That I agree with but there might be alternatives that are also upgrades to what he owns but lighter.
My girlfriend carries an HTC Amaze which I bought her. All 5' 105 lbs of her. She likes it a lot but I don't quite know if she is biased (do I need a smiley here?). That said, and I knew about this coming in with this phone, I really am quite surprised that this phone is heavier than the Amaze (173 grams). The HTC Amaze received rave reviews about its build quality but a constant knock, wrong or right, was its weight. And this was 1 year ago.
I have an iPhone 4 and had no interest in the 4S and not much more in the 5.
The only other choice for me (as I am interested in WP8) is the HTC Phone 8X (I have better taste than is offered by the Samsung ativ S). The HTC seems once again to have sacrificed a larger battery for slimness and seems to have an inferior camera to the iPhone 5.
I fancy I will buy one of these but I do believe that neither of these are halo phones which will resurrect the fortunes of their companies.