If you're out looking for a cheaper way to get into the Windows Phone 8 ecosystem without waiting for the Nokia Lumia 620, then the HTC 8S or HTC Windows Phone 8S is right up your alley with its sharp looks.

The HTC 8S is aimed at the medium end of the market, and will spar with the Nokia Lumia 820. However, this beauty of a device is cheaper than the Lumia 820. The handset cost 240 pound sim-free at Expansys UK, while the Lumia 820 carries a price tag of 360 pounds - that's 150 pounds more expensive than the HTC 8S.

Compared to the Lumia 820's 4.3-inch display, the HTC 8S could only manage to bring a 4-inch display to the fight, but that shouldn't matter to those who are looking for a cheap Windows Phone 8 handset. The screen resolution is the same at 800x480 pixels, but the 8S came out on top with a better 233 pixels per inch (ppi), compared to the Lumia 820's 217 ppi.

The big difference however, is what's inside these devices. The HTC 8S only has a 1GHz processor and 512MB of RAM. The Nokia Lumia 820 on the other hand, is rocking the same 1.5GHz dual core processor and 1GB RAM found in the Lumia 920, which is quite impressive for a mid-ranged Windows Phone 8 handset.

On the camera side, the 8S comes with a 5-megapixel camera, the Lumia 820 with a 8-megapixel camera, and that rounds off the comparison. Furthermore, with Windows Phone 8 being so speedy, it might be difficult to tell the different between the two handsets when doing basic things like navigating the menu, sending a text message or making a call. The differences in performance should arise only when opening applications and playing games.

At the end of the day, the HTC 8S is a good phone, but with the Nokia Lumia 620 in the horizon, HTC has a lot of work on its hands to persuade consumers to choose its product rather than a Lumia.