New Delhi, August 12 -How does one make the most expensive and beautifully crafted smartphone of the generation cheaper and yet look fashionable? That is the basic problem HTC is trying to tackle with the One (E8).
HTC says the device has the engine of the One (M8), but in a cheaper, and yet attractive, polycarbonate chassis. Does this work? We find out.
Look and Feel:
From a distance, the E8 looks like its brother. Essentially, they are twins, but like twins they have different personalities. A closer look reveals the most distinct difference between the two – the plastic unibody chassis on the E8.
Fortunately, the plastic HTC has used for the E8 is very good. It is sturdy and feels tough. The E8 is available in glossy white finish or matte black finish. We tested the black version, which has a comfortable rubbery feel to it on the back.
With the E8, HTC addresses one of the biggest design problems of the M8 – its slippery nature and susceptibility of metal to small scratches and dents. The E8 is easy to hold because of an exaggerated curve on the back and the matte version does not get scratched easily. This should help the phone age better.
Camera is another big difference. The dual camera setup makes way for a standard 13-megapixel camera. The lens assembly has a bronze-coloured ring around it, which looks really nice. Beneath the back there is a 2,600mAh battery, which is not removable.
Like the M8, the E8 is a tall device because of the BoomSound speakers, placed on the top and the bottom of the screen. With the thickness of 9.9mm, it is also chubbier than the M8. It weighs 145 grams. One handed usage of the phone, just the way it is on most modern Android phones, is limited at best.
One design related problem in E8 is the placement of the power button. It is in the middle of the top side and hard to reach if a user is using the phone with one hand. The nano SIM tray, which supports two SIM cards, is on the left and the microSD tray, which supports cards up to 128GB, is on the right along with the volume rockers.
Screen Quality:
Like the One (M8), the highlight of the E8 is its 5-inch display with 1920 x 1080 pixels resolution. It is stunningly bright, with fantastic viewing angles and rich colours. Basically, E8 has the same display that M8 sports. And this is the best smartphone display in the market.
If you are very particular about how colours look on the E8 display, you may notice that some shades of white tend to look a little bleached. But that is a minor issue. More noteworthy is how well the E8 display holds when the phone is used under direct sunlight, allowing users to browse or even read an article or two on a webpage with ease.
Camera:
The biggest weakness of the One (M8) was its 4-megapixel UltraPixel rear camera and its depth sensor. We found it gimmicky and weak in terms of resolution. On the E8, there is a standard 13-megapixel rear camera with a LED flash.
Unfortunately, in terms of camera performance, there is no improvement. The camera in the E8 is average at best in normal lighting, though its high resolution retains good amount of detail.
The E8 camera also suffers from a strange white balance issue. Depending on the light, often the camera fails to apply appropriate white balance and clicks overly saturated and warm images.
It looks like a software bug in the stock camera app because when we tested the phone using the Google camera app, the white balance was better. Turning on spot metering also improves images. That said, the E8 is great at macro shots. It focuses quickly and captures images that have lots of details.
In low-light, the performance is below average. Unlike the dual-tone flash found on some other phones, the E8 has a standard flash that results in overexposed images.
For video, the E8 shoots decent 1080P video and captures great audio. On the front, there is a good 5-megapixel camera for taking selfies. The camera controls on the stock app are simple and easy to use. If you like to fiddle with settings to get the maximum out of the camera, you will be pleased to find that the HTC camera app offers ample settings to tweak.
Software:
Running Android 4.4.2 KitKat with Sense 6, the E8 offers a clean experience and hassle-free experience. The software is well optimised and there are no performance issues that may result in lag on the phone. Features like BlinkFeed offer additional functionality to users.
There are nice touches all over the system like a Car mode, a custom music player which offers good visuals and pulls lyrics and song details from the internet and HTC Zoe.
The BoomSound software based optimisation works well for users who like bass heavy music, but for anything else we found it to be overkill. We would have liked a standard equaliser and we missed the ability to control the sound and tune it to our liking. We also found that the stock internet browser bundled with HTC Sense 6 worked better than Google Chrome.
Hardware:
The E8 has the hardware that is similar to what is inside the One (M8). In other words, the E8 is a performance powerhouse. It is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor clocked at 2.5GHz and 2GB of RAM. It has 16GB of internal memory and, as we noted earlier, support for up to 128GB microSD cards.
The stellar hardware in the E8 enables the device to handle workloads with ease. Whether you are browsing websites, playing games or watching high-definition videos the E8 handles it all without any trouble. We played games like Dead Trigger 2 and ShadowGun on the phone and did not face any issues related to dropped frame rates.
The quality of sound is stellar thanks to the massive BoomSound speakers. HTC uses the speakers with a dedicated amp and when a headphone is not plugged in then it is always on.
Battery life and Network performance:
The E8 lasts a day with heavy usage. If you are frugal with your usage, you can get around a day and half of battery life with the E8. It also has the battery saver mode which can make the phone last for a few hours with just 10 per cent of battery. This mode shuts down most functions of the phone and keeps only essentials activated like the phone, messages, and email.
In our usage we made around 2 hours of calls, streamed a lot of music, had two email accounts and few social media accounts open, clicked 15-20 photos and browsed the web. We managed around 14-15 hours of battery life.
Using a Vodafone SIM we never faced dropped calls. Also, the call quality was first class. Though the E8 supports two Sim cards, 3G is available only on the first SIM. The device doesn’t support LTE in India.
Notably, it is also a world phone as it supports GSM and WDCMA networks. This means it will be a great option for people who travel abroad. Not many phones support such kind of capability and this could be the E8’s hidden trump card.
Final Thoughts:
At Rs 34,990, the One E8 offers a lot. It has great hardware, great design and great software. The One (M8) is superior, but due to the lower price, the E8 offers incredible value.
However, it is not without flaws. If a great camera is a must, then the E8 will disappoint users as its rear shooter is average at best. But except the camera part, the E8 manages to get everything else right. The screen is fantastic, design is elegant, speakers sound loud and clear, has world phone capability, and performance is top notch. Overall, the phones offers polished Android experience and is worth its price.
Design – 8/10
Display – 9/10
Camera – 6/10
Software – 8/10
Hardware – 9/10
Battery – 8/10
Call quality – 9/10
Value – 7/10
-INDIA TODAY
