M8 Google Play Edition Initial Thoughts

[Wildo6882]

That's what it sounds like to me because I can definitely hear it now that I know what to listen for. Not always but if you volume up/down enough times you can definitely hear something that sounds a little distorted.

Exactly. I've also noticed that if you reboot the phone it quits for awhile. Not sure exactly what causes that. Seems weird that a reboot would temporarily fix it.

 

[Dasun Hettiarachchi]

hello ,

i'm new to this htc one m8. i bought it from china and i ve installed the google play app and i cant open it. can you please help me with this issue?

 

[EWY]

hello ,

i'm new to this htc one m8. i bought it from china and i ve installed the google play app and i cant open it. can you please help me with this issue?

Where are you located? If you are located in China you might need a VPN and change your IP to US.

Country availability for apps & digital content
https://support.google.com/googleplay/answer/2843119?hl=en

 

[Wildo6882]

So just checking in on my old thread. Has anyone else picked one up? Anyone want to chime in with their thoughts? I traded my original one back in to get a Nexus 5 again. Now I'm going back. I missed the battery life, screen, and sound of this phone. It's an incredible phone.

 

[anon(661246)]

So just checking in on my old thread. Has anyone else picked one up? Anyone want to chime in with their thoughts? I traded my original one back in to get a Nexus 5 again. Now I'm going back. I missed the battery life, screen, and sound of this phone. It's an incredible phone.

Ive had it for nearly a weel=k.. Such a beautiful phone

 

[EWY]

The first thing that I noticed is the Micro-USB port is upside down compare with my other devices. There are 2 bumps on one side of the Micro USB connector and normally the bumps would face down. My LG, Samsung and most other gadgets have all the bumps facing down. I really do not do a visual before I insert the Micro USB instead I feel for the bumps with my fingertips. I need to be careful with this phone or I might jam that plug in by mistake. The Micro USB port is not at the center but offset to the right, I need to get use to that also or I’ll scratched the bottom of the M8 with the connector.

The orientation of this Micro USB connector prevents the use of some Qi Wireless adaptor as most of the adaptors were made to fit Samsung. I am still looking a Wireless adaptor to be used with my wireless charging pad.

I noticed that the output of the included charger is 1.5 amps instead of 1.0 amp. Folks that got the M8 early were reporting that the chargers have 1.0 amp output.

The Display is beautiful but it is polarized. I noticed that when I have my shades on outside, I could not see the display in portrait mode. It viewed fine if look at it in landscape mood.

This phone does not feel that big compare with my Nexus 4 But then my Nexus had a bumper installed and I am still waiting for my phone case to arrive. I have no problem with the height of this phone, considering that the speakers are at both ends. Some folk complains about the extra width of the HTC banner bezel but I actually like it. I always have problem with Samsung tablets and phones with that center home button. It is not the Home button that is the matter; it is the Return Capacitor button that I have problem with. I keep touching the Return button unintentionally when I do not want to. I have no such problem with this M8.

This M8 is built beautifully. The Silver finish is not as slippery as most described. Since my case has not arrived, I am paranoid about getting the finish scratched. I placed it on a leather pad on my night stand. Something was covering my leather pad and I placed the M8 face down on the back of my Samsung Tablet which has a cover. The cover has a nice texture with dimples all over. I turn my head and heard something dropped. My M8 slipped off the back of the Tablet. While the back of the Samsung Tablet cover is textured, the M8 screen glides on the back like a hockey puck on ice. However, if I rest the M8 on its back on the Tablet Cover, it stays stable. Luckily that the M8 dropped on carpet and no harm done.

First day at work with this M8 was not a good experience. This was an issue with T-Mobile not with the phone. I could not get any LTE signal in my office. The signal bar went through just about all the letters, from H, 3G, G, E and no letter. I only get one bar of H or 3G. The phone went to about 7.5 hours before it drains to 15% and the warning came on. I was hoping to use the M8 as a Hot-Spot and get rid of my AT&T Hot spot. This got to be a joke; I ended up using my AT&T Hot spot to get the M8 connected to the internet.

On the second day, for some reasons, the M8 did a better job connecting. Still no LTE but H and 3G was available most of the time. Although the signal is still at one bar, I did see 2 bars from time to time. Battery life was improved. I might to contact T Mobile and see if I can score a signal booster. If I cannot do that, I’ll get rid of my $30 a month T-Mobile Hot Spot plan and keep my AT&T Hot Spot. The battery shows 51% at 7.5 hours mark. I think the constant hunting for signal drained the battery on the first day.

This is interesting, on the third day, the signal strength improves also but it is still not stable. I am going to keep my AT&T Hot Spot for the time being. I am hoping that the T-Mobile would improve or I am going to back to AT&T next month.

Yes, the phone works as advertised. It is fast and responsive. I have no issue with the M8. As far as I can tell the camera is not bad. In fact the low light performance of the camera is quite good.

I put a 64GB micro SD card in but haven’t figure out how to store pictures taken into the card instead of storing them on the phone memory and uploading to the Google Drive. I would appreciate if someone would give me some pointers.

 

[svencux]

i do have the M7 converted and now i am thinking of converting my M8 to the GPE version. (GPE are not available in germany).
The M7 did not have the HTC sense camera app just stock one.
Does the M8 GPE has the HTC sense camera app installed ?? The sense camera ia so much better.

Could you please check this for me.

Thanks.

 

[EWY]

i do have the M7 converted and now i am thinking of converting my M8 to the GPE version. (GPE are not available in germany).
The M7 did not have the HTC sense camera app just stock one.
Does the M8 GPE has the HTC sense camera app installed ?? The sense camera ia so much better.

Could you please check this for me.

Thanks.

GPE does not have the Sense camera app. It does not have Zoe. It uses a stock Android camera app with accommodation for the twin lenses. As far as I can tell it can perform an out of focus trick mimicking a depth of field adjustment after the shot was taken.

 

[amroa]

Have to say how I'm really liking this phone. I switched to Android last year with the M7, and while I liked it, I just never got the feeling the phone was "polished". The M8 has really given me that "I've got a great phone" feeling. From the battery life, to the better body, to the better radio, I'm loving it.

I travel overseas quite a bit and the M7 would take forever to show me available local providers. The M8 spits them up pretty darn quick. The GPe camera app does let me change focus within a shot, but I don't know if it's the Sense app. And for any serious photography, I have a Sony RX100 with an EyeFi card which I like better when traveling. Don't have to worry about dropping the phone.