Review: HTC One M8 Smartphone

HTC has ventured back into the African market with its latest smartphone device, the HTC One M8. While the market is already swamped with a multitude of choices, when it comes to devices and smartphones, is the latest device from HTC worth checking out?

When it comes to design and quality, the HTC One M8 offers up a sleek, solid and sexy design. What really stands out when it comes to this device is the fact that the casing of the device is made from metal. Granted, this makes the device slightly heavier than most; however, it gives it a rather classy and durable appearance. While the phone is solid in design, it does however feel slightly slippery when used without a cover. Thankfully, the device I received came with a rubberised slip on cover. The cover essentially prevents the rather classy casing of the device from becoming scratched or chipped due to extended used or accidental drops.

The HTC One M8 comes with Android KitKat 4.4.2, which is a significant improvement on the previous versions of Android that I have had the chance to experience with other smartphones. To power the operating system, the HTC One M8 features a quad core 2.3GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor as well as 2GB of RAM. The device also packs in 16GB of storage; however, we are still awaiting conformation of whether the 32GB device will be making its way to the country. Storage can be expanded upon however this can be done by using a MicroSD card (up to 128GB).

The device also features an impressive 4.7 inch Super LCD3 display, which is covered by Corning Gorilla Glass 3. Gorilla Glass 3 is essentially 3 times more resistant to scratches and damage caused by day-to-day use. To be honest, the display on this device is absolutely stunning. While a lot of devices seem to fail when it comes to viewing the display in direct sunlight, the HTC One M8 exceeded my expectations. During general use, watching YouTube videos and playing a few mobile games the device offered up vibrant and bright colours, even in direct sunlight. This is exactly the sort of quality that one would come to expect from a device that comes in at around R8999.

To accompany the truly impressive display, the HTC One M8 comes with two perfectly placed “BoomSound” speakers. The two speakers are located on the top and bottom of the front end of the device. This is done in order to direct the sound towards you, and not away from you like some devices that feature rear facing speakers. The “BoomSound” speakers are probably the most impressive set of speakers I have had the opportunity of experiencing on a smartphone. Even when pushed up to full volume the speakers tend to push out crystal clear sound without the device taking too much strain. Just be warned that although the speakers are tough, most speakers tend to crackle and distort if pushed to the limits for too long.

When it comes to camera quality, the HTC One M8 has a Dual 4 Megapixel camera on the back and a 5 Megapixel camera on the front. The overall image quality is actually rather great for such a low-res camera; however, this is due to the UltraPixel sensors features on the device. The idea of the UltraPixel sensor is that while it’s lower-res than other phones on the market, it uses larger sensor pixels for better low-light performance. The device also features that all important “Selfie” mode, which comes standard with the device. Overall, the camera features solid shooting performance and pushes out some rather impressive images.