HTC One (M8) Thread

beno619 · 29-03-2014 1:33pm

Nolimits wrote: »

Edit : for the record, the point in your post that I was responding to wasn't that someone in two months time should not evaluate all of the phones available, it was that if even half the rumours about the L3 are correct, it'll blow everything else away.

Again LG's software and design leave a lot to be desired copying Samsung will only get them so far.

Uriel. · 29-03-2014 2:13pm

Nolimits wrote: »

I don't think you were suggesting it, but I'm in no way loyal to HTC (or any other brand for that matter). I just think until there is a breakthrough in battery life there will be no flagship that blows any other out of the water.

Edit : for the record, the point in your post that I was responding to wasn't that someone in two months time should not evaluate all of the phones available, it was that if even half the rumours about the L3 are correct, it'll blow everything else away.

Well I didn't say blow out of the water but "kill everything " pedantic perhaps but there is a subtle difference.

Aside from the look and feel of a phone (which is down to Personal preference), two phones side by side with relatively equal price etc, If one had better hardware all round (at moment, based entirely on rumours g3 will beat current smartphones on every hardware aspect) it effectively kills the other phone. When it comes to the purchase, of course it won't be always pure spec that informs an individual's choice exclusively.

I wouldn't generally be too worried about software myself as flashing roms or even simply using a different launcher can overcome any problems with a particularly interface if one was so inclined.

BeeBumble · 29-03-2014 2:58pm

I just picked up the M8 in Newry this morning. It looks and feels fantastic! Thanks Basil3 for the info!

Gunther_Gloop · 29-03-2014 3:15pm

I called to a Three shop here in Cork (yes I was seriously considering a drive north). They heard nothing of it. "Probably an April or May release" they said. I guess I'll see what happens this week.

BeeBumble · 29-03-2014 3:18pm

Gunther_Gloop wrote: »

I called to a Three shop here in Cork (yes I was seriously considering a drive north). They heard nothing of it. "Probably an April or May release" they said. I guess I'll see what happens this week.

I called in to my local 3 store on the way home to pick up a new sim card and she said they will have the M8 in stock on 4 April but she didn't know if it would be selling sim free. She also said that a lot of the time the first batch of new phones are actually sold sim free but they aren't allowed to broadcast that fact!

29-03-2014 3:31pm

Gunther_Gloop wrote: »

I called to a Three shop here in Cork (yes I was seriously considering a drive north). They heard nothing of it. "Probably an April or May release" they said. I guess I'll see what happens this week.

In any case, the official release date here is Thursday.

https://twitter.com/HTCIreland/statuses/448511939111841792

The only thing is that price hasn't been confirmed by anyone. I've heard some saying it may be pushing €700, but i think €600 would be closer to the mark.

Uriel. · 29-03-2014 4:08pm

http://www.cnet.com/uk/news/is-the-htc-one-m8-that-good-benchmark-cheating-alleged-again/

CNET published a very interesting short article in the last 24hours in respect of benchmark tests and "cheating" but htc seem to have answered the criticism quite well.. Maybe.

Still article shows what you're up against when trying to choose between many fine contenders

killbillvol2 · 29-03-2014 4:24pm

Basil3 wrote: »

In any case, the official release date here is Thursday.

https://twitter.com/HTCIreland/statuses/448511939111841792

The only thing is that price hasn't been confirmed by anyone. I've heard some saying it may be pushing €700, but i think €600 would be closer to the mark.

Bang on. €599.99 on O2.

29-03-2014 4:51pm

I was gonna try to go a whole day for battery stats, but unfortunately I gotta flash new recovery and rom.....in any case, here's another battery screen before i lose my stats.

I'm happy with this. 3:30 screen on, around an hour talking on the phone via bluetooth in my car earlier on, and also a bit of satnav with google maps.

This is only the second phone that I think I can realistically survive without a topup charge each day (previously only the Note 2 was capable of this for me)

edit: apologies about the screenshot size.

quarryman · 30-03-2014 1:27pm

Basil3 wrote: »

I was gonna try to go a whole day for battery stats, but unfortunately I gotta flash new recovery and rom.....in any case, here's another battery screen before i lose my stats.

I'm happy with this. 3:30 screen on, around an hour talking on the phone via bluetooth in my car earlier on, and also a bit of satnav with google maps.

