[Nokia Lumia 920] TheXev:
The real question will be whether phones can be fully unlocked using an HSPL like method. Due to the new UEFI bootloader methods, seeing custom roms on either may take more time, and HTC style is more familiar to most bootloader devs like DFT. If even a small fraction of the people in this thread would switch away from Android to WP8, I'm sure a similar ratio of devs would follow, which might increase the power and chances of unlocking these phones bootloaders. I think the key to unlocking any WP8 phone will be cooperation among high level devs, but DFT sure has had an edge in the WP7 bootloader wars, at least on HTC.

Don't expect these phones to be cracked quickly, since every one of them will be a completely different ball of wax from the WP7s before them.

I'm more interested in WP8 as a OS, regardless of phone. I want to know how it differs from WP7, since WP8 runs on the same NT kernel as Windows 8 and RT now (which also means all that unlock work devs have done on WP7 probably won't do any good :( )

As for each phone, I like the idea of a heavier phone. Sorry, light phones have never been my thing and all of my HTC phones have been dinky on screen size (I've had so many, Vouge (Touch) x2, Touch Pro 2, Eris, Spark_W (Trophy) x 3). They've never done my wrong in the reliability department (okay, the Eris was a POS.. but it had a POS OS to boot), but the strange choice of not giving the X8 a extendable SDCard slot is too strange to ignore. HTC knew damn well Nokia and others would include such a slot, but the sexier looking 8S will have one but with only a 1GHz, 2 core chip? Damn right we as consumers are confused by this.

Pricing is going to matter to me considerably. As a Verizon Wireless users with Unlimited data, I plan to purchase my next phone outright to preserve my Unlimited Data plan when I migrate to 4G LTE (even though I won't have LTE coverage for another year or more). Price could play a factor, and with the 8S being a limited upgrade over my HTC Trophy (one core vs two, better battery life because of smaller CPU process, much improved Graphics core), that means its the 8X or the 920 for me. Storage isn't a root concern for me, but I will see and experience each phone on a working display before I decide. I might take advantage of test driving each of these phones too, simply because I'll be buying it outright anyway.

Samsung's outdated design isn't even a consideration for me. It has the same design idea as the HTC Arrive, and that thing would slip out of of your hands even with Velcro attached. I could put a case on a phone like that, but it'd defeat the purpose of its sexy metal design.

The biggest let down for me is that HTC isn't ballsy enough to follow up with a more Touch Pro design, but with a surface that won't slip out of your hands! I think Nokia's larger screen would make up for a lack of phyical keyboard more, simply by size... I really miss my Swype. I hope Windows Phone 8 will open up input to developers. It's been my only sticking point since I wouldn't care about a physical keyboard if I had access to swype, and Microsoft's "curved input" isn't going to cut it for me. T9 died for me after I watched the Swype tutorial on my HTC Touch Pro 2.

On the bright side, I have no doubts WP8 is guna rock. I've watched WP7 develop since I got my Trophy, and the updates keep coming and they keep improving my experience on the phone. Microsoft's support of the OS is guna be rock solid and I look forward to watching it progress even further.

I just wish these phones came with a huge ass Windows logo on them instead of that dinky tiny one, can you get stickers with the Windows logo or something...?