HTC 8XT now available, is Sprint’s first Windows Phone 8 device

HTC’s 8X was an excellent flagship perfect for the Windows Phone crowd. Despite the limitations of WP, HTC managed to engineer a handset that was not only nice to look at, but had specs that could (mostly) compete against other devices on the market. Of course, Android and iOS reign supreme, so it was ultimately held back by the OS. But for fans of Windows Phone 8, it was a wonderful device, and cheap, too.

Now we have the 8XT, which, although the name suggests could be a natural successor to last year’s Windows Phone 8X, is different in some key ways—it’s more of a mishmash between the 8X and 8S. The device keeps that nice soft touch design, along with that “California Blue” color, but its 4.3-inch display only has a resolution of 800 x 400—that’s really low by today’s full HD standards. It does have BoomSound, however, so HTC giveth and taketh away.

Internally, the 8XT comes equipped with a 1.4GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 chip, 1GB of RAM, 8GB of storage (microSD expandable to 64GB), 8-megapixel camera and 1800mAh battery. Decidedly mid-range, particularly the display; the Windows Phone 8X had a 720p screen, so it’s curious HTC went the 800 x 400 route. The device, by the way, will be available