In a smartphone market dominated by Apple's iOS and Google's Android is there enough room for another mobile operating system to make a mark? Microsoft is gambling there is with its new Windows Phone 8 operating system and the smartphones that run it such as HTC's Windows Phone 8x. As reviews begin to roll in for the Windows Phone 8 flagship handset model, it looks like Microsoft's bets are starting pay off with the 8x.

HTC Windows Phone 8X

HTC's Windows Phone 8X features the same SoC as the Nokia Lumia 820, and with a screen-size of 4.3-inch with a 1280x720 resolution, we have a market-leading ppi of 341 (it could be argued, and rightfully so, that over 300 the differences are difficult to appreciate without the use of a magnifying glass). This phone is also NFC-capable, and offers an 8 megapixel camera at the back and a surprising 2.1 megapixel offering at the front.

Jeff Bradley, AT&T senior vice president of devices and developer services, called AT&T's lineup of Microsoft-running smartphones "the best designs for the fantastic experience of Windows Phone 8."

The HTC 8X, introduced in New York two weeks after the Lumias, features a 4.3-inch 720p high-definition display, a front-facing 2.1MP camera said to be "more than an afterthought," as most front-facing cameras are, and a rear-facing 8MP camera with an f/2.0 aperture and an ultra-wide lens, capable of capturing the faces of four people at once when held in self-portrait mode.

The 8X costs $100 to $200 with a two-year contract from AT&T, T-Mobile or Verizon Wireless, depending on color, capacities and carrier.

Verizon also plans to carry the 8X for $199 on a two-year contract by Thanksgiving. The phone will come in blue, red, and black.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, introducing the 8X alongside HTC CEO Peter Chou, said it was a "magically thin" handset with a "beautiful design at the heart of both the hardware and the software." He added, "This is the first phone to, from the inside out, put people first."

AT&T is exclusively offering an 8GB version of the HTC phone in California Blue and a shade of yellow called Limelight for $99.99.

Laptop Mag

Laptop Mag liked the Windows 8 operating system, loved the 8x's camera quality, design, hard ware performance, but still thinks the Nokia Lumia 920 is the clear choice for best Window Phone 8 experience.

"The 4.3-inch Super LCD 2 display on the HTC 8X made maps, images and Web pages look great. A high-quality video of 'The Hobbit' streamed from YouTube showed deep blacks and bright, vivid colors. Also, viewing angles were excellent. We could tilt the phone at extreme angles and still see the dwarves on-screen."

"The 8X's 300 lux brightness was a hair shy of the 301 lux average. The Nokia 920 was only slightly brighter, at 310 lux. When we viewed the 'Skyfall' trailer on the 8X and Lumia 920 side by side, the Lumia 920's screen offered better contrast and deeper black levels."

"As attractive as Windows Phone 8 is, it could be easier to use. For instance, you need to press the top of the screen to see your battery life and signal strength. And while it's easy to switch apps, it takes more steps than we'd like to close them."

"Although the 8X has its own Maps app, we prefer Nokia Maps, which offered more details and has separate views for satellite, public transit and traffic routes. We also liked the clean presentation of Nokia's Drive app that provided easy to follow turn-by-turn navigation. (Nokia Drive is slated to become available to all Windows Phones, but there's no ETA.)"

"The HTC Windows Phone 8X's 1.5-GHz dual-core Qualcomm S4 CPU and 1GB of RAM delivered zippy app launches and tile navigation. On the Benchmark Free app, the 8X notched the top score of 7.9 on every test. That adds up to a cumulative score of 47.4, tying the Nokia Lumia 920, which also has a 1.5-GHz dual-core Qualcomm S4 CPU."

"We also ran the WPBench app, which measures CPU, data and GPU performance. The 8X scored 233.97, compared with 226.75 for the Lumia 920."

"The 8X's rear-facing 8-MP camera impressed at almost every turn. In side-by-side shots with the Lumia 920, we saw sharper details with colors that popped off the display. A photo we took of three fall bouquets had richer yellows, reds and oranges on the 8X. However, we did notice that the Lumia delivered warmer tones. Still, the Lumia is the hands-down winner in low-light settings. It was literally night and day, as we could barely make out our toys in the 8X shot."

"The HTC Windows Phone 8X is sturdy, sexy and svelte, and, like Microsoft's OS itself, clearly differentiated from Android and iOS devices. We especially like the 8X's fast back camera and wide-angle front camera. This handset's biggest limitations are the comparatively small size of the Windows Store and its relatively short battery life."

