Yep, picked up the WP Flagship M8, and here is why....

[snowmutt]

I was rolling with a Lumia 920. Nothing really wrong with it, but nothing really stood out either. I was aching for something new, and needed a shot in my tech life, so I got the "OK" from my boss (the wife, of course) and began the fun part: What to get??

The Lumia 830 was a possible contender, but I just wasn't sold. The weaker internals made it seem a tad underwhelming and I wanted something more than just a mid-range effort. I show off my WP, so a better device was needed.

That made the decision a 2 horse race: the M8 or the L1520. I had tried to talk myself into the 1520 several times. That 6" screen was a huge problem for me (pun always intended), but I was ready to take the plunge. I figured I would give the M8 a look-see, live with the thought for a day or two, then the better support from MS would win out.

I had the HTC Titan 2, and my wife the original Titan. Honestly, you could go back to those devices threads and see the problems. I won't go into them, but all were fixable with some software support which never came. I had friends with Android HTCs, and they were left high and dry as well. But HTC has been trying to reinvent themselves, and I liked the M8's looks. So, I gave it a shot...

....and the boxes on my wishlist started getting checked off. Great, detailed screen? Love the screen on this. It has enough detail to enjoy web-text as well as little items on pictures. Great audio? I am a HUGE podcast listener and have an XBOX Music subscription, and the better audio just really sold itself. (I will say with earbuds in, the L1520 sounded just as good. It is the speakers only that offer a huge advantage.) Managable size? Check. Eye pleasing design? Check. Up to date specs? Oh yeah, double check.

It was a tad faster than the L1520 in opening tasks. It had GREAT call quality, and was way more pleasing to use as a phone. It was comfortable to handle and carry. As for the camera, I am not that much of a photo guy. For me, I want three things: Auto focus to work quick, shutter speed to be fast, and the flash to not wash things out. Check, check, check. Actually, the shutter speed dusts the L1520, although I know the L1520 is better in every other area of the camera. I just do not care- I am not a shutterbug.

Now comes the wild card- because it is a HTC One M8, the accessories are everywhere. All kinds of options. I like that. Also, throw in one more advantage in my world: Choice. I want HTC, Samsung, and LG in the game. I want WPs from them. The only way that happens is to support them. I will say I really wanted a Samsung ATIV SE, but leaving AT&T was not an option. So....

I am a HTC M8 Windows owner. I like it more and more as I use it. I will see how it holds up, and have given HTC one more chance to support me. I bought this out of pocket which shows how impressed I was because the L1520's are much easier to find cheap than the HTC One is, especially for AT&T. I will give a pro's/ con's in a few weeks. But for now? I am having a blast with my new toy.

 

[Laura Knotek]

Did you get a Dot View case? If so, what colour did you get?

 

[Muessig]

What I'm curious about is how you got the phone - did you get in online or did you walk into an AT&T store? I'm curious if the salesperson tried to convince you that a different phone was the way to go or whether they just let you have the M8?

 

[snowmutt]

Did you get a Dot View case? If so, what colour did you get?

Nah... I am WAY harder on my phones than that. Got an Otter Box Commuter series. It is silver/blue, if you must know. I am all kinds of fashionable...

 

[snowmutt]

What I'm curious about is how you got the phone - did you get in online or did you walk into an AT&T store? I'm curious if the salesperson tried to convince you that a different phone was the way to go or whether they just let you have the M8?

Actually got it through HTC's website during their New Years "QUICK!! PUT EVERYTHING ON SALE BECAUSE NEXT YEARS STUFF IS COMING!!" Sale. Saved some cash.

But I did go to three different AT&T stores (Champaign IL, Hudson Florida and Largo Florida) to play with it during November/December, and I had nothing but great sales experiences. All three stores were well knowledged in WP. The only one that tried to talk me into something else was in Hudson, where the salesman pushed the L830 on me!!

:grincry:

 

[Laura Knotek]

Nah... I am WAY harder on my phones than that. Got an Otter Box Commuter series. It is silver/blue, if you must know. I am all kinds of fashionable...

You're more fashionable than me! My Otterboxes have always been black/grey.

 

[aximtreo]

I just sold my M8 and bought the 1520.3 solely for the ahemm 6" screen and the Qi charging. Does the AT&T M8 come with wireless charging? The Big Red version did not.

 

[snowmutt]

I just sold my M8 and bought the 1520.3 solely for the ahemm 6" screen and the Qi charging. Does the AT&T M8 come with wireless charging? The Big Red version did not.

Nah..... we are barely cool enough to get the M8, much less one with wireless charging.

