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HTC One M8 for Windows Review

Name: HTC One M8 for Windows Review
Item: HTC One (M8) for Windows
Rating: 8
Author: John V.

posted by John V. / Aug 22, 2014, 5:31 AM

Introduction

Remember the days when HTC and Microsoft had a really close knit relationship, where Windows Mobile flourished thanks to HTC’s impeccable delivery with its line of smartphones? Arguably, the times have changed tremendously, as HTC has shifted its focus on its Android-powered smartphones.

At the beginning, when Microsoft’s new Windows Phone platform become a reality, HTC was there supporting the platform from the get-go – with some of its rivals doing the same. Through the course of the last year, however, HTC’s portfolio of Windows Phones has slowly dwindled, making us all wonder if they decided to give up on the platform entirely.

Fortunately, the long streak is over, seeing that the HTC One M8 for Windows is here in all of its glory – giving us a high-end, premium smartphone. Generally speaking, Windows Phones of late consisted of devices from Nokia’s Lumia line, so it’s refreshing to see something different from another company. Let’s find out if HTC can steal the spotlight once again!

The package contains:

microUSB cable
Wall charger
Stereo headphones
Product safety & warranty information
Getting to know your phone guide

Design

Its design is identical to its Android-powered sibling, but as far as Windows Phone is concerned, it’s a refreshing change from the usual stuff we see from Nokia’s Lumia line.

Refreshing to say the least, especially when the majority of recent Windows Phones have come from Nokia, the HTC One M8 for Windows is indeed a very different looking thing in the Windows Phone landscape. Truthfully, though, it’s technically not a new design because it’s an exact facsimile to the Android-powered HTC One M8, which has been around for a good time now.

On one hand, we dig the premium construction, one that’s made from quality brushed aluminum, but we would’ve loved to see something else new – more so when HTC’s Window Mobile smartphones were known for their original, industrial designs. Nevertheless, we can’t complain either because the M8 by itself, continues to be one attractive looking thing in the space. And that’s despite knowing that the Android powered version has been out since March.

As we’ve detailed, the HTC One M8 for Windows sports the same design as its Android sibling. Therefore, it features the same iconic things – like its dual front-firing speakers with BoomSound, IR blaster, and duo camera system. For now, it’s only available in gunmetal grey, which is a shame because the Android powered one is offered in a palette of colors.

View more + 14 images

Front view
Side view

To see the phones in real size or compare them with other models, visit our Visual Phone Size Comparison page

Display

No surprises here folks, this is the same screen we’ve seen before. Aside from a few subtle things, it’s identical in quality to its sibling’s display.

Not surprisingly, HTC didn’t mess around with the recipe it used for the Android-powered HTC One M8’s display – so the results are pretty much identical here with this 5-inch 1080 x 1920 Super LCD-3 display with Gorilla Glass 3. Knowing that, this specific panel exhibits the same lovable qualities that make it a darling to look at.

Specifically, they include its sharp details, vibrant color reproduction, and crisp viewing angles. However, there are a few minor differences that slightly favor this new screen – like its stronger brightness output of 510 nits and color temperature of ~7100 K. Beyond that, they match each other in pretty much all aspects!

Display measurements and quality

	Maximum brightness Higher is better	Minimum brightness (nits) Lower is better	Contrast Higher is better	Color temperature (Kelvins)	Gamma	Delta E rgbcmy Lower is better	Delta E grayscale Lower is better
HTC One (M8) for Windows	514 (Excellent)	25 (Poor)	1:1364 (Excellent)	7094 (Good)	2.12	4.53 (Average)	3.38 (Good)
Nokia Lumia 930	297 (Poor)	12 (Average)	unmeasurable (Excellent)	6724 (Excellent)	1.98	3.37 (Good)	8.45 (Poor)
Samsung Galaxy S5	442 (Good)	2 (Excellent)	unmeasurable (Excellent)	8183 (Poor)	2.25	5.08 (Average)	7.38 (Average)
LG G3	455 (Good)	9 (Average)	1:997 (Average)	7099 (Good)	2.26	2.10 (Good)	2.86 (Good)

View all

The numbers below represent the amount of deviation in the respective property, observed when a display is viewed from a 45-degree angle as opposed to direct viewing.

