HTC One M8 Specs, Features, and Review: Can it Live Up to its Predecessor, the M7 "Smartphone of the Year"?
HTC's newest smartphone, the HTC One (M8), has been revealed to the world for almost a week now and the reviews are coming in.
So far the reviews have been positive as many are boasting that new mobile device is better than its predecessor, the One (M7), which earned Mobile World Congress's "Smartphone of the Year" last month in Spain.
According to a Los Angeles Times review, the M8 doesn't differ all that much from the M7, but it certainly improves on the previous phone's already great qualities.
For instance, the phone has a bigger screen as it is 5 inches of 1080p HD and boasts a sleeker design than the M7. The larger screen, up from 4.7 inches with the M7, allows users to enjoy better quality videos and games.
The battery also lasts longer and is built in with a better camera.
"The HTC One (M8) borrows the best aspects of its predecessor and fixes the worst parts," the Times reported.
The M8 can also be used as a TV remote control with its infrared sensor at the top, which also happens to be the only part of the body that is covered in metal. The newest smartphone kept the two front-facing speakers from the previous model.
The new device features more rounded edges as its back cover can now fully wrap around the phone's sides which differs from the M7, where the cover's plastic material didn't look good with the metal design of the phone.
HTC's Blinkfeed is featured on the side of the phone's screen where users can access their friends' social networking pages.
HTC also added some gesture controls that allow users to quickly access camera mode and Blinkfeed as well make a phone call and unlock the device by using swift swipes or button presses.
The Taiwan-based smartphone manufacturer also included the Duo Camera feature that allows the user to not only take selfies but refocus photos after they've been taken and apply a 3-D effect.
Although HTC is really marketing the refocus tool for phone's advertisement, the Times reported that the feature can sometimes make the photo look worse than before or give a cool blur much like Instagram does.
One more downside, Phandroid reported, was that the phone undergoes factory reset after 10 unsuccessful attempts of unlocking the phone with a forgotten password.
Other than a couple of minor setbacks, the Times and PC Magazine praise HTC for its latest device.