HTC Windows Phone 8 specs leaked for three new phones

By George Ponder
last updated

The dust has barely settled from the Windows Phone Summit and we are now seeing leaked specs on three new HTC Windows Phone 8 devices. Here's what we know about the Rio, Accord and Zenith.

Rio: The Rio would be considered an entry level Windows Phone featuring a 4" WVGA display, 5mp camera with 720p video capture, 512mb on board memory, 14.4Mbps HSPA and a Qualcomm MSM8227 processor.

Accord: Stepping up from the Rio will be the Accord that features a 4.3" 720p Super LCD 2 screen, an 8mp camera with 1080p video capture, NFC support, 1gb of RAM, dual-core processor and 42Mbps HSPA+.

Zenith: The Zenith will be the upper end model featuring a 4.7" 720p Super LCD 2 screen, 8mp camera with 1080p video capture, 42Mbps HSPA+, and a quad-core Qualcomm processor.

All three Windows Phone 8 devices are slated to ship this year with the Rio and Accord scheduled tentatively for October and the Zenith later in the fourth quarter (in time for Christmas?). Granted all these projections are dependent on how smoothly and timely Microsoft has Windows Phone 8 ready and all the carrier involvement that we have grown to love.  

It should prove to be an interesting summer...

Source: Verge (opens in new tab)

George Ponder
George Ponder

George is the Reviews Editor at Windows Central, concentrating on Windows 10 PC and Mobile apps. He's been a supporter of the platform since the days of Windows CE and uses his current Windows 10 Mobile phone daily to keep up with life and enjoy a game during down time.

177 Comments
  • No LTE? #lol
  • These are all referring to the international models which are developed first as Taiwan doesn't have any LTE networks to test LTE phones against.
  • its a good thing HTC doesn't have any personnel or offices in the US or they might not be able to use that excuse.
  • They do have offices in the US. Just so happens that there's some near my house
  • Everyone knows they are lte
  • The S4 chips being used by these devices support LTE.
  • HSPA+ is largely T-Mobile which doesn't have LTE and AT&T which has very little LTE.
  • T-mobile will have LTE starting in Q4
  • What happened to the 16 MP camera? I would think that would be the standard moving forward on all their top of the line windows phones.
  • Agree. If I'm gonna upgrade: camera 16mp running on a quad core. By the way the design on the phone looks a little like the lumia 900.
  • More pixels doesn't mean a better camera. Especially with that small sensor low light pics should take better on an 8mp camera than a 16. Big pixel counts are for the most part, especially on phones, gimmicks.
  • More MP are good if you're going to enlarge significantly and can deal with the noise, or use photo editing software to smooth it out. There is many apps that could help on that. So you are saying an 8mp cam can take better pics than a 41mp cam like the one on pureview? I stand on needing a phone with bigger pixel with the right software its a perfect cam.
  • George Ponder u da man good job :D keep up the badass articles
  • Odd that they are not using the 16 MP camera that they use on the Titan 2.  I would figure at least a 12 MP?
    HSPA support makes it seems these will be coming to Tmobile as well i would suspect. 
  • The 16MP sensor was a gimmick. They will probably use the 8MP sensor in the HTC One X.
  • probably, since this essentially IS the One X.
  • I have the Titan 2 and my Focus S takes better pictures with its 8 mp camera. Also low light pictures are pretty bad on my Titan 2.
  • Focus S had such an awesom camera,
     
    My 900s camera sucks :(
  • dont worry my trophy (verizon) has a good camera but the lens is made of butter and now the pictures are worse than my sisters dumbphone
  • T-mobile is refarming there network so it's att/t-mobile.
  • ....waits for Nokia
  • Same!
  • Same... Pureview:)
  • +1 a Nokia pureview camera running on wp8 with latest hardware would skyrocket sales on windows phones.
  • Damn, forgot about Pureview. So they were waiting for WP8?
  • Ditto. :-D
  • Yup
  • Useless comment
  • We're fanboys, so deal with it
  • there's no reason to sh!t an HTC article
  • These are probably the international versions. I'm sure there will be carrier variants with LTE on board. This seems to be like HTC's One series for Android.
  • Keep in mind these are "leaked" and not "verified". We have seen time and time ago speculated specs be quite wrong.  Also, I'd be shocked if LTE was removed.  I'm sure all these devices support LTE. 
  • Dont think ATT would even carry if not LTE.  Sames goes for Verizon if Verizon wants WP8 phones. 
    These could be the Tmobile versions. 
  • T-mobile will start rolling out LTE in Q4.
  • Nice, I am probably going to stick to an HTC phone since they are the only Windows Phones I found to have great music sound quality for headphones. My Titan 2 sounds way better than my Focus S and my cousins Lumia 900. Although I do miss the Super AMOLED display and camera from the Focus S.
  • I agree
  • U are right on the sound quality. So contented with my HD7. I'll probably go for a Nokia though. Those exclusive apps are simply too good to pass by.
  • I care more about sound than an app
  • It sounds like the specs of the One series.
    Your move, Nokia.
  • because it is, minus the new screen resolutions.
     
