Android fans rumored to be getting bigger, more powerful HTC 8X clone with the M7

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Here’s an interesting twist: An HTC Windows Phone design is evidently being reused for a new Android phone. Yes, after a few cycles of having it in reverse it appears now that HTC will take their highly praised 8X design and recycle it for a new Android M7.

The images come via Android Police and while this is far from official (or 100% confirmed), the phone looks different enough from the 8X to be legitimate.

Sense 5.0 is reportedly on board though specs were not elaborated upon. The camera LED, normally to the right of the camera on the 8X, has been moved to the left and the same goes for the front facing camera, which has also swapped sides. As Android Police point out, this could be an elaborate hoax but it fits with HTC’s MO of reusing previous designs across platforms to reduce cost (and bank on success if the design is popular).

Earlier rumored specifications of the device suggest that this is basically a bigger more badass 8X. As reported by our sister site Android Central, the twitter account @evleaks spilled the deets saying the M7 has “a 1080p display at 4.7 inches with an eye watering 468PPI. Underneath is said to be a second-generation Qualcomm quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage.”

Clearly we can see HTC moving into the 1080P range for displays, something for which they reportedly want to do with Windows Phone 8 but can’t. Ironically, if Windows Phone 8 does get bumped for 1080P, we could see the 8X rebranded as the M7 come back to Windows Phone as the 8X2 or something similar, completing the odd HTC product design cycle.

The M7 is rumored to be revealed at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona next month.

So how do you folks feel over Windows Phone now being mimicked for Android? Better than before when we were getting recycled designs or worse knowing that Android fans will finally get that 8X look and feel? Let us know.

