I love my HTC 8X, except for little things

[D in Sea]

This thread is for griping about the little things that aren't quite right with this phone. My hope is that the firmware developers will take note, or in the case of user error, other forum users will offer their advice. Ready, set, go....

 

[D in Sea]

Here's one thing that drives me a little crazy...

I have my phone set to play sounds for "key press", which I generally prefer. Most of the sounds are pleasant and not too loud, except for the phone keypad when dialing a number. It sounds as if the speaker phone is on and set at full volume. WTH???

 

[D in Sea]

Here's a little glitch that I've noted with my contacts list ("people" in WP8 lingo). I synced my contacts with my Facebook friends, and realized that there were some that didn't merge automatically with the existing contacts list in my phone. This was due to names not matching perfectly. I had some names misspelled, and others that have been in my phone forever had changed after marriage or divorce. So to clean things up, I edited some names and linked the duplicate entries. But here is where the glitch is: the edited names don't carry through to the list view. This has to be some sort of programming error. If you edit a name, you would expect that it would change the name on the summary list as well, right? Has anyone else had the same problem?

 

[AngryNil]

HTC's designers must have designed the hardware buttons without ever touching them. They feel really awkward when pressed.

The power button should not be on top of such a tall device. It's easier to hit the side-mounted power button on the Note II, for goodness sakes. Microsoft, please pay Nokia for the double-tap to wake feature to make it onto all Windows Phones.

Other storage – come on HTC / Microsoft, support your signature devices!

 

[JDCh]

I may be lynched for this, but I actually do like these buttons. They might be a little difficult to find and press at first, but after I got it down it's not difficult at all. The fact that it is basically flush with the rest of the phone keeps the aesthetic of the phone looking very streamlined.

 

[D in Sea]

I agree. The fingers do not find the buttons easily. It takes a lot of concentration to press them. Though on the positive side, you also can't accidentally press them while the phone is in your pocket.

 

[AngryNil]

But here is where the glitch is: the edited names don't carry through to the list view. This has to be some sort of programming error. If you edit a name, you would expect that it would change the name on the summary list as well, right? Has anyone else had the same problem?

So you see the old, misspelled names? Or just one of the other names you are linking?

I may be lynched for this, but I actually do like these buttons. They might be a little difficult to find and press at first, but after I got it down it's not difficult at all. The fact that it is basically flush with the rest of the phone keeps the aesthetic of the phone looking very streamlined.

I personally think there can be a middle ground between the 8X's "flush" buttons and a more typical button that has definitive travel and feedback. I'll have to see how I feel about them after a while, these were just my first impressions.

 

[Dazzi]

"So to clean things up, I edited some names and linked the duplicate entries. But here is where the glitch is: the edited names don't carry through to the list view. This has to be some sort of programming error. If you edit a name, you would expect that it would change the name on the summary list as well, right? Has anyone else had the same problem?

Hi,

I haven't got the same phone, but as far as I'm aware, when you link contacts it shows the persons name, that the person has written on one of their accounts.

For example: if they are known by their full name "Johnathan Smith" on Facebook or email. But you have another number for them under "Johnny" or "Smithy", no matter if you edit them before you link them, it will show the Facebook or email name -- which isn't a problem for me.

I think the only way to show the name you have edited, would be to delete it from your contact list. Dial the number and name it has intended and save, then link the Facebook/email contact to it. This should show the edited name you wanted to show in the summary list -- it works like this on my partners L820.

 

[martinmc78]

I agree. The fingers do not find the buttons easily. It takes a lot of concentration to press them. Though on the positive side, you also can't accidentally press them while the phone is in your pocket.

Will have to disagree with this - I've got so used to the button placement I regularly intentionally alter the volume on the phone without taking it out of my jeans pocket.

The one gripe I have got coming from an HD7 is the headphone socket being on the top. Got so used to headphone socket being at the bottom and being able to take my phone out of my pocket and it already be the right way up.

 

[envio]

Totally agree about the headphone socket being being moved to the top for no good reason (I'm an ex-HD7 owner too). It almost looks like an afterthought, with little or no real-life usablility testing.

 

[martinmc78]

Totally agree about the headphone socket being being moved to the top for no good reason (I'm an ex-HD7 owner too). It almost looks like an afterthought, with little or no real-life usablility testing.

You say that though but looking at every other handset available over the last few years the HD7 was the only one with the headphone socket at the bottom.

 

[envio]

I have a very strong love-hate relationship with my 8x. For all its sheer beauty and clever hardware design, (such that I've not even put a screen protector on it or shrouded it in a case), it could be so much better. Where do I start?