This is only the second phone that I think I can realistically survive without a topup charge each day (previously only the Note 2 was capable of this for me)

edit: apologies about the screenshot size.

43% left after 9 hours seems ok. But doesn't seem THAT amazing. Although not bad with a 2600 mah battery. Let's see what the S5 will manage with the bigger battery...

30-03-2014 1:37pm

quarryman wrote: »

43% left after 9 hours seems ok. But doesn't seem THAT amazing. Although not bad with a 2600 mah battery. Let's see what the S5 will manage with the bigger battery...

It's actually 47%, which although not far off, it's a lot closer to saying half is left!

Bear in mind, the One (M7) would have been down around 30% at this stage I would say. To me it's significant.

I don't think battery life should come in to a decision between the M8 and S5. Even if S5 ends up being a little better, it won't last two days with heavy use, so would still require nightly charge. For me the most important thing is always lasting a day.

Mantis Toboggan · 30-03-2014 2:00pm

Will be interesting to see how the phones battery holds up over time. I've found that with a new phone the first 2 months can seem very impressive but it can quickly go downhill from there.

30-03-2014 2:01pm

Buddy Holly wrote: »

Will be interesting to see how the phones battery holds up over time. I've found that with a new phone the first 2 months can seem very impressive but it can quickly go downhill from there.

This is to do with you installing apps that cause drain and wakelocks. Nothing to do with actual battery degradation.

Mantis Toboggan · 30-03-2014 2:04pm

Basil3 wrote: »

This is to do with you installing apps that cause drain and wakelocks. Nothing to do with actual battery degradation.

So actual usage?

Bluefoam · 30-03-2014 2:05pm

Caliden wrote: »

I don't understand why they left in the huge HTC bevel at the bottom despite putting the buttons onscreen. There's a double black band going across the bottom of the screen as opposed to it's predecessor. That's my only gripe with it really.

Would love to get it in the blue color that was leaked a few weeks ago, anyone had any luck in finding if that color is actually being released as an option?

I read somewhere that its to do with fitting in the boomsound speakers...

Uriel. · 30-03-2014 5:00pm

Buddy Holly wrote: »

Will be interesting to see how the phones battery holds up over time. I've found that with a new phone the first 2 months can seem very impressive but it can quickly go downhill from there.

You should see an improvement in battery life about two weeks after first usage. It takes a number of charge cycles in order for the battery to be "bled in".

More worrying though, from the M8 point of view, is the inability to change battery. With my GNex I bought a bigger battery pack and it is great (essential actually) despite if being so ugly. But even without going for a bigger battery pack, the ability to hot swap a spare battery is hugely important I think.

Though I'll likely go with the M8 or z2, neither of which has swappable batteries. Hopefully they'll be good enough (in terms of software tweaks and processor improvements) to get a day out of a charge cycle.

30-03-2014 5:10pm

Uriel. wrote: »

You should see an improvement in battery life about two weeks after first usage. It takes a number of charge cycles in order for the battery to be "bled in".

More worrying though, from the M8 point of view, is the inability to change battery. With my GNex I bought a bigger battery pack and it is great (essential actually) despite if being so ugly. But even without going for a bigger battery pack, the ability to hot swap a spare battery is hugely important I think.

Though I'll likely go with the M8 or z2, neither of which has swappable batteries. Hopefully they'll be good enough (in terms of software tweaks and processor improvements) to get a day out of a charge cycle.

Didn't the GNex have shocking battery life though? Times have moved on quite a bit since that device came out.

Most people go into a complete meltdown over things like non-removable battery and non-removable SD card, but the reality is that neither is very important and it's very easy to live without both. It's actually interesting that HTC brought back removable SD for M8. I'd actually prefer 32GB on board and no removable SD rather than 16GB on the device.

Uriel. · 30-03-2014 5:26pm

Basil3 wrote: »

Didn't the GNex have shocking battery life though? Times have moved on quite a bit since that device came out.

Most people go into a complete meltdown over things like non-removable battery and non-removable SD card, but the reality is that neither is very important and it's very easy to live without both. It's actually interesting that HTC brought back removable SD for M8. I'd actually prefer 32GB on board and no removable SD rather than 16GB on the device.

Ah shocking enough, but to be fair even my work phone (iphone 5) is not great with the battery life either and that's not so old (nor does it have a big screen draining it).

