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HTC One 2014 M8 in the flesh, first impressions

We finally got our HTC One M8 after many weeks of scouring thru several sources. We’ve been using it for about 3 days now and we’re still very impressed with it.

At first we thought that the HTC M8 would look and feel like the older HTC One M7. However, after unboxing the unit and playing around with it, we noticed a lot of uniqueness that would set it apart from its older sibling.

The new HTC M8 is bigger and taller than the M7. Even the grip feels more comfortable with the M8 with its more curved back and slightly thinner profile.

The unibody aluminum and glass combo evokes a premium feel that you’d rarely see in many other flagship handsets. The unit that we bought was the gold version although we think the shade isn’t as stunning as the champagne gold of the iPhone 5S.

The bottom end is where the microUSB port and the 3.5mm audio port are found. The left side, almost near the top, is where the hidden slot for the nano-SIM card is found. The SIM tray pops up via a small pinhole on its side. The right side is volume rocker and the slot for the microSD card.

The top end is covered with a glass-like semi-translucent polycarbonate material that incorporates the power button and the IR blaster. It gives some semblance of balance and uniformity unlike the last time where the power button is also the transmitter for the IR blaster.

At there back, the dual rear camera is positioned on top of one another with the dual-LED flash just on the left of the larger sensor.

While using the camera, we were thoroughly impressed at how fast the sensor focuses on the camera and takes the shot. There was virtually no delay between the focus time and the image capture that it feels like we were using a dSLR.

At the front is the gorgeous display in full HD 1080 resolution. The glass panel feel thick and solid, the display is bright and crisp.

Where we think there is some kind of awkward placement was the bottom bezel for the HTC logo which has no other specific purpose and it has effectively made that area larger than necessary (adds to the area for the speakers and the onscreen soft buttons for Android).

The speakers are in the same position and while HTC is claiming a 25% increase in sound volume, we did not notice it during our limited time with the handset.

We’ll do a more in-depth and full review of the handset in the next few days so watch out for that.

The unit that we got was the native version (not the Google Play Edition) so we still had that Blinkfeed homescreen as part of the UI.

So far, design-wise and hardware-wise the HTC One M8 2014 is a very promising upgrade by HTC coming from the HTC One last year.

HTC One 2014 (M8) specs:
5-inch full HD Super LCD3 @ 1080×1920 pixels, 441ppi
Corning Gorilla Glass 3
2.3GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 quad-core CPU
Adreno 330 GPU
2GB RAM
16/32/64GB internal storage
up to 128GB via microSD
4MP and 2PM Ultrapixel rear cameras, dual-LED flash
5 megapixel front-facing camera
LTE, HSPA+
WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, WiFi Direct, DLNA, WiFi hotspot
Bluetooth 4.0 w/ A2DP
NFC
GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS
IR Blaster
Stereo FM Radio w/ RDS
HTC BoomSound
Android 4.4.2 Kitkat w/ HTC Sense UI 6
2,600mAh battery
146.4 x 70.6 x 9.4 mm (dimension)
160 grams (weight)
Metal Gray, Silver, Black, Gold (colors)

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Avatar for Abe Olandres

Abe is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of YugaTech with over 20 years of experience in the technology industry. He is one of the pioneers of blogging in the country and considered by many as the Father of Tech Blogging in the Philippines. He is also a technology consultant, a tech columnist with several national publications, resource speaker and mentor/advisor to several start-up companies.

24 Responses

  1. Avatar for ariel ariel says:

    sir you are so right when you said great phone comes with a price, mr x my phone here is iphone 5s gold i can pm you photo of me grinning with my pone? pls give me ur ad so i can pm you the soonest …rant? i rant because i have 3 mates whose having emotional stress due to HTC one they bought last Dec i heard the same what the CCi told you, but wait till reallity comes into the picture and they gonna give you the run around hahaha…and oh btw i dont buy used phone…

    well you the money to throw away so good for you unlike me….

  2. Avatar for Mr. X Mr. X says:

    I received my M8 a few weeks ago and let me tell you that’s it’s a marvelous device! Lightyears ahead of my old S3. I know it’s unfair to compare with that that’s why I also compared it to my brother’s S5! I love this phone more! The weight feels durable and makes it feel premium and the speakers are really good! If you have any questions about it just ask! Globe Postpaid Subscriber and proud owner of the HTC One M8

    • Avatar for ariel ariel says:

      hahahahaha! go tell that to the marines! a really good fone ? hahahahaha! mr x magbilntay ang po kayo ng ilang buwan o baka linggo lang lalabas na yan mga problema sa HTC which is a common thing these days! punta ka greenhills daming nagmamakaawa sa mga technician doon paano maayos unit nila na di naman pala covered ng warranty kasi kung tumawag naman sila sa customer care ng HTC wala naman to magawa papahintayin lang sila ng matagal…tas wala naman pala magawa and they ended up paying more for the repair hahahaha!!

      clock is ticking, sir and then the emotional stress comes in, be prepared, be very prepared hahahaha!!

    • Avatar for Mr. X Mr. X says:

      Actually Ariel, I’ve already contacted the HTC customer service and I was pleased to find out myself that the warranty does cover my phone for a year! I’m glad to see HTC putting some dignity in their hands and forwarding to their customers. According to them, parts that are covered by warranty will be free if fixing is needed even if my phone was imported from HK. I’m sorry that you didn’t know that HTC has contact support here in the Philippines. You just go on and rant because the reason I bought a phone this premium means I have the money to ask for repair. You on the other hand, buy used phones in greenhills and expect a good quality phone with good service? Wake up please, great phones with great service come with a price

  3. Avatar for ruben ruben says:

    LG G2 is still the best.

