HTC 8X vs. Nokia Lumia 820

[OmarOzzy]

I am torn apart between the Nokia Lumia 820 and the HTC 8X. They are sold for exactly the same price over here..

Would someone please give me his/her recommendation?..

The thing is, what take makes me consider the HTC 8X is it's screen, which is supposedly better than the 820, and the fact that the phone itself is much lighter.. But, from several reviews, I got the idea that the 8X's screen isn't that great, and that the phone is too big for the screen size.

On the other hand the 820's price, to me, is not justifiable. There is no gorilla glass, lousy front facing camera, and some reviews said that it feels kind of cheap and bulky in hand.

What keeps me coming back to the 820 is the super sensitive touch screen, reviewers saying that the AMOLED screen looks very good on WP8.The fact that Nokia is going all out for the Lumia lineup gives me the feeling that I wont be left out after new phones are released.

A removable cover and an SD card are definitely pluses, but, I guess I can live without them.

Would love it if someone who has actually held both devices in his hand tell me his thoughts.

Sorry for my bad English.

 

[metalchick719]

I haven't seen the 8X up close and personally, but I did see the 820 the other day and it is gorgeous. I couldn't tell the screen wasn't HD because it looked very crisp and sharp to me. It's also very fast. I got to play with an 820 at an AT&T store. Used Nokia CityLens, too, which is amazing. I even gave a customer advice on the phone because he had his eye on it. He ended up buying it.

Oh, also... If you want a lot of space for photos, video, music, etc., the 820 has expandable storage and apparently supports microSD cards of up to 64GB. Not a bad deal at all.

 

[aubreyq]

Welcome to WP Central, Omar! What part of the world do you live where both the 8X and 820 cost the same? Is that the 8GB 8X or the 16GB 8X?

The 8X would be my choice if I was basing my purchase on the form factor and perhaps quality, although the quality part is debatable. The 820 would be my choice if I wanted flexibility, such as expandable storage and swappable backplates.

I would really think about how important expandable storage is to you. If it's important, go with the 820.

 

[OmarOzzy]

Thanks for your reply guys!.

To be honest, I am leaning a bit towards the 820 because of the Nokia exclusive apps. But, I don't want to base my decision on that.
So, I guess it comes down to quality and one-hand usability.

How does the 820 feel in hand? Does it feel like a premium device? Is it really too bulky?

@Audry To answer your question. I am from Egypt. And it's the 16GB 8X.

 

[theeboredone]

One thing I like to do in regards to display is I will put the same color scheme of tiles and pair the phones up next to each other. 820 looks so much better. 8X feels a bit washed out.

 

[Lee B]

I played with both the 8x and an 820 at an AT&T store a few days ago, and wound up liking the 820 better. The sun was coming in the front window, and, in that fairly bright light, I found the 820 easier to read -- stronger color saturation and brighter overall. The 820 screen looked sharp to me and I didn't seen ragged edges or pixellation. But I've seen posts from people who like the screen on the 8x better, so this seems to be a matter of personal preference.

In terms of the physical experience, they were similar. The 8x does come in more colors, but for me a cellphone is not so much a fashion accessory.The 8x is a bit lighter, but I like the keyboard better on the 820 -- the 8x keyboard seemed cramped to me. I tried sending myself a text message on both phones, and generated more typos on the 8x. I think anyone who's comparing the two and cares about keyboards should try typing on both.

Add that to the Nokia apps and the expandability, and I'm going with the 822 on Verizon, which is supposed to come Friday.

 

[Genserik]

Have held both.

My thoughts on both.

HTC - Best looking and feeling device I have ever held. Limited features IMHO. When I looked over the details I kept wishing that they had put the features from the Nokia into the HTC to make a better overall package.

Nokia - Screen isn't as sharp, but everything else is there. Practically the same hardware. Better features, better camera - plus Nokia has one thing the rest of these phones don't....nothing to lose. So they are probably going to be throwing new and innovative features into the Nokia as fast as they can.

I chose Nokia over HTC.

 

[Abhinav Ranjan]

I am going through same confusion... Lumia 820 or HTC 8x.
Every one I talk to says "Go for 8x, Better Screen, better Camera, better battery, gorilla glass etc..." but I am stuck on Lumia 820.
.
Can you please tell me about screen, Is there any visible pixilation in Lumia ?
Does a memory card, say 32GB, in Lumia makes it slow?
How is the feel of Lumia 820 as compaired to 8x? Does it feel sturdy and well built ? (Its not yet launched in My India)?

 

[Yakko Warner]

I haven't noticed any pixellation on my 810 screen, although my last eye exam revealed that I'm getting close to needing reading glasses. Feels pretty good to me. I haven't noticed any slowness playing music or taking pictures on my 32GB SD card. I do wish it had more onboard memory for apps, as I'm in the last half gig of my 8GB, but I do have all the apps I *need* so far (minus a couple games that I miss from my HD7).

