HTC 8S Windows Phone - Atlantic Blue

 Brand HTC | Model: 99HSS008-00

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HTC 8S Windows Phone - Atlantic Blue

Feature

• A620e Windows Phone 8
• 5 MEGAPIXEL F2.8 35 mm Camera
• 4 GB MEMORY
• CPU Qualcomm S4 1Ghz Dual Core

Product Overview

HTC MobHTC Rio 8s Rio Blue 99HSS00800 Phones Mobile Phones

4.0 out of 5 stars New Phone, 14 Jan 2013

By 

Robert Izzard - See all my reviews

This review is from: HTC 8S Windows Phone - Atlantic Blue (Electronics)

Great style - easy to use - very quick - a really good purchase price and very quick service from provider.

4.0 out of 5 stars Low on space, 11 Jan 2013

By 

cas - See all my reviews

This review is from: HTC 8S Windows Phone - Atlantic Blue (Electronics)

This is a fantastic smartphone but you will be let down by the small 4gb memory. The actual free memory for your stuff is around 1GB and this is enough for only a handful of apps and few games. You can use a micro sd card to expand the space for music, photos and videos but apps and games can be installed on the buil-in memory only. I'm not a heavy gamer and use some 10-15 apps and often I'm reminded to clear some space, which is annoying if you want to try new apps and prohibitive if you are a heavy user. One niggle is that the windows buttons sometimes get pressed by accident so you have to hold the phone right to avoid this. Other than that, this phone is good looking, I like how responsive and fast it is and windows phone 8 OS looks very promising!

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars try something other that WP8 or wait for the mini iPhone, 10 Jan 2013

By 

Panagiotis - See all my reviews

This review is from: HTC 8S Windows Phone - Atlantic Blue (Electronics)

Microsoft what are you thinking! It's my 3rd win phone and unless you fix the mistakes you did in a future update it will be the last! Everything that worked in the past versions is not. Improved graphics is nice, but give some effort to the core and the functions!!!! If we want graphics and games we would buy iPhone.
Just a list of failures that used to work perfect in older Win Phone versions, that have disappeared in WP8.
1. Sync with outlook: no tasks, contacts photos don't sync, no "file as" field in contacts and in short options, and an annoying (for everyone with already setup outlook) compulsory transition to use windows live.
2. SD card can't be used for storing apps and apps files (maps, pdf, office docs) then what's the point just video pics and music. When I can't have all the apps I need I will put the music on to forget about it and calm down? How do you even expect to sell apps and games if there is no space on the phones to install them!
3. No sync for IE Favorites!!!! Aren't both explorers your products? You can sync favorites from desktop IE to an iPhone Safari browser but not to an WP8 IE!!!!!!!! Seriously?
4. Calendar live tile can only show one event/appointment.. There is so much space there why only one? WP 6 you could have all of them in the home screen!!!! Plus the tasks list!
5. Alarm.. where to start.. some complain it's too loud others like me not loud enough.. just put an alarm volume setting to make everyone happy it's such a simple thing!! And an option to have vibration and sound for the alarm clock would be nice you had it in the past! Finally snooze how long it is? No info and no choice? WP6 you hit snooze and you have 5 choices to pick one WP8 no choice and no info (I know now it's 9min a bit long don't you think) how is this an improvement from previous WP?
6. Auto hide status bar on top... why?????? At least give us a choice!!!! I want to be able to see immediately how much battery I have left, how strong signal I have, if Wifi or BT is on ect. Why only the clock is left there??? Also there is no more info if we are having 3G service or not, again old WP6 had everything there for us! The improving would be to have the battery percentage shown and possibly access the settings of what is shown there by taping on it, it would be a nice shortcut (again something like this was happening on WP6) not have the bar auto hide.
Very disappointing result it looks like you fixed the outside graphics ect and rushed it into the market without paying any attention to details and usability..

