The HTC One was ane of my favorite pieces of hardware from 2022. It was the first time we had actually seen a visitor succeed at producing an Android smartphone with a premium look and feel that rivaled Apple tree's iPhone. The cipher-gap, curved aluminum construction looked but astonishing, and remains 1 of my favorite phone designs thus far.

HTC 1 (M8) - $700 (unlocked)

  • 5.0", 1920 ten 1080 LCD display (441 ppi)
  • Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 SoC
  • 2.v GHz quad-core CPU, Adreno 330 GPU, 2GB RAM
  • sixteen/32 GB internal storage, microSD card slot
  • 4 MP camera, one/3" sensor, f/2.0 lens, 1080p video
  • 1080p depth sensor
  • ii,600 mAh, 9.88 Wh battery
  • LTE, Wi-Fi a/b/k/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC
  • Android iv.iv 'KitKat'
  • 154 grams, ix.4mm thick

The design wasn't the only impressive aspect of the HTC 1. BoomSound brought powerful front-facing speakers to the handset, plus the Zoe-powered, UltraPixel-laden camera had a strong characteristic set that largely made up for merely average image quality. BlinkFeed was another major feature touted by HTC, integrating news and social media sources into an interesting, however largely disregarded homescreen panel.

In 2022, HTC is releasing the HTC One. Non the same HTC I from 2022, but the all new HTC I. Or the HTC M8. Or the 2022 HTC One. Or, officially, the HTC 1 (M8). It'south a confusing naming choice from HTC, who want to show that this device expands on the concepts introduced final twelvemonth, and is not a completely overhauled flagship. It'due south evolutionary, not revolutionary.

The development of the HTC One takes many forms. At that place'due south more aluminum than the original model; the display size has been bumped from 4.7-inches to 5-inches; the Ultrapixel camera has morphed into the all new Duo Camera assortment; in that location'south a faster Snapdragon 801 chipset within replacing the Snapdragon 600; there'due south a refined Sense 6.0 interface atop Android 4.4; and much more than.

Nada is ever a straight-upward win in the smartphone universe though: HTC can pack all the fancy features information technology wants into the all new One, simply poor execution tin keep the phone from succeeding. How does the new HTC One (M8) stack up? Let's find out.

Design

No company has managed to lucifer HTC in Android hardware design. The HTC One from 2022 was a magnificent specimen, featuring a zero-gap aluminum back plate, slick Gorilla Glass-covered brandish and polycarbonate inserts to requite wireless radios room to breathe. Out of all the Android devices I held throughout the year, the HTC I felt the best by far.

The all new HTC Ane takes the aluminum concept seen on the original HTC One, and expands upon it. Wrapping around the edges of the device, the curved aluminum shell is now closer to a 'unibody' than ever before. Y'all'll still see two strips of black polycarbonate material at the tiptop and lesser of the gunmetal grayness handset, once more so that Wi-Fi and LTE tin can actually function, but the edges at present experience just as slick as the rear.

Click on any photo to enlarge

Instead of a polished silver aluminium console, HTC has switched to a brushed grey dorsum equally the default option for the HTC One. There's a sure shine and smoothness to this option that you didn't get with the 2022 HTC I (M7), and in some respects I adopt the more edgy pattern of the M7. But that's not to say the HTC One M8 has received a design downgrade: it'due south still miles ahead of its Android competitors, and it sits comfortably in the number two slot a smidgen behind its older brother.

If you would rather a silver HTC One M8, don't fret, because silver volition be 1 of the iii color options available for the device, substantially mimicking the 2022 HTC One'southward look. Alongside gunmetal gray, you lot'll exist able to option up the device in bister gold as well.

The area where HTC has actually improved the I M8 over the One M7 is in how it feels: this is a phone that I but want to pick up and concur all the time. It truly feels incredible, not only from the premium-grade metal outside that oozes quality, simply as well from the subtle changes to the curvature of the device that makes it fit perfectly in my hands.

