HTC One (M8) review: One and only

Display

The HTC One (M8) features a 5" Full HD IPS display with a pixel density of 441ppi. The display has grown by 12% over the predecessor's and now it accommodates almost permanently visible on-screen navigating buttons.

HTC One (M8) packs a quality display

The Taiwanese manufacturer has always equipped its flagship devices with quality displays and their latest is no exception - the M8 boasts one of the best 1080p displays in business, the wide viewing angles and great sunlight legibility one of its most valuable assets.

It's got commendable contrast too, though obviously a little short of AMOLED.

Taking a closer look at the display

To better handle the rigors of daily life the display of the HTC One is covered by Corning Gorilla Glass 3.

Display test	50% brightness			100% brightness
	Black, cd/m2	White, cd/m2	Contrast ratio	Black, cd/m2	White, cd/m2	Contrast ratio
HTC One (M8)	0.20	245	1219	0.46	577	1256
HTC One	0.13	205	1580	0.42	647	1541
LG G Pro 2	0.11	130	1132	0.48	533	1113
LG G2	0.10	149	1522	0.45	667	1495
LG Optimus G Pro	-	-	-	0.41	611	1489
LG Optimus G	0.14	197	1445	0.33	417	1438
Sony Xperia Z Ultra	-	-	-	0.47	467	1001
Sony Xperia Z	-	-	-	0.70	492	705
Huawei Ascend Mate	0.23	222	982	0.67	711	1053
Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3	0.12	160	1364	0.32	440	1379
Samsung I9505 Galaxy S4	0	201	∞	0	404	∞
HTC Butterfly S	0.15	165	1117	0.43	451	1044
HTC Butterfly	0.14	173	1200	0.45	501	1104
Oppo Find 5	0.17	176	1123	0.51	565	1107
Apple iPhone 5	0.13	200	1490	0.48	640	1320

Sunlight contrast ratio

• Nokia 808 PureView
  4.698
• Apple iPhone 5
  3.997
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  3.997
• Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III
  3.419
• Nokia Lumia 925
  3.402
• Samsung I9505 Galaxy S4
  3.352
• Samsung Omnia W
  3.301
• Samsung Galaxy S
  3.155
• Samsung Galaxy S4 mini
  3.127
• Samsung Galaxy S4 zoom
  3.118
• Nokia N9
  3.069
• Samsung Galaxy Note
  2.970
• Sony Xperia Z1
  2.950
• HTC One S
  2.901
• BlackBerry Q10
  2.856
• Samsung Galaxy S II
  2.832
• Samsung Galaxy S II Plus
  2.801
• BlackBerry Z30
  2.790
• Huawei Ascend P1
  2.655
• Sony Xperia ZR
  2.672
• Nokia Lumia 900
  2.562
• HTC One Max
  2.537
• Nokia Lumia 720
  2.512
• HTC One
  2.504
• Sony Xperia Z
  2.462
• Samsung Galaxy S III mini
  2.422
• HTC One (M8)
  2.371
• Motorola RAZR i
  2.366
• Samsung Galaxy Note II
  2.307
• Apple iPhone 4S
  2.269
• HTC Desire 600 dual sim
  2.262
• LG Nexus 5
  2.228
• HTC One X
  2.158
• Nokia N8
  2.144
• Oppo Find 5
  2.088
• BlackBerry Z10
  2.051
• Apple iPhone 4
  2.016
• HTC One mini
  2.003
• LG G2
  1.976
• Sony Ericsson Xperia ray
  1.955
• Samsung Galaxy Camera
  1.938
• LG G Pro 2
  1.922
• HTC Butterfly
  1.873
• Huawei Ascend P6
  1.865
• Sony Xperia V
  1.792
• Sony Xperia U
  1.758
• Meizu MX3
  1.754
• LG Optimus 4X HD
  1.691
• HTC One V
  1.685
• BlackBerry Q5
  1.682
• LG Optimus Vu
  1.680
• LG Optimus GJ
  1.666
• HTC Desire V
  1.646
• Samsung Galaxy Ace 3
  1.622
• Sony Xperia Z Ultra
  1.578
• Samsung Galaxy Core
  1.563
• LG Optimus G Pro
  1.552
• LG Optimus 3D
  1.542
• Samsung Galaxy Core LTE
  1.542
• Nokia Asha 302
  1.537
• Sony Xperia M
  1.473
• Nokia Lumia 610
  1.432
• Samsung Galaxy Grand Neo
  1.393
• Gigabyte GSmart G1355
  1.361
• Samsung Galaxy Grand
  1.321
• HTC Desire C
  1.300
• Nokia Asha 501
  1.270
• LG Optimus L7
  1.269
• LG Optimus L9
  1.227
• Meizu MX
  1.221
• Sony Xperia E dual
  1.203
• Samsung Galaxy Pocket
  1.180
• Sony Xperia tipo
  1.166
• Samsung Galaxy mini 2
  1.114

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.

Our routine also includes a standby battery draw test, which is not featured in our battery test scorecard but is calculated in the total endurance rating. Our battery testing procedure is described in detail in case you want to learn more about it.

For more details, check out our blog post about the HTC One (M8) battery life.

Update: After the HTC One (M8) received its Lollipop update we decided to retest the battery life and see if things have gotten better or worse. It turned out that some things had deteriorated but the overall image is better. The HTC One (M8) managed some 6 hours of call time and 1 hour of video playback less but scored 3 hours more on video playback. The stand-by times were better as well rounding up an endurance rating under Lollipop that's 6 hours better than on KitKat.

You can find more details in our post on Lollipop battery.

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.