Mega price drops for both consoles, but only for a limited time
Tesco has put the pressure on the PlayStation 4's price once again: if you're looking to get in on the next-gen action, you can pick one up for just £314.10 until Sunday.
This
is the cheapest we've seen so far and it includes a two year guarantee
and free delivery to your local Tesco for you to collect. Just enter
voucher code TDX-KMNT at checkout and you'll save 10% on your order.
With
Tesco and Dabs dropping prices this far we're on the lookout for other
retailers to follow suit. Amazon, Asda, Argos…who'll be next? Our eyes
are peeled.
Stunning design, loads of power and some big upgrades; HTC's done it again
To say there are great expectations of the freshly announced HTC One
(M8) would be a massive understatement. This is, after all, one of the
flagships to shape the entire season. But a predecessor that failed to
turn warm reception into good sales is adding more weight on its
shoulders. The Taiwanese manufacturer's confidence may've been shaken
but the new one cannot afford to show it.
HTC One (M8) official photos
At a quick glance, the HTC One (M8) appears to be a solid upgrade to
what was already a highly-acclaimed smartphone. Perfecting the instantly
recognizable, gorgeous design of the first generation, HTC has improved
the latest flagship in several key areas.
The good looks of the HTC One (M8) are backed by the most powerful
hardware available on the market today, while the screen has grown at
the expense of the capacitive keys thus keeping the body size in check.
The software has received a boost too - the new HTC One runs the latest
Android version, dressed in a brand new edition of Sense UI.
Compare the latest HTC One (M8) deals
So
it's all the more impressive that HTC, fresh from making the
best-looking phone of 2013, has managed to make the HTC One (M8), a
phone crammed full of power and great features while improving the
design that won it so many accolades.
The poor naming aside, the
One (M8) is a phone that takes the superb DNA of last year's device,
improves it in nearly every area and then packs it full of all the
latest technology...and still finds space to pack in a microSD card
slot.
On top of that the chassis has been retooled to now be made
of 90% metal, up from around 70% last year, and the result is a brushed
aluminium design that seems compelling the second you lay eyes on it.
Let's go back in time a little bit here: when it launched the HTC One X
- let's not get into the fact that this company needs to employ a whole
new team dedicated to naming products - the company was in a nosedive.
From
the heights of the HTC Desire, the world's first true iPhone
competitor, it had fallen dramatically, and sales were in the toilet.
The brand needed a reboot, and the HTC One was just that. It wasn't a commercial success in the same vein as the iPhone 5S or the Samsung Galaxy S4, but it was critically superior.
So HTC had a tough choice: make a sequel that was mere evolution, an HTC One S (wait... that's been done)
if you will, which would make the world realise it truly believed in
its design trajectory, or reinvent the wheel again, try and different
kind of impressive phone and run the risk of offering up a flop?
Somehow the company has managed to navigate these choppy waters and create something that stands astride both categories.
The
HTC One (M8) is an even better designed device that takes the
principles of the original One, expands them in the right places and
adds in some more HTC sauce here and there.
The result offers up
something that can compete with Samsung on the technological front yet
still stand toe-to-toe with Apple, arguably the producer of some of the
best-looking devices of all time.
Of course, the One (M8) isn't a
phone that's going to be to everyone's tastes. It's expensive, coming in
at least £500 SIM free (AU$899, around US$820), but that's to be
expected from a flagship phone like this.
You'll
need to be ready to pay top dollar for the HTC One (M8), but once you
hold it you'll accept that it deserves to command such a premium.
There
are other things that will put off some too: the fact that the screen
is now 5 inches mean this is a larger device, one that can take two
hands to operate at times, and it's even bigger than the 2013 version as
a result.
HTC needs to sort out its efforts in the mid-to-low
smartphone arena, but that's a topic for a different day. The HTC One
(M8) is a phone that's supposed to offer the best of the smartphone
market, one that will survive the onslaught of the iPhone 6 and the Galaxy S5, while preserving HTC's heritage and bringing the bottom line closer to something more healthy.
Through
a clever combination of technology and design, it appears the company
has managed to just do that - and in today's impossibly congested
smartphone market (especially at the high end) that's something to be
applauded.
Design
As you can guess from the introduction, the HTC One
(M8) is a phone that is as much about premium design as it is about
packing in the latest version of Android and a decent processor.