Until at present, I had never held a smartphone that'due south and then ergonomic and so well sculpted, yet so beautiful from every angle. It's truly an achievement, and a attestation to the HTC design team's vision; they are at the absolute pinnacle of their game, and it will exist very difficult for any visitor to match the quality demonstrated here.

What's even more compelling about the HTC One M8's design is that it feels slimmer than the I M7, despite coming in 1mm thicker. You can barely detect the extra 11 grams of weight added to the smartphone either.

The beautiful One M8 design isn't without a few oddities though. The physical buttons found around the edge feel very solid to operate, simply I don't understand why HTC continues to put the ability button on the meridian. The Ane M8 is a tall smartphone, and the power button is tricky to attain, particularly when you're trying to plow off the display.

The height of the Ane M8 too seems taller than necessary. The device packs a larger 5-inch brandish with on-screen buttons, so the capacitive buttons around the HTC logo have been removed from the front. Yet, the large panel with the HTC logo all the same remains, adding to the handset'south screen bezel and height without providing any obvious do good.

The skillful news, though, is that these two minor oddities don't really matter. Y'all can now power on the display but by double-tapping on the Gorilla Glass panel that protects it, significantly reducing the inconvenience of reaching for the power button. As for the elevation, does the extra 9mm make a huge difference? Non at all, as the One M8 is far from cumbersome.

Past going for an all-metal frame and Gorilla Drinking glass 3 protecting the Super LCD 3 brandish, the new HTC One is tough. Throughout my period with the handset as my daily driver, the M8 resisted the urge to get scratched and remained in perfect condition. At an intimate launch event in Sydney I managed to sneak a peek at some of the HTC executives' personal One M8s, which they had been rocking since before MWC 2022, and they too looked in perfect nick.

Looking at the highlights effectually the device, and on the back y'all'll notice swish, prominent HTC branding in the center, plus regulatory stamps towards the bottom. At the pinnacle is the make new Duo Photographic camera module, which is a combination of the Ultrapixel sensor from the 1 M7 (the larger lens) and a depth sensor (the smaller lens at the top). Initially, when leaked images of the device were being thrown effectually well-nigh every mean solar day, I thought the camera organisation looked odd, but it's less unusual when you meet the smartphone in person and information technology'due south easy to get used to.

The left-hand edge of the One M8 is bare except for the well-subconscious SIM card slot towards the top. The handset is 1 of the few to adopt nano SIM, and so be prepared to grab a new SIM from your carrier if yous're coming from 1 of the many micro SIM devices out in that location.

On the right is the metal volume rocker and some other slot, this time for a microSD bill of fare. Information technology seems HTC listened to consumer feedback surrounding the original HTC One and decided it wouldn't be besides difficult to incorporate a 2d slot into the unibody, assuasive you to aggrandize upon the device's 16 GB of internal retentiveness with ease.

The bottom edge features the microUSB ii.0 charging and data port, also as the 3.5mm audio jack, both offset to the correct-hand side. The elevation is where you lot'll observe the power button surrounded by black plastic, which is presumably to give the illusion that the infrared LED for controlling TVs is hidden beneath. In actual fact, the IR LED is in the dwelling house button, just similar was the case on the HTC One M7.

On the front of the HTC Ane M8 you'll find the 5-inch display set into a black glass panel, and flanked past the BoomSound speakers. Unlike on the M7, the two speaker grills on the M8 aren't of equal length, with the top grill being shorter to adjust the large front-facing photographic camera and sensor assortment. The difference in length is of petty functional consequence – the speaker itself really sits to the left of each grill, rather than in the heart – unless you suffer from unfortunate OCD.

The BoomSound speakers are now 25% louder than in the original HTC 1, and combined with an improved DSP, software and amplifier, sound even better. The One still suffers from a lack of bass from the speakers, simply information technology produces by far the best sound I've heard from a smartphone; information technology delivers enough depth that I can really mind to music without wanting to immediately die.

Subconscious in the top right of the upper speaker grill is the ever-handy notification low-cal, which continues to be ane of my favorite features of Android smartphones. As far as I can tell this calorie-free only glows yellow-green and red.