A few days ago, we did a story on how HTC ultimately become one of the biggest mobile phone manufacturers known for its design, OEM branded devices and its trademarked user interface in the world, all thanks to Cher Mi Wang, H T Cho and Peter Chou, who collectively established the company.
HTC, which stands for High Tech Computer, has been making smartphones longer than almost anyone. Years ago, it HTC was known for creating Windows Mobile devices that were rebranded by AT&T, O2 and other companies. But thanks to its early embrace of Android with the T-Mobile G1 and Google Nexus One, HTC has risen to stardom, becoming a brand of its own and holding its own against mobile industry veterans like Motorola and Samsung.
It seems 2015 has not really been a good year for HTC. HTC says their financial figures for its second quarter of 2015 lost 24 cents (or pence) for every dollar (or pound) of revenue it took. After four quarters of thin profits, the business just fell rolling off a cliff. In March, the company had a market cap of $4.06 billion, and today—only a few months later—it is worth less than half of that. The trend is downwards — year over year, HTC’s monthly revenue was down 38% in April, 48% in May, and 60% in June.
We can see in the graph that the HTC One M8 was the last peak of the HTC growth rate before starting to dwindle. The HTC One inspired an emotional connection, unusual in a generic market. The mobile won lots of phone-of-the-year awards. It joined a striking design to the smartest and most polished of all the leading user-interface skins. Surely, you would think this would turn into sales? It did, but only up to a point.
In the past few years, HTC chose to concentrate on the high-margin end of a cut-throat market, and outsourced manufacture of cheaper models to cut costs. Without an active portfolio, it couldn’t capitalize on any “halo effect” from all the rave reviews of the M8.
Also, the trademark design of the flagship didn’t change to the plastic E8 while the One Mini 2 married the One’s high-quality body and design to an underpowered engine. Neither screamed “buy me.”
The last three years of HTC flagships: The One M7, M8, and M9.
Samsung “recovered” in 2015 because it had used years spending a vast amount of debt on marketing and advertising. HTC had underinvested in marketing and hardly made a few good advertisements. HTC never published sales numbers for the M9, but our guess is they were never good. Reports from the supply chain suggest that HTC could cut component orders for the M9 by 30 percent. One major US carrier even left out the M9 from its lineup due to “lackluster sales.” The M9 flagship is not the reason of all of HTC’s woes, but it’s a good indicator of the company’s problems. In its Q2 guidance revision, HTC accused its economic problems on “slower demand for high-end Android devices and weaker than forecast sales in China.” The only other high-profile device the company makes is the Nexus 9, which ended up being an overpriced tablet with inferior build quality.
So will HTC survive or manage a comeback? We will never know for sure, not up until something changes. However, things are not looking great for the Taiwanese brand at the moment.
Post the launch of the flagship M9 at MWC this year, HTC today brought out a tweaked version of its predecessor HTC One. Dubbed as HTC One M8s, the smartphone embraces the same all-metal body and trademark features of the One such as BoomSound front speakers, Duo camera, and more. The handset is launched at a price of GBP 379.99 (in Indian currency that translates to approx. Rs. 35,000).
With a full HD display of 5-inch (1080×1920 pixels), the screen of the One M8s comes with a Corning Gorilla Glass 3 coating. The smartphone holds a tweaked 64-bit octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 processor clocked at 1.7GHz, bundled with 2GB RAM. The internal storage option stands identical at 16GB, which is expandable up to 128GB via MicroSD card slot. The One M8s runs on Android 5.0 Lollipop with HTC Sense 6.0 skin on top, while the One (M8) came with default Android 4.4. KitKat, upgradable to 5.0 Lollipop.
The rear camera is the one feature which gets a major boost. The device now sports a 13-megapixel duo camera. The front camera is static at 5MP just as the previous iteration. Battery is also a noticeable change in the One M8s. A 2840mAh, just as the one fitted on to the One M9, powers the handset. Connectivity options include 4G LTE, GPS/ A-GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.1, and NFC.