    5Mp camera is super entry level though...that better be a stunning sensor
  • I don't really care about camera quality, I care about price. If lowering the megapixel count works to that end, then I'll be cushty.
  • I'm waiting on Nokia version
  • No NFC or 720p+?
  • NFC will be built into the sim card... Why did everyone miss that. Essentially Microsoft will use NFC for the wallet but other manufacturers will have access to that technology
  • Not sure if you have seen the accessories for samsung's NFC on the GS3, but it's amazing. They have little NFC stickers for you to put up in your house, car or office that link to phone apps. Want to turn on WiFi when you get home? Put a sticker on you coffee table that activates your phones WiFi when you tap it. NFC accessories are going to own.
  • Ubercool... Me wants!
  • A gimmick.. Just saying.. NFC wallet is the only useful thing, and maybe sharing contact info (business card sharing)
  • Sweet nice htc
  • Not interested if it isn't Nokia.
  • Then don't waste internet bandwidth commenting!
  • You're not very nice... I got a Titan now and unless HTC does something amazing like Pureview then my next phone will be Nokia
  • It's not right to shít an HTC article. HTC at least tries to enhance the core experience while Nokia does nothing but bring apps
  • There is nothing wrong with Nokia apps they are usefull and we don't know what type of phone Nokia will come out. Nokia will be my next phone because of the design and the apps.
  • They don't bring any kind of sound enhancements like HTC does.
  • HTC can continue to make Android devices. I pray Nokia goes full fledge windows... LOL
  • Shut the fúck up punk ass Nokia fanboy
  • Well the Rio sounds a lot like current WP specs. Singlecore Snapdragon + 512 MB Ram. Sounds to me it would have been perfectly possible - as well as reasonable - to update the L900 (as opposed to retiring the flagship a few months after launch).
  • Uh, the MSM8227 is dual-core not single-core. In fact, none of the Snapdragon S4 chips are single-core, and the S4 Plus chips are what is going to be in WP8 phones.
  • Even though the specs may be similar there is no "easy" update to wp8. Since it is an entirely different kernal you couldn't just update it would require a complete reinstall. That being said I don't see why the folks at XDA couldn't throw together a ROM to flash a month or two later.
  • If WP8 requires Bitlocker and Secure Boot I don't think XDA will be getting WP8 onto WP7.5 hardware unless they can remove the Secure Boot and Bitlocker requirement.
  • They can't upgrade the Lumia 900 to WP8 because of all the new Security features in WP8 -- Secure boot and Bitlocker require additional hardware.
    They probably developer WP8 so that Secure Boot and Bitlocker will always be on and therefore the Lumia 900 doesn't support those features and can't run WP8.
    Also --
    Everyone also needs to remember that yesterday was developer announcements -- not consumer announcements.
    We really have no idea what all will and won't be included in WP 7.8.
  • If ps3 was hacked, its hope and for us
  • Here's hoping for 32 GB minimum on all WP8 mobiles + microSD :)
  • +100
  • +1000:)
  • 1,000,000,000,000 :)
     
    Seriously it's a joke why modern phones only have 16gb...
  • -100 who wants a $700+ phone.. You have 25 gigs SkyDrive and external sd.. Better off buying the windows 8 tablet pc with a lot of memory
  • and you have most carriers that LIMIT you to 2gb a month for data. Let's see how that 25gb of data is actually fully accessable from your phone.
     
    Agaqin, I would rather start with a 32 or 64gb phone, then have the option to upgrade.
  • For once, I could settle for a middle of the road phone... very nice.
  • Nice to see this happening.   My only initial concern is that HTC likes to overlay their own UI wtih the stock system.  See sense on top of android for an example.  Hopefully, microsoft will not allow this and keep the ability to remove unwanted bloatware such as the HTC button located on the homescreen live tiles.  
     
    I am curious to see what nokia comes up with and I hope all of this progresses smoothly.  As a current android user, I am very interstsed in WP and the direction they are taking.  If good phones keep coming out and there is a significant increase in app development, it is likely that I will make the switch.  
     