Removable battery is a good option.
As a Nexus user I am used to living without an SD Card and use google's cloud for everything (music, videos etc.) but 16GB is a huge limitation and I have definitely found in recent months the problems that not having an SD slot brings. Now of course, perhaps 32GB would be the sweet spot. Most likely HTC reintroduced it in order to keep costs lower (plus the rather large space that the software appears to take).

Oafley Jones · 30-03-2014 8:04pm

Bluefoam wrote: »

I read somewhere that its to do with fitting in the boomsound speakers...

I've seen this a few times and I've no idea why people accept this. Why would the speaker design necessitate that black bar? It doesn't even pass the smell test in terms of excuses.

beno619 · 30-03-2014 9:46pm

Uriel. wrote: »

As a Nexus user I am used to living without an SD Card and use google's cloud for everything (music, videos etc.) but 16GB is a huge limitation and I have definitely found in recent months the problems that not having an SD slot brings. Now of course, perhaps 32GB would be the sweet spot. Most likely HTC reintroduced it in order to keep costs lower (plus the rather large space that the software appears to take).

They gave into sd card complaints, doubt its a cost saving measure, I would also prefer if they stuck to 32gb.

Oafley Jones wrote: »

I've seen this a few times and I've no idea why people accept this. Why would the speaker design necessitate that black bar? It doesn't even pass the smell test in terms of excuses.

HTC have stated that the wiring and supporting components for the boomsound speakers are under there. Why wouldn't I accept it ? Its also not as big a deal as some people are trying to make it out to be.

30-03-2014 9:49pm

beno619 wrote: »

HTC have stated that the wiring and supporting components for the boomsound speakers are under there. Why wouldn't I accept it ? Its also not as big a deal as some people are trying to make it out to be.

Very true. I guess people like to nitpick anything they can, but then can accept Samsung selling a phone that looks like a band-aid.

Uriel. · 30-03-2014 10:30pm

beno619 wrote: »

They gave into sd card complaints, doubt its a cost saving measure, I would also prefer if they stuck to 32gb.

In many ways I was quite surprised by the decision especially since they teamed up with google to offer additional drive space free for 12 months(or 24?). It's a wonder Google didn't insist on HTC keeping the SD slot off the table when agreeing that deal

HTC have stated that the wiring and supporting components for the boomsound speakers are under there. Why wouldn't I accept it ? Its also not as big a deal as some people are trying to make it out to be.

Yeah HTC have been saying that. It's just a pity they couldn't squeeze the extra screen into the M7 body and keeping the height of the device shorter, but so be it, I wouldn't consider that bit of black space a deal breaker or a deciding factor.

Not really sure why anyone wouldn't believe HTC on that issue - why would they make a bigger phone if they didn't have to.

31-03-2014 10:27am

Ordered the dot view case from xpansys on Friday, and over the weekend it's gone from expected in 1 day to expected in 32 days. Anyone else in the same boat?

DarkBlonde · 31-03-2014 11:23am

Basil3 wrote: »

Ordered the dot view case from xpansys on Friday, and over the weekend it's gone from expected in 1 day to expected in 32 days. Anyone else in the same boat?

No but I went on to order the case now and its on a pre-order only basis and its 40 quid. Were you lucky enough to get it for 20?

Im about to order the phone now with 02. What colour did you get?

Mitch Connor · 31-03-2014 11:26am

Basil3 wrote: »

Ordered the dot view case from xpansys on Friday, and over the weekend it's gone from expected in 1 day to expected in 32 days. Anyone else in the same boat?

exact same boat - feck sake!

31-03-2014 11:54am

DarkBlonde wrote: »

No but I went on to order the case now and its on a pre-order only basis and its 40 quid. Were you lucky enough to get it for 20?

Im about to order the phone now with 02. What colour did you get?

Yeah, called them and they said expecting stock end of April. Will probably keep the order in as it's a good price and I can survive with the case that came with the phone.

I have gunmetal grey phone, and ordered grey case. Boring, I know ðŸ˜

Red_Dwarf · 31-03-2014 12:08pm

So with the people who got the Phone

What are you rating out of ten compared to previous devices you had before.

I wanna pick one up by the end of the week

31-03-2014 12:59pm

Red_Dwarf wrote: »

So with the people who got the Phone

What are you rating out of ten compared to previous devices you had before.