The smartphone will be available in the European market early April in three colour options – Glacial Silver, Gunmetal Gray, and Amber Gold. Meanwhile, there is no word about the device arriving in other countries.
Samsung’s Galaxy S6 is definitely the most awaited device at the MWC 2015. This launch of this device will be a make or break moment for the Korean giant that has struggled recently to attract the consumers towards its devices. The other major device that will attract a lot of shutterbugs would be HTC’s One M9, successor to the popular M8. Here’s how HTC will introduce a device that attends to all the limits of its previous generation offering.
A Higher Resolution
HTC One M8 was unveiled in the March of 2014. The device featured a 5-inch full-HD display, but a lot has changed in the display department of flagship smartphones since then. LG G3, Nexus 6 and Note 4 have all placed their bets on the Quad HD (2K) displays. If the rumors are to be believed, HTC will continue on with the 1080p display, but there might just be a chance that the company surprises its audience with a higher definition display.
An Amazing Camera
One of the most touted but least appreciated offerings from the HTC One M8 was the dual ultra pixel cameras on the back. HTC realized its folly and released the HTC One M8 Eye with a better camera. This time around as shown by rumors and promotional video, the One M9 will sport a 20 MP camera on the back and an ultrapixel camera on the front.
The Power of the Lollipop
HTC has been at work proactively to provide Android Lollipop updates to its users. The company had set a goal of 90 days from the date of release of Lollipop to provide the update on its devices. Unfortunately, following the report of many bugs with the Lollipop launch, the update has been delayed. It is expected that HTC One M9 will come to the market with Lollipop running out of the box. The user interface as shown in the promotional video clearly shows an HTC Sense like UI with Blinkfeed.
Other Improved Bits
The One M9 will also bring in the Boomsound speakers and advanced photo manipulation tools so that the users can have more fun with the device. HTC also seems to be adding more customization options that are usual offerings of ROMs such as Cyanogen and MIUI. There are a lot of expectations from the M9, but it feels like HTC doesn’t need take a lot of efforts with this new launch. As the One M8 was one of the most appreciated devices of last year, all HTC has to do is take care of a few tweaks, and it will have a promising device,. The HTC One M9 will be unveiled on 1st March, so update your calendar and come check out iGyaan as we’ll be reporting right from the ground at MWC 2015.
HTC One (M8) owners can now rejoice as the Lollipop version of HTC’s Sense is rolling out. The roll out began today (28th January) and is likely to hit the majority of One (M8) users in the following days. We were lucky enough to get the update on our HTC device.
Weighing in at the hefty 780MB, the update will probably hit your device in the following hours. Among its more notable new features is the revamped notification drawer/quick toggle settings and the recent tasks switcher, which have been inspired by the Material Design guidelines
The majority of improvements make the UI more fluid and snappier than ever before. We are listing top changes in UI of HTC One (M8) with the Lollipop update.
1. Lock screen
First and foremost, your lockscreen is going to look more sleeker and polished with the Material Design-inspired UI. Just like in stock Android, swiping dismisses the notification and double-tapping it opens the corresponding app. Apart from the slightly dimmed lock screen wallpaper at the bottom, you are also treated to an estimate of how long it will approximately take before your phone’s battery gets drained. The lock screen shortcuts at the bottom are untouched.
2. New Camera Features and Weather app
The new update adds some camera features such as the Auto Selfie mode, along with some Zoey features as well. The HTC weather app has been removed and replaced with the AccuWeather app.
3. Notification drawer
The Lollipop update of Sense 6.0 has adopted a revamped stock Android notification centre. The One (M8) drops the separate side-by-side screens (one for your notifications and the other one housing your quick toggles) and now comes with a slightly revamped Lollipop drawer. A single swipe brings down your notifications, while an additional one reveals the quick toggles shade, which has got a prominent Material Design makeover.