Source: Android Police; via Android Central

Daniel Rubino
Daniel Rubino

Daniel Rubino is the Executive Editor of Windows Central, head reviewer, podcast co-host, and analyst. He has been covering Microsoft here since 2007, back when this site was called WMExperts (and later Windows Phone Central). His interests include Windows, Microsoft Surface, laptops, next-gen computing, and arguing with people on the internet.
123 Comments
  • That's why I bout a Lumia. Not it's not an android. Never!
  • How can you fight a Lumia?
  • Being a little facetious? ;)
  • Well he said "bout a Lumia" which means "fight a Lumia" :P He probably meant "bought a Lumia" though ;) ;)
  • +10
  • I hate when manufacturers do that, I will stick with Nokia.
  • And with all those specs + jelly bean, its still going to lag. Tisk tisk
  • Have you used anything with jelly bean? I personally think it brings it up to par with iOS and WP. (Own NL822)
  • I have a Nexus 7 with quad cores and it lag and crash with Jelly Bean and the response I think is slow.
  • I have an S3 with jelly-bean, my friend also, I produced the same lag. Project butter is a total failure. At least for that device
  • Yes I have, and no, it isn't as fast and fluid as WP.
    Lagdroid is designed to avoid long list, as they are slow. Even with a 16 core it will be beaten by wp 7.x too !
  • I have a nexus 7 with 4.2 and it lags about 30% of the time....not surprised that my single core 900 beats it in day to day speed
  • My amazing galaxy nexus with jelly bean is smooth and amazing so yea...I get you don't like it but not everyone feels like you 
  • Well being 1080P its going to have either 1/2 the refresh rate of a 720P screen, or it will have double the pixels to shift so double the power consumption (and parts of the CPU/GPU will have to work twice as hard).
    All for a benefit that (if the Retina argument is true) cannot be seen.
  • Not necessarily..newer processors are more efficient than older generations. While they're pushing more pixels, its doesn't means that its using more power.
  • Design looks sweet onwards and upwards. MS not making 1080p displays available though for wp8 futureproofing was probably not that smart in hindsight.....
  • Can you explain how the human eye could even see the difference? My L920 is still stunning at 'just' 720p...
  • It doesnt really matter what the human I can see, what matters is that you van boast about having the latest greatest.
    This thing better have a 16-core to beat Samsung's 8-core because 1080p is only 'above average' when it comes to gadget d*ck comparisons.
  • Ignorance is bliss than I guess.
  • Its not a real 8-core CPU. Its (2) 4-cores, one for light and the other for heavy lifting
  • This processor core spec race needs to stop. The software we're running isn't taking advantage of our current hardware. Why don't we slow this rapid advancement in favor of battery improvements.
  • They could easily add 1080P support in the middle of a device cycle if they wanted to. They added LTE support for The Lumia 900 and Titan II when it wasn't part of the hardware specification. The question is whether it's a feature that OEMS are pushing hard enough for that they have to do it. LTE was critical to AT&T, so they made it happen. 1080P doesn't seem to be that important with WP8 already supporting 720P and 768P. Its basically just buzz word marketing because no mobile video is remotely close to that resolution and pushing those pixels is just killing batteries
  • Good points. The other downside to 1080p content is the amount of storage it requires. Poor 8X owners.
  • Lagdroid will need the extra power...
  • Now now children, be mature.
  • HTC 8x 8 or 16 gig was a fail, should've been 32. It only shows the true lack of interest for the platform. How in the hell will wp8 ever going to succeed allowing this shit to happen?
  • This is the single biggest reason I bought a Lumia 920 instead of an 8X, though I've always been loyal to HTC in the past. 32gb in more colors for half the price? No-brainer, especially when you throw in Nokia's superior software.
  • That was the end all for me with 8x. 32 GB was below what I was hoping for to begin with. 16 was a joke.
  • It was not a fail, tell that to the analysts that say that the sales of the 8X saved HTC.
  • Who said that again, Gizmodo?
  • HTC have to do what they have to do to be ahead of the competition. MS WP, well we have to wait till fall to know what the next big thing is. Seems as though wp's trend is stale during spring and summer and picking up during winter. Fall is the anticipation.
  • This is why I didn't buy the HTC. I was really considering it too. But their reputation continues to define them. Companies need to stick to one OS and support that OS 100%. 
  • HTC does not have the same clout as Nokia
  • That's dumb. Nokia doesn't have one OS either. Putting all your eggs in one basket isn't smart.
  • Spreading what little eggs you have in a field of a thousand other eggs is smart? Put your eggs in the basket that you are most likely to be picked from. If they push Windows Phone hard enough they could be a dominant force in that market rather than a 4th or 5th choice in the Android market. Just seems more logical to me.
  • Unless it fails...
  • We really need to jump on this guy! He's slandering WP8! Please set him strait in the comment section of his article
    http://www.bgr.in/news/five-reasons-why-windows-phone-8-doesnt-work-for-...
  • If the article is slamming WP8, why would you encourage anyone to click on the link - it's how they make their money, so why help them?
     