The
brand took great pains to point out that the One (M8) is a phone that
builds on the heritage of last year's One, but improves in just about
every arena. The metal chassis is still there, and the aluminium casing
now makes up 90% of the frame, up from about 70% previously.
This
is probably the most significant change, along with the fact the back
and sides are now more curved, as it brings a really impressive feel in
the hand. If the original One was characterised by first-time users
saying 'Wow, that feels lovely' the next iteration takes that message
further.
There will be very few brand-agnostic people that wander
into their local phone emporium, pick up the HTC One (M8) and a couple
of competitors, and find that the Taiwanese brand's new device is
streets ahead in the design stakes - and I'd bet that most would be
unable to resist a purchase after that.
The
difference here between the One (M8) and the iPhone 5S - the two phones
that lead the way in the design stakes - is weight and screen size.
Having something that feels premium is incredibly important when you're
spending so much on a phone per month, and while the iPhone is beautiful
in its metal casing, it's too light to feel like you're getting
something really premium.
There's a subconscious reaction when you
pick up something for the first time, a natural expectation of how it
might feel in the hand, and the HTC One (M8), with its 9.35mm thickness
and 160g weight, marries those two very well.
It's no coincidence
that smartphones are packing on the grams a little bit these days. Where
around 120g was the fashion a couple of years ago, now we're seeing
heavier phones as designers try to meet a new paradigm (plus all that
new technology needs to go somewhere, after all).
Let's look at the actual design of the HTC One (M8) - and it's definitely equal parts evolution and revolution.
The
flagship version will be this metallic grey, although a silver version
that evokes the previous model and a champagne / rose gold option will
be both available too. However, this brushed metal effect is stunning,
and helps distance the One (M8) from its predecessor.
Holding
it in the hand is a really pleasant experience, one that makes you feel
like you're holding something you should spend a lot of money on.
Quite
rightly some will baulk at the larger chassis, mostly down to the
decision to include the Boomsound speakers above and below the screen,
but once you've heard them in action you'll struggle not to agree that
they're not a worthy trade-off.
The
iPhone 5S and even the Galaxy S4 / Galaxy S5 have a more compact design
language than the One (M8), which is larger thanks to the speaker
addition, but overall I don't think this detracts from the overall
effect.
The headphone jack has been moved to the bottom of the
phone, which will anger some users. I still think this is an unintuitive
place to add the port, as I've become used to having it at the top.
Arguments that it makes it easier to slip in and out of the pocket don't
hold water, and it makes the phone hard to hold in portrait when
listening to music.
But
I've got some really good news for you phone-lovers out there: the HTC
One (M8) comes with a microSD slot! I thought this would never happen
after the brand did away with the expansion last year, citing design
reasons and a general lack of need thanks to the ubiquity of cloud
storage (which is clearly still not true).
To
hammer home that last point, HTC told me that it re-introduced the
expandable memory as it was a) able to do so without compromising the
design and b) it had heard from so many consumers that this was a real
sticking point for not buying the original One.
It's always good
to see a brand climb down when consumers ask for something, and now this
means that there are no issues about filling your phone up with photos
and home videos as well as music and movies.
The
slot isn't that easy to access on the fly, as like the nanoSIM port it
needs a small tool to pop open the drawer. That might be annoying for
the more hardcore photographer, but most people will rarely, if ever,
hot swap cards, so it just offers a cheap and easy way to increase the
16GB / 32GB onboard storage by up to 128GB.
The top of the phone
is all plastic still, and this is to with antenna technology as well as
allowing the infrared signal to control home theatre devices.
This,
combined with the thin plastic strips on the rear of the phone, allow
for phone and Wi-Fi signal to permeate through the chassis... when you
hear engineers talk about how hard it is to make a metal phone that can
still connect to other devices, the design language of the One is even
more impressive.
The
phone isn't perfect on the One (M8) though - although the following
points are more little irritations than anything that undoes the work of
the overall design ethos.
One area I'm really happy about is the
button travel, as the original One has very flat keys that were hard to
find and press. The One (M8) improves on that massively, making
everything easier to find in the pocket or bag and tap.
However,
the keys still feel a little plastic and have a little bit of wiggle
when rocked back and forth. This is the same criticism I had with the
first One, and it got sorted after a couple of months, but I'd expect a
phone of this calibre to have every part of the device locked into place
- a rattle ruins things a little bit.
The power button is still
on the top of the phone, which I can live with, but it's been moved from
the left to the right side. I've argued with a few people about this,
as it seems that some people prefer this orientation where others find
it incredibly hard to hit.