4. Recent App Switcher and Menu
The app switcher has undergone the most drastic change. Instead of the more classic, Sense UI-like grid menu with your recent apps, you will get the carousel-like menu inspired by the Material Design guidelines.
5. Settings and Battery Menu
The setting menu is untouched but with one very important addition – a search button in the upper right corner of Sense UI’s Settings. This probably may go unnoticed but adds the ease to search things in the Settings menu. Another noteworthy improvement can be found in the battery consumption menu of the Lollipop-based Sense UI. It’s pretty similar to the one in stock Android. It now provides you with a more in-depth breakdown of your battery usage. Apart from this, the Running Apps menu hidden in Settings has also been improved. It now displays a much more user-friendly breakdown of the current state of your 2GB of RAM, separating the system from the user-installed apps.
Few days ago, it was announced that HTC One M8 users of Europe had received the Lollipop update. Now, without any further delay, the company has started rolling out the same for Indian users as well.
The update will automatically pop up if you are connected to Wi-Fi. But if you’re not on a Wi-Fi connection, you can still do it manually. Go on to Settings > About Phone > System Update.
With the news of Android 5.0 Lollipop coming for European users, Indians were anticipating it to come out within a span of days. The users can now enjoy the added fluidity, improved natural touch screen interactions, Material Design and lot many other features.
Good news has arrived for HTC owners; the company has started rolling out Android 5.0 Lollipop for its M8 users. The confirmation has come from many reliable sources including HTC Senior Communications Manager Jeff Gordon and prominent ROM Developer LlabTooFer, who took to Twitter stating –
HTC One (M8) owners in Europe, have a sweet tooth this morning? Check your software updates!
Users can check for the same on their devices. Finding the update is very easy. Just go to Settings > About Phone > System Update and download the update.
Lollipop is the latest operating system released by Google. It offers added fluidity through a new user interface (UI) and users will experience improved natural touch screen interactions. The Material Design adds bold colours to the screen. Along with that, the new Android update lets you have a look at the notifications on the lock screen itself and facilitates dismissing them without unlocking it. In all, it offers users a pure, bloatware-free and seamless Android experience.
Lollipop was released in November last year. We hope that India, as well as other nations, get the soon.
Samsung pulled off a big show yesterday and introduced its star flagship, the Note 4. The device comes with an updated design with a metal frame and sleeker design. It also brings the device in the 2K display race. Along with Samsung came Sony, who brought the Xperia Z3 along with some innovative devices.
So we decided to check out how these new flagships standup against the best flagship performers of this year. We are pitching the Note 4 and the Xperia Z3 against Oneplus One, Xiaomi Mi 3 and the metal-bodied awesomeness of the HTC One M8. Let’s see how they stand up against each other.
Looking at the specs, Note 4 shows the might to take on its competition. It is one mammoth of a device in terms of functionality and is unmatched by any other device in the market. Coming out with just one storage variant of 32 GB is an advantage for the Note 4. It makes no secret that it is a premium device and will be priced as such.
It is expected to come around the first week of October and we can’t wait to get our hands on this package of goodness.
Talk about an unfortunate day for companies who wanted to keep their products a surprise till the release date. After Samsung had a major boo boo with the AnTuTu specs leaks, its HTC’s time to face some leak music. The worst part of the HTC leak is that it was done not through some leakster sitting in his bedroom but by telecom giant Verizon.
The HTC One M8 for Windows was officially supposed to release at a function later today in New York but its just too hard for some folks to wait that long. It seems like one of the posters for the One M8 which was supposed to be put up after the release, went up at one Verizon store, where the internet got hold of it.
The Poster that spoilt everything
The poster has a huge photo of the One M8 exteriors along with the Windows 8.1 tiles view on the UI. It uses the tagline “built to inspire envy” has one important line that blows up the entire surprise that HTC had in store for its fans. The bottom half of the poster says available in Android and Windows.
