New HTC One M8, Gunmetal Grey 32GB (Verizon Wireless)
This is My Opinion About This Product
After I buy this New HTC One M8, Gunmetal Grey 32GB (Verizon Wireless) (Wireless Phone)
I love HTC phones and I have both last year's One(m7) and this year's(m8). I am NOT affiliated with HTC or compensated by them in any way. I just feel that competition and the underdog companies are crucial and essential for a healthy free market economy, and ultimately, us consumers. I have had the iPhones 4 through 5s, Samsung Galaxy S3/S4 and Note 2/3, and several Nokia(n95-97, n84/85 and several lesser phones) and Sony/Sony-Ericsson(Xperia) phones over the years, and I have loved most of them. For a healthy and positive technological evolution, we NEED the small or struggling companies like HTC to succeed. If Apple and Samsung become duopolies, that will be a dark future indeed. Pick up an HTC One(M7 or M8) and any Samsung Galaxy phones and compare the quality and craftsmanship, and tell me why it's Samsung and not HTC that have more successful phones. It's all about the MONEY and marketing, the bigger guy trying to squeeze out the smaller guy, and that's NOT how a healthy free market economy should be.
Now that that is out of the way, let us get down to the nitty gritty. This is my direct comparisons to the iPhone 5s, Samsung Galaxy S4/S5 and Note 3, but mainly to the last HTC One(M7)(and yes, I am mainly updating keypoints from the m7 review):
The Good:
1) THE SCREEN: If there was such a better screen on a phone, I have not yet seen it. The iPhone 5s is lauded for its excellent screen, but at its current resolution, it trails behind the One's screen by far. Everything just POPS out at you. Even in direct sunlight, everything is CLEAR and BRIGHT. I really loved the 2013 HTC One's(M7) screen, but once again HTC has outdone itself and given us a true masterpiece in 5.0" 1080p(440ppi) form. The main difference between the M8 and the M7 is the color reproduction on the M8 is better and more true-to-life. This is THE BEST screen on the planet right now - WOW!!!
2) THE DESIGN/HARDWARE: Once again, the new One continues the HTC tradition of making really high-quality phones with high-class material and craftsmanship. This version has more of a matted-brushed aluminum finish than the glossier M7. The One feels THICK and TOUGH. I don't have to worry about carrying this around case-less(except from drops, which is a whole other issue). I will not be worried about this phone nicking and scraping like the iPhone 5/5s. Personally, it may not have the flair of some of the Sony and Nokia phone of the past, but in totality the One has the best combination of design and craftsmanship. It oozes style and sophistication, unlike the plastic-y feel of the Samsung Galaxy S4/S5. The One is one real looker!
3) THE DUAL FRONT-FACING SPEAKERS: We have all been desensitized to the modern smartphones nowadays with their crappy, tinny, mono speaker. I remember the days of the Nokia n95 and n84 with their stereo speakers - whatever happened to phones after that? Whoever agreed to a mono/solo speaker with all the smartphones thereafter?? FINALLY, someone has the senses to come back to reality - thank you, HTC!. Trust me, your ears will thank you and you will realize all phones should have been made like this. Especially when you use ringtones/alerts that were specifically created for this phone, the sound is loud, immersive, expansive, and POPs into your ears. It's simply a re-revolution. Compared to the M7, the M8 loses the Beats audio engineering, but it actually sounds louder than the M7, which although has really high-quality speakers as well, was known for being too soft in certain scenarios. The new moniker is just BoomSound.
4) THE CAMERA: I don't use my phone camera to make prints from photos, I have my dedicated cameras for that. So to me, the paramount function of phone cameras is the convenience/accessibility - it has to be able to capture what I want quickly and clearly, with decent enough quality to post online. Therefore, the 4MP size in the One's camera does not bother me at all. Who cares if the camera isn't THE BEST phone camera ever? Because it is not, but it is a GREAT low-light shooter, and to me that's more important than pixel count. The sensors in the camera are bigger than other phone cameras, therefore, it can capture a lot more light, which in laymen's terms it can give you better photos in more situations than other phone cameras can. Also, the touch spot focus is almost instantaneous - this camera is quick, quick, quick! What's really cool about the new camera is the duo camera functionality - each photo you snap is recorded from both cameras, so afterwards, you can re-focus the image, ala Lytro camera style. This is really cool and quite revolutionary for a phone camera. So in the real world, this means no more out-of-focus photos! You can now always re-focus your photos after the fact, so you will not have to regret missing out on a great memory because your photo was out of focus - awesome!
5) For a phone with a 5" screen, it's quite svelte, at least at the girth. It's easier to hold in the hand than the Samsung Galaxy S4/S5, and for sure a heckuva lot better than the Note 3. It fits in your hands nicely and securely, with just the right combination of size, weight, and balance. However, it is very TALL, even taller than the M7, so trying to reach the power button with one hand while your holding it in a normal position is almost impossible. HOWEVER...