    Besides, what do you expect from BGR?  I visited that site a few days in late 2010, and I haven't been back since.
  • Worse, knowing that Android users get offered more and get more under the hood yet the same 8X design. C'mon Microsoft. Stop restricting your phones and get to 1080p already!
  • Definitely. Microsoft needs to stop restricting these requirements and give developers and manufacturers the ability to compete in the 1080p market. Getting blown out of the water by a second rate OS (Android) is embarrassing.
  • What Microsoft is doing is smart. They actually have control over their OS and are gradually getting to where they want to be. This allows them to get their OS to the state it needs to be in, in order to compete. They don't want to rush into a market that is already owned by Android and IOS. If they were to release a version of WP that they rushed into and didn't finish, they would be embarrassed and as of now they simply can't afford that. I really like their approach, a controlled environment that is open to many manufactures. 
  • First off these restrictions are the minimum, so the company can add the latest and greatest into a phone. Second it the companies fault for not adding the 1080p screens when both the 8x and 920 offer the highest resolution screens you will see in the market for now so adding a 1080p screen is just stupid, besides its just a marketing stunt, so you can spend your money on stuff that won't look different, in terms of screen resolution.
  • Its all marketing. And "marketing stunts" work, ask someone with an Android or apple device.
  • No, leading with specs os not stupid. I'd rather they do that than play catch up.
  • I'm assuming it ships with a magnifying glass to make use of that ppi. Seriously, 1080p on a 4.7" display is just specs for specs sake. Why not work on viewing angle, refresh rate, color accuracy, brightness, screen reflectance or any other important component of screen quality that people might actually notice.
  • +1000
  • I've never understood viewing angle. I want less on my phone and tablet and laptop! I have an idea for an invention, instead of a stupid sticky film use a parallax screen that can use software to adjust the viewing angle instead of making the image 3d. So privacy when I want it, four kids watching Netflix when I need that.
  • Battery life comes to mind... I'm eagerly awaiting the battery wars, but I'm guessing that component is not cool enough to market.
  • How do you know they haven't already dont that? How about use the device before concluding it doesn't have all of what you wrote.
  • So many cry babies here.
  • Lol
  • I was just going to say the same......about you.
  • except im crying about these cry babies. Big difference
  • I told you, HTC is still in bed with Google. Microsoft went in bed with the wrong person.
  • The wrong person??? Offer a the choice of a free top end HTC or a free top end Nokia. I'd be willing to bet that an overwhelming majority picks Nokia.
  • I agree.
  • 1080p is a serious battery drain and requires a much bigger phone. Costs will be much higher for displays too due to low yields.
  • @ Microsoft junkie, your on crack if you think jelly bean lags. It's as smooth as silk, just as Wp8 is.
  • You must be insane, my S3 lags like a seizure with jelly-bean. I even replicated the same lag on friends s3 with jelly bean from a different carrier. I know what I see and experience.
  • LOL! I'm with you MSjunkie! My Nexus 7 is doing the same thing also.
  • You know what you see and experience coming from Touchwiz?? You obviously don't know much about Android. You don't understand that all skins ruin the true Android feel. So to base Jellybean off of the S3's Touchwiz is very shallow. Try out a Nexus 7/10/4 and then post your concerns. Those devices offer a far better experience than you will ever get from a skinned Android device.
  • True. And to be completely honest, my 920 lags a lot! Much more than my friends sg3 or note 2, much more. It also (still) reboots occasionally, back arrow button only works sporadically, and sometimes my start screen jumps continuously until I restart my phone, etc. (tip of the iceberg for how many problems my 920 has)
    These same problems persisted on my 900 before this! Never had this problem with my HTC Radar or HD2, running WP7. So let's not act like this OS is perfect, it's not, nothing perfect exists. Especially in tech!
    But honestly if the M7 looks that good, it may be my next phone!
  • Thats crazy... while I am not "everyone" I have yet to experience any one of the issues you described here.
  • I've not experience that on my 900. Hmm, since you experienced some of the issues on the 900 (jumping start screen) I'm wondering if its (at the risk of sounding like Apple) your grip? Its about the only thing common between the two phones.
  • Was the battery ever mentioned? Specs like that on an android would need a portable fusion reactor ;). Where is Tony Stark when you need him? :D
  • Omg that was hilarious
  • I'm sticking with Nokia!
  • I love WP8, but I have an HTC 8x and it lags big time for some reason and it's pissing me off because my old WP never did this, and this is my second phone.. T-Mobile.. Anyone else has this problem right now?
