HTC One (M8) review: One and only

Performance benchmarks

The HTC One (M8) is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 chipset with 2.3GHz quad-core Krait 400 CPU and Adreno 330 GPU. Found in the latest crop of high-end Android devices, the hardware setup of the M8 is as capable as it gets these days.

Update: we re-ran some benchmarks after the Android 5.0 Lollipop landed on the One (M8), you can find more about the change in performance here.

We start you off with Benchmark Pi and Linpack, which evaluate CPU performance in single and multi-core mode, respectively. The HTC One (M8) did well in both tests, though, curiously, its single-core performance in Benchmark Pi did not top our charts.

Benchmark Pi

Lower is better

• LG G Flex
  99
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  99
• LG G2
  99
• Sony Xperia Z1 Compact
  104
• Sony Xperia Z1
  115
• Sony Xperia Z Ultra
  115
• HTC One (M8)
  121
• HTC One Max
  131
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (Octa)
  132
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (S600)
  132
• LG G Pro 2
  141
• LG Nexus 5
  146
• LG Optimus G Pro
  147
• HTC One
  151
• Samsung Galaxy S4 mini
  166
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo
  183
• HTC One mini
  293
• Sony Xperia C
  374
• LG Nexus 4
  431

Linpack

Higher is better

• LG G Flex
  1102
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  1081
• LG G2
  1054
• Sony Xperia Z Ultra
  1034
• Sony Xperia Z1 Compact
  1010
• Sony Xperia Z1
  1004
• HTC One (M8)
  992
• LG G Pro 2
  818
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (Octa)
  791
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (S600)
  788
• LG Optimus G Pro
  743
• HTC One
  646
• Samsung Galaxy S4 mini
  413
• LG Nexus 5
  393
• HTC One mini
  320

GeekBench 3 is where the M8's CPU and memory speed are put to a test. Once again, the handset did a stellar job, but couldn't reach the top of the charts.

Geekbench 3

Higher is better

• Sony Xperia Z1 Compact
  2968
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  2937
• HTC One (M8) Lollipop
  2923
• Sony Xperia Z Ultra
  2670
• Sony Xperia Z1
  2638
• LG G Pro 2
  2585
• Apple iPhone 5s
  2561
• LG Nexus 5
  2453
• HTC One (M8)
  2367
• LG G Flex
  2254
• LG G2
  2243
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo
  2172
• HTC One
  1972
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (S600)
  1869
• LG Nexus 4
  1288
• Sony Xperia C
  1079
• HTC One mini
  887

We also traditionally put the reviewed phones through the Basemark OS II. Rightware distributes anti-cheat versions of their popular Basemark OS II (for general performance) and Basemark X (for 3D performance) tests. We've run both version and we found HTC One (M8) scores equally, which means the company isn't using any tricks to boost the benchmarks' overall performance.

Basemark OS II

Higher is better

• Oppo Find 7
  1212
• HTC One (M8) Lollipop
  1202
• OnePlus One
  1196
• LG G3 16GB (2GB RAM, int'l)
  1151
• HTC One (M8)
  1126
• Sony Xperia Z2
  1080
• Oppo Find 7a
  1057

Basemark OS II (single-core)

Higher is better

• Oppo Find 7
  2606
• Oppo Find 7a
  2580
• HTC One (M8)
  2428
• HTC One (M8) Lollipop
  2426
• Sony Xperia Z2
  2253
• OnePlus One
  2213
• LG G3 16GB (2GB RAM, int'l)
  2137

Basemark OS II (multi-core)

Higher is better

• Oppo Find 7
  10391
• Oppo Find 7a
  10256
• OnePlus One
  10234
• Sony Xperia Z2
  10044
• LG G3 16GB (2GB RAM, int'l)
  9937
• HTC One (M8)
  9860
• HTC One (M8) Lollipop
  9827

The HTC One (M8) handily topped the charts in both Quadrant and AnTuTu 4. The latest silicon, which the device packs, is the most capable we have tested to date.

Quadrant

Higher is better

• HTC One (M8)
  25035
• Sony Xperia Z1 Compact
  21618
• LG G Flex
  20521
• Sony Xperia Z1
  20388
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  20052
• LG G Pro 2
  20010
• LG G2
  19815
• Sony Xperia Z Ultra
  18177
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (Octa)
  12446
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (S600)
  12376
• LG Optimus G Pro
  12105
• HTC One
  11746
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo
  11404
• LG Nexus 5
  8844
• Oppo N1
  8099
• Samsung Galaxy S4 mini
  7153
• HTC One mini
  6048

AnTuTu 4

Higher is better

• HTC One (M8)
  37009
• LG G Flex
  35831
• LG G2
  35444
• Sony Xperia Z1 Compact
  34527
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo
  32162
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  31109
• Sony Xperia Z1
  30850
• LG G Pro 2
  29603
• Sony Xperia Z Ultra
  29185
• Samsung Galaxy S4
  27613
• HTC One
  26389
• LG Nexus 5
  25097
• LG Optimus G Pro
  20056

GPU testing is where the newcomer did best. The HTC One (M8) posted chart-topping scores in most of our benchmark trials, thus proving its worth as one of the most capable gaming devices around.

