8x vs Icon (My Opinion)

[GreenScrew]

I "upgraded" my 8x to a Nokia Icon since I had an upgrade available. Its been about 6 weeks on the Icon now so I think I'm in a good position to share my personal perspective. Both phones being compared using 8.1 Preview.

Let me start by saying I have had terrible problems with WiFi signal strength on the Icon. I am assuming this is due to a driver issue in the 8.1 preview so I'm not holding that against the Icon. And the same goes for unstable Bluetooth Internet Sharing. So, while both of these features work fine on the 8x with 8.1 Preview, I'll not consider them negatively with respect to the Icon even though they very negatively affect my experience with the Icon.

I'll start by saying that I really miss my 8x. I'm tempted to go back but probably won't. Not sure yet though, time will tell....

Advantage 8x:
Form factor - OMG, do I ever miss the size and styling (rounded sides) of the 8x. Huge advantage of the 8x.
Battery life - despite its diminutive size, the 8x had surprisingly decent battery life. Well, at least better than the Icon.
WiFi range - Not holding this against the Icon, but I'll still give the 8x props for really good range - compared to other devices
Audio - I still maintain "Beats" is a gimmick, but the audio on the 8x is good and the bass boost works great using headphones
SIZE - did I mention this already? The single most important reason I want the 8x back...

Advantage Icon
Build quality - Its solid, and the corners haven't rubbed off LOL (yet). But its also slippery and I have little doubt it'll get dropped.
Camera - yes, it's good. BUT, the 8x wasn't bad... video really shines compared to the 8x
Screen - I love the size with extra row on start screen, but given the trade-off of fit in hand, I'll take the 8x if I can't get bigger hands

In the end, if you didn't pick up on it, the feel in hand is something I'm really having a hard time getting past. I have no doubt that the Icon will fall out of my hand if I am to keep it for 2 years. It seems inevitable. And its odd, because when I compare the two phones side-by-side, the icon is only barely larger. So little that I wouldn't think it could be the difference. I would really love to experience the Icon with curved sides like the 8x and a similar non-slippery finish. I think that could be the difference that makes the 8x so sleek and thin feeling despite being basically the same thickness. The size of the screen on the 8x is slightly too small for the extra column on the start screen to be good, although I preferred it despite being difficult to read such small tiles. This is not an issue on the Icon, so screen size on it is really great for 8.1. That's speaking visually, but I really can't use the row of tiles down the left side of the Icon because I can't reach it with my thumb. So on the Icon everything on left side is wide tile otherwise its useless (which isn't necessarily terrible but it is a limitation due to not being able to access that column). I would have a similar problem reaching the power button if it were on top like the 8x, so now I see why side power button is better. I'm sure people with big hands have no problem with Icon size, but for average hands its very significant difference compared to 8x despite little actual size difference.

Final comment, despite its better specs (processor?) I found the performance of both devices to be very comparable. No noticeable difference. Not sure why that would be, as I expected the Icon to be really fast, since the 8x performed nicely and the Icon surely would be faster?!? Also, I don't really care to impress others being more of a functional over form type of person, but I noticed nobody has asked what phone the Icon is where I would regularly be asked about the 8x. I imagine because of the 8x's color (blue) and also it was perceived by others to be really nice and small (despite being little different from the Icon) I think due to the curved edges which earns it style points.

Anyway, just thought I would share my opinions having gone from an 8x for over 1-1/2 years to the Icon recently.

 

[Bashar Awwad]

Finally found someone's opinion on comparison between 8x and another wp phone. Seems like I'm not missing out on anything important with my 8x. Thanks for sharing

 

[smbishop]

Thanks for sharing!! I keep thinking I will run and get the icon as soon as my upgrade is available. Will need to give this a second thought...

 

[envio]

Haha, well I'm soon to do the exact same thing and replace my 8X for the Lumia 930 and I can't wait. Apart from the obvious boost in cpu, RAM, camera quality, internal storage, I'm most looking forward to getting value from Nokia because so far from HTC, I've had exactly none.

 

[Kevin Rush]

Thank you for the interesting read. I know, neither has a physical real keyboard (something I miss from my Windows Mobile 6.5 HTC TouchPro 2) but what about internal RAM and expansion micro SD card? I know I could look them up, but just surprised it wasn't mentioned and compared. Maybe they are the same on both? I want big numbers for both, on my next phone, next year.

 

[GreenScrew]

8x = 16gb, Icon = 32gb. Neither have SD slot. I didn't need more storage on the 8x, so for me the extra 16gb provides little value. Although after a years worth of 20MP pictures maybe that changes. Of course, everyone has different needs however similar they might be, so YMMV. This was just my opinion.

 

[GreenScrew]

I'll just say that the boost in cpu isn't obvious. At least not on the 8.1 Preview. I haven't really used many of the Nokia apps but for sure if you're a big camera person some nice Nokia touches there. But other than that, I'm not sure how much value Nokia really adds. But I've not used many of their apps. I did use the HTX flashlight once in a while :grin: .

 

[romant56]

My gf has the Icon. We upgraded her first one to 8.1 and it was pretty buggy and the data connection was very hit or miss. However, we had to exchange that one for an unrelated reason, and kept the new one on 8.0. Verizon pushed out an update that fixed the data connection and the thing really flies. I'm always jealous at the increased screen resolution and the speed at which the phone does everything. After using it I feel like my 8X is a toy.

The phone does seem much bigger even though it isn't really, as GreenScrew said, and that's the only thing that makes me hesitate to buy it. However, my main worry about size is fitting it in my pocket - my jeans are kind of on the tight side, I guess. The phone seems to fit fine and I think I will eventually buy it unless something much better comes out soon. One thing I didn't realize is how much having the power button on the side helps in my case: when my 8X is in my pocket and I bend over, I frequently inadvertently hold the power button down, soft resetting the phone. This doesn't happen on the Icon since there's no button on the top. It's a good design decision I never thought about.