Samsung Ativ Q

Sprint has added two new phones to their growing LTE arsenal today as Samsung and HTC launch their latest Windows Phones.

Samsung and HTC continue to battle on every mobile front. Their flagship Android phones, their gigantic 5-inch or larger phones, their Google Edition phones, and now their Windows Phones are going to be available side-by-side for consumers to choose one over the other. While Samsung is certainly doing better overall in the smartphone market, HTC has gained quite a bit of steam recently with the HTC One and has had the best Windows Phone with the 8X for a while now. These new phones, the HTC 8XT and Samsung ATIV S Neo, will be added to Sprint’s LTE phone lineup later this year.

The HTC 8XT is a reimagining of the original 8X, with more internal changes than external. The 1.4GHz dual-core Snapdragon 400 with 1GB of RAM is more than enough for Windows Phone, with the same 4.3-inch 720p display the original was equipped with. What really sets this new LTE phone apart from its predecessor is HTC’s BoomSound, making it the first in HTC’s Windows Phone lineup to use the technology. Unlike the HTC One, the 8XT’s speaker lines on the front of the phone are not symmetrical, with a much smaller speaker slot on the bottom than the top.

The Samsung ATIV S Neo has a slightly larger 4.8-inch display, but nearly identical internals to the 8XT. The same 1.4GHz processor with 1GB of RAM, and a microSD slot for expandable storage. What sets the ATIV S Neo apart is in the software. The Samsung utilities suite for Windows Phone includes the NFC based ATIV beam, an enhanced photo suite and editor, and a Kid’s Corner app that locks down core features for children. Samsung has also made the Windows key on the ATIV S Neo a physical button, much like their Galaxy S Android phones.

Sprint will be selling the HTC 8XT and Samsung ATIV S Neo for $99 and $149 respectively, and is expected to have these phones on shelves by the end of the summer.

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