  • lags in where? because windows phone has always lagged little in some areas.
  • When I click on an app it stutters all the time almost, and it did the same on my other one I returned also.. And it could just be maybe both are defects.. I still have it and love it but I hate the lag..
  • Mine doesn't lag at all
  • sorry it lagged since windows phone 7 (even in IE), after mango, when you try to lotate to landscape mode in bing, windows phone 8 camera the 3 dot etc. but nothing liker old android lag.
  • I somewhat agree, it does lag in areas my Samsung focus flash did not. Microsoft hasn't fully optimized this is yet I believe.
  • My keyboard lags like crazy, though on a 920, not an 8x. I type slow and it can barely keep up with me. My 900 had no keyboard lag at all.
  • Ok because mines never did on my Samsung Focus S either.. This is going on with my HTC 8x..
  • That's weird. The 8x I got for my mom does not lag at all and its T-Mobile. I even compared it side by side to my radar and it smokes it! The only issue my mom has is every once in the while when she calls me or other people it seems to sound muffled but its intermittent. I don't think it's a coverage issue. Possibly interference? Bad mic?
  • Yeah I agree that it's weird because I know that WP's aren't known to lag. Maybe it's a defective phones I have.. I am going to contact HTC, MS & T-Mobile about this, because I'm having a nit so good experience right now and I love WP, hate iPhone & Android... I'm trying to get my wife to get rid of her Android phone & get a WP, but it's hard too when my phone is lagging with hers, and the apps she likes isn't there, plus she doesn't like the two screens that WP offers.. They need to add one or two more screens I think..
  • Most likely background tasks or low storage. On my HD7 if I get below 1GB free it starts to lag periodically. Apparently this is a common issue with HTC mobiles. I've also had a rogue app that would periodically check for new content and it would lag my mobile. I disabled all background tasks, but it was still an issue as it was in one that I couldn't turn off manually. I uninstalled the apps 1 by 1 until I found the culprit. It would've been nice to have a task manager in that instance to see what was running at that precise moment when it started chugging.
  • Finally! They're getting some of our left overs:-)
  • Can someone tell me why wp8s have a fraction of the apps that iDevices do?? I'm frustrated and am considering Droid or iPhone
  • The same reason Apple's OSX and Linux don't have all the APPlications, market share and sales figures.
  • Didn't really answer my question. It seems there's an app for everything on iDevices but not much for WP8. Common apps like Twitter took wp8 forever to get. Dice with buddies,official sports apps...etc. I'm just not seeing much.
  • Market penetration and exposure would be my best guess. iDevices were first to market, built up their app store and phones. wp8 does not have the same market share or awareness. I am not a dev but a bigger market for similar effort makes sense to pursue. There are other factors but that is probably the biggest for most developers.
  • Who seriously cares if it looks the same? I didn't buy my phone to look cool or show it off. I bought it because I liked the design and it functions for what I need it for. Now as for the Android aspect, enjoy your lag and crash fest that destroys your battery.
  • Well, since WP is the OS I wouldn't call it mimik AT ALL.
    The phone design is responsability of HTC, not Microsoft. Saying that it will be mimiking is the same as saying that Windows Phone mimiked Symbian with the Lumia 800 / Nokia N9. That said, I only buy Nokia phones so I don't really care if HTC reuses the design of the 8X... I will be more interested if Nokia reuses the design of a Lumia for a Nokia Android in the future =P
  • Nokia with Android? Hahahaha!!!!
  • It'll happen within two years. Unless Microsoft buys them outright.
  • n9 isnt on symbian but i get your point ;-)
  • Right like one for all the carriers.
  • I don't want people to think I've got an Android device....thats why I bought Nokia.
  • You should also go buy an Affliction shirt and some Big Star jeans. You want people to know you are cool, right?
  • LMAO! Classic!
  • levis 507 ftw :P
  • ROFL! This is why I love this site!  These witty comments are HILARIOUS!
  • I get asked if my 920 is the new, bigger iPhone in a red case or a Note 2, at least once a week. Most have never heard of Windows Phone when I tell them. Then they walk away uninterested. Sad but true.
  • First time i had my lumia it drew a crowd after i left it on my desk at work. Its yellow by the way. Now 3 people at work have the 920 and 1 the 820. They are all very happy.
  • I think this makes HTC look like they are lacking creatively the Android fans will be ok with this because throwing Android on anything turns them on but that Ativ S makes me disgusted with Samsung so this pretty much causes the same reaction but I guess it's our job as consumers not to buy it to show them we don't want recycled hardware
  • If this is indeed true, than I am somewhat disappointed. I mean HTC gets to make a signature WP device and then they re-use the design for an android phone? To me that is simply cheap and pathetic. It's like HTC is simply not giving a ... Consequently this is why I think MS should make their own hardware. Or buy Nokia already, and let them make it for them. But seeing a nice WP design reused for droids is just an eyesore.