     
  • As MS have taken the Apple route, there's no way WP will see such bloatware...
  • Yeah microsoft would never allow that.
  • They can't overlay anything over the OS, even if they wanted to. I have a HTC HD7 - the only things from HTC are their exclusive apps like HTC Hub, Sound Enhancer, Photo Enhancer, Attentive Phone etc. These are all apps and can be uninstalled in an instant. It's not like Android - there's nothing they can force on you.
  • And the sound enhancer doesn't even exist for HD7 anymore.
  • Yes it does,use the reinstaller app to bring it back
  • You can delete ANY third part software not from the base OS. And, you can control all tasks that run in the background that aren't OS. Two HUGE advantages for WP that iOS and Android don't have (at least, neither have both exactly).
  • Am I missing something here? I agree with AwesomeAndy. It seems that all the mid-level, recent phones that were inroduced since Nov 2011 should be capable of running WP8. Less than 5 minutes into his speech at the WP8 Summit, Joe mentioned how the new core / kernel would allow them to target a larger array of hardware, from lower resource phones to top-of-the-line high-end phones. If that is the case, why can't it be installed on all the Lumia 900's, HTC Titan/Titan II's, Samsung Focus S/Flash/2's out here. Bottom line is this, the new kernel will work just fine on current Mango phones. Just sayin'.
    Cheers!
  • Yes, but it is a new OS completely rewritten so it would require a reinstall instead of an update. So I don't see why XDA couldnt throw together a ROM to flash current Mango phones.
  • As  I have just replied to others, AwesomeAndy;s post is incorrect. He assumes that the Rio is using a single-core, the MSM8227 is a dual-core, and the S4 line of SoC's in which WP8 will be using contain no single-core SoC's. There is nothing indicative in any of these leaked specs that indicates that WP8 should be able to run on pre-existing hardware. If it could, then it would. They have created a new shared kernel, which is designed around the S4 line, single-core chips will not efficiently run the new kernel (and most likely just plainly wont run it)
  • Interesting, how will they target the low-end now (as what the lumia 600 is doing) if they don't support single core? I guess we'll be hearing about this soon...
  • WP8's security features require additional hardware not found in WP7.x devices.  Their improved sand boxing, full device encryption, and secure boot would not work on current hardware.
  • This is really funny, and I have just glanced at AwsomeAndy's post, The Rio proves that current Gen (except Lumia 610 etc) would have been able to run Windows 8, I don't think they wanted to mess on to write all the necessary code to change the phone from WinCE to Win8. But yes it seems like it would run my HD7 has a 1ghz Snapdragon, 512mb Ram and 5mp camera with 720p playback, I also think that the Rio phone with it being a entry level one would be the one with the standard resolution.
     
    I bet most of the phones will have the useless and ugly Nokia design (they have no style) plus I would never buy a Nokia phone, they seem to fall apart to design flaws. HTC all the way.
  • AwesomeAndy's post is incorrect. The Rio is running a dual-core and he assumes it would be a single-core. Also just because specs are similar does not mean current phones could run the new OS. The kernel is completly different and is built around the Qualcomm S4 line of SoC's. 
  • Good old my titan 2
  • Please let one of these come to Sprint!!!
  • No QWERTY to supersede the HTC Arrive? A physical keyboard is a must with me.
  • Nope, HTC decided that customers prefered thinner phones over keyboards.
  • We totally need mobile Touch Covers :)
  • With any luck, someone might make a Surface like WP8, though it'd probably be a technical miracle. I guess the only problem would be the keyboard cover obstructing the camera.
  • The Arrive is way to thick. I would go for thin phone with a big screen and keyboard. Why has this not been done? That said, I love my keyboard--using it right now.
  • I was hoping for one too, for anyone to make one actually.
  • Love the physical keyboard, would make my day if we get one on w8
  • I know there are some complaints but, Baby steps people. I think this is a nice step up from what we have now. I for one am say I am very excited.
  • Zenith on T-Mo please. That is all.
  • If it's coming to ATT then I see no reason why not, t-mo is refarming their network.
  • Really? I'd want that 4.3" Accord instead. I'm not going to use quad-core for anything. But the Rio sounds more like a tmo phone. Like the next Radar or something.
  • I second that but knowing T-mobile they will get a midrange.
  • Can we PLEASE get some love on Sprint? I love my Arrive but if there isn't a new model come January when my contract is up I will jump ship.
  • To be clear, I will jump to another carrier that is supporting Windows Phone. Not jump to another OS. I am 100% sold on Windows Phone and it is the only phone I ever want to own.
  • I agree, am with you buddy!
  • Same goes for me with Verizon.
  • Verizon needs to get on the ball that's why a switched to T Mobile.I will go back to Big Red if they start carrying WP8.
  • If the Accord is laminated as well as the One X, that's my phone. Hard to imagine an S4 processor won't be sufficient for some time to come.
  • Hopefully that SD support makes it over to the first gen Focus.
  • I thought the Focus supports sd?? My friend has one and he upgraded the memory on his.
  • It's not managed the same.  On WP7 it could recognize an SD card, but it formatted it as an extension of the system RAM so it was one big total space.  If you removed the card, it was not readable in another device.  In WP8/W8, it will have true removeable storage capability where you can swap them to other devices and move files around, etc.
  • Doubt it, probably a feature of the shared core with Windows.
  • This reminds me of the One series.
  • Let's prey they change the names of the phones:)
  • Interesting summer? As in an interestingly long wait until very late fall.... =(
  • My concern is that in a year or two, Windows Phone 9 will be shown on S6 chips, and this series will be stuck with 8.9 because "they're incapable of handling the new software." It happened with 6 to 7, and now 7 to 8...
  • If it's 2 years away then I honestly couldn't give a damn. I'm an early adopter with an Optimus 7, 24 months almost up and I'll upgrade to WP8. Then again for WP9. Rinse and repeat.
  • One order of pizza, please! :-P
  • 6 to 7 they wanted to leave the old architecture as a whole behind.
     