6) The One borrows the features of the LG G2 where you can double tap on the screen while it's off, to turn it on! While the screen is off, you can swipe left to turn it on to see Blinkfeed, which is HTC's version of Flipboard/news reader, and swipe right to turn it on to the home screen. The one thing HTC forgot though, is you can't double-tap the screen while it's on, to turn it off, which the LG G2 CAN do.
7) The user interface(UI) and software design is now even more polished,minimal, and simplistic. Sense 6.0 is the on-going improvement from the previous versions. It's really quick and light, not bloated like Samsung's TouchWiz UI. It improves on the older, but still good, Sense 5.0 and 5.5. You can move from one screen to the next lightning quick, almost as good as the iPhone UI.
8) And FINALLY, HTC has included a microSD slot so you can add your own memory card for more storage(the HTC DNA/Butterfly and M7 didn't have any). You can add up to 128gb more!
The Bad and Ugly:
1) The battery is only 2600mAh - I wish it was bigger because I'm one of those paranoid people who always needs my phone at fully charged, just in case, of you know, something. But so far it's been holding steady at about 40% at the end of the day(from 9am-6pm). I check emails, read the news, text, Facebook, etc. throughout the day - I would say that I'm a moderate to heavy user. At least it is a lot better than the M7's 2300mAh battery, which drains super quick, yet charges SUPER SLOW.
2) Comparing features with the Samsung S4/S5, the One is not as good. It's not a deal breaker, but for those who like fancy functions, the One will not make you as happy. The HTC One is very simple in its feature set. The one feature I miss most from the new Samsung phones is Smart Stay, where the phone can sense that you're looking at the screen, and won't dim/turn off the screen - that was a HUGE convenience for when you're watching a movie or reading the news. The coolest feature so far for the One has been the tap/swipe to turn the screen on.
3) Like I wrote earlier, the size is both good and bad, and it's also heavier than most similar phones. It's taller than the S4/S5, and with the power button up on top, it's almost impossible to do one-hand phone operations without shifting your hand up and down to accommodate both the screen gestures and buttons. The buttons(power and volume) don't protrude enough to make it easy to press them.
All in all, I feel the combination of the One's screen, design/craftsmanship, and audio experience trumps over the Samsung S4/S5's fancy functions. The S5's screen is almost just as good - AMOLED screens are known for their deep blacks and saturation, while the One's is much better in direct light, and with a more true color reproduction. The S5 has a higher MP camera, therefore able to take better photos in broad daylight, while the One's camera is more versatile and better in low light conditions. The One has a much better audio experience, while the S5 gives you better convenience with its features - userability goes to the S5 for sure.
But in the end, considering the totality of things, I feel the new HTC One provides me the best TOTAL experience, and is the king of the smartphones(at least for now!).
Now that that is out of the way, let us get down to the nitty gritty. This is my direct comparisons to the iPhone 5s, Samsung Galaxy S4/S5 and Note 3, but mainly to the last HTC One(M7)(and yes, I am mainly updating keypoints from the m7 review):
The Good:
1) THE SCREEN: If there was such a better screen on a phone, I have not yet seen it. The iPhone 5s is lauded for its excellent screen, but at its current resolution, it trails behind the One's screen by far. Everything just POPS out at you. Even in direct sunlight, everything is CLEAR and BRIGHT. I really loved the 2013 HTC One's(M7) screen, but once again HTC has outdone itself and given us a true masterpiece in 5.0" 1080p(440ppi) form. The main difference between the M8 and the M7 is the color reproduction on the M8 is better and more true-to-life. This is THE BEST screen on the planet right now - WOW!!!
2) THE DESIGN/HARDWARE: Once again, the new One continues the HTC tradition of making really high-quality phones with high-class material and craftsmanship. This version has more of a matted-brushed aluminum finish than the glossier M7. The One feels THICK and TOUGH. I don't have to worry about carrying this around case-less(except from drops, which is a whole other issue). I will not be worried about this phone nicking and scraping like the iPhone 5/5s. Personally, it may not have the flair of some of the Sony and Nokia phone of the past, but in totality the One has the best combination of design and craftsmanship. It oozes style and sophistication, unlike the plastic-y feel of the Samsung Galaxy S4/S5. The One is one real looker!