  • Wish I could rate ur comment with +5 @Lych
  • wash your tongue.nokia shouldnt ever be ms
  • Why is Nokia doing a lumia Android more interesting then this yes I'd be in raged but really no matter who is doing it im not a fan of it give me something unique for the $ im shelling out and thats my main reason I went from palm/webos to WP/Nokia it offers an unique experience
  • webOS was pretty unique with it's cards. I still miss some of it's features, especially the magnetic wireless charger. The ridiculous thing with this copy is not the copying (we've seen that from htc and Samsung as recycled Androids) , it's the fact that the 8X is a signature device! It's the "hardware face" of Windows Phone. It's really lame to reuse a signature design for a different platform.
  • Agree.
  • Why didn't HTC do this from the get go with WP8 it would have sold even better I would have bought one. I didn't upgrade my HD7 to 8x for this reason. I wanted something biger than the 16 and something bigger than that the 4.3 Nothing on T-MO that meets me needs so I held off for me. I knew HTC would do something like this but I thought it would have been for WP8.
  • 468ppi? The human eye cannot process that pixel density. It wouldn't look any better than the 8X. This is nothing more than dick measuring.
  • Hmmmm. Seems like a good move for HTC. Android has more visible development going on than this platform so why not?
  • They still wont sell more than Samsung. They need to concentrate on battery, wifi connectivity, data connectivity and touch responsiveness before they get into this dick measuring exercise cause they wont win. At least Samsung adds stuff like smart stay, best photo, s pen e.t.c.
  • Dick measuring? ROTFL.  Not the point of them selling more or less than Sammy. My point is, android is where much development is happening in the mobile space. There is no denying that.  That OS gives them the freedom to do virtually anything they want to do on top of it. Windows Phone aka Microsoft, simply isn't there yet. But once MS has a solid enough platform, API's and tools, things will change here and quickly but that day isn't today. 
    Today the development juggernaut is at Android. That isn't to say, development isn't happening anywhere BUT android, but it has the lions share of visible development is there. And yes, Sammy rules and I still believe, its only a matter of time before they attack this platform the way they know now. If they ever do, Nokia better have a plan B.
  • I would love if Windows Phone mimics Android 1080p screen.
  • Let HTC test it out on Android, work out the bugs, and then bring it over. :)
  • From HTC. What a surprise. I feel so... Oh wait. I have a Nokia :) never mind.
  • Why do some of yall think having a Nokia makes this a none issue I have one and the issue is HTC and Samsung should be put under some kind of pressure not to do this and keep things creative and innovative both companies need a vision for each OS they make hardware for and they should be tailored to that Os I think it's an insult to us to beef up the 8x design and specs and throw it on Android just like the Ativ S may or may not be a dumb down of the SG3 ...FYI everyone doesn't want a Nokia people!!!
  • i agree that htc and samy needs to to that.when competition gets strong new and better things happend in tech world.even price drops,so its a good thing ps
    nokia does conecting ppl :P
  • I find it amusing that we're talking about an android device. Such news would benefit more in AndroidCentral that WPCentral. Either way, this is common for OEM's. Even Nokia recycled some of their old Symbian phone designs to use in their Lumia WP line.
  • NOKIA all the way in color!!!
  • @microsoft junkie, I have the S2 skyrocket running custom jb, but my phone is rooted, unlocked so I run custom roms, and my skyrocket is every bit as smooth as my Lumia 920.. If you have an android and not rooted, then there lies the problem.
  • You have to root it? Therein lies the problem.
  • My friend rooted his skyrocket and has lags too.
  • If this leak is true, then I guess the HTC 8X won't be as unique anymore. Many Android users appreciated the look of this device and ''wanted'' to switch to windows phone because of it.
  • That was kind of my point, not so much from actual use because as far as I am concerned it already looks great. My comment was more from a marketing perspective.
  • So android gets the HTC we should have gotten. And its rumored Verizon will get an improved 920.
  • Not surprised at all. HTC  already gave Android that design. Take a good look at the Droid DNA. Same build material, Beats Audio in the rear, and battery sandwiched behind the screen. Considering the large number of Android users, HTC will probably sell 10 times as many M7s as 8Xs and then we'll have to hear every tech reporter tell Nokia "I told you so". That's why I'm voting with my wallet and buying a Nokia as soon as they release a proper Hero Phone on Verizon.
  • M7 will apparently show how Android lags comparing to WP on the same or even slightly better hardware.