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HTC M8 User reviews - Thoughts on your device? Battery usage/life? -Issues/comments

Final review on the camera from me (I am happy with my purchase)

I am very satisfied with the overall quality of the camera after using it for several days now in multiple lighting situations. It does blow some things out, but HTC was nice enough to give us manual control to adjust settings to compensate for this if the need arises.

It's never going to be a perfect device. HTC is trying to offer the both of best worlds... Low light performance and good high resolution performance in bright daylight photos. In the end they had to sacrifice with a better light gathering sensor and deal with some blow out.


Personally I can adjust settings manually and reduce the blow out and tweak it with Photoshop. If it's really important i would have had my EOS 70D with me.


It's really a matter of preference Low-light- This phone blows everything away, and in normal lighting situations it is slightly above average within the 2013-2014 camera line-ups in my highly unprofessional opinion.
 
Tlicious1020 said:
Just watch for fingerprints on the lens! You seem like a kid in the candy store...LOL
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This has been the scourge of my camera experience since the OG evo. I always end up with grease or some form of construction debris on my phone. :p

Take a pic, and look at it, crap!! Clean the lens off, take pic again...:rolleyes:
 
I usually charge my phone overnight in a desktop stand on by bedside cabinet. Due to the fact that HTC have sent a stupidly large charger with this phone, it doesn't sit in the socket behind the bed

Is it ok to use the old One X charger? I know this pushes out 1A instead of the 1.5A of the new charger, but assume it'll just take longer to charge (which isn't a problem as it'll be on overnight anyway), or will charging on a lower amp constantly damage the phone / battery?

All advice appreciated
 
It will work fine I use a 1 amp next to my bed since I don't need it to charge quickly and use the 1.5 in my office. It will not damage anything.

If the phone draws more amperage than a charger provides the charging circuit disconnects automatically. You will not be anywhere near that limit while charging overnight
 
No expert here,but I'll chime in w/my 2 cents & personal experience.

Not sure what the "floor" is on underpowered chargers for this phone,but,you can expect longer charging times &/or the handset to generate more heat while charging,which in turn,can cause a slower charge cycle,lather,rinse repeat..... in a sense,slowly cooking the battery.

While not immediately apparent,over time,can affect battery performance (battery life between charge cycles).

I'd stick w/something as close (spec wise) to the OEM charger as possible,at least on the low end (1.5a minimum).
 
Here is an article on chargers that applies to a lot of devices, including phones : http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/all_about_chargers a 1 amp charger is still within spec for this device and mAh rating.


You have to keep in mind most car chargers are 1A. If this was an issue HTC would state that it is not recommended to use anything Lee's than a 1.5A car charger for this phone.

Went as far to open a chat with HTC (for what they are worth) and they said it's fine. Of course I take what they say with a grain of salt
 
thanks for all the replies. Even the HTC website states that the old One X design charger is suitable for the M8, but I don't believe them either!!

I suppose I'll know in about 12 months time if its had a long term effect
 
Well after having this phone for over a week now I can say I have no buyers remorse. Here is my long-winded, updated review.

I have only found a few issues that I am disappointed with:

1- Charge LED (Could they make it any dimmer?) I can barely see it when I am in my car, and occasionally my charger gets unplugged and I don't notice it until I've been driving 2 hours with the GPS on and see the battery has been getting a workout.

2- Notification sounds with Bluetooth. I have noticed an inconsistency with notifications sometimes being either quiet or non-existent. This has occurred on my LG Tone 730's, my BlueAnt Q3, and my Jawbone Era. - Any thoughts on this would be appreciated. Notifications from apps like Whatsapp and Tapatalk are missed, or they just play on the phone and there is no notice on the headset...

3- Bluetooth bug that allows everyone to see my device and attempt to pair to it (no option to hide visibility)- HTC is working on this

4- People can't stop asking me about it! ....Ok, that's not really a negative, but the three things above are minor annoyances that I can live with compared with my overall satisfaction with this phone!