3.0 out of 5 stars Average mid range phone, potentially fragile, 8 Jan 2013

By 

mosta67 "mosta67" (UK) - See all my reviews

(VINE VOICE)
  

This review is from: HTC 8S Windows Phone - Atlantic Blue (Electronics)

As others have pointed out, the Windows phone OS is remarkably capable and relatively mature, it makes calls and sends and receives texts ok.
The e-mail client is useful and syncs with hotmail nicely.

This HTC is a slim nice looking device with one caveat...the SIM and Micro SD compartment cover exposes the bottom edge of the glass screen when removed and is a potentially weak point in the design, as we found out to our cost.

Removing the cover several times in the course of 2 days (faulty SIMs, etc) we finally put a working one in, replaced the cover, wiped the screen and it 'clicked'. A tiny crack appeared in the bottom corner, exacerbated by the manager at P4U who pushed harder until the crack was across the whole phone, then told us we dropped it. The so called 'Gorilla' glass is useless, and the exposed screen a liability when changing SIMs.

I strongly advise anyone who buys one to take it into the shop they bought it from, and get someone else to take the responsibility of inserting SIMs and memory cards.
As you probably realise, phones, like ear-rings and undies are difficult to return once purchased, so caveat emptor.

Addenda: After doing a little research, the screen on this phone is Gorilla glass - which according to information on the internet is not meant to be stronger, as the title might suggest, but scratch resistant. Apparently it's more brittle than regular glass or plastic, so having an exposed edge under the SIM cover seems pretty daft to me. I'd personally prefer a phone that is stronger, and put up with a few scratches rather than having a screen like a glass jaw...

5.0 out of 5 stars awesome, 8 Jan 2013

By 

n1pson - See all my reviews

This review is from: HTC 8S Windows Phone - Atlantic Blue (Electronics)

Perfect in touch,with big screen,beautiful,very smart and in good....price !!!
It is the best thing happens to me for years and i am not desperate.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Great entry level phone if you are on a budget, 26 Dec 2012

By 

Rabey - See all my reviews

This review is from: HTC 8S Windows Phone - Atlantic Blue (Electronics)

The reviews on this phone are going to be split between power users and people on a budget. If you are in the latter group then this phone is highly recommended. Windows 8 is well worth a try and this phone makes it very affordable. We bought it for our teenager even though there is only 1.2gb space for apps (out of the 4gb). It will be tight but so far most of the apps we've downloaded are around 10-20mb so that means space for over 50 apps easily. Added 32gb sd card for 20 quid to store music, photos and videos. We have a it on an 'all you can eat' data plan so it will be mainly used for mobile video streaming. It's well built and fast. The Windows8 integration with Xbox live works well but not sure what to do with that yet. To be honest W8 makes our iPhone look old fashioned!

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars wheres the memory, 22 Dec 2012

By 

shaun - See all my reviews

This review is from: HTC 8S Windows Phone - Atlantic Blue (Electronics)

The phone itself is great. Beats audio is great. But with only around 2GBs of usable memory the phone itself is useless to me. I can put pictures and songs on a memory card but i can only fit a handful of games/apps on the phone. Overall if you intend to download multiple. Apps or games onto your phone this is not the one for you but if you just want a phone with a great audio system then look no further.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Good entry level phone with a few flaws, 20 Dec 2012

By 

Carl "CJC" (Manchester UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: HTC 8S Windows Phone - Atlantic Blue (Electronics)

After buying this phone and using it for a week or so, I decided to send the phone back for a refund. Whilst its by no means a bad handset (far from it), there were some annoying bugs that affected how I used my phone which will be explained as follows.

Context: I have been an Android user for a long time. Did have a Nexus 4 pre-ordered but my trusty HTC Desire died on me so I needed a phone and quick. I have had my eye on this WP8 handset for a while and thought seen as though this will probably be a stopgap handset, I would give WP8 a try. As my usage doesn't extend beyond texting, the odd call, music, social networking and checking email on the fly, I went for the more budget friendly 8S as opposed to the 8X as it does what I need it to do. Here are a few thoughts based on my usage so far.

Build Quality: Build quality is good, very solid. Have no complaints here so far.

