The new HTC One M8 was released yesterday and we went along to have a look at what all the fuss is about. The Android smartphone is a replacement for the previous HTC One, and as you might expect is more of an evolution than a revolution. But there are a couple of surprises, as we found out.
For one thing it looks fantastic. The designers have come up with a brushed aluminum casing which really manages to look stylish without being over tacky. The phone also reeks of a careful application of attention to detail, in things like the edging and lens covers. Very classy.
The One M8 (strange name though) also features a couple of innovations. The first is a Duo Camera, which offers Lytro type one touch refocusing, which is a pretty neat trick for a phone camera. The end result is something of a gimmick (the ability to switch focus on an image by touching the screen) and we suspect it will get used about as much as panoramas are. But it’s clever, no question.
The major major change for us is the fact that the phone now sports a microSD slot which supports up to 128GB of additional storage. Hurrah! For us, the lack of extra storage on these unibody phones was a big no-no, so we’re hoping this is the start of a trend. The phone also features a beefed up speaker system, which with those great front facing speakers should keep the audio crown firmly in HTC’s hands, as well as some evolutionary tweaks to the Sense 6.0 Android interface.
Apart from that, the HTC One M8 doesn’t seem to break much new ground, but at least it’s a good enough upgrade to keep the company on the map against all the competition. It’s not been an easy time for the Taiwanese brand, so let’s see if this new super phone helps them regain a little market presence.
Image Samples: (Video sample)
HTC One M8 (UltraPixel)
Nokia Lumia 1020 (40 megapixel)
THL T100s (13 megapixel)
(Images unedited, just resized)
Specifications:
Snapdragon Quadcore 2.3GHz CPU
2600mAh battery
1080×1920 5 inch screen
Gorilla Glass 3
microSD slot up to 128GB
Dual UltraPixel Cameras with One Touch Refocus
Price: $649 / £549
