HTC Windows Phone 8X vs Nokia Lumia 920
We have talked extensively about Nokia adopting the Windows Phone as their generic operating system and ditching their own Symbian OS. This wasn’t entirely the fault of the operating system either, but somehow, somewhere between the lines, the entire Symbian ecosystem failed when the Android and iOS ecosystem grew more attractive. Today almost a year after Nokia introduced their Windows Phones, we are here to compare two new handsets. One is from Nokia about which we have extensively discussed before. This handset is notorious for its optics and early reports suggest that it can be the king in the current market. The other handset is a smartphone from HTC who has been manufacturing Windows Phones long before Nokia entered the game. So at the surface, you can identify this as a game between a new player and an old player. However, Windows Phone operating system underwent significant changes within the last two years; hence, it’s more like a game between two new players because HTC’s experience with previous versions of Windows Phone is rather unlikely to come in handy for Windows Phone 8. And yes, both the handsets come with Microsoft’s all new Windows 8 operating system. So let’s give them a spin and try to find out their potentials.
HTC Windows Phone 8X Review
HTC has injected a vivid blue and violet color to this attractive smartphone. It also comes in Graphite Black, Flame Red and Limelight Yellow. The handset is somewhat in to the thick side of the spectrum although HTC has disguised it with the tapered edges which makes others perceive it as rather a thin smartphone. It comes with a unibody chassis which we can complement due to the aesthetically appealing design. It is powered by 1.5GHz Dual Core Krait processor on top of Qualcomm MSM8960 Snapdragon S4 chipset with Adreno 225 GPU and 1GB of RAM. The handset is powered by Windows Phone 8 as indicated by the name. However, Windows Phone 8X didn’t have a completed build of the operating system just yet, so we won’t be able to talk about the aspects of the OS right now. What we can guess is that the handset would have acceptable performance matrices with the high end processor it has.
One of the things we didn’t like about HTC Windows Phone 8X is its stagnating 16GB of internal storage without the option to expand it using SD card. This may well be a deal breaker for some of you out there. However, the handset comes with Beats Audio Sound Enhancement and so a premium audio quality is to be expected. It has 4.3 inch S LCD2 capacitive touchscreen display featuring a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels at a pixel density of 342ppi. It is moderately weighed at 130g with evenly distributed weight, which feels good in your hands. Unfortunately, Window Phone 8X doesn’t feature 4G LTE connectivity which might be an issue when competing with rivals. Compensating that, HTC has offered NFC connectivity along with Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n for continuous connectivity alongside 3G HSDPA connectivity. This smartphone has 8MP camera at the back with autofocus and LED flash with the ability to capture 1080p HD videos. The front camera is 2.1MP which is impressive and HTC guarantees a wide angle view with 1080p HD video recording from the front camera, as well. The battery size is 1800mAh with which we expect to have a talk time around 6 to 8 hours.
Nokia Lumia 920 Review
Nokia Lumia 920 is important for Nokia due to a list of reasons. It is the first smartphone featuring 4G LTE connectivity in Window Phone 8 for Nokia, and it is also the first smartphone from Nokia which runs on Windows Phone 8. The handset is powered by 1.5GHz Dual Core Krait processor on top of Qualcomm 8960 Snapdragon chipset with Adreno 225 GPU and 1GB of RAM. Our first impressions about Wndows 8 managing the handset were good. Nokia Lumia 920 has 4.5 inch IPS TFT capacitive touchscreen featuring a resolution of 1280 x 768 pixels at a pixel density of 332ppi which unofficially qualifies it as a retina display, as well. It comes with Nokia’s PureMotion HD+ display technology and is reinforced with Corning Gorilla glass, to be scratch resistant. One interesting feature this display offers is the Synaptic touch technology which enables the user to operate the touchscreen with various objects. Essentially, any object can be used as a stylus, to scribble on top of this screen.
