HTC One M8

Handruin

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Anyone have any experience with the HTC One M8? If I were to be looking at a new Android-based phone, this one seems to be getting some decent reviews. The comparisons between the HTC One M8 and the Samsung Galaxy S5 seem close with the HTC usually getting the nod when one has to make a choice. Is the Nexus 5 worth considering given these other two options? What other phones should I consider?
 

Will Rickards

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No experience personally but you can follow it in the xda forums.
I kind of do which is why I know its been rooted and they've gained soff already.
A bunch of people who have my current phone the ltevo upgraded to the M8.
I'm personally probably going to pass on it due to the camera actually being worse than the M7 (no optical image stabilization).
And while I like the idea of the M7/M8 camera (bigger pixels = better at low light) the pictures seem not up to snuff compared to other smartphones.

I may pick the S5 (due to removable battery) or the One Plus One or may just delay till next years versions.
Other options are the LG, Moto and nexus phones.
The nexus 5 is worth considering just simply based on price.

Honestly the only thing about my current phone (HTC EVO 4G LTE aka ltevo) I don't like is that it gets way too hot when playing games or using the GPS.
It kills the battery during these times and chargers can't keep up with the draw as they won't charge if the battery gets too hot.
 

Handruin

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Thanks Will. The forum feedback I've read so far seems pretty positive on the M8. The removable batter of the S5 seems nice, but I like the idea of the expandable storage in the HTC One. I also like that HTC offers the phone in a Google Play edition so that it can be upgraded sooner with newer releases of Android as they're made available.

I've looked into this a bit more and now I'm considering the Nexus 5 for the price point. I think what's changing my mind is the pricing structure changes that AT&T has done. I'm still on an older plan which is based on the 2-year subsidized phone upgrade but it keeps me with pseudo~unlimited data. Now when I look at plans, I can save a bunch per month given I have several years of history knowing how much data I use on average. I can easily fit into a 2 GB plan. The thing that was confusing is AT&T's plan structure now seems to cater to unlocked phones, otherwise you pay for the phone hardware on a monthly basis along with the cellular and data plan which I don't really care for.

If I go with the Nexus 5 and pay for it up front, I can basically upgrade any time I want, have no contract, and a lower monthly fee. Downside is I lose the unlimited data plan...but I think that's not really helping me anyway. If I go with the HTC One M8, then it's a higher initial cost when compared to the N5.
 

Will Rickards

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Yeah the non subsidized phone thing was played by tmo as a benefit. But when you figure cost of the phone and plan, you're not saving any money, it is actually more per month.
I think they are just finding a new way to get us to pay more money for the same thing and like it. And I think the data tiers should start at 3GB and go up from there, not 500MB.

Phones are so good nowadays I think the urge to upgrade is getting less just when the phone companies are debuting plans to let you upgrade earlier.
 

time

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I'm interested in this because some sort of update a few months ago greatly reduced battery run time in my Galaxy S3. When I first got the phone, I didn't have to stress about charging, but now I have to be diligent and do it every day or get caught short.

On the other hand, I was able to just buy another battery as a backup. That's a luxury denied to my iPhone-saddled colleague; the latest IOS update has killed his battery life and today he was scrambling for a charging cable after 2pm. :(

I seem to be surrounded by happy S4 users, but before I drop money on that or an S5, I'd like to see what else is available.
 

time

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How much does it cost to buy a phone outright in the US? Here, a top model like the S5 is about US$750!
 

Handruin

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Yeah the non subsidized phone thing was played by tmo as a benefit. But when you figure cost of the phone and plan, you're not saving any money, it is actually more per month.
I think they are just finding a new way to get us to pay more money for the same thing and like it. And I think the data tiers should start at 3GB and go up from there, not 500MB.

Phones are so good nowadays I think the urge to upgrade is getting less just when the phone companies are debuting plans to let you upgrade earlier.

I agree that phones are really good these days and I'm going on 2.5 years on my current iPhone 4S. The phone is mostly fine except for some signs of an aging battery but that's to be expected given the length of time I've owned it and used it. It's showing a little of its age with the newer iOS being a bit slower but it's still very usable. The advancements in any phone OS seems to be a burden on many older phones. I'm interested in a larger screen and for that the options are really anything but iPhone...until they decide to increase their screen size if iPhone 6 rumors are true.
 

Handruin

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How much does it cost to buy a phone outright in the US? Here, a top model like the S5 is about US$750!