	Maximum brightness Lower is better	Minimum brightness Lower is better	Contrast Lower is better	Color temperature Lower is better	Gamma Lower is better	Delta E rgbcmy Lower is better	Delta E grayscale Lower is better
Nokia Lumia 930	56.6%	58.3%	unmeasurable	21.5%	1.5%	132.3%	11%
Samsung Galaxy S5	62.7%	50%	unmeasurable	4.7%	1.8%	23.2%	9.9%
HTC One (M8) for Windows	79.6%	80%	70.5%	10.5%	4.7%	No data	28.7%
LG G3	84%	88.9%	88.6%	10.5%	6.2%	86.2%	73.8%

View all

The CIE 1931 xy color gamut chart represents the set (area) of colors that a display can reproduce, with the sRGB colorspace (the highlighted triangle) serving as reference. The chart also provides a visual representation of a display's color accuracy. The small squares across the boundaries of the triangle are the reference points for the various colors, while the small dots are the actual measurements. Ideally, each dot should be positioned on top of its respective square. The 'x: CIE31' and 'y: CIE31' values in the table below the chart indicate the position of each measurement on the chart. 'Y' shows the luminance (in nits) of each measured color, while 'Target Y' is the desired luminance level for that color. Finally, 'ΔE 2000' is the Delta E value of the measured color. Delta E values of below 2 are ideal.

These measurements are made using SpectraCal's CalMAN calibration software.

View all

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76 Comments

2. dushyant

Posts: 94; Member since: Mar 14, 2011

ugliest OS on the prettiest smartphone..!! lol

posted on Aug 22, 2014, 5:37 AM 9

4. Wiencon

Posts: 2278; Member since: Aug 06, 2014

It's just your opinion, my is that WP is along with Sense the most pretty UI, but doesn't match M8 design. Lumias look incredible with WP.

posted on Aug 22, 2014, 5:43 AM 20

6. SIGPRO

Posts: 2806; Member since: Oct 03, 2012

OS is awsome, just work with it i was also sceptical. No more android for me!

posted on Aug 22, 2014, 5:52 AM 12

8. dushyant

Posts: 94; Member since: Mar 14, 2011

i once bought a lumia 710, never even seeing a lumia again ever ..!! did i mention ever....,

posted on Aug 22, 2014, 6:10 AM 3

10. Takeharu

Posts: 280; Member since: Oct 28, 2013

The 710 was a low-end device running WP7 no wonder you didn't like it. You should try some of the newer devices out there like this one or the Nokia 1520, they're quite good. WP is just not my personal preference though since I heavily rely on Google services and I love to root/tweak my device. You should give it a shot, it's come a long way.

posted on Aug 22, 2014, 6:16 AM 6

11. dushyant

Posts: 94; Member since: Mar 14, 2011

i don't even get what the real changes b/w 7 and 8 are , like you can change the colours and size of those stupid BOX'es, thts it thats the best windows can do?? really?

posted on Aug 22, 2014, 6:24 AM 0

14. Takeharu

Posts: 280; Member since: Oct 28, 2013

It's true that most changes between WP7 and WP8 are under the surface (different kernel, dual core support, etc) but the biggest change since WP7 is app support. It's still nowhere compared to iOS or Android but the app library is steadily improving and actually has some good apps these days (unlike when WP7 was around). And yes, I'm not gonna lie that WP still has very little customization but it's still slightly better than iOS.

posted on Aug 22, 2014, 6:47 AM 4

63. SemperFiV12

Posts: 949; Member since: Nov 09, 2010

I'm sorry, but it is A LOT more customizeable than iOS. The users only experience was with a first gen Lumia 710... that was probably bought way after initial launch. Guess what, the iPhone 3G and the Motorola Droid are also going to suck if I buy them today...

posted on Aug 26, 2014, 8:38 PM 1

19. nighthawk_al

Posts: 55; Member since: May 23, 2014

Have you ever used a W.P 8.1 phone? I can assure you that it fulfills the needs of an above average user...

posted on Aug 22, 2014, 7:38 AM 2

71. DrMoto

Posts: 18; Member since: Oct 24, 2011

Have you tried WP8.1, good sir?

posted on Sep 04, 2014, 9:58 AM 1

12. Daniel.95

Posts: 89; Member since: Sep 20, 2012

Windows Phone 7 is so different to Windows Phone 8.1. Windows Phone 8.1 gives AWESOME user exprience.

posted on Aug 22, 2014, 6:41 AM 8

22. dushyant

Posts: 94; Member since: Mar 14, 2011

Nothing windows has ever been AWSOME ever. period

posted on Aug 22, 2014, 7:54 AM 2

24. ihavenoname

Posts: 1693; Member since: Aug 18, 2013

While for me OS X is better, I have to admit that Windows 7 and 8 are pretty awesome (excluding IE and fugly POS-Metro-part of course).