• The hardware buttons are flimsy and don't have a strong and sturdy build quality feel to them. The power button is definitely going to fail, I keep thinking that it's likely to fall into the case. All those additional key presses will eventually add up.
• The 3 hardware keys have a much more subtle haptic feedback which is a great improvement over the HD7. But I would still prefer to be able the choice to turn it off completely.
• Where haptic feedback would be useful is on the soft keyboard - why does the HTC One get all the love?
• Battery life - I wouldn't bother bringing this up since I always plug my phone in before I go to sleep anyway. I can get a good day's use out of it but that's by being sensible and turning off things I don't need and keeping the brightness low. But it's no match for the Lumia 920.
• I'm not impressed by the audio quality (media playback) although it's slightly better than my HD7.
• HTC don't provide any extra settings for deeper customisation like Nokia does and it's a real shame.
• Lack of 1st party apps/tools - this is perhaps the most shocking. Our relationship with HTC pretty much stops once we've ponied up the cash. Very poor collection of HTC developed apps and nothing is ever updated. There's no tie-ins, no app exclusivity deals, nothing. What happened to DLNA support - it was there in HD7? The only half decent HTC app is the flashlight, oh dear.

I have learned my lesson (again), I will switch to Nokia next time even if I have to wait for other carrier exclusivity deals to end in order to get one on my network. HTC are only interested in short-term sales figures and product launch publicity hype.

 

[MikeLip]

I am rapidly becoming a fan of WP8 (and I always read that as WordPerfect version 8). And this phone is awesome. But there are a few things that nag at me;

The buttons suck. They truly do. Take a look at the HTC(!) DNA for good buttons. Yeah, you can get used to them. Why should you? The DNA tells me HTC can do this right. But they just didn't.
No rotation lock. That annoys me.
No notifications. I want a blink. I don't care if it's always the same color. That would be better than what we have, which is nothing. You need to wake up the phone to tell you if you have a missed call or message. What is this? An iPhone? WP8 is better than that!
That blinding green LED when the phone is charged. I don't want that on. I want to use it for a bedside clock when I'm traveling, but that LED lights the room up. The DNA has one, but it's tiny and not disruptively bright.


Otherwise this is becoming my all time favorite phone. Right now I bounce between it and my DNA, or the Note 2 if I'm traveling.

 

[luk3ja]

I hate how the auto screen brightness doesn't work right. It never gets dimmer if i turn the light off, i have to lock the screen and unlock for it to take affect and even then after a minute it turns bright again

 

[travis_valkyrie]

Here's a little glitch that I've noted with my contacts list ("people" in WP8 lingo). I synced my contacts with my Facebook friends, and realized that there were some that didn't merge automatically with the existing contacts list in my phone. This was due to names not matching perfectly. I had some names misspelled, and others that have been in my phone forever had changed after marriage or divorce. So to clean things up, I edited some names and linked the duplicate entries. But here is where the glitch is: the edited names don't carry through to the list view. This has to be some sort of programming error. If you edit a name, you would expect that it would change the name on the summary list as well, right? Has anyone else had the same problem?

Not to say it's a bad device but this is why I switched to Nokia. I've had an HTC Trophy, HD7, and Titan, and all of them had the infamous Caller ID issue (when you receive a call it will not show the name if you have the contact number saved in a country code format but will show name in SMS - and vice versa), the "mono" sound issue (play music and open Bing, sound goes mono), and the pink "hue" on the camera (there's a pink blob at the center when taking pictures). Somehow HTC does some serious changes on the OS and that affects it without realizing until it reaches the hands of the customer.

So to answer your question, I do not get this problem. Check with other HTC owners (8X or 8S) to see if this is present on their phone.

 

[Pelle Lbergh]

Ppl holding out hoping for firmware or software updates from HTC: don't hold your breath. ^^

 

[ryan.kruger]

Ppl holding out hoping for firmware or software updates from HTC: don't hold your breath. ^^

minus the 3-4 I've had since December, right?

 

[Pelle Lbergh]

minus the 3-4 I've had since December, right?

3-4? Nokia has 3-4 updates every week dude.

 

[Pelle Lbergh]

Just wanted to point out that I have owned two HTC devices prior to my L920, HTC magic and desire HD. Both were terribly lacking in support from HTC when it came to software updates. Really tragic cuz I liked both of them.

 

[MikeLip]

Ppl holding out hoping for firmware or software updates from HTC: don't hold your breath. ^^

I'm sorry - how does this add to the discussion?