Typical android experience or...?

[metrix]

I've been an Android switcher for the past 8 months. Currently using a T-Mobile HTC One M8 and I can honestly say that Android is a better OS for me...when it's working. The problem I'm having is periodically the phone comes to a screeching halt. It's like something is sitting in the background using up the CPU. It's unpredictable and frustrating and is pretty much the one thing causing me to reconsider switching back. Never really had this issue on iOS and it's puzzling. Most people say it's a symptom of a carrier phone and Nexus devices don't have issues like this. I've tried wiping the cache partition and all other typical trouble shooting steps short of a full factory reset. Are issues like these typical on Android phones or is it truly an OEM/Carrier issue?

 

[vbdwork]

Are issues like these typical on Android phones or is it truly an OEM/Carrier issue?

Not typical for Android OS, nor high-end hardware device, nor it's OEM/Carrier issue. It's hard to diagnose the problem based on your description only. Most likely it's a buggy background process of a 3rd party app. Check what's active in memory and start terminating suspicious processes till you find what is causing the issue. Could be just some hardware issue with your particular phone (sh*t happens), but check the software side first.

BTW, is your phone overheating? Do you use any thick (over)protective cases?
Any screen protectors that may bug the digitizer? I've seen some really bad ones.

 

[metrix]

No cases, no overheating, or anything like that.

Sometimes it seems like a crash in whatever launcher I'm using (Typically used Google Now, but just switched to Nova to see if it helped). Other times it'll happen when I hit the application switcher button and it takes a few seconds to open.

The issues can be best summed up with "...everything is fast until it's not — I'm getting intermittent and infuriating pauses in certain tasks." (Nexus 6 review on the Verge)

 

[vbdwork]

Forums would have been full of complaints if it was a common issue with the device. It's definitely not a common issue with Android either. I'm personally using HTC One M7 with latest official Lollipop update and everything is nice and smooth (did Factory Reset after the update, like always). Used to play a lot with the device in the past (tired now, and no time), had different custom ROMs, JB-KK-LP... never had any stop-and-go type annoyances.