HTC One (M8) review: One and only

25 March 2014
To say there are great expectations of the freshly announced HTC One (M8) would be a massive understatement. This is, after all, one the of flagships to shape the entire season. But a predecessor that failed to turn warm reception into good sales...

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  • 30 Mar 2014

AnonD-237024, 28 Mar 2014Im having my contract increased to £20 a month. So I ... moreOnly Note 3

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    • Slayer
    • mq1
    • 30 Mar 2014

    AnonD-85136, 25 Mar 2014Z2 is much much better The Z2 may be better, not by much but better and they both have their merits. However, the Z2 was announced in February and it is now delayed (sim free version at any rate). I have opted for the M8 as not prepared to wait anymore....Sony, you snooze you lose! Trying to maximise your opportunity with the network providers but a lot of people buy sim free phones! Remember that next time or correctly try to anticipate the demand for your top end phone!

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      • psE
      • 29 Mar 2014

      Anonymous, 29 Mar 2014You couldn't be further from the truth. I have an M7 & ... moreThat's why I posted this later: "I found a video on youtube... Loudspeakers seems to be really loud, especially when they compare m8 and m7- easily hear the difference but... positive for m8- looks like it's louder (like htc promissed) than one 2013 and sound is much fuller, richer." So it seems once again then one 2014 definitely wins- it's much louder, what you have just confirmed. p.s what is pepsi challenge? :)

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        • Anonymous
        • H5D
        • 29 Mar 2014

        Sekki, 29 Mar 2014Why HTC can't just put 2 cameras? One standard camera with... moreHas it been done before? There is a company who are working on something like that, but it's not in a phone yet.

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          • Anonymous
          • H5D
          • 29 Mar 2014

          E., 29 Mar 2014??? An average score in loudspeaker test??? Worse than m7 w... moreYou couldn't be further from the truth. I have an M7 & M8 and you can hear a difference.

          We tried the pepsi challenge, where someone had there eyes closed and everytime they picked the M8.

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            • Anonymous
            • H5D
            • 29 Mar 2014

            advice, 29 Mar 2014bla bla bla the phone is huge wither u like it or u hate it... moreI have a HTC One Max and the HTC One (M8). The new One is not in the same league when it comes to the size of the phablets.

            Buts its the best looking phone i have even seen!!!

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              • Anonymous
              • g54
              • 29 Mar 2014

              Nice phone i like it

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                • psE
                • 29 Mar 2014

                AnonD-69077, 29 Mar 2014Exactly. My s4 and note 2 are louder than htc one m7. But t... moreHmm. Bizarre. I found a video on youtube where some mobile site compared loudspeakers performance of xperia z2, htc m8 and additional htc 2013. Both xperia and m8 sounds loud enough. They tested 5 different kinds of music. Loudspeakers seems to be really loud, especially when they compare m8 and m7- easily hear the difference but... positive for m8- looks like it's louder (like htc promissed) than one 2013 and sound is much fuller, richer. It's a pity that they didin't compare to some average performer like sg sIII maybe this would undoubtedly show how are really things going with loudspeaker volume, cause to be honest I'm confused after watching this video... Quess we have to see in real life...

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                  • advice
                  • fwM
                  • 29 Mar 2014

                  AnonD-234697, 29 Mar 2014Some peoplr are so stupid thinking that the htc m8 is huge ... morebla bla bla the phone is huge wither u like it or u hate it,it can be considered as phablet.

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                    • AnonD-69077
                    • nw}
                    • 29 Mar 2014

                    E., 29 Mar 2014??? An average score in loudspeaker test??? Worse than m7 w... moreExactly. My s4 and note 2 are louder than htc one m7. But the htc speaker sounds better but i care more about hearing the phone ring

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                      • Sekki
                      • UDM
                      • 29 Mar 2014

                      Why HTC can't just put 2 cameras?
                      One standard camera with high megapixels.
                      One low-light camera with ultrapixels.

                      How hard is that?

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                        • psE
                        • 29 Mar 2014

                        ??? An average score in loudspeaker test??? Worse than m7 which wasn't the loudest around? What about "it's louder 25% than it's predecessor"? What about noisy environment- traffic, street, pub??? I won't be able to hear it? Misunderstanding of the year... I was waiting for it to come to Poland.

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                          • AnonD-234697
                          • utm
                          • 29 Mar 2014

                          Some peoplr are so stupid thinking that the htc m8 is huge and uncomfy to hold....but the htc m8 is quite narrow in breadth and rounded corners which id quite comfortable to hold...the z2 is broader and the sides are squared of...making it edge to your palm......and the camera is very good...unless u are a professional photographer or u wanna blow photos up on a poster the images come out quite good....its small in size very fast sharing...faster focusing...and awesome zoe effects....after lumia 1020...the m8 combines awesome lowlight with goid daylight...best of both worlds...many cameras like z1 and z1c perform horribly in lowlight with overexposed shots... Not to mention the sony z series get overheated very quickly...since they remove a flagship every six months..they dont perfect a phone....regular software crashes are evident..poor optimizations of software...battery drain and stuff are there with the sony phones...
                          Htc m8 has the fluidest fastest lightest polished UI....go see any video review

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                            • AnonD-237024
                            • mXu
                            • 29 Mar 2014

                            Anonymous, 29 Mar 2014pretty sad of an upgrade... seriously htc.. this is your be... moreSamsung aren't doing that good either, so I don't know what your talking about

                              I seem to be failing to understand why the camera will be such a let down for the new HTC One? I am totally convinced by the sample Pictures. Honnestly, with the selfie craze, all people want is a good front camera and I love the pictures taken by the back camera! Those samples are gorgeous.

                              All I care about in a camera is a fast focus - most other cameras procure blurred images because their focus too slow.I have this issue on my S4 and I don't see how improving the MP Count will do any good. In my opinion HTC are doing the right thing. I loved the camera on the one (didn't keep the one because of battery).

                              I think the author of the article is overstating people's interest in megapixels. I think generally the public will be more receptive to the Marketing message - this is a phone for social media sharing - than to megapixel counts. People who want professional Level cameras will go for a Nokia I guess.

                              I loved the original one and now that it has less sharp edges, better battery life and even better sound, I am very happy. I was missing Boomsound and Blinkfeed so much!

                                They haven't downgraded the Display. What GSM Arena failed to note is that last year's Display adapted cheated on the contrast values - it would automatically dim the backlighting on pure blacks so as to create a huge dynamic contrast ratio. However the in-Picture contrast ratio was lower than this year's model.
                                Adaptative Display Technology is a cheat and I am glad that HTC are not using it anymore. The true contrast of the original HTC One was 1050:1.

                                So this year's model is a big improvement.

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                                  • Anonymous
                                  • sgy
                                  • 29 Mar 2014

                                  pretty sad of an upgrade... seriously htc.. this is your best? get out of here. why sammy is owning ya.

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                                    • AnonD-69077
                                    • pJX
                                    • 29 Mar 2014

                                    So they claim phone is 25% louder than previous HTC one when infact its lower in volume, so whats all the hype about the stereo speakers then. Better off keeping my htc one 2013, smaller, louder speaker, better looking without stupid black bar

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                                      • AnonD-192043
                                      • 0Bg
                                      • 28 Mar 2014

                                      What? They have downgraded the display, camera and loudspeakers. I believe very few with the M7 will upgrade.

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                                        • Njg2001
                                        • mpn
                                        • 28 Mar 2014

                                        At the conclusion of the review the GSMarena team seem to have forgotton the Oppo Find 7 - last time I checked it has the potential firepower to take on the top phones.. So lets find out!!