Portable Player Reviews

While we are big fans of the small companies who've stepped up in recent years to build ever-better headphone amps for use on the go, there are times we would prefer to carry a single device.

Does HTC have us covered?

At yesterday's swank launch event for the new HTC Windows Phone 8x and 8s handsets, HTC design veep Scott Croyle saw fit to mention not just the ongoing Beats Audio collaboration, but the 8x's audio hardware, namely a headphone amp said to provide a full "2.5 volts" of output power.

Now, no other specs were discussed to help us put that number in context, and the models we saw yesterday were not fully functional (nor could we demo with appropriate - or, perhaps, inappropriate - headphones at the event) but this could well signal that the 8x is worth a serious listen by those who like to take difficult-to-drive headphones on their commutes and travels.

And it looks pretty cool too. And does a bunch of other computer-in-your-pocket stuff too. We're very much looking forward to going ears-on.