What was really a good move on the part of HTC is not bring the phone under the name HTC One W8 as was previously speculated. Keeping the name common keeps the focus on the features of the phone instead of the user interface used to access those features.
On the specifications front, there aren’t going to be a lot many changes in the two variants. The HTC One M8 for Windows Phone version will hold the dual camera setup with a 4-UltraPixel rear camera with a depth-sensing camera, apart from a 5-megapixel front-facing camera. It’s processing might is expected to come from a 2.5GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor coupled with 2GB of RAM. It is expected to retain the 2600mAh battery along with its a 5-inch full-HD display.
It seems like with this release HTC wants to compete on both the two prominent, non iOS operating systems. It is also beneficial for Windows to have the support of a recognized, premium product running their OS, thereby making their OS more visible. For the consumers, it gives a real alternative for folks who want a Windows device from a prominent brand. This release seems like a win-win for all.
It was reported a few days ago that HTC is intending to bring Windows Phone OS back to its stable with a One M8 windows variant. The company which was at the forefront of smartphone technology during its beginning days had begun its operations with the Windows Mobile OS. HTC had quit the Windows game for a while and had concentrated on bringing awesome Android devices to its consumers.
WPCentral managed to screen grab a blunder by the Dutch Telecom company, Telfort. In one of its advertising visuals, the company accidently posted what looked like a HTC One M8 running Windows Phone OS. Telfort took down the image as soon as it realized its folly.
The phone as shown in the promotional image also shows a Cortana tile which further confirms the phone running the Windows Phone 8.1. Apparently according to WPCentral the phone might be just around the corner and might release on August 19 at a press event in New York City. That will be a pleasant surprise for all Windows and HTC enthusiasts. The Windows sibling of the phone might be called One W8.
HTC might also use some of the lessons it learned with its Android smartphones to give a better Windows Phone experience than it did in the past, when it released HTC 8S, 8X and 8XT.
HTC has made some of the most beautiful phones in the Android ecosystem and so it will be real fun to see its take on a revamped Windows release.
This week in Lets Talk Shop we speak to HTC India country head Faisal Siddiqui. The man has been heading HTC in India for many a years and offers a bit of understanding on how they run shop in India.
The three most important products for HTC this year are the HTC One M8, the HTC Desire 816 and the Desire 210, with the desire 210 being the most unique product from HTC as it is the first HTC phone to have been launched under the Rs. 10,000 price bracket.
Faisal promises that the build quality and HTC lineage follows through even in the Desire 210 while most of the top end features including blink feed, quick OTA updates etc will also be seen in this entry level handset.
The Desire 816 will be getting more colors including a “fuchsia pink” apart from the white, black and orange available presently. He claims that people now like color options when buying smartphones and HTC wants to provide that option.
HTC has always been strong headed about staying away from tablets, and in the past they have remained focused with their smartphones. However, unlike previous meetings, Faisal was keen on not comment on the Tablet agenda for the company , which could mean that HTC may finally be planning tablets or that the new Nexus 8 being made by HTC rumors may be true after all.
HTC is strongly focused on building an experience in India, whether its their concept stores or their service centers. Including basic infrastructure, like Air conditioning, drinking water and a systematic approach HTC feels they can break down the long list of issues that go on with providing service in India.
As far as functioning goes, Faisal does feel that there are some major issues in running shop in India, but getting past them is what makes the challenge interesting.
If you ever want to head/run your own company, Faisal’s advice:
HTC’s latest One the M8 has caused a stir and then some in the smartphone market, but does it really have what it needs to make the cut for a flagship smartphone. Lets find out in our review!
Overview
HTC has done some great things with a revision of their flagship phone, the original one, which was also voted and won “the phone of the year” award many a times last year and at MWC 2014 this year. Holding up to that mark may have been difficult but it looks like HTC might have a real winner here.
