Gadgetory

we've already reviewed HTC's 2014 flagship the one m8 the global Edition in great detail but the Verizon version arrived on our doorstep last week and we decided that since it has some differences both big and small it deserves a look of its own I'm Taylor Martin this is PocketNow and this is our video review of the one m8 for Verizon the Verizon model at least on the outside is no different from any other variant of the One m8 save for the Verizon emblem and the 4G LTE tramp stamps around back what you're dealing with is a newer more mature or tame incarnation of last year's one m7 visually they're very similar with matte spaces around back the dual boom sound speakers on the front and the tapered profile like before we have the brushed gunmetal gray model on hand but it also comes in glacial silver it feels rather hefty in the hand at 160 grams and it's dimensions are relatively large for a phone with a 5-inch display 146 point four millimeters tall 70 point six millimeters wide and nine point four millimeters at its thickest part but you won't find an Android phone that feels better or more premium and it's quite the looker there aren't many phones around that can compete with the m8 on an aesthetics level it's simply a beautiful sturdy impressive piece of kit and that holds true under the hood as well on the Verizon model you're looking at a 32 gigabyte model only with 128 gigabyte microSD card support two gigabytes of RAM a Snapdragon 801 with a quad-core Krait 400 CPU clocked at 2.3 gigahertz and an Adreno 330 GPU a 2600 milliamp hour battery rated at 271 hours of standby time and a 4.1 megapixel camera and 2 megapixel episodes are around back and a wide-angle front camera rated at 5 megapixels the core difference between this model and the global Edition is support for Verizon's LTE network and the SLC d3 display is as gorgeous as they come it's 5 diagonal inches with a 1080p resolution colors are vibrant viewing angles are great and it's super sharp blacks could be better especially when compared to OLED style displays but it's something most will never notice or care about just like last year it's beautiful however much of the increased display sizes lost to on-screen buttons though they often hide away when developers make use of KitKat's immersion mode the One m8 visually and from a hardware stance is one of the most impressive smartphones on the market no question above all it feels worthy of its $599 no contract price tag on Verizon the software version on this phone is also lagging behind the unlocked m8 Michel reviewed a few weeks ago thanks to Verizon's approval process for firmware updates it's still running KitKat 4.4.2 of course and it's packed with the latest iteration of since version 6.0 but this firmware version is missing the extreme power saving mode which basically trades all smartphone functions and the camera for up to two weeks of standby from a full charge we're pleased to see the visual enhancements made in this version of software since five was an improvement on the over encumbered cluttered and visually conflicted since four but it wasn't quite where it needed to be HTC has since lightened the since experience cut down even further on animations and flattened practically all UI elements it trimmed all the unnecessary fat away yet it still bears enough resemblance to previous versions to let you know since is certainly still alive and well but it's not packed with frivolous features only the stuff that will truly improve the user experience such as boomsound motion launch gestures for waking the device and a configurable quick settings page of course you can't forget blink feed which is also improved for a more in-depth look into the software features of the 1m a check out Michaels full review linked in the description below as for the Verizon edition it comes with its fair share of Verizon bloat accessories caller name ID Verizon cloud emergency alerts message Plus mobile hotspot Isis wallet plus six other verizon apps it also comes with some Amazon apps pre-installed Kindle Amazon mp3 app store and audible as well as slacker radio none of which can be uninstalled only reverted to the original version that shipped with the phone it can however hide and disable any apps you never want to use or update but that's an unfortunate half measure overall the software aspect of this phone is incredibly solid we actually found ourselves using blinkfeed this time around and were compelled to explore and use the software not get caught up on the shortcomings or unrefined elements because there truly aren't very many there is still some quirks with the sense copy-and-paste phone but we're truly pleased with since 6:00 on the One m8 performance is one of the highest points on the One m8 we have yet to slow the phone down through all the gaming and intense multitasking we can throw at it we won't dwell too much on benchmarks scored since HTC admitted to switching the phone into overdrive for certain benchmarking apps but just know it's performance is comparable to the best phones on the market heat dispersion continues to be a problem though in short spurts of heavy use the One m8 has the tendency to heat up pretty quickly when it does you might notice some battery drop off speaking of battery our experience with the One m8 from Verizon hasn't been quite as impressive as with the global variant we've managed to last an entire day on lighter usage but on most stage you can expect to end the day with very little or no juice left some instances of quick inexplicable drain occurred dropping as quickly as 20% in just two hours of standby and some days we needed to plug in mid day just to last into the night you'll likely manage to squeeze a full day of use from the One m8 but don't expect to go one day plus at least not until the extreme power saver update hits the multimedia experience on the One m8 is incredible thanks to the much-loved dual front-facing boom sound speakers they've been markedly improved over last year they're loud crisp virtually impossible to cover or muffle on accident of course they don't provide great low-end response but they are the best speakers you will find on a smart phone today if you're a gamer or like to watch videos and movies on your phone this is the phone you should be looking at that great audio carries over into call quality as well simply impressive as our Verizon's data speeds in the Charlotte metro and winston-salem areas of North Carolina we've peaked at 31 point 5 megabits per second down at about 5 megabits per second up those speeds aren't far from our average either the camera is of great debate however is for megapixels enough is the duo camera worth sacrificing optical image stabilization Michael and I posted some of our favorite pictures with one m8 so far last week and some of them are truly impressive will it take great pictures in all conditions no no smartphone will is it an improvement over the m7 s camera marginally can most live with it yes the color reproduction is superb in most scenarios the contrast is great but detail suffers due to the comparatively low resolution and noise and artefacts sneaked into even many bright photos with a vengeance it isn't the best smartphone camera to date and the highlight you focus feature only works a fraction at the time which makes it difficult to justify the duo camera over something like oh is but it will certainly do in all the One m8 on Verizon is a spectacle it looks and performs incredibly well it's currently the phone to beat but we'll have to wait and see how it holds up against other heavy hitters such as the Xperia z2 or the galaxy s5 but we do have a feeling the One m8 while not quite as bold as its predecessor will bring home its own share of awards for HTC we can't say whether it will be the savior for the struggling handset maker but it's certainly an impressive start to 2014 and one of the most well rounded balance smartphones on the market if you're looking for the best Verizon currently has to offer this is it for our full thoughts and final score check out our full review on pocket now folks that's going to do it for this review if you enjoyed it be sure to click the thumbs up button below to help us out and to let us know and of course subscribe to the channel to see more videos like this one in the future be sure to follow us in all the usual places twitter facebook and google+ at pocket now I'm Taylor Martin you can find me on Twitter at cast protect and I will see you next time