• After 15+ years, we've made a big change: Android Forums is now Early Bird Club. Learn more here.

M8 Dilemma, need help from M8 owners!

sean76

sean76

Android Expert
OK I was as close to buying an M8 as one could be, and was going to sell my nexus 5 last week. However after playing with it in VZW because at&t didn't have them yet I decided not to pull the trigger because of the so so camera.

However I got a chance to use my friends yesterday indoors and was pretty surprised at some of the pics, and while the video wasn't mind blowing, it wasn't too bad indoors which is where I will do most video capture anyway. No OIS is a strike against the M8, but I was able to capture some pretty decent and shaky free clips even without it, not perfect, but decent! The sound was amazing, where the nexus 5's sound is not so good, the M8 produces fantastic sound, maybe call it a trade off.

Anyway one of my cousin's wants a nexus 5 and is ready to like order it NOW! He dropped his nexus 4 a few weeks ago and shattered the whole back and basically just wants to get rid of it and get the nexus 5 because he also wants LTE. Anyway he hates carrier software and has an upgrade on his at&t account and will use it to get me a phone from at&t for $199 and then give me the difference for what my nexus 5 was, which is $400, plus he'll pay me for the wireless charger which is another $50.

Another words I give him the nexus and he gives me $450, and I will give him the $200 which is the cost of the M8, and I still have another $200, or so in my pocket. I loose on the bumper cases because I said for using your upgrade I'll just give em to you, no big deal.

So what do M8 owners think? I really can't loose because at the end of the day I can always just return the M8 and buy a nexus 5 all over again if I don't like it. The friggin camera was all that was holding me back, but superior sound, great battery life, and a camera that maybe I can conquer may be worth it?

Thoughts & Opinions are welcome from any M8 owners.
 
Doesn't look like a dilemma to me. Grab the M8, try it... If you like it, keep it! Best feature imo so far is the battery life. The camera is fine for the normal user. You can check out the picture thread and the user review thread to see some really great pictures taken with this camera!
 
I had the Nexus 5 in December and sent it back because the camera wasn't fast enough for me. I can say the M8 is much faster and produces about the same quality photos....except quicker and easier.
 
I dumped n5 on Friday for this bad boy.

Sitting at 17% on my first full charge and been off the charger 1 day and 8 hours.

Absolutely love this thing and couldn't go back to the nexus now.
 
It's really a win / win if you think about it. You've got 14 days to decide, and if you don't keep it, you'll buy a brand new N5. ;)

I still can't comment on how it works, Mine's being delivered today. So frickin excited!! :D
 
Thanks for some speedy replies everyone. I think I may do it because honestly if there is one think that I just can't stand its shotty battery life, with the nexus its a bag of tricks with the battery life, one day its 12 hours, the next its 5 hours, just all over the place, otherwise it's been a great phone the last 6 months or so.

Another gripe was to either go with the GPE edition or the at&t variant? Call me nuts, but I'm diggin this version of sense and it just feels and looks awesome to me. So I think the at&t version will suite me better especially with the fact that the camera will most likely perform better with HTC's full blown camera software on board.
 
SolApathy said:
Also with the GPE edition there is no visual voicemail.
Click to expand...


Yea I had the M7 GPE, some things were a real pita, like MMS messages going through very blurry to the recipients, and of course the lack of all the HTC camera tricks and stuff.
 
sean76 said:
Its on the way, should have it Thursday! They were sold out at at&t, so ordered it right over the phone.
Will report back : )
Click to expand...

Well, well, well..... hahaha I am glad you had a chance to really try the phone out in your real world situations. Welcome to the world of proud M8 owners!
 
Just switched from an iPhone 5S to an M8 and love it. Camera is fine and the battery life as good as my iPhone was. This us the first Android phone I've owned that I could say that about.
 
OK just received my M8 from at&t Today...

Here's my General impressions over the last few hours of use.

I've handled the phone a few times and put it through some minor paces, but this is the 1st time I've been able to really dig into it and push it.

So yes we all know it's built very well, just like the M7, and that is 100% true! Phone screams premium, and in a very loud voice.

The size to me is just fine as I have some pretty big hands, however I would definitely prefer a side power button as opposed to the top, but the gestures tackle that for the most part with that tap feature. Weight is fine also, like I said, feels so much more premium then any other phone out there.

Screen is nice, but IMO I like the Nexus 5 screen better and feel it has better viewing angles then the M8, just my opinion though.

But the most surprising thing of all, and what is most important to me is the camera. And I'm just going to come out and say it, the camera is fine, as is video recording. Yes its apparent that there is no OIS, but only without a steady hand, which I have, so with that said...I can live with the camera.

However one thing I may not be able to live without is stock Android. I don't know, I thought I could just do it and rock with sense, I don't think I can honestly. So what I may do is just give the Google Play edition a harder look and give that a shot because honestly I really do like the phone...A Lot!

A few things that struck me...

The speakers side by side with the nexus 5 aren't really super mind blowing! After the last fix from Google for the Nexus 5, my speakers are pretty loud.

