HTC One M8 (pretty much) Full Spec List

[Relgoshan]

Let me just ask you a simple question, you don't even have to answer it, because the sales data already has, and the views can easily prove my point
Which is more attractive in a commercial? (insert Geeky Socialite Samsung vs Emo Loner HTC ads)
So which do you think is more attractive and stand out feature to the average mainstream consumer who just walks into the store, purchases a device and has no clue that Android Central, phone dog, pocket now, etc exist?

The most attractive to them starts with the default home screen in the store. HTC has this ugly purple bruise that makes my eyes slide right past it. Neither commercial really shows any viral potential, 500k views is easy. Samsung's whole strategy is to throw in enough features that mkst customers - asking about a buzzword to look smart - will be told 'sure we can set that up before you leave the store'. HTC as always doesn't seem to have a strategy. Even the posted selling guide shows a lack of imagination. This is very pronounced with how the One Mini and S4 Mini were specced out, the S4 Mini is better balanced and more useful.

Sometimes this can work against Samsung. Claims of 'too sensitive' or too many misclicks is probably related to hover or glove-mode being on and them not keeping their finger far enough away, but people perceive a bug from their mistake....and good luck to them finding the menu setting in that forest of icons.

Not sure why you keep bringing the zombiPhone into this, it's a terribly limited device with flawed aesthetic and irritating software bugs. I keep having to tell people 'no you can't replace that' and it makes them very unhappy.

My only Samsung is a Tab 3 7.0 LTE which has the same setup as the Mega and the Mini. Multi Window is *very* well supported by the software that I use, including MX Player and several office programs. Voice controlled camera and alarms have been useful all the time and universal remote works much better than I first expected. S Voice is a gimmick but twice so far I actually appreciated having it. At this rate I am almost definitely getting an S4 Mini, otherwise a Note 3 or G Flex would just be cramming a second tablet into my pockets.

Back to topic so many of these phones are quads now, even though there's nothing for the 3rd and 4th cores to do most of the time. Higher rez literally murders your battery outright save for the G Flex, and you can barely tell there are more pixels unless you get inches away. HTC's camera is probably still inferior but it should work much better than the One. It will be a tough sell, many people my age and younger are backing away from the distraction of social feeds wasting their time. And the metal case, neat I guess but not interested. It just does not excite. The S5 doesn't really excite either, which is why I'll probably go with a proven and cheaper device in this cycle.

Two cents closing...a mere MSM8930AB dual 1.7 with Adreno 305 runs all of my Play games lag free including Minecraft and Bards Tale at the native 1024x600, the Mega at 1280x720 is a tad riskier with the same chip. 2013 Nexus 7 is 30% slower single core performance in browsing and most apps, and the high rez screen holds down its faster GPU. Tegra 4 is the first good Tegra chip NVidia has made but it's going into a lot of poorly made tablets which is very unfortunate. Insofar as I can tell both the Snapdragon 400 and 800 are better designs than the 600, and the 801 should be great in any device unless they totally drop the ball.

I would therefore not get the full size S4, not any of the HTC phones at all, probably nothing from Kyocera unless I needed a brick, and nothing from Nokia or Blackberry in their current state. LG makes some crap but their G Flex is looking better to me, and Motorola's custom Moto X is good if you seek vanity. It's a small pool of phones worth buying right now.

 

[KSDroid01]

Prior to the s5, and the max, what other touch screen phone on the market at the time offered a finger print scanner as a security feature?

What other phone has ios? How many other phones comes stock with a cross device (tablet and phone) messaging app?

Motorola Atrix 4g, introduced in January 2011. Not a new feature. Edit: the Atrix came with a fingerprint scanner.

Posted via the "Best Smartphone of 2013" One

 

[Soundtrack to Chaos]

Motorola Atrix 4g, introduced in January 2011. Not a new feature.

Posted via the "Best Smartphone of 2013" One

Heard of it before, only in reference to the iPhone, thought it was much older than that, lol

 

[Kevin OQuinn]

Let me just ask you a simple question, you don't even have to answer it, because the sales data already has, and the views can easily prove my point

Which is more attractive in a commercial Samsung Galaxy S4 Commercial Graduation Pool Party - YouTube

Or

HTC One Blink Feed Anthem Commercial - YouTube

So which do you think is more attractive and stand out feature to the average mainstream consumer who just walks into the store, purchases a device and has no clue that Android Central, phone dog, pocket now, etc exist?

Either find a 32 second Samsung commercial, or a 1 minute 33 second HTC commercial and then I'll tell you. It's not apples to apples the way you did it. And yes, in marketing, the time determines what you put in the commercial.