Build Quality
Three words ; 90 percent metal, thats all it takes to describe the new HTC One M8. Versus the outgoing One, which had 70% metal and then some polycarbonate. The One M8 has a 90 percent metal single shell thats not only strong, but uses the most extreme machining processes to make it curve to front of the handset in the most beautiful manner. The build is much more solid than the previous version and actually holds up pretty well against drops.
The HTC One M8 is also splash proof, why no one talks about it is because they don’t want you splashing water on your phone. If you do accidentally spill coffee or milk (if thats your thing) the phone should survive. The front has a Gorilla Glass 3, which means that it has better visibility, strength and scratch resistance than the M7, which held up pretty well in all of the three aspects.
Hardware
HTC has stuffed in the best of the hardware into the new HTC One M8 barring a few things, including a larger mega pixel camera and 4 k capture.
Are you ready for BoomSound? This phone is loud, louder than you can expect, much more than you can imagine those tiny speakers to be. Seldom would you ask for additional speakers if you alone use this phone. The sound quality is crisp and not tinny at all, mids are clearly balanced and highs are placed well, larger sound cavities (25% larger) ensure better bass.
The display is impressive too, most would ask for a 2k or a 4k display in a 2014 flagship, but honestly one can’t complain. The HTC One M8 has a gorgeous 5 inch 1920 x 1080p LCD 3 (441ppi = 100 more than the eye can see) display with excellent brightness, accurate and vivid color and impeccable viewing angles. The display is great indoors and out with a extra sensitive touch which will work through most gloves (even though HTC doesn’t say it will).
If you plan to watch movies on this device, you will thoroughly enjoy that activity. the perfect mix of great viewing angles and excellent sound make the HTC One M8 a brilliant consumption device.
Software and UI
The HTC One comes with Sense 6.0 and Android 4.4.2 out of the box. The new version of Sense is a highly refined version of Sense 5.0, the interface is clean and more minimal. The icons are free looking and more defined and modern, while the Blinkfeed UI is bolder and more aligned with the vertical flow.
The new Blinkfeed is highly customizable, with the ability to select your own feeds and inputs the new feed allows you to sort and stream from sources and topics of interest. The fact that you can search for “cat whiskers” and add it as a feed so that whenever anyone in the world talks about them you will see an update in your feed.
It is one of the most mature UI updates we have seen in a while.
HTC has mostly kept it simple with the software customizations to ensure the smoothness of the operational usage. It is one of the most mature UI updates we have seen in a while. Not that it is completely stripped, you still get a customizable notification panel, HTC keyboard, themes and color options and a whole flurry of wallpapers and sounds. You can still change the grid size of the app drawer and sort it as per your own needs. You also get features like the car mode, and this brilliant ultra power saving mode that will run the device for up to another 20 hours on very low battery power.
Camera
What HTC has here is possibly the future of smartphone camera technology. While smartphones are getting compacter and thinner by the day the need of a high end camera in a phone is going up. With almost everyone using their smartphones as their primary camera manufacturers are struggling to find the right balance.
The camera on the HTC One M8 could be an answer to a more deeper problem in the industry. The combination of the two sensors, a primary 4 “Ultrapixel” sensor and a secondary 4 “ultrapixel” depth sensor work together to make you believe that the image you clicked is actually higher end than it is.
Hokum, thats what it is!
Hokum, thats what it is! But at that very level of picture taking capability, it gives users that extra oomph in the image before they basically crush it and post it on Instagram. Yes it works and it looks decently good.
HTC has however gone one step further and made the API of the camera available to debs who might be able to give you applications that HTC could not, what the capability lacks is truly good software to work with the hardware to enable great pictures, maybe even oversampling to get larger images ? who knows?