    7 to 8 is somewhat similar, but there is at least some compatibility still going on there.
     
    8 and beyond shouldn't be a problem unless they plan to redo the entire Windows family from scratch.  I think were fine for quite some time here.
  • So you don't ever want new features or new hardware to be supported? You want only incremental improvements forever? Advancing software means eventually outdating old hardware. It happens. Two years is a long time to support hardware!
  • If only HTC would cone up with exclusive apps matching the Nokia apps. It's perhaps the only reason I'm gonna switch to Nokia.
  • Dear Nokia, please bring a high end (4.5" or so) WXGA (1280x768) device to Verizon at release.  I would really prefer 768 vs 720 screens.
     
    Signed,
     
    A loyal HTC Trophy user.  (Cmon you know we deserve it.)
  • +1
  • I want the zenith.....oooooh my god this is a torture, i cant wait for u baby
  • Everyone, we finally have WPs with great hardware. Quit being killjoys. The majority of u know your going to upgrade anyway, so chill. The NT kernel is gonna be the base from here on out so the issue of not being able to upgrade future phones is not gonna be a issue. I love my lumia but imagine what Nokia has in store for WP8!!!!
  • Well, I love my Lumia 900 and the Windows Phone OS. But, my Lumia is only 34 days old and is now, frankly, obsolete. So much of dropping it on eBay when WP8 is released so I can pick up the new one.
  • You keep using that word... It's not even remotely close to obselete. You'll get 7.8, and for the first couple months I'm sure you won't feel the pain of not having a new phone. Just use your current one till the upgrade is up then move on.
  • It wasn't a secret that big changes were one the way. You're blaming others for your own mistake.
  • Redoing some Verizon stores. Their line up really sucks compared to ATT. Trust me, they're gonna jump on the WP8 train
  • 42Mps? Count me in. Of course mine is supposed to push 9 and it's never gone over 3 because of AT&T's slowmo network. So until AT&T upgrades their crappy network, I'm not spending a dime. 
  • The zenith will hopefully take a good share of the android market. Lots of people look at how many cores their phones are. Even though windows phones won't probably need it, its still a good selling point. Its like looking at computers. 16gb of ram? Not ever gonna use it but it's there.
  • I use it. In fact, upgraded to 24GB RAM.
  • HTC always leads with releases. I love my titan. Can't wait. I said it before, Titan's touch sensivity beats Nokia big time. Anyone else noticed that?
  • just read on slashgear a rumor that Ms is going to develop their own WP8 device. if true this could be interesting
     
    http://www.slashgear.com/microsoft-also-building-its-own-windows-phone-8-device-21235160/
  • Quad-core.....  yeah ok,  so its fake 
     
    unless MS said Dual-core when they ment quad-core
  • MS announced multicore processors which includes dual and up.
  • make sens
    but im not expecting Quad-core just YET...
    maybe wp8.5 or just before.
  • LOL listen to you. Watch the MSFT video. They clearly stated the windows 8 kernel in windows phone gets all the benefits of windows 8 including up to 64 core support. That means, not only is windows phone 8 going to have 4 cores. but it can still take 60 more.
    surprised? don't be. this is windows NT on a phone, not windows CE. the days where windows phone was held back because of the OS are over. Anybody betting this will be a repeat of 2011 where WP lagged should get ready for a good spanking :)
     