 

[Soundtrack to Chaos]

Either find a 32 second Samsung commercial, or a 1 minute 33 second HTC commercial and then I'll tell you. It's not apples to apples the way you did it. And yes, in marketing, the time determines what you put in the commercial.

Anybody that knows even the smallest amount of marketing knows that you have roughly 8 seconds to capture your audiences attention, so no matter how long each video is, you can clearly see which one was more effective and interesting to people by the number of views and the fact that people even wanted to go on YouTube to see it again after it aired on TV.

Can't say the same for that other company

 

[Kevin OQuinn]

Anybody that knows even the smallest amount of marketing knows that you have roughly 8 seconds to capture your audiences attention, so no matter how long each video is, you can clearly see which one was more effective and interesting to people by the number of views and the fact that people even wanted to go on YouTube to see it again after it aired on TV.

Can't say the same for that other company

Cool. I can find videos with a ton of views too. Notice that I went straight to Samsung's and HTC's page.

GALAXY S4 Official TVC - Sound & Shot - YouTube

Here's To Change. #HTChange - YouTube

I looked for TV commercials with the most views. If I missed one then link it please. Notice the dates these were published, though. The Samsung has got about 8,050 views per day. The HTC has got about 11,246 views per day.

I guess the take away is that HTC needed to hire RDJ much earlier than they did.

 

[Soundtrack to Chaos]

Cool. I can find videos with a ton of views too. Notice that I went straight to Samsung's and HTC's page.

GALAXY S4 Official TVC - Sound & Shot - YouTube

Here's To Change. #HTChange - YouTube

I looked for TV commercials with the most views. If I missed one then link it please. Notice the dates these were published, though. The Samsung has got about 8,050 views per day. The HTC has got about 11,246 views per day.

I guess the take away is that HTC needed to hire RDJ much earlier than they did.

That was an htc brand commercial, not an htc one commercial. And of course htc can get views with a high profile star in their commercial .

Samsung got their views because of their device, honestly I don't even see the point of that htc video you just posted, it didn't tell me anything about the device, it was a commercial about their brand. What we are talking about is an effective commercial about a device that pinpointed a feature, which is why I showed you the two videos I did. To show you that people were interested in one, and gave two craps about the other.


Sent from my Apple iPad Air using Tapatalk

 

[iN8ter]

Let me just ask you a simple question, you don't even have to answer it, because the sales data already has, and the views can easily prove my point

Which is more attractive in a commercial Samsung Galaxy S4 Commercial Graduation Pool Party - YouTube

Or

HTC One Blink Feed Anthem Commercial - YouTube

So which do you think is more attractive and stand out feature to the average mainstream consumer who just walks into the store, purchases a device and has no clue that Android Central, phone dog, pocket now, etc exist?

The GS4 commercial is more attractive. It makes more sense as it shows how the features can be used by everyday people in real-life situations. Don't want to muck your screen up when you're putting on lotion and get a text, use Air View.

Their entire Launch Event for the GS4... That was the point of the cheesy theatrics. Some people got it, some people were too busy complaining about it to see it.

BlinkFeed has been cloned in My Magazine so that is hardly worth advertising for HTC at the moment, as it is not even a competitive advantage.

No amount of marketing could make the One Camera on par with the S4 or Note 3's. Almost every review that I've seen (and I have seen a LOT) said the S4 was an all around better camera.

The One's camera has always been so bad that it was never something they should have been advertising, anyways. It was a huge step backwards in camera quality, IMO. If someone wanted good low light, they were better off getting a Lumia instead of even considering a One. "UltraPixels" did help them at all and if they think they can still dictate the camera market they may have to deal with another mediocre round of sales this time around too...

 

[anon(829886)]

The Samsung ads are a million times more effective IMO. I can't believe this is up for debate.

 

[iN8ter]

Anybody that knows even the smallest amount of marketing knows that you have roughly 8 seconds to capture your audiences attention, so no matter how long each video is, you can clearly see which one was more effective and interesting to people by the number of views and the fact that people even wanted to go on YouTube to see it again after it aired on TV.

Can't say the same for that other company

That YouTube video from Samsung was an actual Real-Life Commercial on Television that I've seen play dozens upon dozens of time, and I've heard people watching it comment about how "cool" some of the features they displayed were, and laugh about some of the situations in that commercial. Sometimes you couldn't get through one series episode without seeing that commercial play 4-5 times... Same for the S Beam Sex Vid commercial with the dad getting in the Cab, and others. I've barely seen an HTC Commercial (I actually can recall more BB10 commercials than HTC commercials, and BB is terrible at marketing). Most people here probably don't even know what an HTC One is, never mind seen anyone with it. I also notice that the people I show it to tend to not care about the Metal vs. Plastic debate. They will get what's popular, what's familiar, and what's most interoperable (which, is Samsung given their market share relative to HTC here).

