Before the arrival of the HTC One M8 we heard about numerous leaks online and when the handset finally came out it made a nice change to see that many of the leaks were accurate. The handset was launched and it fast became a premium device, with a new design, a display to die for and loads of power.
So how does the HTC One M8 stack up against some of the other devices on the market? One of its competitors is the Nexus 5 and this device offers a processor that is top of the range. It also comes with features that are high grade.
When the Nexus 4 came onto the scene it brought with it a sparkly back and it was easy to hold along with it being more durable. The plastic has a soft touch feel to it and this extends and covers the whole of the device. This is a large handset, but then it has to be as the display is big. It is slinky looking and streamlined and the body of the handset has been given contours.
It is hard to beat HTC for looks and the HTC One M8 is a great looker. It does offer a shape that is very similar to that of the HTC One, but it does have a look that is more refined.
There is a unibody on the HTC One M8 and it extends the sides in one piece. If you were comparing the phone to a car it would be in the same league as the Aston Martin DB5 or the Shelby Cobra.
The handset is made of aluminium so it does offer a solid feel. The texture is brushed and it has been given a coat of gloss, so feels smooth in the hand. It is available in Arctic Silver, Metal Grey or Amber Gold. It is a distinctive handset and this is down to the stereo speaker grilles. They do help to make the device look classy.
However there is a downside and this is that the handset can scratch easily as the aluminium is soft.
The display of the HTC One M8 is 5 inches; the predecessor came in at 4.7 inches. This time around the Super LCD 3 display has been improved and it offers superb viewing angles and it is sharp. The brightness and contrast are superb and it provides 1080 with 445ppi.
The display of the Nexus 5 is 4.95 inches and this is True IPS, images are 1080p and resolution is 445ppi. The colour and brightness is punchy.
The storage options for the Nexus 5 are 16GB or 32GB, however you cannot expand it. For connectivity there is 4G LTE/3G, dual-band Wi-Fi (with Direct and Hotspot), DLNA, GPS, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC, microUSB and wireless charging capabilities.
The HTC One M8 comes in 16GB and we have heard that the 32GB version will come out in some markets at a later date.
You can expand the 16GB version up to 128GB and it comes with support for MHL TV Out and infrared blaster. It offers BoomSound stereo speakers and these are on the front of the handset, there is also a built in amplifier. This means that the sound is better than on some of the competition.
The HTC One M8 has a battery of 2600mAh and there is a battery of 2300mAh on the Google Nexus 5.
The HTC One M8 offers the Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor and this is 2.3GHz along with 2GB of RAM.
The Nexus 5 offers a camera of 8Mp and it has optical image stabilisation along with LED flash. It can take video up to 1080p and has PhotoSphere, this allows you to take photos in 360 degrees, which can then be linked to Google Maps.
The HTC One M8 has helped the company to revamp their suite of software for imaging. The camera comes with the f/2.0 aperture along with the 1/3 inch, 4MP BSI sensor which offers Ultrapixels. The camera is able to take video at 1080p and comes with dual LED two tone flash. One being white and the other being amber. These allow for better photos when taken in low light. HTC have done away with optical image stabilisation.
The handset offers a second lens and this is above the main port on the back and can take partial data sweeps, this is similar to the Lytro camera. Information is stored in an image file. The user is able to select and the re-select the focal point and it comes with 3D hologram parallax effect, so you can tilt and shift the photo.
The handsets offer KitKat 4.4, however it is only the Nexus 5 that has the stock version. The HTC One M8 also has Sense 6 UI.
Google did make changes visually to stock Android and this includes transparent elements, including on the status bar. The app icons are now smaller and the font is slimmer.
There is Google Now always on voice activation, this means the owner can say Ok Google and then give commands.
HTC Sense is brilliant, so the overlay isn’t a problem, it is fast and you can customise it, there are colour themes and the app icons are unique.
Sense 6.0 gives Blinkfeed, but if you don’t want this you can get rid of it.
KitKat offers transparency, however it is the small things that HTC offer that does make a lot of difference.
While the HTC One M8 cannot offer anything the other devices don’t, it does do things a lot cooler and the device is easy to use.