 

[waazzupppp]

There's actually a pretty good reason for the M8 NOT to have wireless... Aluminum is not conductive. The entire back of the phone is a solid piece of aluminum. Getting a current to pass through that would be almost impossible. That means you would either have to drill the case to put holes in it for something that would be conductive or you would have to use a case style that plugs into the USB port. HTC didn't want to go that route, so they left it off. It does make perfect sense.

I totally missed it at first and even tried a few options at Amazon for third party Qi adapters for it... Don't bother, they don't work well and I usually ended up with the 'insufficient power to charge device' warnings popping up.

I love the thought that you put in to getting your M8 and say kudos! I know all the talk of if/when/will it be updated is crazy, but just enjoy 8.1 on it and make sure to play with the Duo Cam!

 

[DrRyder]

Actually got it through HTC's website during their New Years "QUICK!! PUT EVERYTHING ON SALE BECAUSE NEXT YEARS STUFF IS COMING!!" Sale. Saved some cash.

But I did go to three different AT&T stores (Champaign IL, Hudson Florida and Largo Florida) to play with it during November/December, and I had nothing but great sales experiences. All three stores were well knowledged in WP. The only one that tried to talk me into something else was in Hudson, where the salesman pushed the L830 on me!!

:grincry:

Lol I live in Hudson and bought my HTC One M8 for Windows at the Port Richey store right by Wal-Mart. They didnt try to talk me out of it. Told them that's what I wanted and that's what I got. Loved it ever since and got my free Xbox Dot View case.

 

[bmetelsky]

Enjoy your M8! I've had mine since just before Christmas and love it.

 

[Mallguvner]

That phone grows on you... When I notice something not working like I was used to maybe once a week I just reboot it. I do the same thing to the Apple 6 plus so I kind of think an occasional reboot does these things well...

MG.

 

[fatclue_98]

You're more fashionable than me! My Otterboxes have always been black/grey.

You're just a wild woman!! God help Cleveland!!!

 

[bmetelsky]

Laura, are you a Clevelander? I'm in Elyria but worked in Pepper Pike for the last 15 years.

 

[Keith Wallace]

Glad you got something you liked. I'm on an AT&T 920 as well, and have been wanting to upgrade since summer 2013, as Next would have allowed it. I considered the 1520, but I was expecting that after 2 years, a 920 successor would come to AT&T. Of course, that never came, and it's to the point where I'm just beaten into apathy by a lack of selection. Like you, I couldn't bring myself to "upgrade" to a device with internals inferior to my 2012 device. Like you, I couldn't bring myself to get a 1520 because of the size (I keep my phone in a pocket that's basically the perfect size for a 920/930, but WAY too small for a 1520).

However, the One (M8) is the worst of them all, to me. I had a single Android device, and HTC Droid Incredible. The lack of updates (1 in 2 years) was irritating when the music player (easily my most-used application) was unstable. The bigger issue, though, is that the One is the epitome of why I hated Microsoft's removal of hardware requirements. It's a disgusting compromise that feels like and abomination to me. I'm not a photo person much, but the existence of the camera button has me taking WAY more pictures because of the convenience. Losing that on the One (M8) is a killer in and of itself. The other part is that while they claim a 5" display, users don't get the off-screen buttons (which I like), meaning you lose real estate to those navigation buttons, which I hate. The end result is that it just looks and feels like an Android phone, and when you put that with HTC's spotty support record, the lack of Lumia firmware, and the horrid camera the One (M8) supposedly has, I just ended up sitting with my 920 and complaining about the lack of options.

Still, if you like it, that's a good thing. Choice is almost always good, because it seems that while HTC released a Frankenstein's Monster of a device, it's still more than what Microsoft put on AT&T last year.

 

[DrRyder]

Hardware wise, the One M8 is a very nice phone. Fast cpu, lots of RAM and lots of storage

I agree that a lack of a camera button is inconvenient for those shutterbugs and having to navigate to the HTC Camera just takes more time. The Duo Camera that does take nice enough photos for me will never compare to a Lumia. I moved from a Lumia 1020 to my M8. I needed something faster and the 1020 was just dated as far as specs go.

As for updates, they work a bit different than Android. I'm on the Developer Preview and have installed maybe 2-3 updates on my phone since I bought it from AT&T.

The navigation buttons being on screen don't bother me. I think they're quite nice and it's cool to make them match the accent color chosen in settings. However you can hide the navigation bar manually by clicking a little arrow on the left (if you have that set) or by having it set to auto hide so you can get some of that real estate back, especially during full-screen apps like Netflix, games, etc.

Is the One M8 for Windows a perfect phone? Absolutely not. But, for me, it's all-around better than my 1020 considering the pros and cons of each device. I would like a better camera, but I cant complain as long as I can take photos and the front-facing camera is better than the 1020's.

