One week with the M8, my thoughts

Zorachus

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Apr 25, 2011
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After a week of owning the One M8 I am pretty happy with it, I'd say very happy actually. Not fair, but the comparisons are against my previous phone, the Galaxy S4. I was heavily considering the S5 on ATT, but ATT is screwing S5 owners, no root, and doubtful ever to see custom recovery for ROM's.

Pros;
- Screen is awesome, very crisp and sharp, with realistic colors, looks extremely detailed. After my S4's AMOLED, this is a refreshing change. Plus outdoors it looks night and day better than the S4 screen.
- Crazy smooth fast. The M8 is Star Trek warp speed fast compared to the S4 which would be current rocket technology fast. Plus TW on the S4 would lag or pause for a second or two in some apps, never get anything like that on the M8.
- Sense 6 is very nice, compared to Touchwiz, it looks more professional, nice Black / White / Blue theme and design to Sense 6, more of a minimalistic look. I still think stock Android is the best, but Sense 6 is a very close second. And Touchwiz is last place of all UI's to me.
- Battery life on the M8 is off the charts AMAZING, I mean like really good, maybe even 50% better then my S4. This thing almost lasts as long as my old Note 2 battery.
- Speakers, I wasn't ever really looking for great speakers in a cell phone before, never thought about it. But wow these are crazy good, loud and very clear sound. YouTube videos and music sound awesome. Really wasn't expecting to like the speakers as much as I do.
- Development friendly, I am rooted, custom Recovery, S-Off, and running a custom stock ROM. And I have the option to install the GPE ROM of the M8, so can always be on the latest Android OS if I want for years now.

Cons;
- Heavy weight, not a fan of the heavier feel of this M8, compared to my old S4 which was feather light. The S4 in gym shorts was barely noticeable, where the M8 feels like a brick.
- Curved back not cool, I like flat backs on a phone, to rest on a desk, and use it while laying down on the table. Can't really do that with the M8. I like a small thin flat case around my phone, not curved.
- Accessories, not nearly as many cases available for the M8, as there are for the iPhone or Galaxy line.
- LED Notification light on the S4 is better, bigger and brighter. The M8 has this tiny little flashing dot hiding inside the speaker grille.
- Not waterproof like the new S5, which would be nice.


Overall I really like this M8, just need to find that right case. But the S5 still looks nice too, but with no root and no ROM's for the S5 that is a big deal for me. I couldn't handle a stock carrier version S5 with no customization or option to debloat it. But the lighter feel, and flat back is nice for the S5.

At the end of the day there is no perfect phone. I think a combination of the S5 + M8 = perfect phone. Sense 6 + S5 screen + metal design in the shape of the old smaller S4 size + waterproof. Then I woke up :)
 

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