posted on Aug 22, 2014, 8:10 AM 0

25. elitewolverine

Posts: 5192; Member since: Oct 28, 2013

Then why even buy a win7 phone. That is like me not enjoying apple products and buying a macbook or ipod. But i do love their service as a tech support, bar non the best. I hate calling samsung daily or any other oem for that matter. At any rate windows 8.1 or win 8 for phone, added so many things with the NT kernel it was no small leap, for support up to 64 cores and tons of others it was a under the hood change. Nothing? well considering Android give MS billions a year to use MS inventions, i guess nothing has helped something.

posted on Aug 22, 2014, 8:26 AM 3

52. dushyant

Posts: 94; Member since: Mar 14, 2011

You see, you only get to know how exactly a device is ONLY AFTER YOU BUY IT. Playing with it for a few mins at the store doesn't tell half the story.

posted on Aug 22, 2014, 11:06 PM 0

72. DrMoto

Posts: 18; Member since: Oct 24, 2011

I bought it, and your opinion is definitely illegit.

posted on Sep 04, 2014, 10:01 AM 0

62. SemperFiV12

Posts: 949; Member since: Nov 09, 2010

Riggghhhhtttt... they just DEFINED the computing age.

posted on Aug 26, 2014, 8:34 PM 0

45. hurrycanger

Posts: 1747; Member since: Dec 01, 2013

Comparing to WP7, WP8.1 is absolutely awesome. It's even much better than WP8, and I just can't stand WP8 anymore after using 8.1

posted on Aug 22, 2014, 2:35 PM 0

3. Lt.Green

Posts: 397; Member since: Mar 13, 2014

WP failed this phone.

posted on Aug 22, 2014, 5:37 AM 11

68. Smarter

Posts: 60; Member since: Jul 18, 2014

And the reason is here: Feature..........................…........M8 Android..............................M8 WP USB Host.........................…............yes.......................................no USB Otg..........................….............yes.......................................no Dual Sim..........................….............yes.......................................no Mhl.......................................….........yes....................…...............no Notification LED..............................yes....................…................no 60fps video…………………………yes…………….………….no Smile detection, Panorama, Macro mode, Effects, etc……………yes……………………….no Headphones output power (Volts)….1.2……………………….0.7 Loudspeaker loudness (dB)…………75………….…………….72 Apps................................….............more....................................less Personal adjustment of system…....better..............................worser Availability.....................................worldwide........................US carriers PA Rating.............................................8.9..............….....................8 Moreover there is HTC Butterfly 2 which has the same size and design and it is water resistant unlike HTC M8 WP. Now, do you know why Nokia selling numbers are so low? Do you think if Xiaomi, Lenovo and Huawei would sell phones with WP, will they be more succesful? So what is better choose a phone with Android or with WP?

posted on Aug 30, 2014, 11:59 AM 0

5. waqarzec

Posts: 70; Member since: May 09, 2013

No yahia.... They don't hate wp .... They hate htc...... O don't know why..... Every other site is praising htc one m8 for android as well as wp.... But they have given only 8.8 to one m8 android one e8 only 8.7 and know one m8 windows 8.....hey u pa..... Remember u cant decrease image of htc...... As all other sites favour them truly...... Are u being paid for all this

posted on Aug 22, 2014, 5:51 AM 5

9. dushyant

Posts: 94; Member since: Mar 14, 2011

i think 8.8 is fine, they deserve -1.2 for that s**tty camera.

posted on Aug 22, 2014, 6:14 AM 1

7. Settings

Posts: 2941; Member since: Jul 02, 2014

Now if this beast can dual boot Android and WP then the legacy continues... Or will it be nice?

posted on Aug 22, 2014, 5:57 AM 1

13. Deaconclgi

Posts: 405; Member since: Nov 03, 2012

I haven't seen a Windows Phone article on PA that makes use of Transparent Tiles yet. It is almost like every writer on PA refuses to show transparent tiles and what a difference it makes in the appearance, customization and modernization of Windows Phone.

posted on Aug 22, 2014, 6:46 AM 9

56. hurrycanger

Posts: 1747; Member since: Dec 01, 2013

I like them transparent tiles.

posted on Aug 22, 2014, 11:34 PM 1

16. VLaRueC

Posts: 189; Member since: Dec 18, 2012

It has been obvious from day one that writers don't pay attention to facts. I looked on my Nokia Phone for Nokia Music because John V. mentions I should have it. I don't.