The all-metal body is also nice too for those hard on their phones and I love the Dot View cases. Very retro and unique.

To each his own, of course. I hope AT&T will push out some newer devices worthy of upgrading to. I wanted to wait for a 1020 successor but it just wasn't happening and the M8 was something I wanted since I found out about it.

 

[snowmutt]

However, the One (M8) is the worst of them all, to me. I had a single Android device, and HTC Droid Incredible. The lack of updates (1 in 2 years) was irritating when the music player (easily my most-used application) was unstable. The bigger issue, though, is that the One is the epitome of why I hated Microsoft's removal of hardware requirements. It's a disgusting compromise that feels like and abomination to me. I'm not a photo person much, but the existence of the camera button has me taking WAY more pictures because of the convenience. Losing that on the One (M8) is a killer in and of itself. The other part is that while they claim a 5" display, users don't get the off-screen buttons (which I like), meaning you lose real estate to those navigation buttons, which I hate. The end result is that it just looks and feels like an Android phone, and when you put that with HTC's spotty support record, the lack of Lumia firmware, and the horrid camera the One (M8) supposedly has, I just ended up sitting with my 920 and complaining about the lack of options.

Still, if you like it, that's a good thing. Choice is almost always good, because it seems that while HTC released a Frankenstein's Monster of a device, it's still more than what Microsoft put on AT&T last year.

Trust me... your experience with HTC is not unique. They have a history of leaving users high and dry, which I mentioned about their Androids I had second hand experience with and the Titan we owned.

I am as surprised as anyone I got this bad boy. Trust me ... the device sold me, not the company. I am rolling with the knowledge I may be left high and dry. But my fingers are crossed that this is a new, improved HTC era.

 

[snowmutt]

Hardware wise, the One M8 is a very nice phone. Fast cpu, lots of RAM and lots of storage

I agree that a lack of a camera button is inconvenient for those shutterbugs and having to navigate to the HTC Camera just takes more time. The Duo Camera that does take nice enough photos for me will never compare to a Lumia. I moved from a Lumia 1020 to my M8. I needed something faster and the 1020 was just dated as far as specs go.

As for updates, they work a bit different than Android. I'm on the Developer Preview and have installed maybe 2-3 updates on my phone since I bought it from AT&T.

The navigation buttons being on screen don't bother me. I think they're quite nice and it's cool to make them match the accent color chosen in settings. However you can hide the navigation bar manually by clicking a little arrow on the left (if you have that set) or by having it set to auto hide so you can get some of that real estate back, especially during full-screen apps like Netflix, games, etc.

Is the One M8 for Windows a perfect phone? Absolutely not. But, for me, it's all-around better than my 1020 considering the pros and cons of each device. I would like a better camera, but I cant complain as long as I can take photos and the front-facing camera is better than the 1020's.

The all-metal body is also nice too for those hard on their phones and I love the Dot View cases. Very retro and unique.

To each his own, of course. I hope AT&T will push out some newer devices worthy of upgrading to. I wanted to wait for a 1020 successor but it just wasn't happening and the M8 was something I wanted since I found out about it.

I agree with about everything you typed!!

2 things I have to say I have missed more than I thought I would: The physical camera button and the Glance. Glance was simply because my phone is my watch, and having the time without waking the phone up was super handy. The physical button for the camera is handy when something starts happening right in front of you as you are using the phone for something else or if the phone is off. Being able to just hit that button and you are right there is way better than having to back out to the menu and slid to the camera icon.

Otherwise, I like it so far. I dig the onscreen keys. Being able to remove them and bring them back up makes way more sense to me than capacitive keys taking up real estate. It is as quick as a hiccup, and I was watching the "Agent Carter" premier on my Watch ABC app, and the sound was really good. Just a good time.

Love the large selection of cases and accessories as well. It having a fraternal twin that is an Android has its advantages.

 

[Mike Majeski]

Laura, are you a Clevelander? I'm in Elyria but worked in Pepper Pike for the last 15 years.��

Lakewood here! Perhaps that one lady should have said "Everybody in Cleveland got Windows Phone!"

 

[mj0]

Trust me... your experience with HTC is not unique. They have a history of leaving users high and dry, which I mentioned about their Androids I had second hand experience with and the Titan we owned.

I am as surprised as anyone I got this bad boy. Trust me ... the device sold me, not the company. I am rolling with the knowledge I may be left high and dry. But my fingers are crossed that this is a new, improved HTC era.

Good luck with that. I gave up on HTC for good after one of those infamous high & dry situations. That company does not deserve my money, and I'd rather burn it than hand over one more dime to HTC.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.