HTC 8s, first impressions

    I came up with HTC 8s, the youngest phone model on WP8 from HTC. This will not be the main phone, you need a job. But I already wanted to express some impressions in writing.



    TTX, issue price

    A plate with the main characteristics, in comparison with the nearest competitors. Top models (920, 8x, ATIV) did not include.
    Htc 8sNokia Lumia 820Nokia Lumia 620
    Screen SuperLCD 4.0 ", 800x480AMOLED 4.3 ", 800x4803.8 ", 800x480
    CPU Qualcomm Snapdragon S4, 2x1 GHzQualcomm MSM8960, 2x1.5 GHzQualcomm Snapdragon S4, 2x1 GHz
    Memory 512 MB RAM, 4 GB permanent + microSD slot1024 MB RAM, 8 GB permanent + microSD slot512 MB RAM, 8 GB permanent + microSD slot
    Wireless networksWi-Fi 802.11 b / g / n; GPS / GLONASS; BluetoothWi-Fi 802.11 b / g / n; GPS / GLONASS; Bluetooth, NFC, LTEWi-Fi 802.11 b / g / n; GPS / GLONASS; Bluetooth, NFC
    Sensors Accelerometer, gyroscope, proximity sensorlight, proximity, gyroscope, compasslight, proximity, gyroscope, compass
    Camera 5 megapixels8 MP, front 0.3 MP5 MP, front 0.3 MP
    Battery Non-removable, 1700 mAh1650 mAhRemovable 1300 mAh
    SIM cardmicro SIMmicro SIMmicro SIM
    Sizes, mm 120.5x63x10.28123.8x68.5x9.9115,4x61,1x11
    Mass g 113160127


    In Russia, the phone costs 14 thousand. If you buy at MTS, then 2000 they will then return to the account in installments of 200 rubles each month (unused will be burned).
    If you order a phone at computeruniverse.net , then with delivery it will cost a little cheaper than 12 thousand.

    The Lumia 820 is hardware tastier (processor, memory, LTE), but also more expensive.
    The Lumia 620 is also slightly better than the TTX, but it has a smaller screen and a third less capacious battery. But replaceable. But the phone is not for sale yet, and the price for the start of sales is planned to be the same as that of 8s today.
    By the way, at one time there were rumors about a model from HTC, similar in characteristics to the Lumia 820 (4.3 ", 1.5GHz, NFC), but I did not hear anything about the real embodiment.

    Ergonomics

    The standard controls for WP8 phones are Home, Back, Search. On the right is the camera button and volume control. At the back is the camera and flash LED. Above is the power button and headphone jack. Below is microUSB.


    The phone is quite compact, it fits comfortably in your hand. 4 "is the optimal screen size for me. It is much more convenient than the current 5" + shovels. The hardware button of the camera is a pity that almost everywhere they left it. The flash can be used as a flashlight.


    The battery is non-removable, so replacing the SIM card and the memory card is simple - you just need to dig out the compartment cover. Not the most convenient, but much better than on HTC Mozart, where it was difficult to remove without tools.


    Battery

    1700 mAh, for a screen of this size is not bad. I have the phone for the third day, so I still can’t say how much it lives on from one charge. I’ll gather statistics - I’ll add information, but it will take a couple of weeks.

    OS and programs

    Here I will not tell in detail, so fragmentary impressions.
    The new OS itself did not make much impression in comparison with 7.5. Evolutionary development, rather drawn to the Service Pack.
    Some details were added - and that’s all. This is from the point of view of the user. Inside, maybe everything was rebuilt, but this is not visible from the outside.

    Synchronization with Google did not go right away, said "a bad certificate, do you really want to synchronize with this nasty google"?

    After setting up synchronization, an email came in the mail about the initial setup of the phone, transferring contacts from other phones, etc. (below the picture is the full content of the letter). Links are sent to www.windowsphone.com , in the Russian section.


    It became possible to connect the phone via cable, not as USB storage (like flash drives), but via MTP ( media transfer protocol ). In all windows it is recognized without drivers, for MacOS, as far as I know, there are drivers, for Linux - libmtp and mtpfs.
    You can upload supported video, music and office documents (doc, xls, pdf) to the phone itself. Files of other formats can be copied, but the software does not see them.

    The office refuses to edit the doc-files - “The document is saved in the format 97-2003”, opens only for reading. To save in docx does not provide opportunities.

    I don’t see any forced binding to SkyDrive, the office works normally with local files, the programs have dropbox support. But at the system level - only SkyDrive.

    It is possible, in principle, to download a file through a browser and transfer it to another program, but not with all. For example, downloading fb2.zip, the archive is unpacked, but what to do with fb2, the system no longer knows. The same story is with epub - it tries to find a program for opening in the market and breaks off. And for pdf, I found and installed (pdf reader was not originally installed).

    I have not yet observed multitasking, although in the settings there is a list of programs that are allowed to work in the background. Programs when leaving in the background are slowed down and are not restored immediately. The reader reopens the file, the browser reloads the page (if there are a dozen pictures there, it can remember the text), ICQ (IM +) reconnects (although it works in the background - people see me online, messages come in, although with some delay, especially jabber).

    With the amount of software, in principle, there are no special problems - the most popular programs already have versions for WP or quite decent analogues (from my androids - about 2/3). But all these versions are simpler than the android ones, plus often they are simply an interface for accessing an online service (Lingvo, Tripadvisor, yandex. Maps ...), respectively, they do not work without a network.

    Opinion

    A good smartphone for those who live in places with stable mobile Internet. It is very pleasant in hardware, it is excellent in the hand, interesting shape, good color gamut. But the software is not so smooth, WP8 still gives the impression of a half-iPhone. Add at least a normal file exchange between programs ... But in general, the OS is moving in the right direction, it’s only a pity that it’s leisurely.

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