Kurt Shintaku's Blog

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
I personally bought the HTC Windows Phone 8X today.

I wanted a phone NOW and I wanted something super attractive & sexy.  There is technology in the Nokia that is superior however this is honestly of less consequence to me vs “visual sexiness” which I really want considering I’ve been using a very mediocre looking phone for a long time & I’ve gotten to sit down with the 8X and see what it’s like to hold & use.  The Samsung ATIV Odyssey might have been my choice but I haven’t gotten any hands-on time with it & it’s not going to be available until December and I don’t want to wait. 

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DETAILED SUMMARY:

There are 3 devices using Windows Phone 8 that Verizon Wireless is/will be offering:

• HTC Windows Phone 8X
• Nokia Lumia 822
• Samsung ATIV Odyssey

Here’s the decision tree that I had in my head… for better or worse:

• APPEARANCE:
  Does the appearance of the phone matter to you?  Do you prioritize ‘eye candy’ at all?
  • HTC Windows Phone 8X
  • Samsung ATIV Odyssey
    (The Nokia Lumia 822’s body styling doesn’t appear particularly attractive & has a lower display resolution than the other two)
• AVAILABILITY:
  Do you want the phone this month?
  • HTC Windows Phone 8X
  • Nokia Lumia 822
    (The Samsung ATIV Odyssey won’t be available until mid/late December)
• STORAGE:
  Do you plan on needing a lot of storage to store music, apps, videos, etc. in excess of 16GB?
  • Nokia Lumia 822
  • Samsung ATIV Odyssey
    (The HTC Windows Phone 8X is not expandable with microSD Flash)
• BATTERY LIFE:
  Do you need extra long battery life?
  • Samsung ATIV Odyssey
    (Samsung ATIV Odyssey has a 2300 mAh battery which is about 30% more than the other phones)
• RADIATION:
  Is radiation dissipation a concern for you?
  • HTC Windows Phone 8X
    (The Nokia Lumia 822’s FCC SAR measurement is ~50% higher than the HTC Windows Phone 8X.  No rating is available for the unreleased Samsung ATIV Odyssey yet.)
• AUDIO:
  Is high quality audio important?
  • HTC Windows Phone 8X
    (The HTC comes with Beats Audio, an audio hardware specification defined by Dr. Dre for quality.  It also comes with a very large & loud speakerphone.  Nothing is known about the speakers on the Samsung.)
• CAMERA: 
  Is high quality photography – even in low light situations – important?
  • Nokia Lumia 822
    (It’s been widely reported that the PureView-branded camera technology on the Nokia Lumia 822 is demonstrably better than others, in the same way that the Lumia 920 has best-in-class technology.  Again, not much is known about the Samsung’s camera.)
• SERVICES:
  Are complimentary & exclusive services like Nokia Maps, Drive, and Transport important to you?
  • Nokia Lumia 822
    (The exclusive nature of these services may turn heads in that they are considered best-in-class)

If you want to view the specifications for each phone on your own, look at these sites:

• http://www.phonearena.com/phones/compare/HTC-Windows-Phone-8X,Nokia-Lumia-822,Samsung-ATIV-Odyssey/phones/7224,7487,7410
• http://www.unwiredview.com/2012/08/30/samsung-ativ-s-odyssey-with-windows-phone-8-and-samsung-ativ-windows-rt-tablet-announced/