I'm in the latter camp, as my finger
naturally sits on the left of the phone and I found it very easy to
unlock the first One. Now not only do I have to shuffle along to find
the power button, but whenever I do so I accidentally engage the volume
key, meaning I always keep turning the ringtone up and down.
This
was probably the most infuriating part of the HTC One (M8) - which
isn't a bad thing to have at all, but is a poor thing to happen over and
over again.
I'm also a bit perplexed about the fast HTC decided
to drop the capacitive buttons (understandable given Android 4.4
KitKat's love of on-screen keys) yet keep the same big black bar that
contains the HTC logo. This feels like a lot of wasted real estate on
the front of the phone, and could have allowed the brand to keep the
same footprint as the previous model if it had found another place to
chuck its name.
The reason for this is probably due to the need to
pack in the necessary internal components while maintaining the
Boomsound speakers, but given the level of intelligence on show here
when it comes to packaging the device, it seems like a missed trick.
But
before you get too downhearted, here's the upshot: the HTC One (M8) is
one of the most beautiful phones ever made, and that's a statement
that's even more impressive given we were saying the same thing about
the device this time last year.
The improved use of metal in the
chassis really works, and the shape is updated without losing any of the
heritage of last year's popular model. The addition of a microSD slot
is inspired, and while I can't say I'll ever get on board with the
headphone jack being on the bottom, it's something that you can live
with.
Dual 4MP AF "UltraPixel" (2µm pixel size) camera with 1/3" sensor; 28mm f/2.0 lens; dual-LED flash; HTC ImageChip 2
1080p video capture with HDR
HTC Zoe
5MP front-facing camera with BSI sensor; wide-angle f/2.0 lens; HDR; 1080p video recording
16/32GB of built-in memory
microSD card slot; 50GB of free Google Drive storage for 2 years
GPS with A-GPS; GLONASS
MHL-enabled microUSB 2.0 port
Bluetooth 4.0; NFC
IR remote control
Accelerometer; gyro and proximity sensor; ambient light sensor; barometer
Best audio output on the market
Fitbit fitness tracker app
Active noise cancellation with a dedicated microphone
Front-facing stereo speakers with BoomSound and built-in amplifiers
Gorgeous metal unibody with superb finish and tactile feel
2,600mAh battery; Extreme Power Saving Mode
Main disadvantages
4MP camera can't match higher-resolution rivals
No 4K video recording or OIS
Non user-replaceable battery
The second generation HTC One addresses most of his predecessor's
major shortcomings. The chipset upgrade is hardly a surprise, but the
fact that HTC has shown enough flexibility to include a microSD card
slot is great news and the improved ergonomics come as a welcome bonus.
Much like with the original, the biggest question mark in the new HTC
One (M8) is hanging over the camera. HTC insists on the 4MP sensor and
has chosen to teach it cool new tricks rather than up the pixel count -
that's the same questionable move that got it into trouble with the last
generation.
This time, there is a second camera unit to collect distance data,
which enables some really nice effects in post processing. However, we
are yet to see if that will be enough at a time when the competition is
moving to larger sensors and 5 times the resolution of the One (M8). HTC One (M8) live photos
We will not waste any more time introducing the HTC One (M8) and
we'll get down to testing instead. As always, we will begin our in-depth
review with an unboxing, followed by a design and build quality
inspection.
Duo camera and smart flash
Like the battery talk above, I'm
not going to spoil the larger section later one where I discuss the
camera power, but the new snapper on the back deserves highlighting here
as it genuinely is the stand out feature (along with the design of the
phone) that will mark out the HTC One (M8) from the competition.
Yes,
it's still the same Ultrapixel technology from last year, and it's not
been bumped up much in the megapixel space. Actually, not at all. But
the output is much enhanced, and not just in low light, leading to a
more robust system.
However,
it's the depth sensor that HTC has plugged above the main camera that
really makes the difference here, as it allows you to refocus images
after you've taken them, which is a really cool feature.
It's one
that all the main manufacturers are placing within their flagship
devices, but HTC is the only one that does it with hardware instead of
software, leading to really impressive speeds when taking pictures and
still having this advanced functionality.
You can check out the
tests with the new Ultrapixel Duo Camera later in the review - and I'd
really recommend that you do if you're the sort of person that likes a
really strong day to day snapper.
Better Boomsound
HTC has
gone to great lengths to talk up its improved speakers on the front of
the device, and it needs to, given its added so much size to the One
(M8) to accommodate them.