_________________

Now that the negatives are out of the way let's discuss the positives I have experienced:

1- First and foremost - A HTC One M8 forum that is developing into a wonderful community

2- Battery life>> Out of everything I have ever been concerned with in a phone this is by far #1. The battery life on this thing is just amazing, and it just keeps improving with the addition of EPSM... If I have to I can actually go the entire day without a charger, and still wake up the next morning with 30%. This is unheard of up until now without the addition of a external battery that adds 3 inches to my waist and 5 pounds :p

3. "6th Sense">> I really like the way HTC is opting for a "minimalist" overlay that lets you enjoy added features with out the feeling that there are 5 extra helpings of useless overlay on the phone. It seems that the more refined Sense gets, the more it feels like an integrated part of the phone.

4. Camera>> You can see my posts on the camera in the camera thread, and to sum it up I am happy with it. It does have flaws with blue/purple haze over certain objects that should be white, and it likes to blow things out a bit, but that is a compromise of being able to take low light pictures that are truly amazing.

I personally don't have any complaints about the camera and love the manual settings option that allows you to tweak everything. with a little bit of patience you can adjust almost any image to perfection.

5. Screen>> Vivid colors and excellent performance under direct sunlight.

6. Sound>> Love the sound of the speakers and the BT quality is great. Not so happy that Sprint pulled BT compatibility with boom sound on their latest patch. I would have preferred an option to control that myself.


7. Build quality>> Wow this thing is solid. I feel confident if my gun jams when a burglar breaks in that I could lay them out with a good whack from this phone, and still be able to call the police with it afterwords. It feels great in the hands and the amount of craftsmanship is really top notch.


Well there you go, that is my updated report on my phone. I look forward to others making follow-up reviews.


I will update my review after I take my phone in its first vacation at the end of the month!
 
I'll make this brief (for now, highlighting the items that are a priority in my corner of the world) :

BUILD QUALITY:

AWESOME,even surpassing that of the M7.Speaker grills are uniform in fit,flush w/the screen.

BLUETOOTH: Audio/music w/the JAYBIRD BLUEBUDS X is top-notch w/plenty of volume/loudness. Calls are decent,definitely a step up from the M7, but, could be a bit clearer & louder, yet, it's serviceable to where it's not a sore spot w/me as was the M7.

BROWSER:Glad to be back w/an HTC device for this alone. Much smoother than CHROME, which I've already disabled.

BLINKFEED & SENSE TV:
Missed these two as well,nice to have on the daily driver again. Downloaded ULTIMATE ROTATION CONTROL from the GOOGLE PLAY STORE, BLINKFEED looks/feels just fine in landscape,unlike w/the M7.Nice touch. App drawer is fine as well in landscape mode. Will likely forgo the usual 3rd party launcher,for now anyway,unless I get bit by the customizing bug....

That's it for now. I see a lot of familiar faces from the M7 forum, which is great. Looking forward to spending time with everyone here again.
 
Yessir, that & for the Dot Case & Gallery as well.

BTW, got the same weird BLUETOOTH snafu w/the T-MOBLIE version,no way to turn off visibility.
 
The wife's S5 came in the mail today. Holding the S5 and M8 in hand the difference in build quality is very noticable. The M8 feels like a much higher quality build than the S5 but everyone knows that.

The low light pictures look better on the M8 but the S5 zooms in more.

S5 has it's version of Blinkfeed called My Magazine.

S5 has a bigger screen.

S5 has a replaceable battery.

S5 was more expensive but came with a mail-in rebate.

I don't think either phone is bad or much better than the other at this point, like everyone says it depends what you want and how you use it. If anyone wants me to test specific differences between the two let me know, she is out of town and I will have it at my disposal (off network) for an entire week.
 
Someone had an S5 at work. I love how BlinkFeed was copied. Anyway, I just turned up the volume on my Harman/Kardon speakers and let the sound fill the room. Do I need to say anything more?
 
Shouldn't it be obvious, that tapping on the clock or calendar at the top of the notifications drawer should open the clock or calendar apps? Little touches like that go a long way. On the plus side, no one gives much love to the sense app drawer. Being able to organize the apps and use folders means I can get everything on just 2 pages, with 95% of what I need on the first page. I assume the galaxy s5 will have this? I know vanilla android doesn't, at least not on my nexus 7.
 
