After months of leaks and rumors, the new HTC One (M8) has finally been officially announced. The leaked images were spot on, with design cues close to the original One.
Released last February 2013, the original HTC One was one of the most beautiful Android smartphones of that year. In fact, the phone was even awarded the “Best New Mobile Handset, Device or Tablet” during the Mobile World Congress 2013. The latest model didn’t fall far from the tree, as it inherited the aluminum body, the front facing BoomSound stereo speakers, and Blinkfeed. The design differences lie in the new One’s bigger 5 inch 1080p display, smaller bezels on the sides of the screen and more rounded edges.
Inside, the new One sports a quad-core 2.3GHz Snapdragon 801 processor, Adreno 330 GPU, choice of 16/32GB of storage (+microSD), 2GB of RAM, a dual 4MP Ultrapixel rear facing cam, 5MP front facing cam, and a 2,600mAh battery. It also has an upgraded the BoomSound speakers, which features improved volume and sound quality.
The new One runs Android 4.4 KitKat, with HTC’s Sense 6 running on top. A notable change in their homescreen is the omission of the capacitive buttons. It was replaced with the more commonly used three soft keys (back, home and multitask keys). The phone will come in three colors, namely Gunmetal Gray, Glacial Silver and Amber Gold.
Now this is what we want to see from HTC. They have always been known for their great design. And they made this one better than the original by improving what needs to be improved, including the now maturing Sense UI. I hope this becomes the phone that pulls HTC out of its current financial woes. I would hate to see them fall after this One.
If you want to know more, a full review of the new HTC One can be found in GSM Arena.
HTC One Key Specs (lifted from GSM Arena):
- Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE support; 42Mbps HSPA+; LTE connectivity
- 5″ 1080p capacitive touchscreen with 441pi pixel density; Corning Gorilla Glass 3
- 2.3GHz quad-core Krait 400 CPU; 2GB of RAM; Adreno 330 GPU; Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 chipset
- Android 4.4.2 KitKat with HTC Sense 6
- Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (2.4 & 5 GHz); DLNA
- Dual 4MP AF “UltraPixel” (2µm pixel size) camera with 1/3″ sensor; 28mm f/2.0 lens; dual-LED flash; HTC ImageChip 2
- 1080p video capture with HDR
- HTC Zoe
- 5MP front-facing camera with BSI sensor; wide-angle f/2.0 lens; HDR; 1080p video recording
- 16/32GB of built-in memory
- microSD card slot; 50GB of free Google Drive storage for 2 years
- GPS with A-GPS; GLONASS
- MHL-enabled microUSB 2.0 port
- Bluetooth 4.0; NFC
- IR remote control
- Accelerometer; gyro and proximity sensor; ambient light sensor; barometer
- Best audio output on the market
- Fitbit fitness tracker app
- Active noise cancellation with a dedicated microphone
- Front-facing stereo speakers with BoomSound and built-in amplifiers
- Gorgeous metal unibody with superb finish and tactile feel
- 2,600mAh battery; Extreme Power Saving Mode
2 Comments
markmarkmark you really hate HTC to bones hahaha. this is the same line that i can read on other tech blogs.
I bought my HTC ONE last September 2013 from an authorized dealer. My camera had the purple tint issue and was fixed after I personally went to the service center and demanded they replace the camera in my phone. I waited 1 month to get it back since they had to import the parts to be used. Two days after receiving it, my HTC one started to vibrate on it’s own even when it was turned off. Now, it’s still with the service center waiting to be fixed. This will be my last HTC phone. All the hassle and stress of owning one is not worth it. I should have bought a Samsung or an iPhone instead. This is not in isolated incident, just google it and you’ll see them all. HTC has no office here in the Philippines as advised by one of their customer service agents via email to expect that it would be difficult to get a refund if ever you bet on buying a HTC.