Review: HTC 8X totally worth it

The top-of-the-line model from HTC offers direct competition to Nokia’s 920. With a sleeker build, and a lighter body, the design is more attractive than the 920, which is a tad bulky.

First it was BlackBerry that captured the collective conscience of Indian smartphone enthusiasts. Then it was the age of the iPhone. Currently, Android and Samsung are the flavour of the season. And there are many who feel that the next challenger in the smartphone war could be a device with a Windows operating system. And the HTC 8X is an able contender.

Pros: The top-of-the-line model from HTC offers direct competition to Nokia's 920. With a sleeker build, and a lighter body, the design is more attractive than the 920, which is a tad bulky. This makes typing and poking or sliding a smoother affair.Another area that the phone scores is with the fact that it does not aim to do everything. It offers the user enough to feel satisfied with the price without compromising on the quality of features. The 8 MP camera is decent and the photo enhancer negates the need to download Instagram. HTC's in-built additions, like the weather, stock market and news ticker means that you don't need to visit the app store immediately, like an iPhone user usually does.

Cons: The apps are the biggest drawback. If you integrate your social networking profiles to the People tile, it drains the battery. The Twitter app simply isn't on par with the iOS or Android app, and takes forever to load. Even WhatsApp runs slowly. This is one area Windows needs to work on to increase its user base.

Verdict: Of all the recent Windows phones that have flooded the smartphone market, this is the best in terms of value for money, design and features offered. If the apps lived up to expectations, it would be a winner.