Gadgetory

time was if you wanted to get your paws on the slick aluminum of the HTC One m8 you had to commit yourself to an Android phone and if you were a Windows Phone lover with a predilection for the metallic you were out of luck well times as they say are a-changin as they say i'm michael fisher with pocket now and this is HTC One m8 versus HTC One m8 for Windows the hardware portion of this comparison is going to be brief so I'll use some of it to remind you to subscribe to pocket now here on YouTube if you like this kind of video go and follow us on social media too as we covered in our various unboxing and first impressions pieces the One m8 for Windows is physically identical to its Android counterpart outside and M that's at the windows Edition at least for now only comes in gunmetal gray so if you like the gold or silver trims you're out of luck here carrier availability is also a factor here in the States the windows Edition is for now exclusive to Verizon Wireless and while AT&T has announced its intention to carry the device as well timing on that release is not yet known some good news identical hardware means accessories like HTC's dot view case fit just as well on the windows device as they do on the Android one the software experience is almost the same - when it comes to the case a down swipe on the cover of the windows phone activates Cortana which is actually more useful than the HTC voice Tyler on the Android edition but the Windows Phone doesn't support the dot view wallpapers under the covers the core of this comparison is Windows Phone versus Android now we've had this discussion quite a bit before but every time we do a flagship comparison in my mind the choice between these platforms gets harder that's because each one is getting more capable every single day tick Windows Phone for example with version 8.1 1 the new one m8 brings Action Center for unified notifications a much smarter and faster Cortana than we saw in earlier versions and a home screen that's more customizable than ever before with folders and changeable backgrounds now if that sounds an awful lot like a feature list from Android circa 2009 that's valid you could say that Windows Phone has been playing feature catch-up with Android for a while and you wouldn't be wrong Microsoft has recently put Windows Phone through a needed but distracting philosophical shift giving Google the chance to polish an already robust set of capabilities in Android the result is a better experience than before on Windows Phone but one which feels a little rougher next to the more complete Android experience some of these differences are in the details lack of a notification LED on windows or lack of support for it anyway the inability to swipe away individual notifications or preview messages in the action center stuff like that other contrasts are more stark the Windows Store is more populated than ever before but we're still talking about a sizeable Gulf in apps and major titles that do exist on Windows Phone like Instagram and Twitter are often buggier less complete or slower to receive major updates then there's the hardware ecosystem if you care about wearables and other accessories Android is still the place to be these trends are changing but slowly so it's still an important consideration and as always buying a Windows Phone versus buying an Android phone is contingent on whether you spend more time on Microsoft services or Google's it's definitely possible to run Microsoft apps and services on Android or to sync a Google account with Windows Phone but obviously you're going to have a much better time of it if you don't go against the grain like that and in the States at least we still find some of Google's native offerings such as Maps superior to the Windows Phone counterparts but here too that gap is closing and your mileage will obviously vary depending on region okay that's platform stuff now what about specifics well to its credit HTC has tried to bring as much of the One m8 experience to Windows Phone as possible so if you love the social and news streaming app blinkfeed on android it's here for you on Windows Phone to complete with its own live tile boomsound software support still stands ready to blow your ears out on speakers and headphones HTC's Sense TV has been redesigned in the modern Microsoft design language so you can still channel surf and you still don't need to stretch your hand all the way up to the power button to unlock the phone a quick double tap on the screen will wake either one up the Android m8 supports a few more fancy gestures for specific functions but the windows m8 doesn't require you to move the phone first to enable those gestures so we'll call it a draw probably HTC's biggest software customization comes in the form of the camera viewfinder which it basically ported wholesale from the Android app if you know how to take a picture on the old one m8 you know how to do it here too most of the depth of focus tricks made possible by the phones duo camera are included in the HTC photo edit app and they work about as well as they do on Android to take that statement for what it's worth video highlights probably our favorite feature from the One m8 photography suite are also available through a separate app sadly you won't find any Zoey support here and dual capture is gone too but all in all this is an almost perfect port of functionality and the photo evidence bears that out whether that's a good or a bad thing depends on how much shooting you do in low-light vs. daylight and how much mileage you can get out of just four megapixels our Android review device may be on AT&T but it's confined to 3G because it's the global unlocked version speed comparisons against the 4G LTE Verizon Windows Phone are therefore completely useless and voice quality differences are almost totally network dependent for what it's worth callers said we sounded identical on each device though we noticed a slightly brighter crisper sound on the unlocked unit disparities that don't depend on the network are few there aren't as many gaming titles available on Windows Phone to really stretch its capabilities but it handled asphalt 8 just as well as its Android sibling even in max resolution mode with all the trimmings web surfing is equally matched to at least from a pure power perspective but I tend to prefer browsing on Google crow map to the less consistent less compatible Internet Explorer what about endurance well if you listen to HTC's spec sheet estimates it seems the Windows Phone version should last quite a bit longer on a single charge than the Android one despite the identical power packs while initial impressions are quite positive we'll need to gather more data before weighing in on this it's not often you get to see direct hardware ports across platforms like HTC has done here and it's equally uncommon to see so many software features ported over as well the Android powered when I made still strikes me as the more powerful version overall thanks to Google's ecosystem edge and the more polished Android OS but whether you agree with that judgment will depend on whose services you use more and how much customization you really need or want as for what the new One m8 means for Windows Phone and the smartphone landscape in general you'll have to wait for pocket now full review coming soon for now we'll just say that buying either of these devices means you're buying one of the best devices in its class regardless of which platform you prefer for more on the HTC One m8 in all of its flavours check out the videos here on YouTube and the HTC One m8 category at pocketnow.com until next time this has been michael fisher with PocketNow captain to phones on twitter thanks for watching stay smooth and we'll see you real soon you