I wanna pick one up by the end of the week

Well I'm biased towards HTC, but since Android came around, I've owned HTC Hero, DHD, Sensation, One X, One and now M8. Have also owned Samsung Galaxy S, S3, and Note 2.

I would rate this phone above them all. If the One was an 8.5/10, this is a 9. I liked the One camera, perfect for what I do (mainly photos of my young kids), and the M8 camera would be a bit better, even if it's still only 4MP. The screen is great, even if it's slightly lower ppi compared to the One screen, it looks fantastic. The biggest thing for me is the battery. I'm a heavy user, and it is really great. Right now I'm sitting at 48% left with almost 4 hours screen on time. As an experiment, I charged the phone last night and put it in extreme power saver while I slept. When I woke 6 hours later, the battery still said 100%.

I also prefer Sense over any other UI I've tried (only really used TouchWiz, Sony phones and iPhone). Maybe it's just because I'm so used to it. They have really made it much lighter than it used to be and everything is super smooth.

From a personal perspective, I generally root and put a custom ROM on my phone the day I get it. The M8 will undoubtedly have the best developer support of any Sense phone so far. All the Team Venom devs from multiple devices are getting the M8, so there will be a team of at least half a dozen top notch devs working together on the device.

I could go on, but this is one phone you definitely won't regret getting. Maybe if you already have the One it's not worth it, but coming from any other device I would highly recommend it.

Mantis Toboggan · 31-03-2014 1:26pm

I heard HTC copied LG by introducing the double tap to wake and unlock the phone. Think this is an awesome feature.
Is it true and does it work correctly?

31-03-2014 1:31pm

Buddy Holly wrote: »

I heard HTC copied LG by introducing the double tap to wake and unlock the phone. Think this is an awesome feature.
Is it true and does it work correctly?

Double tap to wake (to lockscreen), double tap can then turn screen back off
Swipe up from screen off = phone on and to last screen you were on
Swipe right = open on BlinkFeed
Swipe left = open on widget panel
Swipe down = voice dialing

a dev has also added swipe to sleep, swiping across navbar, which is cool

edit:it works perfectly, but the only slight issue is that you have to pick device up, so you couldn't double tap to wake if it was lying down on your desk.

Cyrus · 31-03-2014 2:42pm

whats the build quality like this time around all?

I remember there were some issues with the M7 when it came out with rough finishing and gaps etc

31-03-2014 3:05pm

Cyrus wrote: »

whats the build quality like this time around all?

I remember there were some issues with the M7 when it came out with rough finishing and gaps etc

Perfectly fine on mine. I'm sure if I went over it with a magnifying glass, I could find things 0.1mm out of line or something, but with 5 of it's 6 sides being made from the same piece, there's much less chance of alignment issues.

boc121 · 01-04-2014 7:49pm

Anybody know when carphonewarehouse are getting this ??
Cheers.

1jcdub · 01-04-2014 7:53pm

You could buy it sim free from expansys.ie as I did. Awaiting delivery. Showing 88 grey M8 in stock at present

boc121 · 01-04-2014 8:01pm

1jcdub wrote: »

You could buy it sim free from expansys.ie as I did. Awaiting delivery. Showing 88 grey M8 in stock at present

I've got some store credit for cpw and a trade in. Rang a few stores today and they hadn't a clue.

01-04-2014 8:01pm

boc121 wrote: »

Anybody know when carphonewarehouse are getting this ??
Cheers.

1jcdub wrote: »

You could buy it sim free from expansys.ie as I did. Awaiting delivery. Showing 88 grey M8 in stock at present

Official release is Thursday, everywhere should have it then. You may even be able to get it tomorrow if you go into a shop and they have stock. That's what I did with the One X.

Carphone Warehouse website confirms the 3rd:

http://www.carphonewarehouse.ie/content/HTC-ONE-m8-Pre-Order/1258

quarryman · 01-04-2014 8:37pm

1jcdub wrote: »

You could buy it sim free from expansys.ie as I did. Awaiting delivery. Showing 88 grey M8 in stock at present

For €684? Eh, think I'll give that a miss.

