HTC One M8 or M9? Secondhand Purchase

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I can get the M8 secondhand for around £85, and the M9 for around £110.

The M9 seemed like a no-brainer considering the price similarity, but the more I read about the two, the more I think the decision is not as clear cut.

Here are the main differences as I see them:

M8

Battery life: two days between charges with light usage; sips juice when in standby
Camera: not great in general, but low-light performance not bad
Performance: fairly snappy with Sense
Android version: Marshmallow

M9

Battery life: Pretty much dead by the end of the day, problems with battery drain under standby. According to user reports, this isn't fixed with Android Nougat.
Camera: Better than the M8 in some circumstances, but worse low-light performance. Front camera not bad; uses same "Ultrapixel" architecture as M8 main camera.
Performance: Higher-end processor, should be quicker. Overheating issues.
Android version: Nougat

Which would you go for? I'm actually leaning towards the M8 a little, but the M9 is newer and has a more recent OS without resorting to custom ROMs.
 
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Has anyone here upgraded from an M8 to M9? Did you find the change worth it? How do you find the M9 battery life since the Nougat update?
 
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Unless you can find a brand new one battery life will be poor on both of them.

I'm not so sure about that. A friend of mine bought a secondhand M8 a year ago which wasn't in great cosmetic condition, and he can still regularly go two days between charges. I currently have a three-year-old Xperia Z3 which I bought secondhand around the same time and it has 80% battery right now, having taken it off charge this morning before work. I know that I'll only need to put it on charge tomorrow night, and even then that's more of a precaution. I'm not a power user though; I tend to check the news in the morning, WhatsApp and SMS occasionally throughout the day, the odd call here and there, and sometimes a bit of YouTube or Spotify. By the way, if you're wondering why I'm replacing the Z3, it's because part of the screen is now water damaged.
 
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My M9 battery is well and truly goosed after 2 years, I tried to avoid changing it overnight which did help but I kind of gave in after a while and now it'll be at around 40-50% by lunch time with moderate usage. Overheating is only an issue during games, during which it can get VERY hot!
 
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Does the M8 still suffer from the pink tint issue on the main camera? The M7 suffered it worse due to poor thermal shielding and I know the M8 improved on this but I do remember seeing some posts on it cropping up.

And the M9 well... to be fair, a lot of phones with the SD810 doesn't do well battery and thermal wise :p.

What's your budget? Nokia 6 looks like a decent phone around £200.
 
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none really, M8 was ace in its time but its too old now. M9 has issues, mainly overheating. If i really had to choose one i would get the M9 however, newer model android 7.0 etc. But i would really look for other devices
 
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Does the M8 still suffer from the pink tint issue on the main camera? The M7 suffered it worse due to poor thermal shielding and I know the M8 improved on this but I do remember seeing some posts on it cropping up.

And the M9 well... to be fair, a lot of phones with the SD810 doesn't do well battery and thermal wise :p.

What's your budget? Nokia 6 looks like a decent phone around £200.

I don't really want to spend much more than £100, but will if it makes sense. I got the HTC One M7 brand new when it first came out, and it was fantastic. I had it for over three years, and eventually replaced it with a secondhand Xperia Z3. I don't need a flagship these days. Just something responsive with a decent screen.

none really, M8 was ace in its time but its too old now. M9 has issues, mainly overheating. If i really had to choose one i would get the M9 however, newer model android 7.0 etc. But i would really look for other devices

The age doesn't bother me if it's fully working and offers a good user experience (ie. I'm not waiting for apps to respond, nor fighting with frustrating quirks). I'm just not interested in the latest and greatest any more. What would you suggest instead?

There is one new phone that caught my interest, and that is the Lenovo P2. There's a certain Chinese store that's selling it for around £170.
 
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Although not strictly scientific, I use my M8 every night in bed to listen to brown noise or music, all night, and using it in this manner I can still get 5 or 6 days between charges, so the battery *seems* to be holding up OK considering the age of the phone.

It is still quite 'snappy' to use as well, sometimes it feels as quick as my S7 Edge, and perhaps doesn't suffer the same random lag.

With all that being said, our only two M8 users in our office both handed their phones in broken in the last few months. One was bricked and the other one was with a failed battery.

Ultimately, if you can find a new phone for around that price it might be a better idea.
 
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I owned an M8 for a couple of years and it was one of the best phones I've ever had. Highly recommended. The absolute only downside imo, was that it was a bit too big for the average pocket. I much prefer it to my Huawei P9 though.
 
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