conundrum. lumia 900 vs htc 8x

[manwe]

I face a decision in terms of phone choice.
I got an htc 8x at a great price from ebay just now but i also still have my lumia 900.
The question is, which one do I sell on?
I love the hardware of the htc 8x, and while I also adore the l900's design i wouldn't mind trading it for something lighter and possibly smaller (also that 'new' factor...)

so as far as i can tell without i having arrived what the HTC has going for it : better screen, wp8 ( i didn't really have problems with 7.8, can't really think of anything major missing, i'm very interested in ppl's opinions on this), ligher + smaller body, nfc (what is the everyday use of this?), cool design

whereas the Lumia 900 has: nokia exclusives (can you seriously still not choose a costume ringtone on wp8??), apparently better battery life than the 8x

so i'm interested in hearing people's opinions, especially in terms of how much do you miss the Nokia exclusives? i had a samsung omnia 7 before and switching to nokia from that felt like night and day, but then again 7.8 was just rolling out too. thoughts?

 

[Jazmac]

Sell the Lumia 900 or stick it in the drawer like I did mine. The 8X running WP8 is where this OS thrives whereas the OS 7.5/7.8 IMHO are filling cardboard boxes awaiting 2 Men and a Truck. Preparing to be moved to a new zip code with Windows ME, XP and its rich uncle Windows Vista.
I still have my HTC Arrive, my first Windows Phone so I understand it ain't easy. My Arrive still looks brand new, feels great in the hand and I'm not yet ready to part with it. My L900, its destined to live on with a new owner soon.

 

[Tony_Offends_U]

Lumia 900 has Zune and doesn't suffer from other storage bug

 

[manwe]

@Jazmac yeah i agree the L900 is really a cul-de-sac in logical terms, but in real life use it's still a very capable device. my main question is do you not miss the nokia apps? i don't use all of their stuff, but some of it is genius + some of it i don't even notice because it's not always nokia apps, but exclusives that were optimised (apparently whatsapp is one of these)

@tony you mean the phone has zune? because i use a mac so on the computer side it doesn't feature, i thought xbox music was sorted out now? i also read the other storage bus was taken care of, or maybe that was just wishful news?

 

[eric12341]

Go for the 8X as it isn't on life support like the Lumia 900 is. I have it and couldn't be happier.

 

[ajua]

The battery life is subjective and depends and many things. My 8X lasts about 14-15 hrs of medium-heavy use. My neighbor has a Lumia 900 that lasts about 10 hrs and sometimes (they are rare) drains its battery inexplicably.

I would choose the 8X for the things you posted. The Lumia 900 only has the Nokia apps as an advantage, but the 8X is faster, has a better camera, better screen, great body design and it's much newer.

 

[scottcraft]

I've had a Lumia and I don't miss the Nokia apps. The 8X has a better screen, camera, better sound through the headphone jack and will get future updates. I would choose the 8X over the 900 every time.

 

[diplomat696]

Take the 8x and run with it, sell the 900. You will not regret it!!!

 

[manwe]

cheers guys, the consensus is quite clear and it makes perfect sense. i think i'll stick with the 8x (although i might miss nokia music and photobeamer on occasion, those are amazing)

 

[Motor_Mouth]

I got rid of my Lumia 800 in favour of an 8S over Xmas, which I have just traded up to an 8X, and I haven't missed any of the Nokia apps at all. The only thing I miss is syncing via Zune on my PC but once you get everything up and running that becomes a non-issue, really.

 

[eddieDOTexe]

Just go for the 8x. Its a nice phone and will get support for a bit longer than the Lumia.

 

[manwe]

so i got both phones in hand now; the 8x's design is amazing, it feels much slimmer than it actually is and it really is comfortable to hold.
BUT
the blacks are awful! especially when compared to the 900 that has amoled display the lcd 2 on the 8x can not produce proper blacks. one of the things i really love about wp is how the black background can blend into the black bezels, but this is not the case with the 8x. and while i love the 8x design in practical terms the 900 seems incomparably more durable.. if i'm not mistaken amoled is also more power efficient and i know there are a lot of complaints about the battery life of the 8x so it's a shame they couldn't go with that instead.. i'll see if the feeling of newness + wp8 wins out, but the issue with the blacks could be a dealbreaker, even if the screen overall is far better.

 

[Motor_Mouth]

I don't have this issue. My blacks are fine and it is only in a dark room that I can really see where the screen black ends. In all normal lighting conditions the screen blends into the phone body seamlessly. Maybe you need to play around with the brightness settings? I don't know about the Lumia900 but my 8X's battery lasts roughly twice as long as my Lumia800 ever did, even with 4G.

 

[manwe]

hm that's pretty interesting. the colours on mine are super washed out, so i don't really get all the rave reviews about the amazing screen. i mean sharpness is great but i can say now it's not only blacks but other colours as well that suffer. with the blue colourway ("htc" ..lol) when i change the volume it's extremely hard to make the blue volume numbers out against the black background. plus i've got light leaking at the bottom of the phone where the screen meets the body. so there are a fair few issues, even though i actually agree with htc's claim that this is the most comfortable phone i've had.
i've got in touch with the person i got the phone from on ebay and will try to get him to send me a proof of purchase, maybe it's a faulty device?

 

[waraukaeru]

hm that's pretty interesting. the colours on mine are super washed out, so i don't really get all the rave reviews about the amazing screen. i mean sharpness is great but i can say now it's not only blacks but other colours as well that suffer. with the blue colourway ("htc" ..lol) when i change the volume it's extremely hard to make the blue volume numbers out against the black background. plus i've got light leaking at the bottom of the phone where the screen meets the body. so there are a fair few issues, even though i actually agree with htc's claim that this is the most comfortable phone i've had.
i've got in touch with the person i got the phone from on ebay and will try to get him to send me a proof of purchase, maybe it's a faulty device?

I've seen a fair number of complaints of light bleeding on the 8X. I see it ever so slightly on my device at the bottom of the screen, but it doesn't bother me. I've read it is worse on the yellow models. (I have blue) To my eyes the color is very good on the screen. Maybe it is kinda sad, but this is the best looking screen I own. Maybe the phone you got has had a screen replacement with a sub-par LCD? go to a phone store and compare to their demo model.

If you are missing your Nokia apps, you can still get their navigation software that has been rebranded HERE maps, drive, and transit. Photosynth (panorama) and Blink (burst shot) help bridge the gap too.