Gadgetory

these days it's known mainly for a marathon of metal monster phones but HTC knows not everyone is all about aluminum and accordingly it's released the HTC One e8 a polycarbonate version of its well-reviewed One m8 we've already compared the two and a head-to-head faceoff but how well does the one e8 fare all on its lonesome the answer in Pocket now is HTC One e8 review happening right now in our modern day cornucopia of high-end androids the e eights spec sheet does it proud its processor is almost as high-end as you can get backed up by plenty of RAM and powered by a decently sized battery now that battery is non-removable and the on-board storage is on the low side at 16 gigs but microSD expansion is available if you're big on storing a lot of media the e8 also packs a 5-inch 1080p IPS display that delivers a good combination of accurate colors solid pixel density and deeper blacks than you might expect from an LCD and it's flanked by too loud and bright boomsound speakers that outclass everything else on the market four regions where dual subscriber support is important there's a version of the e8 supporting multiple sims as well it's all wrapped up in a unibody polycarbonate casing that on our electric crimson demo device is thickly lacquered in gloss coat that certainly gives it an eye-catching flare but it picks up fingerprints and other smudges very easily and it's tough to wipe off when it does also it just doesn't feel like a high quality material in the hand it feels less substantial than 145 grams like a plastic phone from a lesser manufacturer fortunately there are matte finish variants available in other colors and there's also a fine sense of engineering expertise here check out the cleverly disguised volume rocker which almost seems to disappear into the phone casing while also providing a subtle flair to the microSD tray as always with HTC it's all about the details speaking of keys HTC is once again positioned its power standby button in the least accessible position but just as on the One m8 it doesn't really bother us too often because the e 8 supports motion gestures as well raise the phone and perform any number of directional taps on the screen to access different features or raise it and hit the volume key to fire up the camera it can be a little inconsistent but it definitely makes up for the far away lock button the 13 megapixel camera on the 1 e8 isn't one of the phone's high points yes it offers higher resolution than some of the company's other offerings but as we described in a written piece at pocket now the trade-off isn't worth it photos are typically washed out especially in shots featuring a lot of red which is sometimes totally without contrast sharpness is also variable across photos with images blurring slightly toward the edges possibly due to an inexpensive lens HDR effects are provided by HTC's typical haloed filter not the multiple exposures approach that gives true dynamic range and low-light shooting is not good either even the front-facing camera touted as wide-angle well isn't in our opinion the eh cameras aren't necessarily terrible but they're also not much good either here's a couple video samples shot at the max of 1080p fortunately for the e8 it does bring the same camera software as other modern HTC phones which means you get a capable and fun viewfinder and most importantly you get Zoey and Zoey highlights both of which help immeasurably in covering up the deficiencies of the camera hardware so if you're not a stickler for photo quality you could muddle through with the e8 just fine we've already talked a lot about Sense 6 HTC's Android interface in our One m8 review from the spring and not much has changed you've still got blink feed for quick social updates a modern and stylish interface design a great keyboard and very quick input response we did run into a few more app crashes than usual on the e8 but we tested the device using an HTC backup from our One m8 so we can't positively attribute that to the phone day-to-day performance is very good we had no trouble with reception or voice quality on att's cellular network in Greater Boston during our five-day review period and FM radio reception is also commendable outdoors though admittedly we do live in an urban area where that's not uncommon gaming as you might expect is outstanding on the Snapdragon 801 processor and the phone doesn't get as hot as it's metallic siblings which might play a part in the solid battery life we got this week the e8 isn't built for the US market so your mileage may vary but one day we were able to squeeze 17 hours of moderate use out of the phone before it petered out the e8 is not reinventing the wheel it's essentially a regional variation of the One m8 with a different casing dual SIM support and a mostly inferior camera as an alternative to its aluminum predecessor we don't think it's terribly attractive but as a lower-cost version of the same four markets where the m8 is priced prohibitively the e8 definitely has a place at the very least it brings much of the best of HTC to another price point and another region and that's definitely a good thing you