3) THE DUAL FRONT-FACING SPEAKERS: We have all been desensitized to the modern smartphones nowadays with their crappy, tinny, mono speaker. I remember the days of the Nokia n95 and n84 with their stereo speakers - whatever happened to phones after that? Whoever agreed to a mono/solo speaker with all the smartphones thereafter?? FINALLY, someone has the senses to come back to reality - thank you, HTC!. Trust me, your ears will thank you and you will realize all phones should have been made like this. Especially when you use ringtones/alerts that were specifically created for this phone, the sound is loud, immersive, expansive, and POPs into your ears. It's simply a re-revolution. Compared to the M7, the M8 loses the Beats audio engineering, but it actually sounds louder than the M7, which although has really high-quality speakers as well, was known for being too soft in certain scenarios. The new moniker is just BoomSound.
4) THE CAMERA: I don't use my phone camera to make prints from photos, I have my dedicated cameras for that. So to me, the paramount function of phone cameras is the convenience/accessibility - it has to be able to capture what I want quickly and clearly, with decent enough quality to post online. Therefore, the 4MP size in the One's camera does not bother me at all. Who cares if the camera isn't THE BEST phone camera ever? Because it is not, but it is a GREAT low-light shooter, and to me that's more important than pixel count. The sensors in the camera are bigger than other phone cameras, therefore, it can capture a lot more light, which in laymen's terms it can give you better photos in more situations than other phone cameras can. Also, the touch spot focus is almost instantaneous - this camera is quick, quick, quick! What's really cool about the new camera is the duo camera functionality - each photo you snap is recorded from both cameras, so afterwards, you can re-focus the image, ala Lytro camera style. This is really cool and quite revolutionary for a phone camera. So in the real world, this means no more out-of-focus photos! You can now always re-focus your photos after the fact, so you will not have to regret missing out on a great memory because your photo was out of focus - awesome!
5) For a phone with a 5" screen, it's quite svelte, at least at the girth. It's easier to hold in the hand than the Samsung Galaxy S4/S5, and for sure a heckuva lot better than the Note 3. It fits in your hands nicely and securely, with just the right combination of size, weight, and balance. However, it is very TALL, even taller than the M7, so trying to reach the power button with one hand while your holding it in a normal position is almost impossible. HOWEVER...
6) The One borrows the features of the LG G2 where you can double tap on the screen while it's off, to turn it on! While the screen is off, you can swipe left to turn it on to see Blinkfeed, which is HTC's version of Flipboard/news reader, and swipe right to turn it on to the home screen. The one thing HTC forgot though, is you can't double-tap the screen while it's on, to turn it off, which the LG G2 CAN do.
7) The user interface(UI) and software design is now even more polished,minimal, and simplistic. Sense 6.0 is the on-going improvement from the previous versions. It's really quick and light, not bloated like Samsung's TouchWiz UI. It improves on the older, but still good, Sense 5.0 and 5.5. You can move from one screen to the next lightning quick, almost as good as the iPhone UI.
8) And FINALLY, HTC has included a microSD slot so you can add your own memory card for more storage(the HTC DNA/Butterfly and M7 didn't have any). You can add up to 128gb more!
The Bad and Ugly:
1) The battery is only 2600mAh - I wish it was bigger because I'm one of those paranoid people who always needs my phone at fully charged, just in case, of you know, something. But so far it's been holding steady at about 40% at the end of the day(from 9am-6pm). I check emails, read the news, text, Facebook, etc. throughout the day - I would say that I'm a moderate to heavy user. At least it is a lot better than the M7's 2300mAh battery, which drains super quick, yet charges SUPER SLOW.
2) Comparing features with the Samsung S4/S5, the One is not as good. It's not a deal breaker, but for those who like fancy functions, the One will not make you as happy. The HTC One is very simple in its feature set. The one feature I miss most from the new Samsung phones is Smart Stay, where the phone can sense that you're looking at the screen, and won't dim/turn off the screen - that was a HUGE convenience for when you're watching a movie or reading the news. The coolest feature so far for the One has been the tap/swipe to turn the screen on.
3) Like I wrote earlier, the size is both good and bad, and it's also heavier than most similar phones. It's taller than the S4/S5, and with the power button up on top, it's almost impossible to do one-hand phone operations without shifting your hand up and down to accommodate both the screen gestures and buttons. The buttons(power and volume) don't protrude enough to make it easy to press them.
All in all, I feel the combination of the One's screen, design/craftsmanship, and audio experience trumps over the Samsung S4/S5's fancy functions. The S5's screen is almost just as good - AMOLED screens are known for their deep blacks and saturation, while the One's is much better in direct light, and with a more true color reproduction. The S5 has a higher MP camera, therefore able to take better photos in broad daylight, while the One's camera is more versatile and better in low light conditions. The One has a much better audio experience, while the S5 gives you better convenience with its features - userability goes to the S5 for sure.
But in the end, considering the totality of things, I feel the new HTC One provides me the best TOTAL experience, and is the king of the smartphones(at least for now!).
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