It is not the thinnest smartphone in the block scoring a thickness of 10.7mm, but it sure is thinner than its predecessor. We like Nokia’s Unibody design that takes well thought ergonomics into account forming a polycarbonate body. Scratch proof ceramic was used to make the buttons and the rear camera module claims Nokia. However, what worries us is the weight of 185g which is towards the extreme heftier side in the smartphone spectrum. Nokia is usually very strict about the camera they include in their smartphones. They have included 8MP camera with optical stabilization, autofocus and LED flash which can capture 1080p HD videos at 30 frames per second. This camera features Nokia’s legendary PureView camera technology that is said to use floating point optics to minimize the blurring occurred by camera shake. The Verge team has taken the smartphone for a ride in the dark and claimed that Lumia 920 outperforms the cameras of similar smartphones. This may be because it has an aperture of f2.0 to let the sensor absorb more light in resulting in sharp images even in dark situations.
Nokia Lumia 920 is also the first Nokia smartphone to feature the Windows Phone 8’s expandable storage featuring an internal storage of 32GB and having the ability to expand it using microSD card. It comes with 4G LTE connectivity which Nokia claims can achieve speeds up to 100Mbps and gracefully degrades to HSDPA when the signal strength is not enough. Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n ensures continuous connectivity while Lumia 920 also features Near Field Communication. Another interesting feature that caught our eye is the ability to charge this handset wireless. Nokia has included the inductive charging technology in this smartphone enabling customers to use any charger in compliance with Qi Wireless Charging Standard to be used to charge the smartphone. This is a pretty nifty piece of technology, and we are glad Nokia took the initiation to put it in their flagship product. It is worthwhile to note that Lumia 920 would only support microSIM card support. Nokia claims a maximum talk time of 17 hours (in 2G networks) with the 2000mAh battery.
A Brief Comparison Between HTC Windows Phone 8X and Nokia Lumia 920
• HTC Windows Phone 8X is powered by 1.5GHz Krait Dual Core processor on top of Qualcomm MSM8960 Snapdragon S4 chipset with Adreno 225 GPU and 1GB of RAM while Nokia Lumia 920 is powered by 1.5GHz Krait Dual Core processor on top of Qualcomm MSM8960 Snapdragon chipset with Adreno 225 GPU and 1GB of RAM.
• HTC Windows Phone 8X has 4.3 inch S LCD 2 capacitive touchscreen featuring a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels at a pixel density of 342ppi while Nokia Lumia 920 has 4.5 inch IPS TFT capacitive touchscreen display featuring PureMotion HD+ display technology and a resolution of 1280x 768 pixels at a pixel density of 332ppi.
• HTC Windows Phone 8X has 8MP camera that can capture 1080p HD videos at 30 fps while Nokia Lumia 920 has 8MP camera with PureView technology with autofocus and optical image stabilization that can capture 1080p HD videos @ 30 fps.
• HTC Windows Phone 8X has 16GB of internal storage without the option to expand using microSD card while Nokia Lumia has 32GB of internal storage without the option to expand using microSD card.
• HTC Windows Phone 8X is taller, narrower, thinner and lighter (132.4 x 66.2mm / 10.1mm / 130g) than Nokia Lumia 920 (130.3 x 70.8mm / 10.7mm / 185g).
• HTC Windows Phone 8X has 1800mAh battery while Nokia Lumia 920 has 2000mAh battery.
Conclusion
The conclusion on this comparison depends on what kind of a smartphone you prefer to have. Both these handsets have their individual pros and cons. HTC Windows Phone 8X and Nokia Lumia 920 has the same raw hardware specs at a glance. The processor, chipset, and the memory along with the GPU are the same in both. Hence it is fair to imagine that the performance matrices offered by these two handsets will remain at the same bar. However, Nokia Lumia 920 has a significantly better optics that features Nokia PureView technology. The camera is optimized for low light performance and recent experiments from the Verge suggest that it beats the optics of every smartphone out there in the market. So when you buy a Nokia Lumia 920, you own a unique feature that can come in handy at all times. If you are not that much of a camera enthusiast, but an audio junkie, HTC Windows Phone 8X offers you Beats Audio Enhancement that is of premium sound quality. Weigh your options between them and make your purchasing decision because we at DifferenceBetween think the price range would be similar as well although there is no official indication to attest that.