Phone and Battery
We would like to assume that HTC will stick to their word and launch a 4G/LTE enabled handsets in India. This would make this the first flagship to feature LTE connectivity, also almost all bands will be unlocked making this a world LTE phone, a boon for travelers. HTC will also launch a dual sim version, in fact the company designed the phone to be a dual sim phone, as it clearly shows in the sim tray.
Phone call quality is very impressive, especially considering its a 90% metal phone. Audio is crisp and clear with no problems even when there is a tower switch : Impressive!
Battery life is exceptional, and HTC has managed to ensure that the phone does not dissipate heat, in fact in weeks of usage we have not noticed the device get hot at all.
Talk Time 3G : 5 Hours
Talk Time 2G : 5.5 hours
Standby : 2 days
Recharge Required : Once daily
Ultra Power Saving Mode : adds 20 hours to 20 % battery life
Accessories
A worth mention here is the new DOT case, which shows how involved HTC has become in developing good accessories for their handsets. The HTC One has a simple flip case, which matured into a battery flip for the HTC One Max, and now this beautiful Dot Case, that is not only meant for design , but is actually very functional.
One Max power case
Conclusion
HTC has done what nobody expected, while everyone was hoping for a major change in handset design , HTC has improved on their last years winning design. They have also managed to not only make the phone better but also resolve the supply issues they faced with the original One. The first phone in a long time to be launched and made available at the same time is also the phone which has impressed out from out of the box to the usage place.
In the time we have used it, we honestly have nothing to complain about, except possibly the lack of a better simple camera. The dual focus mode is a lot of fun and easy to use, it becomes a daily driver. A better quality camera would have made this experience better and we might see it in the M9 ( not to be confused with a Leica M9, even though that has a marvelous picture taking capability).
HTC has made a mature decision, and made a phone that not only handles everything you throw at it, it looks good doing it. The phone balances perfectly in form, design and performance and will satiate almost every who buys this. HTC has already pushed the handset out with 4.4.2 and promises almost instant UI updates. The new Blinkfeed interface is a great improvement and the overall handset seems very well refined.
NOTE : The HTC One has been launched in India for Rs. 49,900 and will be a available for purchase 8th May. This review was revised to reflect the new price.
While India is yet to see the official release of the new HTC One M8, the company is reportedly working on a plastic version of the smartphone.
This phone, that seems to go agains the company policy of high quality builds, will be considerably cheaper as not only will it save on material costs, but also machining costs and time which is associated with the manufacture of the current One M8.
Plastic here could be a reference for a polycarbonate design, which HTC is know to have used successfully in their One X and WP8 phones in the past.
Critics argue that HTC’s move to create a plastic version of the HTC One M8 could turn to be a great one only if executed correctly. The physical design of the metal build variant of the HTC One M8 is its biggest asset, so the question is whether consumers will be willing to take the cheaper version with probable downgrade of specs.
HTC Butterfly S
HTC is also reportedly working on a new HTC Butterfly, which will carry the same specifications as the HTC One but with a 13 MP camera.
If HTC launches a Plastic M8, would you consider buying it?
HTC’s recently launched the new One aka M8, which could possibly be the sole reason that the company struck a profit this quarter. Despite its instant availability and fanfare around the launch, here are a few things that you really must know about the HTC One M8. (Especially if you didn’t already know them)
1. Build Quality :
Carving a phone structure out of a single block of metal is now really old news, and especially after Apple’s iPhone 4 and iPad, this process was repeated time and again. The HTC One M8 takes the candy bar form factor to the next level. The M8 has been punched out of a single sheet of metal alloy, that not only covers the back of the phone, but also curves around to the front. Anyone who has worked with metal would know what a difficult process this is, even with todays available technology.
2. Hardware
Last year, when HTC launched the HTC One, they decided to stick it with an underpowered chipset, the Snapdragon 600, even though a better and more powerful snapdragon 800 was available. This time around however, HTC has thrown in the best of the lot, the Snapdragon 801 which puts it right up there with the competition.