  4. Avatar for miongb miongb says:

    Where did you get it abe? Local store?

    • Avatar for Bilat sang Kanding Bilat sang Kanding says:

      You mean this WD 3TB Cloud? Silicon Valley store and Octagon cyberzone North they have 2 wees ago. Very good and you have your own cloud forever. No need to pay monthly for Smart cloud. You can sync your cloud to all your gadgets and upload wherever you are. Importantfor your phone has LTE or atleast WiFi connection. Buti kaya ikaw mas ok sa ibang nagpopost ng comment. Kung gusto nila ng malakas na Audio magbili sila ng Shure 750 DJ headset. Kung walang wala na talaga Philips headset Php.1,499 lang sa Philips store Astrovision.

  5. Avatar for Bilat sang Kanding Bilat sang Kanding says:

    Meron namang nagtatanong magkano kahit alam na minsan sinasabi na ni YugaTech sa survey. Hindi yata nagbabasa tong mga to! Doon na rin sa survey ang specs nagtatanong pa kung ano specs. Uliyanin yata tong mga nagbabasa sa survey nyo YugaTech. Tanong ng tanong since 2012 pa pero hanggang ngayon wala pa rin nabili. Yung iba maghihintay, ng ano? 16 cores and 8 GB Ram and 128GB Rom? O meron ng self 3TB Cloud? Haler mahal na yun! Kung 10K nga lang hirap na makabili yun pa kaya? Masarap pa siguro marinig na hintayin ko ang tax refund ko o mid year bunos bilhin ko iyan. Wow nice congrats kung ganun. Nakakabingi puro tanong anong year na hindi naman makakabili.
    Kung sakaling mababa ang RAM at ROM bumili ka ng WD 3TB cloud at USD600 online. Wherever you go sync lahat yan sa gadgets mo at doon ka na maginstall ng lahat ng apps ubusin mo lahat ng libre sa Google Market.

  6. Avatar for Bilat sang Kanding Bilat sang Kanding says:

    Ultra Pixel nga ano ba kayo! Ano ba hanap nyo Cellphone ba talaga o Camera at Soundsystem?
    Kung Cellphone lang hanap mo Specs ng CP ang prioritize mo.
    1. Processor ( atleast 2.3Ghz 4 cores)
    2. Memory (RAM & ROM)
    3. Network Connectivity (HSPA+, LTE)
    4. Screen Resolution (IPS7, 4HD, Resistant to water, scratch, dust and anti-shock and drop)
    5. Wireless charging is not necessary and can create static electricity.
    7. Display brightness ( higher ppi 441 is good requirement. You can texts and watch video under the ray of the sun).
    8. Battery Life is very important. Lithium-Polymer is good battery. For 5″ IPS6/7 LCD 2,500 mAh should be the minimum requirements.
    KUNG GUSTO MO NG CAMERA INDI MO YAN MAKUKUHA SA BRAND NG CP. DSLR ang kailangan mo at Nikon, Olympus, Sony, Canon ang bibilhin mo.
    KUNG AUDIO SYSTEM ANG HINAHANAP MO. Bumili ka nalang ng Bang & Olofssen, AKG, Sennheisser, Shure or Bose. Kung gusto mo mura Altec Lansing na Octane7 yan kabit mo sa CP mo and your neighbor start to complain.

    • Avatar for Kardong Puke Kardong Puke says:

      Sinong sira ulo ang manonood ng movies gamit cp sa ilalim ng tirik na araw.

    • Avatar for Bob Bob says:

      @Kardong Puke,

      Sinagot mo na ang tanong mo… Siempre yung siraulo ang manonood ng movies gamit cp sa ilalim ng tirik na araw.

  7. Avatar for jimboy jimboy says:

    E lang speed sa bahay ni Sir Yuga. Eto ba ung may FUP na telco lol

  8. Avatar for ariel ariel says:

    walang improvement sa camera shot, useless phone, people wag na kayong magsayang sayang ng pera ninyo, kung ayaw nyong sasakit ang dibdib nyo well honestly meron naman siyang bago kaso mga kapalpakan outwights every improvemts they made….

    kaya my suggesttion wag gumastos ng 34k for this brick, well if you have the moolah to throw away then go ahead pick one near you…

  9. Avatar for mansinalsal mansinalsal says:

    4mp will suffice kung mag upload ka lang naman sa instagram at fb. Im still waiting for the quick charger ng M8 para sulit. Or better choose oppo find 7 walang tatalo sa fast charging..

  10. Avatar for Yusuf Yusuf says:

    If it weren’t for that horrendous camera…

  11. Avatar for guillen guillen says:

    If this has an 8mp camera or higher Id rather get this than the s5 i really like the boomsound speakers <3 but the camera resolution is such a disgrace … so si s5 ang binili ko :)

  12. Avatar for Exag Exag says:

    The forever waiting game. Better models will always pop out in the future. The best phone is what you have right now.

  13. Avatar for Anonymous Anonymous says:

    At first we though -> thought
    Event he grip feels more -> Even the
    were were thoroughly impressed -> we were

  14. Avatar for Nephilim Nephilim says:

    Personally, I’d rather wait for OnePlusOne, almost the same specs, if not better, for a fraction of the cost.

  15. Avatar for Azardo Talodo Azardo Talodo says:

    Para saan pa ang rear dual camera? Pangit ng innovation.

    • Avatar for Synth Synth says:

      It’s for a camera trick where after you’ve taken a shot you could re-adjust the focusing of the pic. Its a hit or miss though…

    • Avatar for Azardo Talodo Azardo Talodo says:

      Ang LG G PRO 2 ay isa lang ang camera. Pero may innovation sya na mamili kung ano ang pipiliin nyang best shot. Before and after shot.

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