I take YouTube statistics with a grain of salt. Those Samsung commercials worked, clearly.

 

[Habiib]

Ok, I'll talk out my rear for this one. The HTC One could have had every single feature and identical specs of the S4, along with the same type of commercials and still would not have come close to the sales and popularity of the S4.

My opinion is that it's because it's an HTC device. Their brand name is very low in the public eye. I make that statement based on the global rankings of the top companies. The closest analogy I can make within the automotive segment, is with cars like the Mazda 6 and Honda Accord. The Mazda is at a disadvantage right from the start due to its branding, regardless of the advantages it may have over its competitors.

Posted via Android Central App

 

[iN8ter]

It doesn't latch on to the mainstream consumer because the average person think that Apple and Samsung are the only cell phone companies out there. Go into just about every cell phone store and all they'll try to sale you is a iPhone or Galaxy. That's because both got ahead of the game, but the field has caught up in recent years.

As far as features, I don't care for Sense, TouchWiz, etc. I like stock/vanilla android. I currently own a HTC One, but it's a Google Play Edition. The overall look of the phone is what sold me. It's beautiful.

To me, if you haven't owned the device or at least spent enough time to test everything out on it, then your opinion of it is really mute. Watching endless amounts of videos or reading reviews don't really do justice until you actually put it in your hand and get the feel for yourself. I'm not attempting discredit anything your saying, because you're bringing up some valid points.

JMO

Posted via HTC One GPe

Some of us have used the phones extensively before making the purchases we did, did tons of research (on more than just these two phones, cause LG and Moto also have some nice HW out there), and passed on the HTC One because outside of its build quality there isn't much substance there.

Most people who prefer the One do it because they want a better build quality. It seems to be the excuse for every shortcoming the device has (from the shoddy camera, to the lack of SD and removable battery, to the smaller screen, to the retarded button setup, to the ridiculous bezels, etc.).

However, when I dropped my not the other night it didn't scratch, scuff or dent. Nothing. The back popped of and it bounced. I put it back on and kept walking. It still looks as if it came out of the box new. I don't even have a screen protector on it. If that was a One or iPhone I doubt it would have been as fortunate since it was a concrete flooring it dropped down on - then again, I'd have had it in a case with a tempered glass screen protector ($50 more investment) knowing the fragility of those devices...

 

[Soundtrack to Chaos]

Ok, I'll talk out my rear for this one. The HTC One could have had every single feature and identical specs of the S4, along with the same type of commercials and still would not have come close to the sales and popularity of the S4.

My opinion is that it's because it's an HTC device. Their brand name is very low in the public eye. I make that statement based on the global rankings of the top companies. The closest analogy I can make within the automotive segment, is with cars like the Mazda 6 and Honda Accord. The Mazda is at a disadvantage right from the start due to its branding, regardless of the advantages it may have over its competitors.

Posted via Android Central App

Another thing about Mazda that I think is a cause for their issues is I believe they are on their own, unlike other manufacturers.

For ex. Volkswagen is basically the time Warner of cars, owning porsche, audi and many other popular brands, so those under their umbrella have high credibility in the market place

Where as a solo company may not have the marketing dollars or the brand credibility to advance in the market

As for HTC, I don't expect them to be around 5 years from now. Some big company will eat them and either regurgitate a new brand or just incorporate their workers into their own. Lenovo was rumored to be in the hunt as far a purchasing them.

I think they make a lot of foolish decisions, like improperly using Downey Jr, wasting resources on crap like this https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...k%2Fcampaign%2Fgold-htc-one%2F&token=zLev_i02

Etc. I hope someone like LG eats them and puts some pressure on Samsung or something

 

[Soundtrack to Chaos]

Some of us have used the phones extensively before making the purchases we did, did tons of research (on more than just these two phones, cause LG and Moto also have some nice HW out there), and passed on the HTC One because outside of its build quality there isn't much substance there.

Most people who prefer the One do it because they want a better build quality. It seems to be the excuse for every shortcoming the device has (from the shoddy camera, to the lack of SD and removable battery, to the smaller screen, to the retarded button setup, to the ridiculous bezels, etc.).

However, when I dropped my not the other night it didn't scratch, scuff or dent. Nothing. The back popped of and it bounced. I put it back on and kept walking. It still looks as if it came out of the box new. I don't even have a screen protector on it. If that was a One or iPhone I doubt it would have been as fortunate since it was a concrete flooring it dropped down on - then again, I'd have had it in a case with a tempered glass screen protector ($50 more investment) knowing the fragility of those devices...

Your first paragraph pretty much sums up my opinion. Where is the value? What do they have to offer? What feature do they have that I need and can't find elsewhere?

