It is HTC’s best art piece. In their eyes, the most brilliant creation they’ve ever made: the HTC One M8. But in the palms of the dozens of reviewers and possibly thousands (with the possibility of millions) of users, it means something else: an all-aluminum phone that gets things done. So, does it?
Frankly, let’s not beat around the bush here; Samsung obviously dominates the Android marketplace and Apple does the other end, with iPhones and iOS. There comes a time when a company has to asses what their direction will be, and the One M8 will be the decider of that.
Price as Reviewed: $199 at Sprint on a new 2-year agreement
Aesthetics
There are few smartphones that can attest to the quality that the new HTC One M8 offers. The iPhone 5S, in fact, might be the only other contender. An exquisitely-machined aluminum body, refined and brushed till; it is smooth, dark, and comfortable to hold. At 9.35 millimeters thick, 5.76 inches tall, and a weight of 5.6 ounces, the One could have perhaps been lighter and thinner, but the 5-inch 1080p AMOLED display makes up for that: because it’s sharp, consistent, an displays wonderful colors.
“The One M8 has an almost worship-worth design philosophy.”
Going back to the aesthetics, HTC has applied the very same quality of aluminum to the volume rocker, microSD and nano SIM slots, along with the enitrerty of the top-end of the One M8 sporting an IR sensor, including the surface area of the power/sleep button. There were no cut corners when designing the HTC One M8, and it shows: you want to touch it at the very same time, one can realize that it is ultimately a tool — albeit a very beautiful one.
What you’re looking at is a dual-LED flash, with two cameras, and lots of aluminum.
Using It
The source of power for the One M8 a big 2,600 mAh battery, which is engineered with good reason: there’s a quad-core 2.3GHz Snapdragon 801 processor, 2GB of RAM, and set of three imaging devices: a 4MP Ultrapixel main shooter, a depth sensor/camera, and a front-facing 5 megapixel camera. That’s a lot to efficiently manage, and the new One does it admirably: you can very easily get through an entire day’s worth of usage out of it, an perhaps stretch it out to more than just a day, thanks to the Extreme Power Saving mode, which restricts the One to just messaging, phone calls, and web browsing, while also transforming the software interface to a simply black and white set.
“Sense 6 does its best not to be overly-intrusive over the default Android interface.”
Speaking of performance: buttery and fluid. HTC’s Sense 6 interface that runs on top of Android 4.4.2 KitKat does its best not to be overly-intrusive over the default Android interface, and the new Blinkfeed which can be reached by scrolling to the left of the homescreen, aggregates all of your favorite news sources or social networks, into one feature and photo-rich stream of info. The rest of Android is pretty familiar: homescreens, fancy widgets, and lots of apps that can suit a variety of needs.
Being that this particular HTC One M8 is a model from Sprint, you get the traditional bludgeoning of carrier apps, but once you’ve settled in, they’re not too much of a bother. 4G LTE speeds from Sprint in the Manhattan area leave much to be desired; I’ve been unable to reach a solid 12MBps download, but AT&T and Verizon models fared much, much better, hitting 20MBps and above. Call quality and speakerphone audio were fantastic; HTC Boomsound the closest anyone can get to have real speakers on a phone, and it’s rich.
And finally, about the cameras: this is truly the M8′s only notable pitfall. The back camera setup is rather elaborate. The 4 megapixel Ultrapixel camera and Duo depth sensor work in conjunction to allow for shots in adequate lighting to be refocused after they’ve been taken, as well as keeping subjects in or out of focus, depending on what settings are used; there’s even a manual setting, so the true photographer can get just about every pragmatic variable changed to suit the shot.
HTC One M8 Ultrapixel Test Shots
“Cameras. The M8′s only notable trip in its step.”
The end result are photographs that make up for the lack of megapixels with larger pixels, thus being able to capture more light, and the end result: a better pictures. Unfortunately, this is not always the case: the One M8′s rear camera can be hit-and-miss sometimes; the front-facing 5 megapixel camera is usually great, on the other hand.
Interestingly, you won’t see any lackluster 4K video recording on the M8 lik youw oudl the gaalxy S5 or similar top-end smartphones; HTC comments that 1080p HD is all the user needs on the device, and I can’t disagree: the 1080p video is sharp and fluid; and mostly likely all you’ll need at this scale.
Conclusion
Score: 8/10
Above, you can see that the $40 Dot Matrix case is in itself, a work of art. Tiny holes pocked into the cover utilize the AMOLED technology of the One M8, so that calls and be answered or decline, as well as flashing time and weather notifications. The One M8 can also be sent to wake or go to sleep in this mode; double tap the screen, that is all.
“The One M8 is just that: one step forward, not two.”
Excellent battery life, a design that shines, smooth performance, and a great set of tools provided by Sense 6 makes the One M8 a great smartphone. However, the lack of a truly compelling camera, or any noteworthy feature besides being a refresh to last year’s model. Still, go ahead and buy the HTC One M8; there’s not really anything else this physically appealing that sits on the top-tier of the Android spectrum.
Pros:
Excellent screen
Quality battery life
Exquisite design
Cons:
Cameras still need improvement
The One M8 lacks a hit feature