Let us help you decide which Windows Phone to buy

Things are hotting up in the world of Windows Phone. HTC, Nokia and Samsung have all announced some amazing looking devices and they all have very similar specs. So which do you go for then? Personally I have no idea which to go for, I have a gut feeling which to go with but I won’t spoil that quite yet. I’ll just quickly whip through the specs and features of each so you can try and make your mind up.

First up we have Samsung and their Ativ S which is probably the most conservative design out of the recently announced WP8 phones, yet for me there are quite a few things about it that make it a strong contender. Lets have a quick look at the key specs:

• CPU – 1.5 GHz Dual Core
• Memory – 16 or 32GB models
• RAM – 1GB
• Micro SD Slot – Yes with SDXC support
• NFC – Yes
• 4G LTE – No
• Screen – 4.8″ HD Super AMOLED
• Cameras – 8MP Auto focus with LED flash & 1.9MP Front camera
• Dimensions – 137.2×70.5×8.7mm 135g
• Battery – 2300mAh
• Wireless charging – No
• Available colours – Silver
• Extras – Samsung WP8 apps, ChatOn, Samsung Hub (Music & Media), Samsung Zone, Photo Editor, Mini Diary,

With the Ativ S you are getting a high end device with all of the little extras like SD slots and NFC that seem to be missed out from the other high end devices. The Ativ S is probably going to feel the most premium out of them all as it is made from Aluminium, it is also not going to get frowned upon if you pull it out in a meeting.

Here are a few pictures of the Ativ S just to remind you of its classy, premium look.

Next up we have Nokia with their two new Lumias. The 820 and the 920, coming in a variety of different colours and also having a range of compatible accessories. Not to mention their library of Lumia specific apps that will no doubt transfer over to WP8

• CPU – 920 & 820 Snapdragon S4 Dual Core 1.5GHz
• Memory – 8GB (820) or 32GB (920)
• RAM – 1GB
• Micro SD Slot – Yes (820) No (920)
• NFC – Yes
• 4G LTE – Yes
• Screen – 4.3″ WVGA (800×480) Clearblack display (820) & 4.5” WXGA (1280×768) PureMotion HD+ display (920)
• Cameras – 8MP with Carl Zeiss lens (820) & 8MP Pureview (920)
• Dimensions – 123.8×68.5×9.9 160g (820) & 130.3×70.8×10.7mm 185g (920)
• Battery – 1650 mAh (820) & 2000 mAh (920)
• Wireless charging – Yes with special case (820) & Yes (920)
• Available colours – Red, Yellow, White, Cyan, Purple, Grey and Black (820) & Yellow, Red, White, Grey and Black (920)
• Extras – Numerous Lumia specific apps, colour matched accesories, comes with a desperation to succeed, Mini Sim

Which Lumia to choose? It is going to be a hard choice for many people soon, for me the 920 seems like a more sensible decision, less playing about with memory cards and special cases. Also the larger battery on the 920 will make getting through the day a slight possibility. What does remain to be seen though is what colours the carriers and retailers will actually take into stock and whether Nokia release the whole range straight away.

Here are some shots of the new Lumias:

Next up we have the recently announced phones from HTC. The 8X and the 8S have been mentioned so much in the lead up to the announcement yesterday, we basically already new what was coming. What we didn’t know though was quite how colourful they were going to be. Again we see a large high spec device and a smaller lower spec device. Lets have a quick look at the key spec points.

• CPU – Qualcomm S4 Dual Core 1GHz (8S) & Qualcomm S4 Dual Core 1.5GHz (8X)
• Memory – 16GB both models
• RAM – 512MB (8S) & 1GB (8X)
• Micro SD Slot – Yes (8S) No (8X)
• NFC – No (8S) Yes (8X)
• 4G LTE – No
• Screen – 4″ WVGA (800×480) (8S) & 4.3″ 720P (1280×720) LCD 2 (8X)
• Cameras – 5 megapixel camera with auto focus LED flash F2.8 aperture and 35mm lens (8S) & 8 megapixel camera with auto focus, LED flash, and BSI sensor (for better low-light captures) F2.0 aperture and 28mm lens, dedicated HTC ImageChip (8X)
• Dimensions – 120.5x63x10.28mm 1113g (8S) & 132.35×66.2×10.12mm 130g (8X)
• Battery – 1700mAh (8S) & 1800mAh (8X)
• Wireless charging – No
• Available colours – Yellow, White, Red and Blue (8S) & Yellow, Purple and Black (8X)
• Extras – A range of HTC apps, Beats audio, Wide angle front camera capable of 1080p video recording (8X), dedeicated HTC ImageChip (8X), micro Sim

With the HTC 8X and 8S you are getting a great piece of hardware that have specs that rival the other Windows Phone offerings, although a few key points put them slightly behind the others. Things like the battery sizes and the overall size of the device. We need to see how all of these devices price up before we can truly compare though.

Here are a few shots of the new 8X and 8S:

For me I will go with either the Ativ S or the Lumia 920. Depending on price really, the Ativ S has a great spec and its also has a memory card and a memory card. The Nokia has a great library of apps that only Lumias can use, so whether I plump for the 920 or not I just don’t know. If the Ativ S comes out cheaper than the Lumia then I’m sold. For me lack of LTE is not really a problem, especially as for the first few years it will probably be capped and over subscribed.

Let us know which of these your going to go for below.