The HTC One M8 offers users a smartphone that not only looks and feels like a premium device, it's packing innovative features that make it one of the best smartphones on the market.
When HTC launched last year's flagship HTC One smartphone, the company focused on delivering a smartphone that had a design on Apple's level, something that was missing from the Android smartphone space.
The HTC One proved to be a very popular smartphone with consumers and HTC followed it up with this year's flagship HTC One M8. I've had the opportunity to review the device and wanted to share its top five features.
1. Design: From the moment you pick up the HTC One M8, you instantly feel the quality craftsmanship that went into the smartphone. HTC has wrapped the smartphone in a brushed aluminum unibody case that completely wraps around the device from glass to glass, no plastic in between.
2. Motion Launch: HTC has added a new feature called Motion Launch, which allows you to perform different actions using gestures on the smartphone's display without ever touching the power button. Simply double tap the HTC One M8's display and the smartphone automatically wakes. A swipe to the left will bring you to the home screen. Swiping to the right instantly launches BlinkFeed. Swiping down from the top of the display will automatically launch its voice-dialing feature. The gestures are very intuitive and Motion Launch really enhances the overall experience.
3. HTC BoomSound speakers: The original HTC One introduced BoomSound front-facing dual-stereo speakers that made the smartphone the best sounding handset on the market. HTC BoomSound is back on the HTC One M8 and the sound quality is even better. HTC says the speakers are 25 percent louder than the HTC One and now includes a new digital signal processor. The result is crisp and clear audio that once again makes it the best sounding smartphone.
4. Duo Camera: The HTC One M8 is the first smartphone to ship with two rear cameras. There's a 4-megapixel UltraPixel camera that takes excellent images, while the second rear camera has a UFocus option, which is used for capturing depth data. You can actually change the focus of an image after you take it and there's also a new 3D effect feature you can add to your photos.
5. microSD expansion slot: One of the biggest gripes about the HTC One was there was no way to expand its memory and you were stuck with whichever model you chose. HTC has made up for that mistake and the HTC One M8 now includes a microSD expansion slot that supports up to 128GB microSD cards. This certainly comes in handy when taking images and video with the smartphone's UltraPixel camera.
The HTC One M8 offers much more than the top five features we've covered and there's no denying this smartphone is what its rivals need to strive for now that HTC has gotten its mojo back.
