HTC One (M8) launched and available – all the details and price

It’s finally here – The HTC One (M8), the much leaked HTC One sequel that’s been popping up online for months. It’s official and it’s out today!

Yup, the new flagship phone from HTC is actually called the One (M8). They stuck with that.

I’m guessing that you’re wondering what the “M” in “M8” stands for? Personally, I thought it was text speak for ‘mate’ but the HTC folks say that the M is for “metal”! Hell yeah! \m/\m/

More metal

It’s nothing to do with loud guitars and headbanging though, apparently this is the eighth-generation metal HTC – hence M8.

There’s actually 20% more metal in the One (M8) than the original One, and while the original One looked good and felt good, the One (M8) will feel as though it has been hewn from a single piece of cool, smooth aluminium. Nice.

Big screen

The 1080p screen squirts out a resolution of 1920×1080 but the screen is ever so slightly larger this time, measuring 5-inches diagonally but, since the bezel is thinner and the chassis thinner, the smartphone’s footprint is roughly the same as before – 146x71x9.4mm and weighing in at 160g

That increased screen size does mean that there’s actually been a slight drop in pixel density from 468ppi to 441ppi. In general use I would say that it is probably an imperceptible difference, and that text and icons (some of which have increased in size to make use of the larger display) will still remain very sharp indeed. I am looking forward to living with an M8 and checking this out side-by-side with my HTC One v1.0

Big noise

The sounds on the original One are pretty darned good and now HTC has added a “finely tuned, multi-band amplifier” which is said to sling out audio 25% louder. More metal!

More power

Inside the slick metallic chassis the HTC One (M8) is powered by a 2.3GHz Snapdragon processor paired with 2GB of memory. It’s also packing 4G super speeds and a 2,600mAh battery which HTC claims improves performance by two fifths.

The welcome addition of a microSD card slot means you can add an extra 128GB of storage to the 16GB built in, which will please those with large MP3 libraries.

New camera skills

The 4.1 megapixel camera with “Ultra Pixel” technology (which sports a larger sensor to capture more detail) makes a return. You also get a generous five megapixel front camera for HD selfies and video chats.

Interestingly, the rear camera packs a second sensor for depth, which allows you to refocus images after you’ve taken them, a little bit like a Lytro camera, allowing you to cleverly edit photos, so the background can appear animated, or removed altogether, while figures in the foreground remain.

This all runs on Android 4.4 KitKat overlaid with ‘Sense 6’, the Taiwanese company’s software skin it hopes will help the phone stand out from the packed crowd.

BlinkFeed, the company’s homescreen news feed, makes a return, while HTC’s Zoe concept – automated video edits from your day’s footage – has been tweaked to allow for others to edit Zoes collaboratively with you (will this be enough to woo people over from Vine and Instagram Video?).

Fitter with Fitbit

You can get healthier and stay motivated by combining its power-saving sensor hub with the preloaded Fitbit app. Alternatively, use the phone in conjunction with one of Fitbit’s range of trackers to access advanced features such as sleep tracking and smart alarm or to capture data when exercising without your phone.

Perhaps the most interesting feature however is simply Motion Launch, which lets you double tap to turn on the screen, and swipe up to your last opened application.

Out now

The HTC One (M8) is on sale today – in Metal Grey, Arctic Silver and Amber Gold variants, with a couple of new accessories available including a dot view folio cover (above), which cleverly shows you notifications through the panel while saving battery power.

HTC One (M8) UK prices

Vodafone:

HTC One (M8) is available now in selected Vodafone stores with the first 3000 customers to buy with Vodafone will also get a HTC Boombass. For more details on this offer, check out Vodafone Social.

The all new HTC One (M8) is free from £42 on Red 3G plans – giving you unlimited calls, texts and loads of data.

Phones 4U

Purchase a new HTC One (M8) at Phones 4u and get a FREE HTC BoomBass™ speaker and case worth over £99. Plus, if you connect to superfast 4G you’ll get £25 to spend on movies, music, games and more on Google Play.

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HTC One (M8) at a glance

Operating system – Android 4.4

Processor – Quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 @ 2.3GHz

RAM – 2GB

Screen – 5in LCD, 1920×1080 resolution (441ppi)

Camera – 4.1UP and dedicated depth sensor rear, 5MP front

Storage – 16/32GB (microSD expandable by up to 128GB)

Connectivity – 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, NFC, Bluetooth 4.0 with aptX

Battery – 2600mAh

Dimensions/weight – 146x71x9.4mm/160g