Specs: On first glance, and when compared to other phones the specs don't look fantastic. But the following points need to be considered.
- This is an entry level handset (albeit a high end entry level handset) and needs to be compared to other entry level handsets, not high end handsets that are £200 + more expensive.
- This is Windows Phone 8, not Android. Acknowledged, if you put Android on a phone with similar specs to this it would probably chug. Not Windows Phone 8. Putting other frustrations aside with the OS, although it does stutter at times, it runs much smoother than any Android phone I have played with of the same specs.

Battery Life: so far this has been quite strong. Again putting things into context, yes it is only a 1700mAh battery, but it is only powering a 1ghz dual core processor, 512mb ram and a 4inch 800 x 400 screen. Comparatively, the battery in my HTC Desire, which has a screen of the same resolution and .2 inches smaller, and that only has a 1250mAh battery. So in this context, for a device this size, the battery is pretty big. Today took it off charge at 7am this morning, left for manchester at 10am so took it off wifi then, listened to music half an hour each way, checked email and sent a few texts en route. Got back about 1 and the battery was still in the high 80's. Will revisit this section after I put it through its paces more, but I don't think I will have too many problems getting through a day with moderate to heavy use.

Music: In some ways, the handset excels as a walkman, beats audio definitely makes a difference here regarding sound quality. And unlike some of the higher end handsets, the phone has a slot for a micro SD card so memory can easily be expanded to 32GB. But other bugs in the software ruin this experience, as I will explain below.

Screen: Considering the resolution is only 480 x 800 the screen is very good. colour's are bright, text is sharp and easy to read. For entry level handsets they won't get much better than this.

Windows Phone 8: This will not be to everyones taste so I would advise that people go into a shop and try it before they buy. But in a nutshell:

Pro's:
- It offers something different to Android and iOS's app based interface and probably lies somewhere in between the two. It is much more customisable than iOS although not as customisable as Android.
- Its smooth as butter, even on the modest specs of this handset.
- It is nothing short of fantastic for social networking, especially Facebook.
- Excellent integration with Skydrive for backing up photos.

Cons (and pet hates, as some of these really should have been sorted before launch):
- Nowhere near as many apps as the other two. This wasn't such a big deal for me as it had all the apps I needed but it could be for others. And considering the OS is new, this isn't something that can be helped. Can only hope that this number increases.
- Volume for media is not independent from volume of the ringer - As I used my phone as my main music player I found this a massive inconvenience. This is something I hope is fixed in a future software update.
- Vibration: It is either on or off. On my Android I can set it so for certain notifications I get a sound and vibrations, others I get just a sound, and others stay silent. With WP8 I couldn't work out how to disable vibration for one type of notification but not another without completely disabling the notification all together. On WP8 if you have notifications enabled, and vibrations enables, then the phone will vibrate for all notifications. During my time with the phone I did not find a way of disabling vibrations for one type of notification and enabling it for another.
- A notable bug in the OS that affected my usage - The volume often locks at a set volume if you have been listening for a while. Whilst this doesnt crash the device, the volume will remain locked unless you quit the app and go back into it. As I use my phone as a walkman alot this was a big factor in my decision to send the phone back.

Conclusion: So far, I am impressed with this handset and would happily recommend it to anyone who isn't after a sizable handset such as the Nokia Lumia 920 or Samsung Galaxy S3, and doesn't use their phone as their music player. The flaws which affected this was ultimately the reason I sent the phone back.

Whilst this may not be a deal-breaker for everyone it was for me because I used my phone as my music player and found these problems highly annoying. If these were fixed in a future software update then I would be more than willing to give WP8 another crack somewhere down the line.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A very nice phone, 16 Dec 2012

By 

Nick - See all my reviews

This review is from: HTC 8S Windows Phone - Atlantic Blue (Electronics)

It is a fast smartphone that has all the ordinary programmes required for an ordinary user. I don't play games on my phone and I don't know how many there are on the W8 market but I am really happy with 8s in terms of all the office stuff.

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