The 'All New HTC One" (aka the M8)
Discussion
VEA said:
Funk said:
I ordered a 64Gb Kingston Class 10 from 7dayshop for £28.
http://www.7dayshop.com/kingston-microsdxc-memory-...
Order places Thursday, just been delivered. Got some more e-juice too.http://www.7dayshop.com/kingston-microsdxc-memory-...
First impressions? Pretty cool. Works well and will do a great job protecting both phone case and screen. Seems a bit perverse to have such a stunning phone and then put it in a plastic cover though. Does the case feel like £35-worth? No. But then it does have the built-in gubbins to tell the phone it's in that case - and when you consider the equivalent 'active' case for the new S5 is £45, it doesn't seem such poor value.
Speaking of which, I had the opportunity to play with the new S5 today, despite it not being on general sale until Friday. First thoughts? Standard Samsung. It's lighter than the M8 (well, plastic'll do that for you...) but I have to say, for a phone that will retail at the premium end of the market, it really doesn't feel remotely premium at all. It was as fast as you'd expect it to be (although entering the low-power state and coming back to 'normal' took aaaaaaaages) but it's just an S4 with a slightly bigger screen and a few extra features. I took two pictures side-by-side at the same time with my M8 and the S5 and I have to say that - on-screen at least - the M8's picture was massively better. I'm sure with cropping etc the S5's might have more detail, but it's more detail of a poorer photo. I don't have the picture from the S5, but this was the test image from my M8:
I also posted over in the Z2 thread about my thoughts on the camera, I'll copy them here:
Funk said:
For those with a picture fetish, I think the camera could be the thing that sways many toward the Z2 over the M8.
The M8 actually has a very good camera, it's just that the auto mode (which is what most people use) isn't very well-judged. You have incredible control over the One M8's camera so if you know what you're doing, good results are possible. Here are just a few of the controls you have in Manual mode:
I think it just takes work to get the best out of the M8's camera and most people just want to 'point-and-shoot' (which is fair enough on a mobile, given the type of use it's likely to receive).
I'll reiterate that I'm not the world's biggest user of the camera on my phone but I'll endeavour to take a load more shots over the next few days and post them up if people would like? Might help to give a more real-world sense of what it can do.The M8 actually has a very good camera, it's just that the auto mode (which is what most people use) isn't very well-judged. You have incredible control over the One M8's camera so if you know what you're doing, good results are possible. Here are just a few of the controls you have in Manual mode:
I think it just takes work to get the best out of the M8's camera and most people just want to 'point-and-shoot' (which is fair enough on a mobile, given the type of use it's likely to receive).
I've just read that the Z2's camera has been rated as one of the best out there; if that's critical to you then the Z2 might be a better bet for you. The other trump cards the S5 and Z2 hold are their IP ratings which makes them broadly waterproof (in fresh water - I'd imagine a chlorinated pool or seawater may be a little more of a challenge to the phones!).
Edited by Funk on Tuesday 8th April 22:34
The dots allow the screen to display through the case but the case itself tells the phone to do that, if that makes sense?
Just looked up the Official M8 car cradle to replace my Kidigi - £45....ouch. And it won't take it in the case either, I'd have to remove it every time...
Just looked up the Official M8 car cradle to replace my Kidigi - £45....ouch. And it won't take it in the case either, I'd have to remove it every time...
Edited by Funk on Wednesday 9th April 13:33
VEA said:
I've been thinking about car cradles today... wasn't there a new universal one that is just four bendable pipes? Can't remember where I saw it or what it was called though...
The benefit of a 'proper' one is that it puts the phone into 'Car Dock' mode and you don't have to fiddle about with a charging cable.VEA said:
Funk said:
The benefit of a 'proper' one is that it puts the phone into 'Car Dock' mode and you don't have to fiddle about with a charging cable.
True,Are they moveable though? As in, if you have more than one car, or is it a "permenant" solution?
Ok, big post coming up. I've been taking some snaps over the last couple of days, all on 'Auto'. On the pics of my car, the close of of the rear light is full zoom from the same location as the full-width picture is taken. What's also clear on the ones of my rear garden is that changing the focal point on the screen dramatically alters the way the phone adjusts the white balance.
As I say, it's not the last word in photographic supremacy but for my purposes it's more than sufficient.
Forgot to mention I've gone back to the gel case. Not a fault of the Dot View case, but just the fact it's a flip case. Can't get used to it and found it a pain. The back is also smooth and the front grippy which feels 'wrong'. The gel case gives good grip in the hand and I like to use my phone one handed - the flip case didn't really work for me. Shame as the Dot View is cool as f
k.
I may keep it as I liked the functionality and protection it offered and there may be situations where that comes in handy, but if anyone wants to make me an offer I'd consider it. It's literally a few days old, I paid £35 (retail) for it.
Forgot to mention I've gone back to the gel case. Not a fault of the Dot View case, but just the fact it's a flip case. Can't get used to it and found it a pain. The back is also smooth and the front grippy which feels 'wrong'. The gel case gives good grip in the hand and I like to use my phone one handed - the flip case didn't really work for me. Shame as the Dot View is cool as f
k.I may keep it as I liked the functionality and protection it offered and there may be situations where that comes in handy, but if anyone wants to make me an offer I'd consider it. It's literally a few days old, I paid £35 (retail) for it.
Edited by Funk on Friday 11th April 12:47
VEA said:
This is the reason I didn't bother. I cannot stand flip cases. I've actually taken the gel case off mine now. Goes in the pocket so much easier without.
I'd still be paranoid about damaging the gorgeousness. Mobile Fun have a nice clear case that will still let it look great, might investigate that...melhookv12 said:
Got a M7 in January, but I'm due an upgrade. Do I go M8, or jump HTC ship and try a S5, any good deals out there on either. I currently pay £25 per month unlimited data, 500 mins and unlimited texts. All the plans I look at are for 4g and I don't really need 4g so why pay a premium for it.
It is nice to have a shiny new phobe, but is the jump from M7 to M8 worth it.
Then I'd be buying new case and car dock again ! Why can't they make the official docks like the kidigi one that takes the phone when it's in a gel case ?
Hello chap! EE still offer 3G-based tariffs for the M8. It's a big move on from the One but probably not enough to justify changing though unless you must have one...It is nice to have a shiny new phobe, but is the jump from M7 to M8 worth it.
Then I'd be buying new case and car dock again ! Why can't they make the official docks like the kidigi one that takes the phone when it's in a gel case ?
Polar - to answer your question, not that I can see... Quirk of the ROM? Did it download and checksum properly?
I have that on my N7 and often miss some of the Sense features.
devnull said:
Just spent a couple of hours pottering around with the phone and flashed the Google Play Edition ROM to my M8. Undecided if i'll keep it on at the moment, as I'm pretty sure i'll miss things like the extreme power saving mode, and the HTC Mini+ accessory doesn't have support.
Easy enough to flash the ROM if you're patient:
I've still not rooted mine yet. Isn't Play Edition just straight vanilla Android?Easy enough to flash the ROM if you're patient:
- Unlock the bootloader (register as a dev on HTCs site)
- Flash the recovery with philz CWM
- Backup current ROM
- Flash the play edition to the phone.
I have that on my N7 and often miss some of the Sense features.
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