From Mango to Apollo: The HTC Windows Phone 8X on the Daily
by Dustin Sklavos on January 28, 2013 12:01 AM EST- Posted in
- Laptops
- windows phone 8
- Windows Phone 8X
- HTC 8X
Essentials: Browser
As Brian mentioned before, the browser experience on Windows Phone 8 is improved largely under the hood. Windows Phone 8 enjoys the Trident 6.0 engine shared by Internet Explorer 10 on the desktop and even identifies itself as IE10. It's smooth and gets the job done, but actually feels too stripped down. I've come to accept that if I want Flash on a mobile platform I need to be running Android, but tab management is sorely lacking.
That isn't to say that you can't actually have multiple tabs open, but the only way you can get a shortcut to the tabs you have open without having to bring up the drop menu on the bottom of the display is to swap out the stop/reload button for it. So while the browser in Windows Phone 8 is very functional and snappy, it's extremely easy to outright forget which tabs you've left open in the first place. This was a problem in 7, and it persists here.
Again, though, performance is definitely up from 7, and compatibility as well. I've found IE10 in WP8 to be a noticeable improvement in practice.
Essentials: E-Mail
I've heard complaints of the e-mail app in Windows Phone 7 (and 7.5 and now 8) as being too stripped down, but I've never actually felt it was particularly oversimplified. I have three different e-mail boxes that I need regular access to: my personal e-mail, my Gmail, and my AnandTech e-mail. You can choose to have each mailbox store all of your e-mail from that box from the past week, from the past month, or just plain all of it. My AnandTech e-mail box is a nightmarish abyss of spam and clutter that I've done a horrible job curating, so that gets set to "past week."
What's evident is that the app is still designed as a way to check your e-mail in a pinch, not as a way to actually do your e-mail bookkeeping and keep up on all your correspondence. Unfortunately, the lack of a robust app ecosystem keeps power users from finding a more comprehensive e-mail management solution (much as it keeps power users from finding an alternative browser to IE10), so if just having e-mail threads organized by subject line and middling multi-mail selection and management isn't adequate for you, you're stuck.
Essentials: Calendar
Just as the People hub brings all of your contacts from all of your disparate social networking accounts under a single unifying banner, so the Calendar does with your events and calendars. The Calendar app is also essentially unchanged from Windows Phone 7: a single calendar aggregates your Google calendar with events from Facebook.
The complaint I've heard registered about Calendar is that it only allows for a single calendar, while Google allows you to have multiples. If you need multiple calendars to keep organized (for example, one with birthdays, one with tasks, one with meetings, and so on), this is probably going to be a dealbreaker. Note also that by default Calendar will integrate Facebook events you've been invited to but not actually responded to; this is something you can toggle off, but I'm confused as to why it's on in the first place.
Meanwhile, assuming you have it set to be the single text readout on the lock screen, the lock screen itself will tell you what, where, and when your next Calendar entry is.
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Myrandex - Tuesday, January 29, 2013 - link
Eh many Android phones these days are sold without 4.x unfortuantely, especially in the lower end / prepaid / unlocked lower priced phones out there.deathgod - Tuesday, January 29, 2013 - link
And people buying those phones won't really benefit or care about having the latest version of the OS. They just want a phone that meets their needs. That's like me buying a iPhone 3GS today and expecting it to have all the features and performance of a 5.Based on the sales of Android handsets the majority of people that have a problem with fragmentation are tech authors. I don't see many people buying cheap Android phones and complaining about not having JB.
drumhellar - Tuesday, January 29, 2013 - link
In the article, you seem to be suggesting that WP 7.5 didn't allow you to group contacts, and that was a new feature with 8. However, that's incorrect. WP 7 does allow you to group contacts (and send messages to groups, and all the other things you can do with groups).Reikon - Tuesday, January 29, 2013 - link
"but Google users will only have to sacrifice some of their apps"Um... how having to sacrifice all of our apps for heavy Google users? There are no Google apps on WP except useless search.
jeffkro - Tuesday, January 29, 2013 - link
Until I see that windows phone has the same or equivalent apps that I use all the time on my android phone I can't make the switch. I'm also really tied into the google ecosystem, drive, docs, gmail, etc but I guess I could switch to MS equivalents.N4g4rok - Tuesday, January 29, 2013 - link
Out of curiosity, What apps in particular?The switch from Google to Skydrive is somewhat easy to manage. I don't remember how much Google Drive lets you store for free, but Skydrive will give you 7GB and a good way to create/manipulate office documents. Other than the differences is storage space and access methods (which is kind of a big deal), everything else will feel right at home.
whickywhickyjim - Tuesday, January 29, 2013 - link
I find it very annoying that the tiles + applications screens do not tilt. Also, live tiles should be way more customizable with colors display options. The lack of these things are just lazy.stanwood - Tuesday, January 29, 2013 - link
I love my 8X. Happy to have left iOS behind since I do not use Mac elsewhere. And the integration with Windows 8 is great for Music, SkyDrive, OneNote, etc. Love the custom tile placement and good multi-tasking support.Main complaints on phone: autofocus not as predictable (improved with recent firmware update), button placement is optimal for one-handed grip in left hand. but I like to use my right. I still hit the Search and Back buttons by accident all the time. I think Apple got this one right. One button to rule them all please.
On the OS, the only thing I've missed is taking contact info from map search and pulling it into my contacts.
Bobs_Your_Uncle - Wednesday, January 30, 2013 - link
"IT" being basically whatever it is you choose to rock, or carry, or sport, or..er,...uh...use?Many strongly held opinions & preferences very passionately expressed. What it ultimately comes down to is the choice YOU get to make to do your own thing.
Thanks, Dustin, for a very well written op-ed explaining that which you appreciate in the WP8 platform while, at the same time, acknowledging & expressing appreciation for the respective strengths of all the various major platforms.
Should someone wish to take delight in berating a given platform, taking glee in it's struggles & hoping for it's failure, that is indeed that persons privilege. It's unfortunately a very negative approach to take toward making one's way through life from day to day, but it is one's privilege none-the-less.
I would view the failure of any platform provider with regret, as more available options usually provides very tangible benefits for all consumers, in addition to stimulating innovation through competition.
Again, thanks to Dustin & to all of the AnandTech Anointed for providing exceptional journalistic content on the tech that touches our daily lives. And for being ethical, honest & positive in your approach.
(If I want negative, agenda driven, duplicitous & disingenuous B.S. I'll simply turn the T.V. on to ...... oh, any number of options.)
sunflowerfly - Wednesday, January 30, 2013 - link
As an iPhone user that also hates iTunes simply refuse to use it. iOS works just fine from iCloud, and Apple is actively moving it further that direction with every update. I actually think a pc without iTunes, but with the iCloud Control Panel works better than a real Mac.Overall a great article, I am bullish on Windows phone as well. I gave my 74 year old mom a Windows Phone 7.5 on T-Mobile, and after a short learning curve she loved it. We only sold it when it was apparent that 7.5 had no future. She gets along with one of our old iPhone 4's just fine today.