The good news is they're SO much better
than last year, and the original One's sound wasn't bad at all. However
with the new speakers everything is so much clearer, meaning better
clarity between the bass and the vocals when listening to music, or just
a cleaner sound when pumping up the volume to the max.
HTC told
me that this was because it had separated out the channels within the
sound, allowing it to clip the likes of the bass when things got too
much for the speakers without affecting the other elements. It's a
system that certainly works and side by side the difference is marked.
However,
I'm still not convinced by Boomsound. Yes, it's brilliant when used,
but the question is: when would you use it? I found that over the last
year I was surprised how much the speakers came to the fore, be it
showing off YouTube clips or having music in the background when
decorating, but that wasn't regular.
I never found myself watching a full movie using the speakers when alone, as I still prefer the headphone experience for that.
The
Boomsound speakers feel akin to a really nice bodywork set on a premium
saloon car. They'll add a lot when it comes to cornering speeds and
general performance, but you know that mostly you're using that car for
getting to work and taking the family or friends to the beach.
The
same here: the speakers are great, but they add a lot of height to the
phone and I wonder how much use you'll get out of these premium features
given modern smartphone use is still a very private thing.
But
don't get confused - the sound that comes out from the speakers is
really great, with crisp notes and deep bass for a smartphone.
Storage wars
And
just briefly, let's have a 'hands in the air' moment for the fact HTC
has caved in and brought a microSD expansion slot to the One (M8). I
thought such a thing was impossible for future HTC devices, assuming the
company had bent to Google's apparent will to have more emphasis put to
the cloud.
But HTC told me that it had listened to users, some of
whom had said they wouldn't buy the One thanks to the lack of
expandable storage, and so popped one into the One (M8).
It's
not easy to hot swap, given you need a little SIM tool to open the
drawer, but it's much better than nothing and helps negate the fact that
6GB of the internal storage is taken up by OS requirements.
That's
not the worst out there, but if you opt for the 16GB version and get
really friendly with the Zoe feature on the One (M8) as well as
downloading some large apps, you would have run into trouble.
Now,
all your media needs can be siphoned off and the internal space
dedicated to apps instead, which is a big help, and it's good to see a
brand backing down over a big issue.
Fitbit
HTC has tried to join the fitness game with the One (M8) by bundling the Fitbit app with the phone from the outset.
It's
a strategy that you could consider two ways: on the one hand, given
that smartphone fitness is still a burgeoning area, it doesn't seem
worth spending millions to develop a real core fitness API that allows
you to get fit with your smartphone in the way Samsung is doing with S
Health.
At least there's no unnecessary heart rate monitor here.
On
the other hand, having a phone acting as a pedometer is a poor
substitute for an actual tracker as you'll spend large swathes of the
day with the phone on a desk or a bedside table.
Add to that the
fact that there's every chance that smartphone fitness will take off,
especially as Apple and Samsung start ramming the message down users'
throats, and HTC's half-hearted attempt to be in the fitness mix could
come back to bite it when the next version of its flagship phone
appears.
Battery life
The HTC One (M8) has a slightly bigger battery than its predecessor,
but it has to feed a bigger screen and more powerful chipset. The end
result is a great improvement in endurance rating - from 48 hours to 71
hours, practically a full day more!
Part of that improvement comes from a leap in 3G call performance,
the One (M8) beats the old One by over six hours. The two proceed to
trade blows in the web browsing and video playback times with an hour of
difference.
For more details, check out our blog post about the HTC One (M8) battery life.
An important addition to the battery efficiency arsenal of the HTC M8
is the presence of the Extreme Power Saving mode, not unlike what the
recently announced Samsung Galaxy S5 has. Only allowing access to basic
features such as calls, email and text messaging , HTC claims the said
mode will stretch a mere 5% of charge left to a whopping 15 hours.
Following next is a look at the software features of the smartphone,
headed by a brand-new HTC Sense UI, running on top of the latest Android
build.
Android 4.4.2 KitKat with brand new Sense 6
The HTC One (M8) boots Android 4.4.2 KitKat, dressed in a brand new
version of HTC's own Sense UI. HTC Sense 6 brings new features on board
and improves the existing functionality of the user interface.
Here goes a quick video of HTC One with Sense 6 in action.
The lockscreen looks different but hasn't changed its functionality.
