The HTC One (M8) Review
by Anand Lal Shimpi & Joshua Ho on March 26, 2014 7:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- HTC
- Mobile
- HTC One
Video
Since the rear facing camera only has a 4MP sensor resolution, there’s no support for 4K video recording - the maximum supported video resolution is 1080p. The available video modes are: 1080p30 (20Mbps High Profile H.264), 1080p60 (also 20Mbps High Profile), slow motion (720p) pand HDR video.
The camera preview in the video modes is pretty good. I noticed some dropped frames when recording 1080p30 but nothing substantial. The preview window when recording HDR video definitely dropped frames, to the point that it was fairly distracting. The resulting video itself was consistent in frame rate but not smoothly responsive to changes in dynamic range.
Extreme Power Saving Mode
This is a feature that seems to be all the rage these days. HTC now includes support for an Extreme Power Saving Mode that can be manually or automatically set to turn on when your battery reaches 20%, 10% or 5% remaining capacity. In the Extreme Power Saving mode you’re locked out from all but five apps (phone, messages, HTC Mail, HTC Calendar and Calculator ). The display brightness is clamped to 170 nits and max CPU/GPU frequency is limited to 1.2GHz and 320MHz, respectively. All four cores remain capable of being plugged in. Background data is also restricted - only SMS/MMS and phone calls will come in automatically. Emails need to be manually refreshed, and all other apps are quit upon entering the mode. The sensor hub is powered down, which disables features like the Motion Gestures and Pedometer.
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The Extreme Power Saving Mode features a large, simplified UI. The 5-inch display is evenly divided into large touch targets for each of the five apps as well as a button to exit the mode. The notification shade is disabled as well. You’ll still get alerts for things like open WiFi networks, but you’ll have no way to join/dismiss them while in this mode.
HTC claims up to 15 hours of standby time on the new One when running in Extreme Power Saving Mode (with 5% battery remaining). I still haven’t devised a good battery life test for these modes but I plan on measuring screen on standby time as soon as I get an opportunity to do so.
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tipoo - Wednesday, March 26, 2014 - link
I'm dying at the mustachioed Anand and the punk hat.bj_murphy - Thursday, March 27, 2014 - link
Yeah me too, that was my favourite part of the review, hands down!tzhu07 - Thursday, March 27, 2014 - link
HTC has a real-time 3D model of the M8. Pretty cool.https://skfb.ly/yvMN
skingtech - Tuesday, April 15, 2014 - link
This article helps convince me to go Samsung Galaxy S5 for sure. The M8 has a nice feature set - better built in sound and nicer look but, Samsung has better display, better camera, and comparable if not faster everything else (I don't know about you but, I put a case on my phone - the look of the device should be the LAST thing focus'd on for crying out loud.dylan522p - Wednesday, March 26, 2014 - link
I think those selfies may be the greatest thing ever!KPOM - Wednesday, March 26, 2014 - link
Nice review, as usual. I wonder if 5" is where phone manufacturers finally "stop" in terms of the "standard" phone size. Above that, and a small tablet paired with a 4-5" phone really is a better solution.If I were to get an Android phone, it would be an HTC. They should lobby hard to get a Nexus phone. With Google subsidies that might be what kicks their sales efforts into gear. Otherwise, I see the new HTC One in much the same light as the old HTC One: the best Android phone out there in terms of build quality and style, and one of the best in terms of performance, but a distant also-ran behind Samsung in terms of sales.
fokka - Wednesday, March 26, 2014 - link
i don't think we reached the end of increasing screen sizes yet. the one just hit 5", in a relatively big body though, the s5 jumped to 5,1", also by increasing body size. the z2 is at 5,2" and the only phones seemingly at least trying to offset the big screen with small bezels are the g2 and note3.the next note will be 5,9-6" and the next round of flagships will be in the 5,5" ballpark.
we can only hope for devices like the z1 compact to make top notch hardware available in more pocketable form factors.
Honest Accounting - Wednesday, March 26, 2014 - link
Moto X: optimal form factor and minimal bezels.I think we'll end up with 3 'standard' sizes. 4.7", 5.5", and 6.3"
piroroadkill - Thursday, March 27, 2014 - link
Yeah, Moto X is the right size.2.6mm shorter and 2.6mm narrower than my Motorola DROID RAZR MAXX HD. (Although the Moto X is thicker with a lot less battery!).
I still think if I had to pick any phone available, I'd stick with the one I have. The new DROID MAXX is closest to what I'd want, but it has no microSD slot or HDMI out, which the HD has both of.
Jeffrey Bosboom - Wednesday, March 26, 2014 - link
Can we get some remarks about audio quality? I use my phone for two things: taking pictures of whiteboards and listening to music. Given that my old EVO 3D's camera (and heavy JPEG compression) takes acceptable pictures, I think the ultrapixel camera will suffice. So if it also offers decent audio quality, I'll probably get one.