From the Forums: Lumia 920 74m drop, HTC 8X wearing away in pockets

As we all recover from the New Year parties everyone held or were at, we're still getting back up to speed here at Windows Phone Central. Our community forum has remained active over the past number of days, so what's been happening?

First up is Bernard Chelin with his emotional story of taking photos of fireworks from the Story Bridge in Brisbane, Australia when his Lumia 920 is accidentally dropped over the railing, which is quite a fall indeed. Hitting concrete at the bottom of the drop, the Windows Phone (even though Nokia mobile phones are built to last nuclear fallout) didn't survive.

Broken Lumia 920

"Amazingly the photos I had just taken had already uploaded to skydrive via 4G so I still have the last few snaps of the countdown with my friends. To my surprise though as I looked on in horror the screen was still on. By the time I got down there though it was off.. For such a big fall it fared pretty well though.. the outer casing shot off to one side and the front screen is smashed but all the pieces are still there. To say I am devastated is an under statement. My advice. Don't drop your phone off a bridge."

We've previously looked at the durability of the Nokia Windows Phone, but this fall was of course too much of it to handle. It's a shame that another had to be destroyed, but it does serve as an important reminder to any smartphone owner - don't drop your Windows Phone over the edge of a bridge.

Be sure to head on over to the "74m Drop Test - results within..." thread and add your words of support for the poor chap.

HTC 8X wearing away

Windows Phone Central ready Suckdontblow has published a thread on our community forum that looks at some wear and tear of the HTC 8X. The Windows Phone is said to discolour when being carried in jeans pockets for a duration of time. The coating on the rear of the device and corners slowly turns black. Unfortunately, the response from HTC wasn't comforting:

"So, what was HTC's response to a phone that's turning from blue to black within a month - and seemingly going to get worse? 'Exposing the phone to abrasive surfaces could color run the material of the unit (e.g. carry phones in pocket on jeans)'. Well, there we have it, if you own a HTC 8S/8X don't put it in your jeans pocket."

Our own Jay Bennett has confirmed the issue, though I cannot offer any opinion due to our review unit not being carried as often as required for it to discolour. Should you find yourself with a HTC 8X in possession, congratulations - you own a Windows Phone that shouldn't be carried in pockets of jeans.

You can join in the conversation and add your experiences in the "HTC: Don't carry your phone in your jeans" thread.

Rich Edmonds
Senior Editor, PC Build

Rich Edmonds was formerly a Senior Editor of PC hardware at Windows Central, covering everything related to PC components and NAS. He's been involved in technology for more than a decade and knows a thing or two about the magic inside a PC chassis. You can follow him on Twitter at @RichEdmonds.