HTC One M8: will it be ‘best of the best’ in 2014?
There’s a lot going on over the next couple of months in the world of top-end smartphones. Hot on the heels of the Samsung Galaxy S5 and the Xperia Z2 25th March is the date when HTC’s 2014 flagship will be officially announced. Depending on what rumours you’re reading the phone will go under the name HTC M8 HTC One 2 or HTC One 2014 – or perhaps something entirely different. Whatever label it’s given this launch looks set to be one of the most important phone events of the year.
A lot to live up to…
Last year’s HTC One earned plenty of admirers among ordinary phone users and tech reviewers alike. Take a look at the yearly round-up lists from 2013 and you’ll find the HTC One at or very near the top of most of them.
“Power poise and beauty” was how one reviewer summed up the HTC One. A lightning fast processor impressive camera and crystal-clear high def display: these are par for the course on any decent-spec smartphone. What helped to set the 2013 HTC One apart from the competition was the fact that it is so well constructed – featuring lots of brushed aluminium on the back and nice metal detailing on the front. The interface wasn’t perhaps the easiest to get to grips with – but in terms of sheer quality this phone is still almost impossible to beat.
What to expect with the HTC One M8…
In terms of specs and design the HTC One 2014 edition is hardly a mystery. This is all thanks to the fact that the son of a company employee managed to get hold of a model and leaked an overview video over YouTube (a video that was promptly removed). Unless there are any major surprises at the official unveiling expect to see the following:
- Lots of metal (again). Expect an aluminium unibody once again – with lots of intense grey metallic textures.
- A 5-inch screen. Ever so slightly larger than its predecessor.
- A new interface. It’s been simplified apparently.
- The latest processor. The 2014 HTC One features the Snapdragon 801 chip – the same as the other two big launches of this year; the Samsung Galaxy S5 and the Sony Xperia Z2.
- Expandable storage. There was no micro SD card expansion slot on last year’s HTC One. The current This has now been rectified.
- Further ultra-pixel technology. Increasing the megapixel count on a camera doesn’t actually improve the clarity of a picture. HTC took a stand against the trend for ever-increasing pixel counts in favour of UltraPixel technology: the idea being that bigger pixels capture more light and give better results in low light. In fact the results were considered decent but hardly world-beating. Expect improvements this time round.
Coming up with a stunning phone isn’t necessarily enough to keep a manufacturer in healthy profit though – as HTC is well aware. 2013 saw the company’s global market share fall to two per cent. This was accompanied by a steady slide in the HTC stock price to one tenth of its record high. As 2014 progresses we can expect to see some interesting new mid-range devices from the company in an attempt to make up for lost ground on the sales front.
Mobile Madhouse has already ordered an exciting range phone cases – including some cool official models. Check out our HTC One M8 cases.