Build quality is a joke, people use cases, and if I want metal I can buy a metal cover.

That's all I've been saying, they don't bring enough to the table. Why would I go HTC?

That's exactly what's wrong with their marketing, they don't have anything to attract a big audience

 

[Habiib]

Your first paragraph pretty much sums up my opinion. Where is the value? What do they have to offer? What feature do they have that I need and can't find elsewhere?

Build quality is a joke, people use cases, and if I want metal I can buy a metal cover.

That's all I've been saying, they don't bring enough to the table. Why would I go HTC?

That's exactly what's wrong with their marketing, they don't have anything to attract a big audience

I'll bring this up again. If value equates to the number of features a device has that can be demonstrated or shown off to others, then why is there another smartphone that has less "value" than the HTC One but is more successful? Why is there another smartphone that has less "value" than the S4 but is more successful?

Btw, you'll find that several of these "values" can be obtained right from 3rd party applications.

As for your "case" reference. Since people use cases, then it is even more illogical for manufactures to have different color variants of their devices. The same goes for the materials of choice. ANY focus on the exterior of a mobile device is futile since people use cases. The cases will cover up the color AND the material used on the exterior.

Based on the fact that people use cases, any color other than black is a non-factor and any material of choice aside from plastic or glass is a non-factor.

Posted via Android Central App

 

[Soundtrack to Chaos]

The iPhone already had the smartphone market prior to Samsung so that answers that. Don't know what other company you were referring to

 

[likebutta]

Nothing like a good thread derail. This topic is about the specs and people are going on about videos and marketing. There could be another thread for that.

 

[iN8ter]

Ok, I'll talk out my rear for this one. The HTC One could have had every single feature and identical specs of the S4, along with the same type of commercials and still would not have come close to the sales and popularity of the S4.

My opinion is that it's because it's an HTC device. Their brand name is very low in the public eye. I make that statement based on the global rankings of the top companies. The closest analogy I can make within the automotive segment, is with cars like the Mazda 6 and Honda Accord. The Mazda is at a disadvantage right from the start due to its branding, regardless of the advantages it may have over its competitors.

Posted via Android Central App

I doubt there is anyone in the world that uses all the S4's features, but the S4 has everything and the kitchen sink which allowed it to cater to everyone's needs. No, Kevin O'Quinn may not crop images, but for someone who does, the One's camera is a showstopper while the S4 still does decently in low light.

Yes, the One's build quality is great, but that doesn't matter when the phone is in a case, and when you drop a plastic phone it tends to hold up a lot better than metal and/or glass (One, iPhones, Nexus 4, etc.).

The software features may not be useful to one person, but there are a lot of other people who can make use of them.

That's why Samsung's phone sells better. Because instead of trying to hype up metal, they're actually offering value to their users. Real-Life Value.

I personally don't see the point in BlinkFeed or My Magazine as you can get the same functionality from Play Newsstand or Flipboard.

The Lack of a Removeable Battery or SD Card Slot. May not even matter to some people, but when you have 8 hours of travel and your phone is your only way to connect to the internet, communicate with other people, or access entertainment services for the entirety of it, it may matter...

I think people put too much stock in the marketing and forget that marketing is impossible if you have nothing to market. The reason why Samsung's marketing works is because they have a ton of stuff to showcase and that stuff just so happens to actually be useful to a ton of people.

In many cases, on other phones you'll be hunting for third party apps to accomplish the same thing (like installing a 3rd party camera app for something a stock camera can do in Sense and TW), just with a more disjointed workflow and worse integration with other System apps. This is why I don't use Stock Android, cause it's simply not as good a user experience as what most OEMs deliver. Andorid updates have gotten to the point where they are fairly anti-climatic so I am a lot less impatient on that end. As long as the device is well supported, I am good with it as long as they deliver them and they aren't terribly broken.

 

[iN8ter]

The iPhone already had the smartphone market prior to Samsung so that answers that. Don't know what other company you were referring to

True. The iPhone was out before Samsung started creating Android phones. They were still doing Windows Mobile and some Symbian handsets and feature phones, IIRC.

Samsung didn't really start to dominate the Android landscape until they released the Galaxy S devices, and that wasn't until 2010. The real turning point was with the Galaxy SII (after the S, they had a pretty terrible reputation for Support/Updates, and TW 3.0 on the GS was... barely usable).

HTC was ahead of Samsung back then.

 

[GrooveRite]

HTC was ahead of Samsung back then.

I wouldn't say this. Sure, Sense and TW were both young and had their fair share of lag and cumbersome functionality. The difference for me was that one of them was able to work with custom roms of ICS and the other didn't fair too well or work at all with it. So in the long run, the Samsung device was the better alternative as far as bang for buck.