HTC 8S - Review

The first device to sport Microsoft's shiny new Windows Phone 8, but how does it fare with its mid-range specs?

It has not been that long since HTC released their new mid-range windows phone called 8S, so it has a lot of competition these days, especially in the face of Nokia's Lumia series. But for a cheap device, this one is not so bad.

The design is simplistic, yet surprising. Smartphones using the Windows Phone OS usually come in a single-coloured casing, and while most of the HTC 8S is black, it has a blue-coloured stripe at the bottom, which makes it very easy to tell apart from other devices in the same category.

The buttons are uniform, like in most windows phones. The casing is built up from a sort of rubbery polycarbonate and the entire thing weighs only about 113 grams, so it feels very light in your hand.

Do not expect much from the screen. It is small, just 4 inches, but it is good enough for the operating system that this device uses, since Windows Phone 8 looks fine even on small screens. Its low resolution of 480 x 800 pixels, coming at around 233 ppi is also fine, but far from impressive.

HTC have chosen to power this mid-range handset with a dual-core 1 GHz processor and just 512 megabytes of RAM, but it is satisfactory for a cheap smartphone such as this one, and more than enough to handle the operating system without any glitches or lag.

The 8S, like most HTC smartphones, also has the iconic Beats Audio, so you will, at least, have a nice quality bass for your songs. The battery might look weak at just 1700 mAh, but it is more than enough for the weak hardware it has to power.

It is a standard practice to put 5 MP cameras in mid-range phones nowadays. Still, for a camera with such a small sensor, this one takes surprisingly good photos. You will not find many options to tinker with, though, and there are no scene modes. Note, also, that the HTC 8S lacks a frontal camera for video-calls.

If you are looking to try out Windows Phone 8 for a low price, and prefer other brands to Nokia, then the HTC 8S is definitely a viable choice, despite its low hardware specifications.

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Motorola Motoluxe MT680 - Review

A budget phone suitable for everyone’s pocket

There are probably tons of budget phones out there that offer different capabilities at different prices. But what makes Motorola’s Motoluxe MT680 so different from the others? In truth, this phone offers some nice specs, without sacrificing usability and battery life, and has a nice and sleek design. Here is what this little device has to offer.

Truly, you cannot expect something very stylish from a cheap phone such as this one, but the Motorola have actually made good use of some cheaper materials, and the result us more than satisfactory. The Motoluxe MT680 has an easy-to-use classic design, with sensor-buttons below the display, a well-placed camera, and microphone, which you are unlikely to accidentally cover with your hand while using the phone.

The display is nothing special. It is an old-fashioned 4-inch capacitive TFT touchscreen with a 480x800 resolution and a 233ppi pixel density. Still, it does support multi-touch and has a nice overall picture quality, although it is a bit too-reflective in the sunlight.

While the Motoluxe MT680 lacks a frontal camera for video-calls, the main camera is satisfactory at 8 MP and takes some nice photos, although it lacks the huge array of options and technologies found in more expensive devices.

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As for the chipset, it is mainly optimized for battery life, but offers enough performance to run the slightly outdated Android 2.3.7. The processor is a single-core, clocked at 1 GHz and makes use of only 512 megabytes of RAM. Still, considering that this phone uses an older operating system, these are more than enough for everything to run smoothly. I wouldn’t use it for gaming, though.

Finally, the battery is a regular Li-Ion 1390mAh and offers about 180 hours in standby. It is definitely not that easy to drain since the low-performance chipset and the old OS use minimal resources.

As far as budget smartphones go, this one is pretty nice in terms of design and usability. If you are unable to afford a more expensive model, but still want an Android smartphone, this is a very good choice.

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