Get a grip, dump the aluminium
HTC has done an impressive job with their top-of-the-line phones since last year. The One M7 and One M8 models, made almost completely with aluminium, were works of both technology and art, and they gained recognition as the best phones of 2013 by many critics (and might this year too). Now, can their new One E8 climb its way towards the same rung of its big brother?
This HTC E8 phone is the M8 with a plastic body and replaces its questionable 3D-enabled 4 UltraPixel camera with a traditional 13MP camera.
Is the end result good? Yes.
Is it better than the M8, which is only 2,000 baht more? No.
The E8's screen is topnotch and just as good as the M8. You'll get a very crisp and vivid visual experience with its 5-inch, very responsive durable screen. I used to say in previous articles that anything bigger than a 4.7-inch screen is too big and I stick to that (though less strongly). Any 5-inch phones are just not easy to use with one hand. So, this phone may push you to operate it with both hands.
This phone feels very rubbery, thanks to its matted plastic body, and it also offers a good grip and doesn't easily slip from your hand, which is a welcome feature since nearly all high-end smart phones these days seem to be as slippery as eels. But the aluminium body of phones like the M7, M8 or iPhone 6 definitely feels a lot more solid (though they are more prone to "bend").
HTC still has the best frontal stereo speakers which blows all other competitors out of the water: both with volume and sound quality. If you often watch YouTube, play mobile games and share music with others, the E8 and M8 are your best bets. The speakers are so loud that it's almost like turning on a real radio set.
And, like most recent HTC phones, this one comes with HTC Sense 6, which is a very clean, minimalistic and stable Android variation. HTC chooses not to bombard you with dozens of applications and you are given only the essentials. If you don't know your way around the Android app store, this phone might not be the one for you (I would recommend a Samsung phone instead because they are loaded with applications).
Camera quality on HTC phones was not the company's strong point and that remains the case. Even though HTC offers an opt-out from their unconventional UltraPixel camera technology (the company claims the camera takes good pictures in low light) and does away with the more traditional 13MP camera, the clarity and quality of the photos is mediocre. The photo quality proves worse than what last year's HTC One M7 camera could achieve. Moving objects are blurry in most pictures and lowlight environments can be dreadful for photos. Though it takes decent photos in well-lit environments, I suggest you look somewhere else for a good digital camera replacement.
The battery will last just over a day, if you do only moderate gaming. It's not as good as the LG G3 and Samsung Galaxy S5 but it's still better than Apple's latest phones.
In general, this phone is very good. But since you can pay 2,000 baht more and get the M8 — a phone that looks identical to this one — which has a better camera and comes with a sleek aluminium body, I recommend getting that one instead.
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