The earpiece volume is a lot louder on the Nexus 5, weird because my M7 was just as loud if not louder then my nexus 5. So with that said, call volume is pretty low on the M8 from what I've seen so far.

The touch screen reaction on the M8 is by far the best I've seen on a phone, better then any phone that I've ever used.

The color temp on the nexus 5 is cooler and whiter when compared to the M8? This is a weird one because the color on the M7 was very very cool next to both my nexus 4 and nexus 5?

I'm going to really dig into the phone this weekend and fully decide if a GPE will be the route for me because honestly its just a striking piece of hardware.
 
I've got an upgrade to burn since I bought the N5 off contract, so I've been stopping into my local sprint store to see if they've had any available, and they haven't.

Today I called and asked if they had the M8, and they did so I went down there.

Turns out they had them in stock, but no display units to play with. I said I wouldn't buy a phone without being able to interact with it, his response was "its just like last years" :mad:

That kinda irked me. How do they expect to sell devices without a demo unit? Granted this wasn't a corporate store, but still.

A slight rant but still really diappointing..... Side note, they also no longer have all the guys I used to know at the store, and none of the new employees were rooted :( . I used to be able to talk root/ROMs/kernels with the old techs forever.
 
Rxpert83 said:
I've got an upgrade to burn since I bought the N5 off contract, so I've been stopping into my local sprint store to see if they've had any available, and they haven't.

Today I called and asked if they had the M8, and they did so I went down there.

Turns out they had them in stock, but no display units to play with. I said I wouldn't buy a phone without being able to interact with it, his response was "its just like last years" :mad:

That kinda irked me. How do they expect to sell devices without a demo unit? Granted this wasn't a corporate store, but still.

A slight rant but still really diappointing..... Side note, they also no longer have all the guys I used to know at the store, and none of the new employees were rooted :( . I used to be able to talk root/ROMs/kernels with the old techs forever.
Click to expand...


I'm a super tech whore, and just love shiny new tech toys. And after pretty much a full day and evening with the phone I'll say its a really really awesome piece of hardware.

However in a lot of areas the $399 nexus 5 is just as good if not better. Does that make it more favorable to me or you, or anyone in here, probably not. But there is a lot to be said here, especially with the huge price difference in phones.

As for me... I may go for the GPE since I just enjoy the stock experience, I just need to know if everything works 100%, especially the camera. I've seen a few videos saying the shooter works fine and you still get youfocus, etc.

Also maybe this is just me, but I've gotten used to the nexus 5's giant icons...lol

But bottom line, it feels like such a crazy piece of hardware!
 
sean76 said:
OK just received my M8 from at&t Today...

Here's my General impressions over the last few hours of use.

I've handled the phone a few times and put it through some minor paces, but this is the 1st time I've been able to really dig into it and push it.

So yes we all know it's built very well, just like the M7, and that is 100% true! Phone screams premium, and in a very loud voice.

The size to me is just fine as I have some pretty big hands, however I would definitely prefer a side power button as opposed to the top, but the gestures tackle that for the most part with that tap feature. Weight is fine also, like I said, feels so much more premium then any other phone out there.

Screen is nice, but IMO I like the Nexus 5 screen better and feel it has better viewing angles then the M8, just my opinion though.

But the most surprising thing of all, and what is most important to me is the camera. And I'm just going to come out and say it, the camera is fine, as is video recording. Yes its apparent that there is no OIS, but only without a steady hand, which I have, so with that said...I can live with the camera.

However one thing I may not be able to live without is stock Android. I don't know, I thought I could just do it and rock with sense, I don't think I can honestly. So what I may do is just give the Google Play edition a harder look and give that a shot because honestly I really do like the phone...A Lot!

A few things that struck me...

The speakers side by side with the nexus 5 aren't really super mind blowing! After the last fix from Google for the Nexus 5, my speakers are pretty loud.

The earpiece volume is a lot louder on the Nexus 5, weird because my M7 was just as loud if not louder then my nexus 5. So with that said, call volume is pretty low on the M8 from what I've seen so far.

The touch screen reaction on the M8 is by far the best I've seen on a phone, better then any phone that I've ever used.

The color temp on the nexus 5 is cooler and whiter when compared to the M8? This is a weird one because the color on the M7 was very very cool next to both my nexus 4 and nexus 5?

I'm going to really dig into the phone this weekend and fully decide if a GPE will be the route for me because honestly its just a striking piece of hardware.
Click to expand...

Took you long enough Sean. Welcome to the M8 users club.
 
I've been tempted to go to the GPE but I'm on the Edge program at VZW and I need to be able to trade it in later
 
Rxpert83 said:
Turns out they had them in stock, but no display units to play with. I said I wouldn't buy a phone without being able to interact with it, his response was "its just like last years" :mad:

.
Click to expand...

I have a G2 - debating on waiting for the G3 - or breaking down - and getting an M8. That's the background - I'm a phone junkie. One of my co-workers has a daughter that's a manager @ T-Mo. I was telling him about all the (generally) great reviews of the M8.