There's a clock, weather info and four shortcut slots. Missed calls and
incoming messages are duly displayed too of course.
HTC Sense 6 lockscreen
Swiping up the unlock button gives you three different options.
Swiping up takes you to the last app you used, while swiping to the left
or to the right will take you to the homescreen or BlinkFeed
respectively.
The unlock button gives you options
A useful new HTC Sense 6 feature is the ability to unlock the device
via a swiping gesture while its display is turned off - that's the new
Motion Launch feature. Swiping up in portrait mode unlocks the device.
Swiping down activates a voice calling feature, while swiping left and
right takes you to the homescreen and BlinkFeed respectively.
Furthermore, the display of the HTC One (M8) can wake up with a
double tap. The gesture takes you to the lockscreen. A second double tap
on the lockscreen would turn the screen back off.
Double tapping on the homescreen however doesn't lock back the
smartphone. The double tap functionality is only available on the
lockscreen to allow users to quickly look up time and notifications.
Perhaps the biggest change to the UI layout introduced by the Sense 6
is the presence of on-screen navigation buttons bringing the One in
line with what most other makers have. This move has allowed them to get
rid of the buttons under the screen, but it also has a certain
downside. The buttons are almost always present (fullscreen images and
videos excluded) and thus they eat up some of the available screen real
estate.
The on-screen navigation buttons are a Sense 6 novelty
The leftmost homescreen pane of the One (M8) is once again reserved
for HTC BlinkFeed. It aggregates content from your social networks, as
well as from over a thousand news sources. You can pick what topics
you're interested in and BlinkFeed will automatically pull relevant
content. You can also search for specific content.
BlinkFeed is back
You're not stuck with BlinkFeed if you don't like it - the rest of
the homescreen panes are the standard affair with shortcuts and widgets.
You can also fully remove the BlinkFeed panel if you wish.
BlinkFeed panel can be fully removed
The new HTC Sense finally brings power toggles to the notification
area - they can be accessed by tapping at its top right corner. The
feature is handy and it is great to see it available.
Power toggles made it to the notification area
You get up to five homescreen panes to fill with shortcuts and
widgets (the sixth is reserved for BlinkFeed). You can set any of the
panes as default - including the BlinkFeed.
Adding and removing homescreen panes
Widgets are pulled out of a dedicated container as opposed to being
displayed in the app drawer next to the apps, which we find to be the
more intuitive approach. Adding a widget is as simple as long-pressing
it and assigning it to the desired screen pane.
Managing widgets
The default layout of the app drawer is a 3 x 4 grid of app icons,
which does not make best use of the large, high-res screen. The icons
aren't even bigger than usual; they just have plenty of padding.
Luckily, you can switch to a 4 x 5 grid. You can sort app icons
alphabetically or chronologically or have a custom sorting like you
would on iOS, for instance.
The app drawer grid can be resized
HTC has remodeled the task switching interface - recent apps can now
be accessed via a dedicated on-screen button. They are displayed in a 3 x
3 grid of thumbnails, which makes good use of the available screen size
and resolution. It's a single screen that cannot be scrolled, so nine
of the most recently used apps are the most you can get (which is far
from ideal).
The app switcher
The settings menu isn't dramatically changed in the latest Sense. It
has the same design, but with single-color, flat icons and toggles.
Everything is where you'd expect it to be.
The settings menu
Wallpapers, lockscreen style, ringtones, notification sounds and
alarms can be customized via a dedicated menu. This time around, the
lockscreen styles cannot be changed.
Personalization options
As before, HTC Sense has a dedicated Car mode screen, which has been
styled to look like the rest of the interface. There are five big
controls shown by default alongside the clock and weather. There's music
info too, which takes a whole row by itself, along with shortcuts to
Navigation, Dialer, the Music player (again) and for Voice commands.
Car mode is really handy
HTC One (M8) also has a built-in restricted access Kid mode. It is an
app that lets you set up a profile for each of your kids, with a photo
and birthdate and pick which apps they can have access to. Kid Mode
Spesification
GENERAL
Dual Sim
No
Network 2G
GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
Network 3G
HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100
Network 4G
LTE 700 / 900 / 1800 / 2100 / 2600
Body
Dimensions
146.4 x 70.6 x 9.4 mm (5.76 x 2.78 x 0.37 in)
Weight
160 g (5.64 oz)
display
Type
Super LCD3 capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
Size
1080 x 1920 pixels, 5.0 inches (~441 ppi pixel density)
