The younger sibling of the HTC 8X, the HTC 8S is targeted at youth who do not want to spend more than Rs, 30,000 for a smartphone and can convincingly do much better than the entry and mid-level Androids. Running the latest Windows 8 OS, the 8S is available in pretty exciting range of colours like Navy blue, Black and Red (reviewed here).
The 8S is definitely one of the best of the lots in terms of the build quality and finesse. The candy-bar phone fits snugly in to the hands and feels premium. The 8S runs on dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor. The battery of the phone is non removable rated at 1700 mAh, the bottom cover of the phone has a rubbery feel and lets you insert the micro SIM and microSD card after removal of the cover. The phone has 4GB of internal storage, the external storage capacity can go up to 32GB. Nowadays when the screen size of the phones are increasing, the 8S features a 4in screen that has sharp display. The screen is S-LCD with 233 ppi pixel density protected by Corning Gorilla Glass.
The earphone socket and the power button are present at the top of the phone. The volume rocker button and the dedicated camera button are present on the right side of the phone. The dedicated button lets you capture shots by the 5-megapixel snapper that features autofocus and LED flash. It also has geo-tagging, touch to focus and face detection. The video can be captured in 720p. The 8S also features Beats audio sound enhancement, we tested the same with regular earphones and could notice the difference.
The battery life isn’t bad as well, with 3G and WiFi and some regular calls we could easily squeeze out day and a half on a single charge. In terms of the application support, Windows Marketplace offers good number of apps but not as much as compared to IOS and Android. I being an avid android user did not miss any of the apps on Windows 8, however, I was not satisfied with the games offers on Windows marketplace. Besides Windows marketplace, HTC also has some apps for Windows 8 that can be downloaded. One of the gripe that we have with HTC Windows phones is the lack of a navigation app. For instance, the Nokia Lumia series feature the Nokia drive for voice guided navigation. With HTC we have to settle with Bing Maps that does not offer voice guided navigation.
There is also a Kid’s corner that allows you to setup up more than one account in your Windows 8 phone. So your kids or anyone else who plays with your phone can only see what you want them to see. It can even let you hide apps from prying eyes. A nice feature to have it in a phone.
In terms of real-life performance, the 8S passes the test with flying colours, the live tiles, smoothness of the UI and switching between apps is a breeze. If you are looking for a phone that does not cost more, can make you stay connected with good app support and love flashy colours, the 8S is a perfect companion. In fact, during our tests, the red coloured device attracted many eye-balls from people and everyone inquired about the phone.
It retails for Rs. 18,900.
Rating: 
Pros: Slim and Attractive Design, Build Quality
Cons: No voice-guided navigation
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