 

[Yakko Warner]

Incidentally, according to the Nokia product pages, the 810 and the 822 have Gorilla Glass 2, although the 820 doesn't list it -- does the 820 really not have it?

Huh, nope. Weird.

 

[WinDude]

Ditto that! How awesome would it be if they put Nokia guts into the 8X form factor!! As a Verizon customer, I was also torn between the 8X and the 822, and ultimately decided on the 822. Screen quality, although not HD, is still outstanding, and the microSD option and Nokia apps pushed my decision over the edge. Really want the 920, which, in my opinion, has quite possibly the most beautiful screen I have ever seen on a phone. But there is no way I am going back to AT&T for it. Instead, will enjoy the 822 until Verizon gets a 9xx variant. Looking forward to seeing what will come down the line.

 

[fusioncept]

I love my 822. I really disliked how tall and narrow the 8X was. The screen on the 822 is nice and wide.

Also, I have a decent amount of music (just under 20GB) so I have a 32GB microSD that I can put all of it on.

 

[iamtim]

I've actually had both an 8X and an 820, and I settled on the 820. Thanks to the AMOLED PureBlack screen in the 820, there isn't a whole lot of difference between the two device's screens. Not enough, in my opinion at least, to pick one phone over the other. To me, the 8X felt too flimsy and light and the buttons were a PITA; the 820, on the other hand, feels absolutely perfect in my hand. It is a premium device, built very well and it's very sturdy. The buttons are great.


AND, you've got changeable back covers for fashion statements (heh), replaceable batteries, and a microSD card slot. Plus all the Nokia apps (PhotoBeamer alone should be enough right there); IMHO, the 820 wins hands down.

 

[Abhinav Ranjan]

I haven't noticed any pixellation on my 810 screen, although my last eye exam revealed that I'm getting close to needing reading glasses. �� Feels pretty good to me. I haven't noticed any slowness playing music or taking pictures on my 32GB SD card. I do wish it had more onboard memory for apps, as I'm in the last half gig of my 8GB, but I do have all the apps I *need* so far (minus a couple games that I miss from my HD7).

I already have glasses, SO I can always remove them while using the phone :wink:.
Jokes apart, thanks for the feed back, I think I am getting a Lumia 820

 

[Slai]

I would NOT get a WP device with an AMOLED screen myself, but that could be because I might be wrong in the following statement:

White on AMOLED screens devour the battery insanely fast, while a LED screen does not.

White background on WP is... well being restricted to black background really sucks, IME from the Lumia 800.

Iunno, something to consider perhaps?

 

[iamtim]

White on AMOLED screens devour the battery insanely fast, while a LED screen does not.

This has not been my experience on my 820. Of all the phones I've owned in the last 5 years or so (an iPhone 3G, a Samsung Captivate, an iPhone 3GS, an iPhone 4, a Lumia 920, an HTC 8X, and the 820), the best battery life was on the 3GS and 4; the 820 comes in *just* behind those two, light-years ahead of the 3G, 920, and 8X. I charge my phone overnight and take it off the charger at 5:00 AM (when the alarm goes off to wake me up)... when I crash out at 11:00 PM the 820 has around 35% battery remaining. My iPhone 4 had about 40%, and the 920 and 8X were lucky to have 15-20%.

I'm a heavy user, too. I send obscene amounts of text messages, I'm in IT and have my Exchange account set to deliver when new items arrive (and our help desk software generates TONS of email), I use my phone exclusively for Facebooking and music listening. So it's not like the phone is sitting there idle.

 

[socialcarpet]

It's a tough call, no doubt.

The difference in resolution makes it difficult, if it wasn't for that the 820 would be an easy choice I think.

For what it's worth, you aren't going to fit any more tiles on the screen of the 8X, where you will really notice the resolution is looking at websites.

 

[iamtim]

Oh, wait, you said "WHITE", not "WHILE". Sorry, my bad, I misunderstood. I haven't tried a white screen, I'm happy with the black screen.

 

[MDominik13]

I have young kids so the camera is important to me. I would like to know if anyone has any experience with photos from both. So far, this thread has two mentions on the camera and they're split. I'm personally leaning towards the 810 (T-Mobile) unless there's a huge difference in picture quality.

 

[WPmunkey]

My vote: Nokia 820. This is based on very limited experience with both. The 820 just feels great. It looks and feels just right. The 8X doesn't quite do it for me. The look and feel of the device just aren't there. The only thing I like about the 8X over the 820 is 16:9.

I do own a 920 but it's the first Nokia I have owned since the 3390 Gold.