HTC One (M8) Android Smartphone Review

Performance Summary: The HTC One is a very attractive and high-performing device. Navigating through menus and loading apps was not only smooth and glitch free, but it happened nice and fast. The iPhone 5s is praised for responding quickly to swipes and gestures, but the One is even faster. This phone is quick, offers a great user experience, and handles 3D games with aplomb. There is plenty of competition in the space, of course, but it’s obvious that HTC brought its A-game with this handset.

What’s particularly pleasing about the new One is just how buttoned-up the entire package is. While the Galaxy S 5 is a barnburner on the performance front as well, and a virtual tool chest on the feature front, it's design still leans heavily on plastics. The One is almost entirely metal, and it’s one of the most premium feeling device out there. The 5-inch 1080p display is pin sharp, beautiful to look at, and highly responsive. This form factor really feels ideal; it’s as large as we’d want a phone to be without heading into phablet territory.

While there’s no snazzy fingerprint or biometric sensors on-board, the One nails the foundational aspects of a phone. The UltraPixel camera is a no-fuss shooter that grabs usable, quality images more often than not, and the built-in speakers are amongst the loudest and clearest we’ve heard on a smartphone. HTC’s Sense UI is understated and useful, and BlinkFeed is a useful tool for monitoring multiple social networks and feeds. In a way, it’s similar to the People tab in Windows Phone, which neatly collects highlights from social feeds, news feeds, and your closest contacts. At a glance (or a blink, if you will), you can digest a wealth of information.

If we’re forced to nitpick, we wish HTC would 64GB of internal storage instead of offering 16/32GB + a microSD slot. Android scan till get pretty finicky with some micro-SD cards. We’d also prefer HTC up the megapixel count. Not every phone needs 40+ megapixels, but 4 is just too few for those looking to actually print, crop, or zoom.


All things considered, the HTC One is a jewel, and it's well worth the asking price if you’re in the market for a new Android device. It’s worth mentioning that Android purists can purchase a Google Play edition of this device, with a pure version of Kit Kat that’s free of HTC’s software add-ons and free of carrier bloat, and of course, free to be used on international networks without pleading with your carrier for an unlock code. There are still a number of new devices incoming in the next few weeks and months, but we really like the HTC One M8. It’s classy, quick, and well-priced considering the feature set.