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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LongTimePCUser - Sunday, March 30, 2014 - link
Reliable Android blogsphere sources have reported that Android 4.4 disables micro SD cards.MrSmartyAss - Monday, March 31, 2014 - link
Say what?blzd - Sunday, March 30, 2014 - link
Nohing about the speakers or audio quality? Seems like one of the selling points.Blown503 - Monday, March 31, 2014 - link
Can you take the battery out? (slowly evolving to Iphone)1bbcd5 - Monday, March 31, 2014 - link
nice article. i love itaugustofretes - Monday, March 31, 2014 - link
They manage to screw up the camera even more than the last time. The only good thing about their "Ultrapixel" camera was OIS, which meant you could take pretty good shots on low light and enjoy stabilized video. Now you have a gimmick and no OIS, and the same crappy sensor.The detail captured by this camera is insultingly bad for 2014 standards, come on.
goats - Monday, March 31, 2014 - link
While Apple released their latest iPhone 5s and 5c and Samsung with their Galaxy S5, HTC threaten these two big men with the release of their HTC M8. For a week now, this smartphone has been the talk of the town and they continue to be.omaudio - Monday, March 31, 2014 - link
I am interested in this review (and all phone reviews) to know if the GPS will operate in airplane mode (ie with all radios off or in area with no service). I have an HTC Amaze 4G that took me a long time to research and buy because I go camping and need GPS to operate when in areas with no service. I love this phone but would like to upgrade and keep the 4G as a backup. (I also LOVE removable batteries and keep extras on hand)If possible could you please put this phone in airplane mode and see if GPS works? I use Trimble Outdoors Navigator Pro with offline maps but you could test with Google Maps etc. thanks.
shaolin95 - Tuesday, April 1, 2014 - link
"With the premium smartphone market dominated by Apple and Samsung, and the rest of the world headed to lower cost devices, it was a risky proposition."Really...ever heard of Sony and their high end, premium build Xperia phones?
cj100570 - Wednesday, April 2, 2014 - link
The M8 will suffer a similar fate to the M7. It can get all the accolades reviewers can throw at it for its metal construction. But at the end of the day its shortcomings, the camera being #1, will be the reason people buy something else. Mega-pixels do matter. And no matter what anyone says to the contrary, that is a fact. They aren't the most important factor but they are damn high on the list. Had HTC fitted this phone with an 8 mega-pixel camera it would have had a home run and a true contender for the title of Best Phone Of 2014. Instead they'll have to hope for 2nd. And when one takes into account what Sony and LG have in the pipeline HTC is going to need a hope and a prayer! The M8 being made of aluminium isn't going to save them....