3. Camera
Even though it feels under-rated the M8 has possibly the most advanced camera on a Smartphone today. Sure you have the Lumia 1020 and the Xperia Z series phones with their high MP camera shots. The HTC One M8 takes the focus selection to another level al together. It’s excellent in low light and even though their software is relatively amateur the use of the hardware in the future may do wonders. The fact that the company has opened the dual camera API to developers means that the hardware may be put to excellent use in third party apps.
4. New Sense
Although Sense 6.0 looks like a minor change on Sense 5.0 its a whole new world in there, the UI functionality has been improved, nifty shortcuts and good looking icons make a world of a difference. Quick launches from the lock screen make it really usable and exciting. Overall HTC has managed to give an exciting new look to something which used looked really bland to us, make it fast, responsive and more functional.
5. Awesome First Party Accessories
HTC did it with the HTC One Max when they launched the extended battery case, they basically proved to us that they can make excellent accessories for their own devices. They have done it again with the HTC One M8 and the Dot View case. This case itself deserves an award for how simple and noble the idea behind it is. it gives protection and functionality to the phone. thanks to the touch sensitive design it gives you the ability to use the phone with the cover still on. Simply Genius!
HTC has finally launched the new HTC One M8 for the Global markets, the only phone from the Taiwanese Manufacturer that manages to be available at the time of launch in major markets in the world. India and all South Asia Countries will have to wait to get their hands on this design marvel from the company.
HTC has made just the right amount of changes, and left out some major expectations that users would have had, and the company could have easily added into their mix of hardware. For the first, the display on the HTC One M8 has been left to a 1920 x 1080p display vs a 2k display that could have easily been achieved. The camera does not capture 4k video as many of the recently launched competition, instead it sticks to 1080p video.
HTC has however taken the one thing that was amazing about the HTC One (M7) and made it better on the M8. The all metal design on the HTC One M8 is far superior to that on the M7, its more rounded has a better “cold to touch” feel in the hand and takes in 20% more metal in the design compared to the outgoing model. The M8 uses 90 % metal in the main body vs 70% that we saw in the M7 and we simply cannot complain. HTC has also retained the original BoomsSound design and enhanced it allowing for 25% more space in the sound cavity, therefore, louder sound with deeper audio. A new inbuilt amp also improves the output and ensures that there is no cracking. Heard it and we are impressed.
The camera is what really runs the M8, the dual camera feature is something that at first people will ignore or not notice. This however will change and it will change fast. The camera app and the ease with which you can manipulate the focus points really highlights the effort HTC has put into thinking and executing the camera features. Its the simplest we have used and we think will change the way we share our social pictures especially in the like of Instagram.
The UI has also been cleaned up, it now takes in from the various flaws of Blinkfeed from the HTC Sense 5.0 and basically eliminates them on Sense 6.0. The UI is far more fluid and custom, cleaner and more minimal, yet big and bold at the same time. Simply put this has to be the best first impression we got on a custom UI.
HTC has also stuffed in a good set of hardware, this time going with the flagship chipset the Snapdragon 801 (vs the 600 they chose last year when the 800 was available) storage capacities are also the same at 16 and 32 GB however you get a microSD card slot for upto 128 GB expansion. Enabling app loading directly onto the external storage means that there will be a lesser chance of the phone slowing down with future use.
HTC today at an event held in New York has launched the new HTC One aka the M8, keeping the name the same, the company has made major improvements to design hardware and software.
Design
The HTC One (m8) features a new wrap around design that vs the previous generation wrap all the way around to the front, giving the new M8 a completely new look and a brilliant new feel. HTC claims that the body of the new HTC One is 90% metal vs the 70% metal seen on the HTC One last year.
HTC has maintained the BoomSound design and claims a better sound from the device, which at first go on the M8 sounds much deeper and louder than the original One. The redesigned speaker chambers provide unto 25% more audio output and the new multi-band amplifier ensures better sound.