"If you don't mind its extra bulk, the $99 Nokia Lumia 920 for AT&T is our top Windows Phone pick. It offers a superior 4.5-inch screen and exclusive goodies like wireless charging and Nokia Music and Nokia Drive. You also get 32GB of storage for $99, versus 8GB for the $99 8X. You'll need to step up to $199 to get 16GB. But if you want to travel lighter, the slim and light HTC Windows Phone 8X is a very good choice."

ComputerWorld

ComputerWorld thought the phone performed virtually flawlessly, and liked the new OS. They were less impressed with the 8x's camera, and map apps.

"I found the HTC Windows Phone 8X's performance to be outstanding, with no delays in launching apps or changing screens, and no lags or slowdowns when listening to music or watching video. Previous versions of Windows Phone supported only single processors and still tended to be zippy. With dual cores, Windows 8 on this phone is even faster. However, there is a hardware downside. The phone comes with either 8GB or 16GB of storage and no expansion slots, so if you're a media hound and needs lots of room, you could run into trouble."

"The phone's simple, straightforward design is marred by physical buttons that are almost impossible to locate -- and even when you figure out where they are, they're still hard to use."

"The 8-megapixel camera with 1080p video recording capabilities is serviceable, but I wasn't impressed with the quality of the photos; the colors looked somewhat washed out."

"So if you use other Windows 8 devices, you'll find that a Windows Phone 8 device -- such as the HTC Windows Phone 8X can truly become an extension of your work and computing life."

"Nothing's perfect, of course, and I did find a few flaws. For example, Windows Phone 8's voice search and control capabilities don't come close to rivaling iOS's Siri or Android's Google Now feature. In addition, it doesn't offer voice-guided turn-by-turn GPS navigation."

"The HTC Windows Phone 8X is a slick, beautifully designed phone that shows off the new Windows Phone 8 software well, especially if you buy into the Windows 8 ecosystem of devices. It's fast and has a beautiful screen, although you may be put off by the limited storage."

"If you've already got a Windows Phone 7 device, you'll find the HTC Windows Phone 8X a worthy upgrade. For existing iPhone and Android device users, it's a harder call. It comes down to whether you want the information-rich interface of Windows 8, or the app-centric approach of Android and the iPhone."

Gizmodo

Gizmodo thought the 8x's performance was stellar, loved the handset design and screen quality. The site says the phone's biggest drawbacks are its short battery life and mediocre camera, which Gizmodo says performs dismally in low light situations.

"It's got enough firepower to go toe-to-toe with anything on Android or iOS... It's so solid, it feels like an iPad 2 coated in soft-touch paint and shrunk to 4.3 inches."

"The Qualcomm S4 dual core processor is quick, and it makes WP8's already snappy animations seem even faster."

"Apps open ridiculously quickly, especially considering how slow things used to be on Windows Phone. And the screen! Oh, goodness, the screen is lovely. It's a 1280x720 (341 PPI) display, and it positively sings with color and sharpness on videos and in WP8. The screen takes a hit on viewing angle, though-don't set it down to read. And some apps that haven't been updated for WP8 resolutions display in preposterous ways (Netflix encases the display in black on three of four sides)."

"Maps are accurate-they're powered by Nokia Maps instead of Bing now-and did not send me anywhere I didn't want to go. But you're going to have to wait a while for Nokia's transit and turn-by-turn features to make it to all Windows Phones."

Thought the best part of the phone was "The build quality. This phone feels like a rubberized katana blade-solid like an iPhone, but without the fragility."

Thought the smartphone's worst flaw was battery life. "Battery life was not great. With medium-heavy, but certainly not constant use, it would be just about dead before the end of a workday. Since this is the European model, it didn't even have LTE sucking down power."

"The camera did not perform very well in low light. It's a relatively fast lens-f/2.0-but all of its low light adjustment seems to be done in post processing, in HTC's Photo Enhance app."

Should you buy it? "Do you want a Windows Phone? Are you on a carrier other than AT&T? Then yes, this will probably be the best you're going to get."

"But if you're on the fence about making the switch, you probably want to hang back and see what the Lumia 920 looks like. Then, maybe wait a bit longer to see if the ecosystem actually manages to populate itself. But for the Windows Phone faithful, this is a hell of a makeup present from HTC."

HTC Windows Phone 8x specs

Display: 4.3-inch 1280x720 (341 PPI), Gorilla Glass 2

Processor: Qualcomm S4 1.5 GHz dual-core

Dimensions: 132.35 x 66.2 x 10.12mm

Weight: 130 grams

Storage: 16 GB, Micro SIM

RAM: 1 GB

Battery: 1800mAh

Camera: 8MP, f/2.0, BSI sensor

Network: (European) GSM, EDGE, HSPA, HSPA+