HTC M8 User reviews - Thoughts on your device? Battery usage/life? -Issues/comments

I was skeptical on this phone at first. seems every year the "New" phone comes out and I am left wanting. This phone blows my freaking mind. I havent been this impressed since the original motorola droid came out. Battery with heavy streaming, signal hunting, and internet usage for my 9 hour work day came home with 60% battery life. Build quality on mine is good and the sound/multi media performance on it is extraordinary. It is IMHO a game changer. I was waiting months for the S5 to drop and after putting both side by side at the store there was no doubt this was the way to go.

sean76 said:

Today is the first day that I feel a slight drain. Nothing is really running and I went from 100% down to about 85% while the phone was mainly in standby

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That's because you should be in power saver mode. No need to have the processor chugging away if you aren't playing a video game. At work, I throw my phone into extreme power saver mode. You may lose 1% an hour, if that much.

Are you on a CDMA or GSM network? That plays a part in standby time as well. Phones on a CDMA network use a bit more power than those on a GSM network.

I love HTC phones running Android because the buyer is permitted to harness the power of their phone. Unlike Apple, they control every aspect of your experience because they don't think people are smart enough to not deplete the battery power in a phone. If you have a brain, you can figure out Android.

Tlicious1020 said:

That's because you should be in power saver mode. No need to have the processor chugging away if you aren't playing a video game. At work, I throw my phone into extreme power saver mode. You may lose 1% an hour, if that much.

Are you on a CDMA or GSM network? That plays a part in standby time as well. Phones on a CDMA network use a bit more power than those on a GSM network.

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At&t! yes gonna try power saving mode! You leave it on all day?

sean76 said:

At&t! yes gonna try power saving mode! You leave it on all day?

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When I'm at work where I don't have WiFi or 3G indoors I use extreme power saver. All I'm doing is texting my girlfriend. No need to have everything running in the background if that's all I'm doing. When I step outside my building I have access to LTE.

When I get home I turn extreme power saver mode off. If you don't feel like charging your phone while doing normal activities go into regular power saver mode. If you are playing a game I heard it's best to leave regular power saver mode off.

I like to unshackle my phone when I get home. So no power saver mode for this guy. See what works best for you my friend.

Tlicious1020 said:

When I'm at work where I don't have WiFi or 3G indoors I use extreme power saver. All I'm doing is texting my girlfriend. No need to have everything running in the background if that's all I'm doing. When I step outside my building I have access to LTE.

When I get home I turn extreme power saver mode off. If you don't feel like charging your phone while doing normal activities go into regular power saver mode. If you are playing a game I heard it's best to leave regular power saver mode off.

I like to unshackle my phone when I get home. So no power saver mode for this guy. See what works best for you my friend.

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I'll give it a try! I'm pretty much connected to WiFi pretty much all day.

sean76 said:

I'll give it a try! I'm pretty much connected to WiFi pretty much all day.

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Yeah, then definitely use regular power saver mode at work. Make sure you have the boxes checked for putting data to sleep when not in use and the box for CPU power.

Also, go to Settings... WiFi...Menu...Advanced. Make sure WiFi optimization is selected.

I run power saver all the time too.

kylecummins said:

I run power saver all the time too.

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Great idea. If you aren't playing games at work no need to let the CPU churn all day long like a Ferrari on the Autobahn in Gemany. Turn on power saver mode like you did and slow that CPU down.

Tlicious1020 said:

Nobody sees the SIM card. It's an easy fix and takes a minute to place a piece of tape over the SIM card and cut. If anyone had the M7, they encountered the problem. It's because you probably popped your SIM card tray out and it's not seated properly. That would be user error in my opinion. If the tape is on there the phone will always be able to read the card and you won't receive the error.

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More than a week after the HTC upgrade and so far no issue with the SIM card problem. Didn't try out using the tape as it is working fine now.

SolApathy said:

I never run power saver unless I am under 30% and know I am not going to be around a charger for a long time. There are just too many places to charge your phone and you can bring this phone back up to 50% in no time with a quick charge.

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I agree 100% Personally I think people get too caught up in how much battery they should have at any given moment. I completely understand that everyone has different needs and expectations though. I never really have to put on Power Saver as I plug in every night at bedtime. I actually don't understand why anyone who has the ability to plug in at night wouldn't. Maybe twice since owning this phone I have plugged it in to top it off after work before a night out. My real test of the battery life will be this weekend out at the Jazz Fest. The network will be taxed to it's limits and I will be taking a ton of pictures so I expect to kill the battery; Past phones were put into airplane mode and power saver mode by mid afternoon.

I'm consistently getting 30+ hours out of mine. Yesterday I watched some tv on it...read a couple books....started Cardio Trainer up and recorded a 26 mile bike ride...surfed...Pandora...email...Photos. 5pm now and i'm still at 40% battery.

I have had the M8 since a couple of days after release on Verizon.....so almost a month. I didn't want to give up my Galaxy Nexus because I love stock Android. I have to say, I have been impressed with this phone!!!! Sense 6 is actually pretty awesome, and not very intrusive. Verizon bloatware on the other hand.......

The battery life is more then adequate for me. I usually get 30+ hours per use. I do mostly wifi, but I am in some environments that have very low signal, but it doesn't effect my battery at all. I use to watch my Galaxy Nexus battery die in chunks in the same environment, getting maybe 10-12 hours before having to do a quick charge.

The M8 is super quick, responsive and has no lag. It's a beautifully made phone, and after a few days, you don't even notice the size anymore. The bezels.....they don't matter either. As for the camera......it's way better than the Galaxy Nexus' camera and it does what I need/want it to do. I have a camera for taking more " professional " photos. The most important thing to me......phone call quality. It is clear, loud and using the speaker phone while in a car, I can hear the other person clearly, and they can hear me.

