Samsung Galaxy S3 v HTC Windows Phone 8X

HTC has announced the Taiwanese company's first Windows Phone 8 smartphones - the HTC Windows Phone 8X and 8S. The 8X, priced at £399.98 is expected to be available on 5 November and the £224.99-priced 8S on 15 November.

Check out how the 8X does against Samsung's flagship smartphone - the Galaxy S3

Display

The Galaxy S3 has a 4.8in HD Super AMOLED capacitive touch-screen and uses the TouchWiz user interface (UI). The resolution of the display is 720 x 1280 pixels and it has a pixel density of 306 pixels per inch (ppi).

The HTC 8X has a 4.3in Super-LCD2 display with the same resolution but greater pixel density (324 ppi). In addition, the device, like the One X, reportedly has optically laminated glass, allowing for a brighter display when in direct sunlight and better viewing angles.

Both smartphones have Corning Gorilla Glass 2 for screen protection.

Dimensions

The Galaxy S3 measures 136.6 x 70.6 x 8.6mm and the HTC 8X measures 132.35 x 66.2 x10.12 mm. The latter is only three grams lighter than the Galaxy S3 at 130g.

Operating System

The Galaxy S3 launched with Android 4.0.4 (Ice Cream Sandwich) and will receive an update to Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) in October. UK owners are expected to be among the first to receive the update. The HTC 8X will, of course, run on the Windows software, which was announced on 20 June.

Processor

The Galaxy S3 is powered by the Exynos 4 quad-core 1.4 GHz processor with a Mali-400MP graphics unit. This processor was announced before the S3 was launched and the latter was the first to incorporate the new chip. The 8X uses the Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 dual-core processor (also at 1.5GHz) with an Adreno 225 graphics unit. This is the same chip Samsung uses in the US version of the S3. Both the Galaxy S3 and the HTC 8X have 1GB of RAM.

Camera

The Galaxy S3 has a primary camera of eight megapixels, with standard technology like auto-focus, LED flash, simultaneous HD video and image recording, geo-tagging, touch focus, face and smile detection and image stabilisation. The camera can capture video in 1080p at 30 frames per second. The secondary camera is a 1.9 megapixel unit that can record video in 720p at 30 fps. The front-facing camera of the Galaxy S3 has a feature called Smart Stay that uses the camera to monitor the user's activity and lock the phone when not in use.

The 8X has an eight megapixel rear-facing camera with the standard accoutrements. The handset also has a front-facing 1.2 megapixel unit. Both cameras use a dedicated HTC ImageChip and are capable of recording videos in 1080p.

Connectivity

The Galaxy S3 offers Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, DLNA, Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi hotspot, Bluetooth v4.0 with A2DP + EDR. The Galaxy S3 supports data speed up to HSDPA 21Mbps and HSUPA 5.76Mbps.

The HTC 8X will offer Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, dual-band and Bluetooth v2.1 with A2DP+EDR. The smartphone supports HSDPA and HSUPA data speeds.

Both the HTC 8X and the Galaxy S3 are Near Field Communication (NFC)-enabled devices. However, the 8X, unlike the S3, cannot support 4G networks.

Storage

The Galaxy S3 is available in three storage options - 16GB, 32GB and 64GB. The third in that range is not yet available but is expected later this year. The HTC 8X comes in a single model - 16GB - and does not, unlike the S3, offer a micro SD card slot.

Battery

The Galaxy S3 has a 2100mAh battery. The HTC 8X uses an 1800mAh battery.