What are your thoughts on the phone's build quality? In relation to other phones?

I had one delivered the day they were available online through AT&T. I loved the phone, but soon noticed loose volume and power buttons as well as the speakers and screen not flush with each other.

Went to the AT&T store today and they replaced it, no questions asked. However, I found that this one also has a loose volume and power button (although not as bad as before) as well as problems with the speakers again.
HTC_ONE_M8.png

The red is the problem areas, where I can feel that the phone is not flush with the outside edge, while the green areas were fixed when I got the exchange - meaning that the screen and speakers are now flush with each other.

Overall, I love the phone and wouldn't trade it for any other model - however I am somewhat disappointed by the lackluster quality control.

I realize that it's hard to make every unit perfect since they're metal and what not but I wish HTC would have put in more effort. At the store, I played around with the LG G2 and although I didn't like the cluttered software, I did appreciate that the face of the phone felt solid and perfect.
 
L4asong said:
What are your thoughts on the phone's build quality? In relation to other phones?

I had one delivered the day they were available online through AT&T. I loved the phone, but soon noticed loose volume and power buttons as well as the speakers and screen not flush with each other.

Went to the AT&T store today and they replaced it, no questions asked. However, I found that this one also has a loose volume and power button (although not as bad as before) as well as problems with the speakers again.
HTC_ONE_M8.png

The red is the problem areas, where I can feel that the phone is not flush with the outside edge, while the green areas were fixed when I got the exchange - meaning that the screen and speakers are now flush with each other.

Overall, I love the phone and wouldn't trade it for any other model - however I am somewhat disappointed by the lackluster quality control.

I realize that it's hard to make every unit perfect since they're metal and what not but I wish HTC would have put in more effort. At the store, I played around with the LG G2 and although I didn't like the cluttered software, I did appreciate that the face of the phone felt solid and perfect.
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First things first...This is the picture of the M7 (HTC One OG)

I have not had any quality issues myself. Everything is flush and snug. If possible it would be great if you could post pictures of the issues with the speaker grill.
 
SolApathy said:
[/spoiler]



First things first...This is the picture of the M7 (HTC One OG)

I have not had any quality issues myself. Everything is flush and snug. If possible it would be great if you could post pictures of the issues with the speaker grill.
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Oops, I picked the first picture I saw.

And regarding the issues of the speaker grill, after exchanging it, the new phone didn't have problems. I just feel a slight raise around the top and bottom edges of the phone outlined in red in the picture. I felt a few of their models and they all had the same issue. Perhaps it was designed that way, can't say for certain.
 
When I picked up mine yesterday,I had the clerk bring out a 2nd handset for the same reasons as the OP:

Not sure about the outer edges,but,the 1st unit's bottom speaker grill was not uniform in fit.The left side was flush w/the glass,but,the right side was noticeably elevated.KUDOS to the T-MOBILE clerk for bringing out another handset w/o so much of a blink of an eye.

The handset I ended up taking home has a great fit/finish.The only way you can tell where the glass ends & the speaker grills end is the difference in texture/temperature.If I were to set the phone up on a test plate & run a test indicator across the joining surfaces,I'd bet it would'nt move any more than .002"-.005"

For all who have the M8 &/or are considering so,I hope we don't have a repeat GRILLGATE on our hands....... ;)
 
SolApathy said:
7. Build quality>> Wow this thing is solid. I feel confident if my gun jams when a burglar breaks in that I could lay them out with a good whack from this phone, and still be able to call the police with it afterwords.
Click to expand...

:D:D:D:D

SolApathy said:
I will update my review after I take my phone in its first vacation at the end of the month!
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Yes I'm planning on going on vacation the end of this month too. Will be puttin 'er through the paces of being a backroad GPS/mapping device, and checking how well it pulls in signal while way out and beyond . . . Come on Tuesday!
 
As soon as the OP posted about loose volume buttons, I went right to best buy to see their demo unit. Theirs wasn't any more lose than my volume. So maybe that's how it was meant to be built?
 
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