As always, a phone is a personal choice, and I am happy with mine. I would recommend it to all my friends, and if you have one.....enjoy!!!!

Ravenwjf said:

I have had the M8 since a couple of days after release on Verizon.....so almost a month. I didn't want to give up my Galaxy Nexus because I love stock Android. I have to say, I have been impressed with this phone!!!! Sense 6 is actually pretty awesome, and not very intrusive. Verizon bloatware on the other hand.......

The battery life is more then adequate for me. I usually get 30+ hours per use. I do mostly wifi, but I am in some environments that have very low signal, but it doesn't effect my battery at all. I use to watch my Galaxy Nexus battery die in chunks in the same environment, getting maybe 10-12 hours before having to do a quick charge.

The M8 is super quick, responsive and has no lag. It's a beautifully made phone, and after a few days, you don't even notice the size anymore. The bezels.....they don't matter either. As for the camera......it's way better than the Galaxy Nexus' camera and it does what I need/want it to do. I have a camera for taking more " professional " photos. The most important thing to me......phone call quality. It is clear, loud and using the speaker phone while in a car, I can hear the other person clearly, and they can hear me.

As always, a phone is a personal choice, and I am happy with mine. I would recommend it to all my friends, and if you have one.....enjoy!!!!

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Great outlook on a pretty awesome phone!

Ravenwjf said:

I have had the M8 since a couple of days after release on Verizon.....so almost a month. I didn't want to give up my Galaxy Nexus because I love stock Android. I have to say, I have been impressed with this phone!!!! Sense 6 is actually pretty awesome, and not very intrusive. Verizon bloatware on the other hand.......

The battery life is more then adequate for me. I usually get 30+ hours per use. I do mostly wifi, but I am in some environments that have very low signal, but it doesn't effect my battery at all. I use to watch my Galaxy Nexus battery die in chunks in the same environment, getting maybe 10-12 hours before having to do a quick charge.

The M8 is super quick, responsive and has no lag. It's a beautifully made phone, and after a few days, you don't even notice the size anymore. The bezels.....they don't matter either. As for the camera......it's way better than the Galaxy Nexus' camera and it does what I need/want it to do. I have a camera for taking more " professional " photos. The most important thing to me......phone call quality. It is clear, loud and using the speaker phone while in a car, I can hear the other person clearly, and they can hear me.

As always, a phone is a personal choice, and I am happy with mine. I would recommend it to all my friends, and if you have one.....enjoy!!!!

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I currently have a Galaxy Nexus and am going to upgrade to the HTC One M8 this Friday when I'm eligible. I've had the 4G turned off on my Nexus forever since it would just overheat and drain the battery needlessly as with the Wifi at home or at the office I don't really need it. I love the screen on my nexus but I'm ready to move on from Samsung as my last two phones have been the Fascinate and Nexus and I'm a bit over the plasticky feel and so-so cell phone reception. I think the phone call quality, as you pointed out, will be a nice upgrade because it is still a phone above all else. Fortunately I live in NJ where Verizon is headquartered so I generally get good reception everywhere.

I'll post my thoughts this weekend after I pick it up on Friday.

My previous phone (Galaxy Note 2) was getting old, it didn't have 4G, and it was a bit too large for me. So I went for the HTC One M8, and I have no regrets.

What I like

1. Battery life. The Note 2 was just awesome, it could last all day under heavy usage, with up to 30% left when I went to bed and put it on the charger. The HTC One M8 has a smaller battery, so I was a bit sceptical. But the more efficient CPU allows me to have the same autonomy, so I'm happy with the battery.

2. Boomsound speakers. It's hard to describe how well these sound. They fill an entire room and even have some bass to them. I just cannot understand why other manufacturers keep placing their speaker (often just one) on the back or the bottom of the device.

3. The display. I was surprised to see how deep the blacks are. The viewing angles are great, the color reproduction is very realistic, and it's very easy to read outside, even in bright sunlight.

4. Build quality. Just great. The phone feels premium, it looks awesome. For me, it's the most beautiful smartphone on the planet.

5. Micro SD card slot. Google wants us to move away from these, and I thank HTC for not following Google.

6. Camera. Despite it has a lower resolution, it takes great shots, even in low light conditions. The camera software is easy to use and has lots of great options.

What I don't like

1. Blinkfeed and other bloatware. Some people will love the added bloatware, but I don't, and I wish there was an easy way (without rooting) to completely remove it. Guess I'll be rooting this baby very soon.

2. Gestures implementation. I love the double-tap to switch on the screen, but I hate the swipe gestures. We should be able to select just the gestures we want to use, instead of having just one "on-off" setting for all of them.

Conclusion: A great, really "premium" phone with a good battery, awesome audio, and a good camera.

By the way, I have the unlocked 'carrier free' 16 GB version.

A tad confused. If you are rocking a carrier free phone, then why do you have bloatware? And you can disable blinkfeed

Depends what you call bloatware I guess. I regard Stocks, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter as bloat, others will have their own list.

Just disable stuff you don't want. You wouldn't gain space by uninstalling it, so it's practically the same.

Hadron said:

Depends what you call bloatware I guess. I regard Stocks, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter as bloat, others will have their own list.

Just disable stuff you don't want. You wouldn't gain space by uninstalling it, so it's practically the same.

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I'm in the same camp as you.If it's non-SENSE,IT'S NONSENSE..........

Agreed on all points

It's almost certain that you'll be able to find the appropriate pre-paid SIMs at the airport. I bought a pre-paid O2 SIM as soon as I arrived at Heathrow last year, and put it in the China Mobile cheapo KIRF Galaxy Note I was using at the time. Pre-paid SIMs should already have various press-out sizes, including nano.