-up. The HTC ue.8X that we were able to check out was the one in deep blue (almost purple-ish). It has that smooth, matte finish and a black bezel that almost cut to the edge.

The tapered edge gives it that really thin impression and helps make it better on the grip. The middle portion is a little ticker though at a little over 10mm.

The glass panel at the front reminds us of the one they did with the HTC One X (only less curvy) and with the somewhat embossed corner. The display looks stunning, bright, very crisp and you can really appreciate the high pixel density.

HTC 8X C625e specs:
4.3 SLCD2 @ 1280x720p, 341ppi
Gorilla Glass 2
Qualcomm SnapDragon S4 Krait 1.5GHz dual-core
Adreno 225 Graphics
1GB RAM
16GB internal storage
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
Beats Audio
NFC
Bluetooth 3.1
8MP rear AF camera, f/2.0 with LED flash
2.1MP front-facing camera
1080p video recording
1800mAh Li-Po battery
Windows Phone 8

The integrated Beats Audio does the job really well then hooked up to a Beats headphones although the speakers at the back sounded pretty crisp and loud even if you put down the phone on its back. The 8X uses a micro-SIM card which is inserted via a hidden slot on the side.

If you’re familiar with Windows Phone 7 or 7.5, then WP8 is almost similar in terms of UI layout and behavior. In fact, aside from the smaller tiles, it would be a bit hard to distinguish it from the old OS (it’s because most of the improvements were done on the back-end and not really in the UI). As expected, the system feels pretty spiffy — smooth transition, responsive UI and much improved performance compared to the previous WP7 handsets we’ve tried before.

The HTC 8X is supposed to be available in stores in the Philippines today but we don’t have any idea on the suggested retail price yet. We’ll update this once we get those details.