GFX Benchmark 2.7 T-Rex (1080p off-screen)

Higher is better

• HTC One (M8)
  28.4
• HTC One (M8) Lollipop
  28
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  26.3
• LG Nexus 5
  23
• Sony Xperia Z1
  23
• Sony Xperia Z Ultra
  23
• Apple iPhone 5s
  23
• LG G Pro 2
  22.9
• Sony Xperia Z1 Compact
  22
• LG G Flex
  22
• LG G2
  22
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (S600)
  17.1
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (Octa)
  17.1
• Samsung Galaxy S4 Active
  16
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo
  15
• HTC One max
  14
• Samsung Galaxy S4 mini
  6.4
• HTC One mini
  5.6

GFX Benchmark 2.7 T-Rex (1080p on-screen)

Higher is better

• Apple iPhone 5s
  37
• Sony Xperia Z1 Compact
  34
• LG G Flex
  33
• HTC One (M8)
  30.1
• HTC One (M8) Lollipop
  30
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  26.7
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo
  25
• LG G Pro 2
  24.1
• LG Nexus 5
  24
• LG G2
  23.1

GFX Benchmark 3.0 Manhattan (1080p off-screen)

Higher is better

• HTC One (M8) Lollipop
  12
• HTC One (M8)
  11.1
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  9.9
• Sony Xperia Z1 Compact
  9
• Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4
  8.9
• LG G Pro 2
  8.7
• LG Nexus 5
  8.5
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo
  3.7
• Samsung Galaxy Grand 2
  1.9

GFX Benchmark 3.0 Manhattan (1080p on-screen)

Higher is better

• HTC One (M8) Lollipop
  13
• HTC One (M8)
  11.9
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  10
• LG G Pro 2
  9.2
• Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4
  5
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo
  4.7
• Samsung Galaxy Grand 2
  4.0

3D Mark Ice Storm Unlimited

Higher is better

• HTC One (M8)
  20812
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  19134
• LG G Pro 2
  16728
• LG G Flex
  16068
• Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4
  15481
• LG G2
  14464
• LG Nexus 5
  13510
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo
  9650
• Samsung Galaxy Grand 2
  4807
• Sony Xperia C
  2590

Epic Citadel

Higher is better

• HTC One (M8)
  59
• LG G Flex
  56
• Sony Xperia Z
  55.6
• Sony Xperia Z1
  54.8
• LG G Pro 2
  54.1
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  54
• Asus Padfone 2
  53.4
• LG Nexus 5
  49.1
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo
  49
• Alcatel One Touch Hero
  43.5
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (S600)
  37.2
• Motorola Moto G
  34
• Huawei Ascend Mate
  33.2
• Samsung Galaxy Grand 2
  32

Web benchmarks are another area where the HTC One (M8) excelled. The device's BrowserMark 2 score is the best we've seen on an Android device, while its SunSpider result fell in line with the other members of the high-end Android army.

SunSpider

Lower is better

• Apple iPhone 5s
  403
• LG G Pro 2
  535.5
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo
  567.9
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  587
• Apple iPhone 5
  694
• Apple iPhone 5c
  704
• Sony Xperia Z Ultra
  750
• HTC One (M8)
  779.6
• LG Nexus 5
  827
• Sony Xperia Z1
  845
• Sony Xperia Z1 Compact
  855
• LG G2
  908
• LG Optimus G Pro
  1011
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (S600)
  1046
• HTC One
  1174
• HTC One mini
  1375

BrowserMark 2

Higher is better

• Apple iPhone 5s
  3549
• HTC One (M8)
  3213
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo
  3172
• LG G Pro 2
  3048
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  3041
• Apple iPhone 5
  2825
• Apple iPhone 5c
  2799
• Oppo N1
  2769
• LG Nexus 5
  2745
• LG G2
  2718
• Sony Xperia Z1 Compact
  2600
• Samsung Galaxy S4 (S600)
  2438
• Sony Xperia Z Ultra
  2419
• Sony Xperia Z1
  2398
• Samsung Galaxy S4 mini
  2314
• HTC One
  2262
• HTC One mini
  2164
• LG Optimus G Pro
  1801

Overall, the HTC One (M8) performs as expected for a device of its stature. Considered as only a minor upgrade over the Snapdragon 800, the Snapdragon 801 brings welcome boost in GPU performance as the numbers above show.

In real life, we found the M8 to offer extremely fast and fluid user experience. We didn't expect any less from the smartphone.