*** The Official HTC One M8 Thread ***

Soldato
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Hiya guys,

Been looking for a new phone recently, for pleasure and work, i've narrowed it down to the 930 or the HTC 1 M8.

Would anyone care to share a user review? my only concern really is with apps on the 930.

Cheers
Dave
 
Soldato
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Dudes,

Possibly not the right place to ask, but I'm tempted to pick up an M8 on T-Mobile USA (outright for $636).

Is it relatively straightforward to root any M8 model? I'd want to use Xposed + Gravitybox. Also is bootloader unlocking fairly straightforward on T-Mobile devices? I remember there being extra hoops to jump through re. S-Off etc. on older HTC devices...

Lastly, is anyone using CM11 on their M8? How is it stability-wise?

Cheers,

Su
 
Soldato
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Scotland
Dudes,

Possibly not the right place to ask, but I'm tempted to pick up an M8 on T-Mobile USA (outright for $636).

Is it relatively straightforward to root any M8 model? I'd want to use Xposed + Gravitybox. Also is bootloader unlocking fairly straightforward on T-Mobile devices? I remember there being extra hoops to jump through re. S-Off etc. on older HTC devices...

Lastly, is anyone using CM11 on their M8? How is it stability-wise?

Cheers,

Su

Only thing to be wary about is the US models tend to not have the same bands as EU/Worldwide models when it comes to 4G. So I would certainly double check which LTE bands the model covers if 4G is something you'll use when back in the UK.

For the saving it works out at around £375...I'd be tempted to just buy it in the UK, you should be able to get it for a smidge over £400. I paid £430 for mines a couple of months back through an offer on ebay.

No extra hoops though as far as I'm aware in terms of S-Off etc. Hope that kind of helps.
 
Soldato
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Have any of you m8 users experienced any slowing down at all? I only ask as my dads htc slowed down quite a bit within a month of him having it.

I'm considering getting one of these or the Xperia z2 and installing cyanogen mod on it :)
 
Soldato
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Arlington, VA
Only thing to be wary about is the US models tend to not have the same bands as EU/Worldwide models when it comes to 4G.

I'll be mainly US-based for the next 1+ years, hence wanting a US model. Will probably go for the developer edition direct from HTC as it's $650 and a painless bootloader unlock for $14 extra.

Defo interested to hear about people's CM11 experiences though :) I've been using CM on my Moto RAZR HD, and don't think I could ever go back to a "stock" ROM!

Cheers,

Su
 
Soldato
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I did a full RUU conversion so it was a bit more fiddly than just flashing a rom. There's a good guide on XDA though.

Haven't had any signal problems to be honest. I know some people have mentioned problems in the UK because there isn't a European radio for the GPE but I haven't noticed it. I'm on Vodafone and work in central London so there's rarely a time I don't have coverage.

Keep in mind though, that it's quite difficult to go back to Sense after flashing the 4.3/4.4 RUU. A lot of people get an encryption error when first booting back into Sense (myself included). Stuck on GPE for the foreseeable future!

edit: Just read you'll be in the US so you shouldn't have the signal problem! Will you be buying it here or there?
 
Last edited:
Soldato
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Arlington, VA
edit: Just read you'll be in the US so you shouldn't have the signal problem! Will you be buying it here or there?

Yup, I'm over here, so there shouldn't be any radio problems.

Benjo how do you rate the performance on GPE? Have read great things about Sense 6.0 being the smoothest Android experience out there, so I wonder if vanilla Android has been optimised for the device in the same way?

My options are:
- Buy GPE direct from Google Play: $699
- Buy Dev Edition direct from HTC: $649
- Buy from T-Mobile (unlockable bootloader): $636

I'm leaning towards the third option, as if it goes **** up, I can just take it straight back into store (I'm assuming either Google or HTC direct will be ****s to deal with remotely...).

Going to go in store this evening to try out the M8 and slightly cheaper G3 ($598 from T-Mo)...

Cheers,

Su
 
Soldato
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I love the GPE, it's extremely quick and snappy. The firmware has been optimised for the M8 so it's not completely stock Android.

It has added support for the duo camera, tap to wake/screen gestures, dot view case etc. So you can still use some of the HTC features but benefit from stock Android!

Can you buy the GPE from TMobile? If not then I'd be careful about converting to GPE for warranty reasons. I normally wouldn't care, but at the moment it's quite difficult back to back to Sense without problems.
 
Soldato
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Can you buy the GPE from TMobile? If not then I'd be careful about converting to GPE for warranty reasons. I normally wouldn't care, but at the moment it's quite difficult back to back to Sense without problems.

GPE is only available direct from the Play Store unfortunately :(

I may actually end up sticking with the T-Mobile ROM, as the Kernel supports wi-fi calling which is a boon with T-Mo's crappy signal indoors! Depends how bad the bloat is :p although root + Xposed can nuke most of the crap, I imagine.

Re. warranty, I figure in the event of a return, it a) is so borked they won't be able to turn it on to figure out I've flashed it, or b) I'm able to stumble back to stock somehow :D

Cheers,

Su
 
Soldato
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I love the GPE, it's extremely quick and snappy. The firmware has been optimised for the M8 so it's not completely stock Android.

Hey benjo, hows the battery life on GPE, I'm thinking off getting the M8 on contract, have a Nexus 5 and I really like it but battery life is just not up to scratch.

Also is it possible to go back to stock Sense easily, thinking I will sell the M8 if I like either the Nexus 5 2014 or w/e or the Moto X+1, M8 is a tad tall and not too sure if I will ever get used too that.
 
Soldato
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Battery life is great, I'm getting 4-5 hours screen time at the moment.

I tried to go back to Sense a few weeks ago just to test some things, but was unsuccessful. Like many others I got the encryption error when first booting. It askes for a password to decrypt the storage.

Back on the GPE firmware now
 
Soldato
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Yes, but you need to disable motion launch gestures completely. I don't think you can disable just the volume buttons.

Go to settings > display and gestures > motion launch gestures and untick the top setting
 
Associate
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Running on Venom ROM (Sense based), and the battery life on this is absolutely stellar. My typical routine is to catch up on news/RSS feeds and maybe watch a Youtube video or two or play a few rounds of Castle TD during my work breaks and lunch (15/30/15mins). Today I also did navigation (GPS turned on obviously) on my commute home while streaming music via bluetooth, which took about 35 minutes and the screen was on the entire time. Then I did another navigation for a short 10 minute trip later in the day while bluetooth steaming, and I have sync turned on at all times.

I'm currently sitting at 47%. On my Nexus 4 I'd probably be on less than 10% by now, so this is pretty amazing.
 
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