Hardware and Specs
The HTC One M8 features the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 chipset with a 2.5 GHz Quad Core Cpu for Asian market and a 2.3GHz Quad Core Cpu for the US market. The Front of the HTC One M8 features a 5inch 1920 x 1080p display which to some will seem like a loss considering many now offer a 2k display, the front is also covered with Gorilla Glass 3. On the inside is 2 GB of RAM and 16/32 GB storage options. You get 50 GB of Google Drive and 128 GB Expandability via microSD.
The Duo camera design features an Ultrapixel camera along with a depth capture camera which is detailed below. The main camera has a BSI sensor, a pixel size of 2.0 um, a sensor size of 1/3”, and an aperture of ƒ/2.0 with a 28mm lens. The Front camera has a 5MP BSI sensor, an aperture of ƒ/2.0 wide angle lens with HDR capability and 1080p Full HD video recording.
The HTC One M8 supports the following 4G/LTE bands :
EMEA: 800/900/1800/2600 MHz
Asia: 700/900/1800/2100/2600 MHz
AT&T: 700/850/AWS/1800/1900/2600 MHz
Sprint: FDD 800/1900 MHz , TDD 2600 MHz
Verizon: 700/AWS/1800/2600 MHz
Tmus: 700/AWS MHz
The battery on the M8 is a 2600 mAh LiPo battery and a new power saving mode promises an additional 30 hours with just 10% battery remaining.
OS and UI
This is what makes the HTC One M8 really special. A lot of focus has been spent in making this device feel like its running a custom OS. The HTC One M8 comes with Android 4.4.2 out of the box, but whats interesting is that the new HTC Sense 6 really makes the device look and feel different.
The HTC Sense 6 is sort of a mix of the previous gen Blinkfeed and a Windows Phone approach to tiles. With larger more rectangular updates in a vertical grid.
HTC has also made many interesting changes to the usability of the OS, from launching apps to tapping to unlock the device (not new) . The new Image Match tool lets you search by image and create an album featuring similar content. The new timeline view allows you to View your photos in Timeline view according to when they were taken.
New Apps from HTC including the new HTC Sense TV have been redesigned to allow more functionality and added features like showing you the social feed of the show you are watching.
The HTC One M8 has also not left out on the Fitness aspect of things thanks to the new pre loaded Fitbit app that uses the hardware within the phone to monitor your fitness. When you go for a run drop the phone and use the fitbit band and then later sync with your phone to get a comprehensive result at the end of the day.
HTC One M8 Duo Camera
The HTC One (M8) camera utilizes a dual lens and sensor configuration coupled with new processing hardware to mimic the stereoscopic vision capabilities of the human eye –two independent lenses allow it to detect and calculate the relative distance of subjects in the image. The imaging system then assigns properties to each individual pixel, which allows them to be re-purposed and reprocessed to maximize image quality.
HTC Claims that the camera can now accurately emulate the look of high-end lenses and dedicated professional camera systems. It enables “pro look” images with finite shallow depth-of-field control and captivating ‘bokeh’ and focus fall-off, which is particularly effective in portraits.
The HTC One M8 also bundles in effects into the camera library with the use of the enhanced camera hardware and the new UI traits of the new Sense 6.0 , the end resultant images can come out quite brilliantly, especially the seasons effect and the diminutional change effect, samples below.
Dimension Plus Effect
Selective Focus
Season Effect
Accessories
HTC is launching the HTC One M8 with a bunch of accessories as well, the most interesting perhaps is the dot view case. The cover has a fun dot matrix display that will give you updates on whats happening on your device like alarms, calendar notifications, messages, emails and missed calls. The funky colorful display will also show the weather information battery status and time.
The HTC One (M8) will be available globally today in Gunmetal Gray, Glacial Silver and will be rolled out in the South Asia region including India in the coming weeks Stay tuned for our hands on followup. Leave any questions below.