    THIS IS WINDOWS! *kicks op into the pit*
  • Zenith TMOBILE I'm there (fingers crossed)
  • No 16mp titan 2 camera? aww
  • Hahaha who cares of camera. 8mp is good enough
  • Waiting for Nokia...
  • I own an HTC Radar? Will I be able to run Windows 7.8 on my phone?
  • according to MS yes . all phones prior to WP8 are getting WP7.8
  • Thanks for the info. I like the Radar...wish it had a compass though. The compass feature is hardware based? Not something that HTC could address via software up date...right?
  • hmm  ,w ell im sure you can find a COMPASS app int he marketplace.... but what’s happening is that newer phone have Gyroscope witch older model DONT witch allows for a more accurate reading.. i guess?   im not sure.
  • The specs on that Accord are right in line with what I'm looking for. To be honest, these all sound very similar to the HTC One X, S and V series. And there's nothing wrong with that.
     
    In fact if the Accord is the WP8's version of the One S, our side is coming out ahead as the Android version has a much lower resolution display.
  • Omg the zenith
  • Guess I'll be getting a Zenith off of eBay in December for like $450...Merry Christmas to me.
  • LoL yeah right in your dreams boy
  • I'll be getting a Nokia. I may never forgive HTC for putitng a 1230mAh battery in a 4.3" HD7--they obviously do not care one ioto for their customers or reputation.
  • Stop shítting HTC articles
  • Nokia sucks can't even remove battery what a joke
  • To be fair the One series doesn't have removable batteries either and that's fine with me I guess
  • I demand removeable battery.
  • All I want is a bigger arrive with the same specs as this rumored "zenith" with one major change, ditch the slide out keyboard and replace it with a slide out game pad.
     
  • No keep keyboard.it's more important than stupid game pad
  • I've had the arrive since it launched. Bought it over other models cause I really wasn't sure about the accuracy of the on screen keyboard. I almost never use it now, it's dead weight that doesn't serve a purpose because the default on screen keyboard is so good. It's just my opinion, but with wp8 leveraging the power of directx, I think a slide out game pad would be very useful indeed.
  • Cool idea, but I bet hardly any games would support it.
  • Love it I am getting the accord. Also it's coming to sprint yeah love the unlimited data while you fools.who switched to art or Verizon are all gonna suffer bigger bills jahaha
  •  Sounds like the One series. With the rio being the one v, accord being the one s, and the zenith being the one x. So it is probably true since HTC invested a lot in that hardware and it has been well recieved so it makes sense for them to reuse it with windows phone 8. While i would like to see some orginal hardware for WP8, the one series has a lot of great hardware in it. 
  • they never mentioned if the clock, battery meter and signal on top of phone will stay and not be hidden. I hope they will make it stay on top and never have to0 swift on top to view it.
  • I don't
  • Can't wait to see Nokia phones
  • Not on HTC articles please
  • The Rio spec doesnt seems to be all that far from the radar. Still wondering why cant current gen get wp8 :-/
  • Because they want you to buy the new Radar ..er I mean Rio...
  • Looks like a Lumia 800
  • Those are going to be some beautiful phones. Too bad that start screen looks butt-ugly. Please vote here to have the new UI removed from Windows 7.8 and 8.
  • It's not like you're forced to use it.
  • Some people are so bizarre.
  • I'd be happy with the Accord.
  • Omg we turn from wpfanboys to Nokia and HTC fanboys.. Can't we just be united?!
  • Here's what I like about my trophy that Nokia doesn't have:
    - charging light
    - removeable/replaceable battery Both are must haves for my next phone.
  • I won't be buying another HTC but these are some nice specs.
  • As a HTC Titan user/lover I'll probably be getting the best specced. Is there any 4.5" Windows Phone? 4.3" is just tiny, 4.7" is just a bit too big for typing, 4.5" seems ideal to me, at least.
  • I want to see some real world battery life tests.... Man I hope they use some better tech.... PLEASE !
  • I bet the Rio is headed for T-Mobile, and the other two are most likely going to AT&T...
  • The HTC Rio & Lumia 900 Are damn near identical twins so why isnt Nokia able to upgrade the entire OS to WP8 instead of Skined-theme they call 7.8? What a smack in the FACE BY NOKIA/MS. Im Pissed.
  • Nothing to do with specs it's hardware differences.
  • Zenith...nuff said, quad core goodness and a butter smooth experience :) im excited about the games that thing will be able to run!!
  • What about a front facing camera?