Question before buying

[KatMiku]

Hey guys, I'm thinking about buying this phone though I am in a small pickle about it.
I am quite the perfectionist when it comes to buying something new, I usually avoid devices with a high rate of manufacturing errors like yellow screens, rattling buttons or poor ''bodywork'' around the phone.

Now so far what I heard from the M8 is that it's pretty solid, however from looking at unboxing videos and reviews on Youtube I noticed that on some devices the speaker holes are really poorly drilled.
I am aware that the actually top and bottom speaker only occupy around 40% of the space behind the speaker holes and the rest is aesthetics, however in one unboxing It was so bad that 50% of the speaker grill on the device was not punctured through at all, only the side of the speaker was punctured but the rest looked like if they were actually closed holes.

Is this a common anomaly with the M8 or did I just stumbled onto an unlucky video ? I noticed from most videos that it seemed alright ( all the holes punctured cleanly ) however I did see this one device with half of the speaker holes closed and one unboxing where it basically went punctured----Not punctured---punctured a hole of 5 ----- not punctured and it was very noticeable and just looked plain ugly considering this thing costs around 600 Euro off contract here.

Anyone noticed similar speaker grill problems with any of their devices ( maybe RMA'd one ) or noticed something in the store ?
I probably wanna get this phone however I don't really fancy getting a speaker grill like in the unboxing I saw where 60% wasn't actually punctured through.

 

[llfloyd79]

I did have that issue when it first came out so I returned it and decided to wait until a new batch come out. I got the M8 last week and all is good. No speaker issues this time around. Phone is perfect! So if you are deciding to get now I think you will be fine.

 

[budlight-budlight]

if u nit pick don't buy anything..mine look plugged about the same 50% on the right side but it doesn't matter the actual speakers in there are tiny anyhow...when that s.o.b. alarm clock goes off in the morn you'll know it.. louder than any real alarm clock ive ever owned ....anyhow sound is fine and plenty loud... who knows if all the holes were meant to be free in the first place LOVE MY PHONE!!!!!

 

[mchockeyvette27]

Hey guys, I'm thinking about buying this phone though I am in a small pickle about it.
I am quite the perfectionist when it comes to buying something new, I usually avoid devices with a high rate of manufacturing errors like yellow screens, rattling buttons or poor ''bodywork'' around the phone.

Now so far what I heard from the M8 is that it's pretty solid, however from looking at unboxing videos and reviews on Youtube I noticed that on some devices the speaker holes are really poorly drilled.
I am aware that the actually top and bottom speaker only occupy around 40% of the space behind the speaker holes and the rest is aesthetics, however in one unboxing It was so bad that 50% of the speaker grill on the device was not punctured through at all, only the side of the speaker was punctured but the rest looked like if they were actually closed holes.

Is this a common anomaly with the M8 or did I just stumbled onto an unlucky video ? I noticed from most videos that it seemed alright ( all the holes punctured cleanly ) however I did see this one device with half of the speaker holes closed and one unboxing where it basically went punctured----Not punctured---punctured a hole of 5 ----- not punctured and it was very noticeable and just looked plain ugly considering this thing costs around 600 Euro off contract here.

Anyone noticed similar speaker grill problems with any of their devices ( maybe RMA'd one ) or noticed something in the store ?
I probably wanna get this phone however I don't really fancy getting a speaker grill like in the unboxing I saw where 60% wasn't actually punctured through.

That's how all the phones are. Maybe some are more noticeable than others. But they're all like that. There's a few threads on AC complaining about it but it is how it is.

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

 

[kronosqq]

That's how all the phones are. Maybe some are more noticeable than others. But they're all like that. There's a few threads on AC complaining about it but it is how it is.

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

They do not all suffer from the holes not being punched through. On mine every single one goes all the way. The caveat is that if you have a bright light shining from a harsh side angle you are able to illuminate the inside enough to see where the speaker is and isn't. That is not the same thing as the punch through issue though. I'm happy to provide pictures if you'd like to see, but in the threads dedicated to this, others have done the same.

It is a quality control thing with the M8 but I doubt you're hugely likely to get one like that. People posting on here are more likely to be doing it to complain about a problem than to say everything is fine. So you get an unnaturally high rate on the forums of non punched grilles and various bugs than you do in the market at large.

Sent from my HTC One M8

 

[chris2707]

Mine is perfectly fine as far as I can see brilliant phone n shouldn't be an issue

Posted via Android Central App

 

[jd914]

OP stay with what you have. If you're going to take a microscope to everything you own instead of enjoying it you won't be happy.

 

[raymaane]

Hmm.. after reading this thread what do you know... Almost half of the holes are punched through. The others are blocked. I've had the phone for three days and I've never noticed. It won't bother me too much... Do you think it affects anything?

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using AC Forums mobile app

 

[KatMiku]

OP stay with what you have. If you're going to take a microscope to everything you own instead of enjoying it you won't be happy.

Sorry for expecting a top notch ''finish quality'' on a 600 Euro device not much bigger than a wallet.
It's not even about using a microscope, if you got a badly drilled model it's very noticeable under direct light / daylight and it just looks plain sloppy and badly done.

Also I was happy with my iPhone 4s, HTC One X and iPhone 5s because, well it looked like on the press photo's and it was solidly build.
Half arsed punctured speaker holes that look like a 7 year old did it with a blunt needle point is not how the speaker grills look on the official M8 photo's, and most of the reviews I found on the M8 also show a 100% perfectly drilled speaker grill setup, so yes I will ask to fellow users if they have the problem and if needed I will RMA the device right on the spot in the store.

 

[lyriciss]

All of the holes on mine are perfectly punched through. Didn't even know that was an issue.

 

[kronosqq]

Hmm.. after reading this thread what do you know... Almost half of the holes are punched through. The others are blocked. I've had the phone for three days and I've never noticed. It won't bother me too much... Do you think it affects anything?

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using AC Forums mobile app

Doesn't affect anything. The speaker itself doesn't take up the whole grille area.

Sent from my HTC One M8

 

[raymaane]

Doesn't affect anything. The speaker itself doesn't take up the whole grille area.

Sent from my M8

Thank you.