Living with the HTC One M8: climbing up the ladder

Introduction

If you haven’t read my colleague Chris’ article about living with the Samsung Galaxy S5 just yet, then you better do so because he provides some good insights about Sammy’s prized smartphone. There are the good, there are the bad, so it’s inviting to see it from a different perspective. Although I haven’t necessarily made the Samsung Galaxy S5 my daily driver of choice, I can relate to many of his intimate experiences with the phone – some more so than others, of course.



For the majority of last year, and even up until very recently, I made the Samsung Galaxy S4 one of my daily drivers. I preferred it over the HTC One M7 primarily because I was really impressed by the whole package, how it was able to soundly satisfy my particular requirements in what I look for in a daily driver – like having a high quality camera. Interestingly enough, the tides have turned this year, as I’ve recently decided to choose the HTC One M8 as my phone of choice at the moment.



Now, before I dive in deeper into this article, I have to stress the point that I’ve been using the HTC One M8 since late March, giving me plenty of time to appreciate and digest its full arsenal. At first, I was using an international gunmetal grey version, which was eventually replaced by Sprint’s two-toned Harman Kardon Edition. Internally, the guts are basically the same, so there’s no particular one that has a specs advantage. The noticeable differences between them, naturally, are the paint jobs and the audio-centric enhancements put into the Harman Kardon Edition. So why go with the HTC One M8? There are plenty of other fantastic flagships to call my own, like the Samsung Galaxy S5 or the Sony Xperia Z2. Who knows how long HTC’s flagship will remain as my go-to device, but let me fill you in on a secret, I really dig what it has to offer.

The premium, iconic design proves why it’s so beloved

Let’s get straight to the point here folks! Amongst the flagship smartphones announced in the first half of 2014, the HTC One M8 is the indisputable king when it comes to design. Very few phone manufacturers, past and present, opt to use high quality materials for their smartphones. On one hand, it’s not really all that surprising to know that the HTC One M8 climbs straight to the leaderboard when it comes to design, seeing that it readily improves upon the distinct design language of its predecessor.

Flaunting an even more metal unibody construction, the HTC One M8’s astoundingly defying because of the premium element attached to it – and there are few phones that come close! Namely, the Sony Xperia Z2 comes to mind, but I don’t find its design evolution as profound in comparison to HTC’s offering. Every time I pick it up, I can’t help but admire its meticulous attention to perfection. It’s a metal constructed phone, which automatically gives it a more premium element over the plastic based bodies of its rivals.

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