The Galaxy S5 looks to be $700-$750 USD for outright purchase but I admit I've not done extensive searches for pricing. Since it's so new I'm guessing this is what the price will be. The HTC One M8 is around $650 - $700 and the Nexus 5 is $350 - $400. The price range depends on the size (16GB/32GB).

I guess I've been fortunate enough to not have any real battery issues with my iPhone 4S like your colleague. Maybe it's the luck of the draw for quality control in the batteries. Mine is showing age but the battery life isn't causing me to worry about always charging. That luxury of changing a battery is also denied for many Android phone owners also, it's not just iPhone users.

If you're looking at the S5, is it the removable battery that would make you consider it over the One M8? So far every review I've seen gives the nod to the One M8 even if slightly when compared to the S5.
 

Handruin

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I decided to try the HTC One M8 and so far I like it. There is a lot to get use to with Android but so far it's good. I ordered a 64GB MicroSD card to bring it up to 96GB of storage which will be nice for adding in some movies and music.
 

Handruin

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After a couple weeks of using the phone it's taking some getting used to. There are definite pros and cons between Android and iOS. I don't see one phone OS being entirely better than the other.

I find I leave my phone on the battery save mode most of the time. I don't know what most people do with their Android phones. I don't notice a huge difference in performance or functionality but I do notice a reduced consumption of battery. I also found that the Google Now component consumed a crap ton of battery so I disabled it completely. That helped a lot. With it on, it was draining the battery faster than my iPhone 4S.

Supposedly there is an extreme battery saving mode for my phone that's not available yet in the US. It should allow the phone to run for 15 hours on 5% of battery. I have to wait until AT&T approves the battery mode before I can get the software update which allows for it.

I do have strange issues with txt messages not coming through for various reasons. One of them is iPhones with iMessage. Friends with iPhones send messages and I never receive them. I called Apple to remove my phone number association with my iMessage but that didn't solve it. The other issue is sometimes MMS won't come through. I get a silly error message instead. That's probably some combination of AT&T and Android that I haven't figured out yet.
 

Handruin

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After a couple weeks of using the phone it's taking some getting used to. There are definite pros and cons between Android and iOS. I don't see one phone OS being entirely better than the other.

I find I leave my phone on the battery save mode most of the time. I don't know what most people do with their Android phones. I don't notice a huge difference in performance or functionality but I do notice a reduced consumption of battery. I also found that the Google Now component consumed a crap ton of battery so I disabled it completely. That helped a lot. With it on, it was draining the battery faster than my iPhone 4S.

Supposedly there is an extreme battery saving mode for my phone that's not available yet in the US. It should allow the phone to run for 15 hours on 5% of battery. I have to wait until AT&T approves the battery mode before I can get the software update which allows for it.

I do have strange issues with txt messages not coming through for various reasons. One of them is iPhones with iMessage. Friends with iPhones send messages and I never receive them. I called Apple to remove my phone number association with my iMessage but that didn't solve it. The other issue is sometimes MMS won't come through. I get a silly error message instead. That's probably some combination of AT&T and Android that I haven't figured out yet.
 

ddrueding

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I just played with Ultra Power Saving Mode on my S5. Neat, but the battery life is fine for my needs with everything turned on. Perhaps if I went on vacation and didn't want to bring a charger?
 

mubs

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Data is expensive here, and also drains the battery. In my Android phone, everything is turned off by default. I will selectively enable wi-fi, or GPS + data as needed, and turn those off as soon as I don't need them. Not on FB, Twitter, etc., so I have no need for data being on always. I sometimes go 3-4 days between charges, sometimes 1-2, depending on # of voice calls. The pull down bar at the top makes it easily to toggle these things.

One another thing that will drain your battery like crazy is a weak signal. The phone will boost it's own signal trying to find the tower. For e.g., if at some place you have a single bar for signal strength, your full battery could drain in about 5 hours even if everything else is turned off.
 

Striker

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I posted in the other thread about Tasker
It's extremely useful for automatic tasks on an Android phone. Mubs, I recommend you for sure look into it. You can automate a lot of, if not all of that stuff you're doing manually.
 

mubs

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Thanks Striker. I do remember your post on it. In fact, it's highly praised on a lot of forums.

At this moment, not sure it'll be helpful for me, since I rarely turn on features I don't normally use. If this changes, I'll download it.
 
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