HTC have released their sleekest, most impressive phone to date in the HTC One M8. In our view, it’s a contender for the hottest phone on the Android market in 2014. Design updates mean there are echoes of Apple’s superbly successful metal / glass design and, therefore, potentially, a gateway device for Apple users who are thinking about coming over to the Android side.
What’s different from Apple, of course, is HTC’s use of Android. And some of the best things about this HTC phone come from the software features of the 2014 HTC One M8, enabled with Android. Specifically, here’s what we mean.
The HTC One 8 runs Android Kitkat 4.4.2
For starters, the HTC One M8 is running Android 4.4.2, also known as KitKat. On top of that, HTC have put their own software, HTC Sense.
KitKat provides a clean, clear layout for the HTC One M8, plus a bunch of nifty features like better integration with Google search. The latest version of Android also leads to faster performance speed for your phone.
Sense improvements include the ability to open the camera app just by raising your phone to your face, the ability to mute it by flipping it over, plus the ability to answer the phone and operate it using a variety of voice commands.
Navigation using HTC sense is clear and uncluttered. Finding apps seems to be much easier since they went back to brass tacks last year and started again with the user interface, removing a lot of the bloat they’d included previously.
Most of HTC’s installed apps are as good as any available in the Google Play store. The native music app also provides interactive lyrics, visual themes and background effects. It integrates with Google products, including, like all Android phones, the access to Google Play, which means that you can have any app that’s available on the Google Play marketplace. HTC also include a couple of useful components that clearly worked for them in the 2013 HTC One model.
Blinkfeed
Love it or hate it, there are many people on both sides, Blinkfeed will aggregate content you like from multiple sources ( e.g. Social feeds, news feeds etc. ) With a little playing, you can personalize it to include all the stuff you like and none of the stuff you don’t.
Personally, I get a lot from it although friends who have last year’s model described feeling frustrated by how hard it was to get rid of this feature when they didn’t like it.
Summary of the HTC One M8 software
If you’re looking for the best Android phone on the market today, there are many who would argue that the HTC One M8 is the answer. Some argue that this phone is superior to even the newest Samsung and Apple offering. HTC’s software is a key positive differentiator for them.
I’m one of the people who love it.