I have a lot of respect for Phil, he's a nice guy, obviously knowledgeable, and in my few exchanges with him, I've found him to be nothing but an honest broker.
I respect his opinion, he has the chops and experience and doesn't speak out of his rear end.
He and I differ on what it means when we say final and we differ on the reference.
He gets insider access all the time for phones. For me, it's rare, I get access to parts.
His view is from rumor through release, further if it's one that interests him.
My view is on his reports as well as others but primarily what happens at the moment of release and onwards because I do a lot of device support here.
I refer to the final software as that chosen when the phone is actually shipped.
Phil is right about "final". Although he said what he meant, my choice of language is imprecise - my M8 is still getting updates. So final is a charged term.
In my experience, not just with HTC, I find that the truth is that a lot of last minute bug fixes go on since the time of news reports - and performance may change.
Sometimes it's for the better.
Sometimes they really bork a last minute bug fix and the as-shipped performance is much worse.
Sometimes, it's the same as the expectations set during this period before release.
Reread my comment, please.
I hope that my intention was clear - in my opinion, we don't know what the as-first-shipped software will do until it happens.
It's more of a "uh, meh" attitude rather than something clever or disagreeing because I don't know the future - neither does Phil.
We call what we see based on experience.
His experience, he's made his call.
My experience, too soon to call.
If Phil is right, great. Just proves what we already know, he's sharp. And I'll take it from there when the support questions hit, if I can.
If it changes - better or worse - then I still have no problem with Phil and I proved nothing. I don't think that me saying what amounts to, "Meh, don't count your chickens before they hatch," represents some great credibility or original thought on my part.
If you search my posts (and I think that isn't a great use of your time, I'm just saying that my track record is pretty open) then I think you'll find that I have consistently said during every device release I've helped on, whether I own the device or not, has been to tell people to not get discouraged, only take your phone back if the hardware is broken, they all rush delivery, and there's usually an important bug fix update in the first month with all of them.
I know I've said that often for Samsung, HTC and yes, even in support of Apple's new iOS releases in Lounge threads (and I'm not innocent in poking fun at Apple but fair is fair).
None of these companies are our friends and they ought to be held accountable by the people that buy their products. We have a right to value for our money.
I think that HTC does a lot wrong. Including the camera. I know that you feel the same about the Ultra Pixel camera being wrong. So do I but I think that they broke different things than you do.
I have my own concerns about the new M9 camera. Serious concerns. I've been lucky enough to talk to one of their camera design team members and I was able to successfully convey those concerns. I am hopeful based on the conversation that they may be addressed in a future update. If HTC management agrees. But no way in time for release, the conversation was too recent.
More than one reviewer is convinced that the camera issues shown so far cannot be fixed with software.
Perhaps they're right.
But my experience working with developers who really understand digital camera software and providing surprising fixes for crappy cameras says - don't count your chickens before they hatch.
A lot can be done with software.
My opinion is, take all prerelease comments - including mine - with a great big grain of salt and don't count your chickens before they hatch.
The proof is in the pudding. Not in what Phil says, or Anandtech says, or what Android Police says, or what Tech Radar says, or in what I say.
I trust one end-user's experience, coming to a forum and really talking about what they got, over everything else on the Internet.
Decades ago, I worked in a lab facility where the lab manager put up a sign that you couldn't not see before entering the facility -
One test is worth more than a thousand expert opinions.