He sends his daughter an email saying that he's hearing that the HTC M8 is a winner. She responded back "Where did you hear that"?

After thinking about it - that may have been an innocent question. I actually took it a different way (I sent him the links). The way I took is is HTC and LG are not in the Same class as Apple and Samsung. And that's correct - they don't have the marketing budget of the "Big 2". What sucks is the perception that they are "not as good". The comment that rep made to you is a good case in point. Joe Average would have taken that comment, and probably be pushed to an S5. But - we ain't no Joe Averages here. Sorry abouth the vent - just 1 of my pet peeves.
 
DILands said:
I have a G2 - debating on waiting for the G3 - or breaking down - and getting an M8. That's the background - I'm a phone junkie. One of my co-workers has a daughter that's a manager @ T-Mo. I was telling him about all the (generally) great reviews of the M8.

He sends his daughter an email saying that he's hearing that the HTC M8 is a winner. She responded back "Where did you hear that"?

After thinking about it - that may have been an innocent question. I actually took it a different way (I sent him the links). The way I took is is HTC and LG are not in the Same class as Apple and Samsung. And that's correct - they don't have the marketing budget of the "Big 2". What sucks is the perception that they are "not as good". The comment that rep made to you is a good case in point. Joe Average would have taken that comment, and probably be pushed to an S5. But - we ain't no Joe Averages here. Sorry abouth the vent - just 1 of my pet peeves.
Click to expand...

I'm not trying to be a boob. But people that work in cell phone carrier stores aren't typically tech junkies. So their knowledge is usually lacking a great deal.

I have a friend that works for Verizon. I was teasing her that Verizon maybe the best cell carrier, but they suck. #1 last to update the OS on phones. #2 Prices are ridiculous. #3 They took 6 months to get the One last year.

I've been sticking it out with Sprint through their cell tower upgrades. I've probably racked up over $300 in credits to my bill because I would complain if I couldn't make a call or send a text message. Sprint has upgraded all of their towers and to me they are cheaper and better than Verizon.

Oh, thank you Sprint for the Harman/Kardon speakers! How you like them Apple's Verizon?
 
Also traded in the G2 for either the S5 or the M8. Chose the M8. Love it. Ironically the battery actually lasts longer than the G2 despite the 400mah differential.
 
Not a good day for the M8 Today!

For some reason, and its affecting others as well...The sense TV app is not working? As well as the Zoe App? Something about connecting to the server for the TV app and Zoe says coming soon? Very annoying, tried everything.. Even a hard reset, no dice.

Also I can't get any of my videos to play in Dropbox ? Says this device is not supported or something like that. This is a biggie because I use Dropbox on the regular and can't understand why it worked fine on the M7 and my nexus 5?
 
sean76 said:
Not a good day for the M8 Today!

For some reason, and its affecting others as well...The sense TV app is not working? As well as the Zoe App? Something about connecting to the server for the TV app and Zoe says coming soon? Very annoying, tried everything.. Even a hard reset, no dice.

Also I can't get any of my videos to play in Dropbox ? Says this device is not supported or something like that. This is a biggie because I use Dropbox on the regular and can't understand why it worked fine on the M7 and my nexus 5?
Click to expand...

I am pretty sure the Sense TV App issue is fixed and the Zoe App is really just a place to share the Zoe's we make. The actual function of Zoe is built into the camera app so that should still work fine. They announced that the Zoe Share App would be coming soon when they launched the phone.

Any luck on the Dropbox issue?
 
sikclown said:
I am pretty sure the Sense TV App issue is fixed and the Zoe App is really just a place to share the Zoe's we make. The actual function of Zoe is built into the camera app so that should still work fine. They announced that the Zoe Share App would be coming soon when they launched the phone.

Any luck on the Dropbox issue?
Click to expand...

Yes, got the TV App to work last night on both my office TV and Home TV! :D
Must have been a server overload thing because a few of us were having the same problem yesterday.

Zoe the App will be here soon enough I guess, works just like my M7 did right now, which is a cool feature to have on my phone for quick pic combinations.

DropBox I honestly have not had time to really dig into, but video clips that work on my nexus 5 just dont work on my M8 for some reason?

Otherwise, all is working quite well and I'm utterly surprised that this 6th version of sense has grown on me over the last few days and i'm pretty much enjoying the phone.
 
sean76 said:
Yes, got the TV App to work last night on both my office TV and Home TV! :D
Must have been a server overload thing because a few of us were having the same problem yesterday.

Zoe the App will be here soon enough I guess, works just like my M7 did right now, which is a cool feature to have on my phone for quick pic combinations.

DropBox I honestly have not had time to really dig into, but video clips that work on my nexus 5 just dont work on my M8 for some reason?

Otherwise, all is working quite well and I'm utterly surprised that this 6th version of sense has grown on me over the last few days and i'm pretty much enjoying the phone.
Click to expand...

I would bet it is an encoding issue that the HTC Player just doesn't like vs Stock Android Player on the N5. Try MX Player. I have not run into many things it won't play.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom