My week with the HTC One M8

Finally with no thanks to Vodafone, I got my HTC One M8. I’ll apologize in advance for the non-linear layout of this write up. Also the phone is rooted and running the latest version of ARHD. The box is almost identical to the original One, so much so that even the woman in Vodafone though it was an original One. The sign is the dual-camera and the different in shape of the phone on the box. There is also a free BoomBass you can sign up for, this is done through HTC and not Vodafone. You just give them your IMEI number and get back to you in 14 days.

So now inside the box, you get the standard phone, USB cable, plug and headphones. I got the silver version so I got a white pair of headphone. I also got a case, which was a nice surprise, considering there are no accessories out yet. The case fit on nicely and even came with port covers for the USB and headphone port.

So to the phone. The look and feel will be familiar to any HTC One owner, but whole phone just feels more polished and premium. The overall feel is thats its larger, but doesn’t feel different in your hand. The unlock button has again moved! I swear they do these things to test people, its still on the top but now on the right hand side. The headphone and USB port and along the bottom, on the right. The SD card slot is just above the volume rockers on the right hand of the phone and the sim card slot is on the left.

One weird point, is the volume rocker itself. It feels loose and can be moved from side to side, it functions perfectly, so is no cause to worry. Gone is the plastic around the outside of the phone and this is replaced with that brilliant looking metal. This now extends around the sides of the handset in a single piece, which as well as looking neater makes the phone feel more secure. This give the whole phone a more premium feel. There is also a black top with the power button. The boom speakers are back and on the front of the phone, along with the charging LED which is a lot brighter.

The screen is great, bright and clear. I still had issues using it in direct sunlight, but it was a little easier to use compared to the original One. I know its only .3 inches bigger, but the screen feels massive now. There is still the back bar with the HTC logo. I completely forgot it was there and isn’t an issue at all.

The real show is when the phone is turned on. The “Powered by Android” appears at the bottom, and the phone boots up in under a minute. That processor upgrade is blatant when using the phone, along with Sense 6 the overall express is like butter.  Sense 6 is nothing like 5 and that is a good good thing. Theres now colour in the menus and buttons. The icons in the back are now flat and HD, which is a welcome treat to Android users. I was also treated to many of Android’s new tweaks such as transparent notification and navigation bars, and new fonts. HTC’s additions let you change the font style and colour themes, and also mess around with BlinkFeed. Im not a Blinkfeed user, so this was turned off asap. But I did see that you can now use it as a RSS reader if needed, adding your customer feeds and also a use a bevy of new ones included. 

The HTC default apps have all had a facelift, and a nice splash of colour:

The speakers are so loud now. I cannot have the phone at full volume, the sound is clear and crisp. I feel the HTC BoomBass as an accessory isn’t needed as this phone has all the power you need. This is the same across movies, music etc. Even with headphones, the volume seems to have been increased. So I feel this is partly hardware and also software changes.

Software buttons are brilliant, this is the first phone I have used them on. They can be hidden when watching videos, they flip when the phone is turned and work great. The black bar from before is still there, and I will admit that I would of prefered the buttons to just be there. But the area of the phone isn’t taken up by the hardware buttons are they can be hidden when needed.

With the HTC One you get a 4-megapixel back-illuminated sensor (BSI) using larger pixels called “Ultrapixels”, designed to allow in more light alongside an f/2.0 aperture and optical image stabilisation. The end result is very good in low light conditions but fairly average otherwise. Video capture is 1080p and the setup features an LED flash. Interestingly the front-facing 2.1-megapixel camera also features optical stabilisation.

HTC One M8 uses the same 4 ultra pixel camera but with some modifications. The optical stabilisation is gone in favour of a second camera along the top. This gave me new interesting features, such as the U-Focus function which allowed me to re-select a photographs focal point at any time. Taking a photo is instant, I actually thought the app wasn’t working as photos were just appearing. There is no shutter notification at all. The front camera is now 5 mega-pixels and allows for a much clearer Hangouts or Snapchat selfie.

Battery is fantastic. I was worried that it wouldn’t enough but it handles work-load so much better than the HTC One. For example, I will unplug my phone in the morning around 6:30, play music for 10 mins, then watch SOA on full brightness on the train for 35 mins. This normally let me at around 60% when I got to work at 8:20. This morning I unplugged my phone at 6:00, listened to 20 mins of music, messed around on some apps for half an hour, SOA on full brightness for 35 mins. When I got to work my phone was on 85%! I haven’t charged it yet and its on 73%. So the phone itself is handling everything better, allowing for a longer battery life. The fast-charge is also great, charging for just over an hours will get the phone up to around 75% – 85%.

SD card support works perfectly. I was able to put in an already used SD-card and the phone simply picked it up. When taking my first photo, it even asked if I wanted to use the SD-card as photo storage. I would highly recommend getting an SD-card as the 16gb internal I had was never going to be good enough. So im using a 64gb one, just so I can save up for a 128gb one.

I’ll more then likely write up a new post later in the summer about this phone.

Links:

– (Root) Philz Recover – http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2703223

– (Root) ARHD 3.4 – http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2694917

– Micro SD Card I use – http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0084DWD4Q/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1