HTC Windows Phone 8S in the flesh!

Though HTC has not yet officially released the Windows Phone 8S in the Philippines, we managed to get hold of what could still be an engineering unit. This little handset is probably one of the nicest looking WP8 phones to be announced this year.

HTC has junked the usual monochromatic earthy tones they used with their smartphones and went color-crazy with their WP8 line-up.

The HTC 8S comes in a number of colors and the one we got here is the two-toned Fiesta Red. It goes well when you set the WP8 tiles to red or orange. There are other colors as well but we’re not sure if all of them will be released in the Philippines.

Both the HTC 8X and the HTC 8S has that new design that isn’t within their usual design signature. Aside from the cool color options, the HTC 8S has that smooth rubbery finish in a form factor that’s just right on the hands (it has the same screen size as the iPhone 5).

The back side is flat in the middle but tapers towards the edges to give it that perception of a thin profile (which is a pretty neat trick).

The unibody design gives the 8S a solid feel with continuous fluid lines that terminates right up to the glass panel at the front.

The compartment for the micro-SIM card and the micro-SD card is found at the bottom edge at the back (you can pry open the light-orange panel with your fingers). The battery is not removable though but that’s due to the almost unibody design.

The HTC 8S has decent specs but what intrigued us was the 1.0GHz dual-core Krait processor from Qualcomm. It’s the first time we’ve seen it being used in a handset.

HTC 8S specs:
4.0-inch Super LCD @ 480×800 pixels, 233ppi
Corning Gorilla Glass
Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Krait 1.0GHz dual-core
Adreno 305 Graphics
512MB RAM
4GB internal storage
up to 32GB via microSD card
3G/HSDPA
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth 3.1
GPS with aGPS support, GLONASS
5MP rear camera, f/2.8 AF
720p video @ 30fps
1700mAh Li-Po battery
Windows Phone 8

We’re still not sure when the HTC 8S will be released in the Philippines (we project a January release at best). However, it’s bigger sibling (HTC 8X) is already out in the market and retails for Php28,880USD 492INR 41,720EUR 469CNY 3,584. We hope that the retail price of the HTC 8S will be just around Php20k or less.

Abe Olandres

Abe is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of YugaTech with over 20 years of experience in the technology industry. He is one of the pioneers of blogging in the country and considered by many as the Father of Tech Blogging in the Philippines. He is also a technology consultant, a tech columnist with several national publications, resource speaker and mentor/advisor to several start-up companies.

https://www.yugatech.com

9 Comments

dan says:

12 years ago

bakit kaya 512mb lang ram, tama lang ba yan for windows 8? tsaka malaki ba imamahal ng unit pag ginawang 1GB un…
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rad says:

12 years ago

Nakita ko to dun sa cmkc@llph*ne website. 15k and presyo. Pero “coming soon” pa rin.
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edisson says:

12 years ago

Maganda pala ang itsura ng 8S.
Kung ang 8X ay 28k, how much pa kaya yung Lumia 920?? :(((
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marlon says:

12 years ago

Why are WP8 phones so expensive?
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Joelan says:

12 years ago

meron sa http://www.cmkcellphones.com/htcmobile.html
HTC
8S
Cash Price:
PHP 14,500

HTC 8X
Cash Price:
PHP 24,500
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Ice says:

12 years ago

mas mura Windows phone ng HTC kesa nokia..equivalent to 21k pesos for lumia 820 and 29,700 for lumia 920 here in ksa.
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Renard says:

12 years ago

gusto ko yung kulay pero di ako fond ng non-removable battery phones. Okay lang kasi yung Lumia 820 removable yung battery at may exclusive apps pa na wala sa HTC.
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aze says:

12 years ago

The HTC Concept Store in SM North EDSA will have a One Day Sale on December 18 for the HTC 8X and 8S. We have mentioned before that the SRP of the HTC 8X would be P28,800, but with the sale price tomorrow, you will be able to get this 1.5GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4-powered Windows Phone 8 for only P19,988.00! And if you’re eyeing for a much affordable alternative, you can snag the HTC 8S for only, wait for it, P9,988!

How to get these HTC phones for such low prices? There are some conditions according to the Concept Store. They will only offer these special discounted prices for the first 88 customers and the sale will start at exactly 12 noon. Aside from that, they can only sell 1 unit per customer and they can only accept cash payments.

source:
http://technoodling.net/sale-alert-htc-8x-and-8s-one-day-sale-on-12-18-12/
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