HTC One (M8) Unveiled
You may remember that we reported last month about the fact that HTC sent invites for an event that it held in New York City on March 25th event that marked the unveiling of HTC?s next flagship. Codenamed HTC M8, the new HTC One is the company’s ?primary flagship for 2014? and it keeps the same name as the company’s last year HTC One flagship, that was unveiled on 19 February 2013, at simultaneous press events in New York City and London. On stage in New York City, HTC CEO Peter Chou said that the new HTC One “takes the best smartphone in the world and makes it better in every way […] The design is so pure and honest“.
You may also remember that we reported about the first HTC One (M8) press images leaked online. The leaked press images showed dual rear camera sensors and dual LED flash. Most of the rumored specs from our previous reports have turned out to be the exact specs and features of the new HTC One. While the first generation HTC One was released with a 4.7 inch display featuring a Full High Definition resolution (1080p). The HTC One M8 however, increases the size of the display, from 4.7 inches to 5 inches. The new HTC One is also capable of a Full High Definition resolution (1080p). However, due to the fact that the display size was increased while the resolution was kept the same, the pixels per inch density took a hit, from 460 (the first generation HTC One) to 440 pixels per inch.
The new HTC One also uses a better version of the HTC One Snapdragon System on Chip, the Snapdragon 800. The HTC One M8 uses the Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 System on Chip which features a 2.3 GHz quad core CPU and an Adreno 330 GPU. It also features 2 GB of RAM. As we mentioned, leaked press images showed that the HTC One M8 is the first smartphone in the world to be released with dual rear camera sensors, which will help improve focusing, depth of field and overall image quality. One of the effects that twin rear camera sensors could make possible is the erase of unwanted objects or people from photos. This effect is already possible on some smartphones (such as the Samsung Galaxy S devices) but it is software based. Making it hardware based could not only speed the process but also improve the accuracy.
It also features a dual LED flash in its back, just like last year’s iPhone 5S. The second generation HTC One also features curved metal sides and a higher quality metallic body (unlike the first generation HTC One, the HTC One M8 does not include polycarbonate, in favor of a fully metal construction) that gives the smartphone a premium feel. HTC also addressed one of the major complaints about the first generation HTC One: the lack of a microSD card slot, so the new HTC One will allow you to raise the smartphone’s internal storage by using a microSD card for up to 128 GB of additional storage; regarding internal storage, the HTC One M8 comes in two versions: one with 16 GB of internal storage and one with 32 GB. The new HTC One also support LTE networks.
When it comes to software, the HTC One M8 is be the first smartphone from HTC to be released with Android 4.4.2 KitKat, out of the box. Considering that Android 4.4.2 KitKat debuted in November last year, it was about time for HTC to release a device with the latest version of Google?s mobile Operating System. The HTC M8 will also feature the sixth and latest version of HTC?s user interface, HTC Sense 6.0, on top of Android 4.4.2 KitKat. Jonah Becker from HTC said that HTC “redesigned Sense from top to bottom, touching every pixel along the way,“. The Sixth Sense (as HTC names it) includes some new features such as new camera shooting modes (dual capture, selfie and customizable manual) while also improving old features such as BlinkFeed (HTC’s home screen that works in a similar way to Flipboard) which is now also open to third party developers.
The new HTC One will be offered by more than 230 carriers from over 100 countries. You can order the second generation HTC One right now from AT&T, Sprint, Verizon, Rogers, Bell, and Telus for immediate shipping. However, Verizon offers the best deal out of all the United States carriers, as the newly unveiled HTC One M8 is available in Verizon stores right now. The rest of the carriers will have the new HTC One M8 smartphone in their stores at the beginning of April. By the end of next month, the HTC One M8 will be available Australia, Taiwan, the UK, Germany, France, and China. The price tag of HTC’s primary flagship for 2014 is $199 on contract, though you should expect different prices varying from one carrier to another, some even as high as $249.
For those of you that do not want the Sixth Sense interface over the Android mobile Operating System, HTC announced that a Google Play edition of the second generation HTC One will be available soon. The HTC One M8 will also benefit from an improved battery life of over 40 percent over last year’s HTC One smartphone. The new HTC One M8 comes with a power saver mode that restricts some of the smartphone’s features when the battery life is low, thus allowing you to reach a charger in time. The new HTC One M8 also benefits from HTC’s Advantage warranty program, which means that if by an accident you break your HTC One M8’s display within the first six months, HTC will replace it free of charge, which is pretty nice.
All in all, the new HTC One M8 seems to be a very important player in the smartphone market this year. Offering a premium look and feel, updated specs and features and a beautiful design, it may be exactly what HTC needs to survive in a market dominated mostly by Apple and Samsung. Last year’s HTC One managed to compete with the Samsung Galaxy S4 and the iPhone 5S and we believe that this year?s HTC One is also able to compete with the recently unveiled Samsung Galaxy S5 and Apple’s current flagship, the iPhone 5S. What do you think about the recently unveiled HTC One M8? Leave your comments in the dedicated section below.