Reckon I might pick it up when I'm over in the States. About 470 euro there.

reni10 · 02-04-2014 11:27am

Which provider is offering this phone with the best value for money?

threein99 · 02-04-2014 9:11pm

Really considering selling my S3 to buy this

91AP · 02-04-2014 10:11pm

It's a really nice phone. Takes a bit of getting used to changing from an S4. The only bad thing so far is the fact the buttons are now on screen and sometimes take up a bit too much sapce. That's only a small thing though. This is by far the best looking phone I've ever seen or owned.

You won't regret buying this.

Evil_g · 03-04-2014 9:40am

Does anyone know when Vodafone stores should have this in stock? (Their forum is pretty dead).

What are the advantages of "preregistering" on their site? I don't like the idea of giving them my phone number, email address and apparently not being able to opt out of whatever their terms and conditions are.

91AP · 03-04-2014 9:45am

Don't preregister. I did for O2 and Three and got nothing on information. The sales assistants in the stores were clueless too. Only for I searched for this phone and knew a lot about it they would of had be think it's not out until next month.

I know carphone warehouse have Vodafone, Meteor and o2 model's in. All stores got delivered the devices yesterday. If a stand alone Vodafone stores doesn't have it I suggest trying carphone warehouse.

Evil_g · 03-04-2014 9:48am

91AP wrote: »

Don't preregister. I did for O2 and Three and got nothing on information. The sales assistants in the stores were clueless too. Only for I searched for this phone and knew a lot about it they would of had be think it's not out until next month.

I know carphone warehouse have Vodafone, Meteor and o2 model's in. All stores got delivered the devices yesterday. If a stand alone Vodafone stores doesn't have it I suggest trying carphone warehouse.

Thanks. I'll try CPW this evening. I wonder if there's any chance they'll have unbranded sets.

91AP · 03-04-2014 9:51am

I hope you get lucky and get one. Mines locked to meteor. I have to go about getting it unlocked today. Let us know anyways!

kin9pin · 03-04-2014 10:57am

Picked my upgrade up in Three this morning. Haven't played too much with it yet but it really is a beautiful phone (coming from the S3)

quarryman · 03-04-2014 12:07pm

kin9pin wrote: »

Picked my upgrade up in Three this morning. Haven't played too much with it yet but it really is a beautiful phone (coming from the S3)

Just looking at the Three offer myself. The free data thing is attractive What package did you get? Does All you can Eat data mean just that or is it restricted in some way?

How do you find coverage?

91AP · 03-04-2014 12:14pm

Very good. I unlocked mine to three this morning. 24hours dealing with Meteor was horrendous.

All networks have them anyway. Got to admit as soon as I switched to three I got instant LTE. I didn't even get that on the S4. Very happy.

DarkBlonde · 03-04-2014 12:27pm

Pre ordered mine Monday with O2 with the promise of dispatch yesterday. Guess what phone never dispatched and it seems they don't even have them in stock yet. It's looking like Monday or Tuesday now. I am so annoyed. Sold my other phones so it looks like I'll be slumming it on a moto g until then. Suppose I'll appreciate it all the more when I do get it.
I don't understand it though because o2 were the first to have the phone up for pre order. It's a strange one.

Bluefoam · 03-04-2014 12:42pm

DarkBlonde wrote: »

Pre ordered mine Monday with O2 with the promise of dispatch yesterday. Guess what phone never dispatched and it seems they don't even have them in stock yet. It's looking like Monday or Tuesday now. I am so annoyed. Sold my other phones so it looks like I'll be slumming it on a moto g until then. Suppose I'll appreciate it all the more when I do get it.
I don't understand it though because o2 were the first to have the phone up for pre order. It's a strange one.

It doesn't surprise me that they would take your pre-order & then sell their stock to others, knowing that you would buy anyway...

91AP · 03-04-2014 12:44pm

DarkBlonde wrote: »

Pre ordered mine Monday with O2 with the promise of dispatch yesterday. Guess what phone never dispatched and it seems they don't even have them in stock yet. It's looking like Monday or Tuesday now. I am so annoyed. Sold my other phones so it looks like I'll be slumming it on a moto g until then. Suppose I'll appreciate it all the more when I do get it.
I don't understand it though because o2 were the first to have the phone up for pre order. It's a strange one.

That's absolutely rediculous. Phone launches in this country are a huge huge mess. We are so far behind other countries.

HTC One (M8) Thread

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