The HTC One (M8) Review
by Anand Lal Shimpi & Joshua Ho on March 26, 2014 7:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- HTC
- Mobile
- HTC One
Snapdragon 801 Performance
The M8 is the first smartphone we’ve tested to use Qualcomm’s newly announced Snapdragon 801 SoC. At a high level the 801 is a frequency bump enabled by a 28nm HPm process push, giving it a tangible increase in performance (and potential decrease in power consumption) compared to the outgoing Snapdragon 800. The table below compares the 801 variants to the Snapdragon 800:
| Snapdragon 800/801 Breakdown | ||||||||||
| SoC Version | Model | Max CPU Frequency | Max GPU Frequency | ISP | eMMC | DSDA | Memory IF | |||
| MSM8974VV | v2 | S800 | 2.2GHz | 450MHz | 320MHz | 4.5 | N | 800MHz | ||
| MSM8974AA | v2 | S800 | 2.3GHz | 450MHz | 320MHz | 4.5 | N | 800MHz | ||
| MSM8974AB | v2 | S800 | 2.3GHz | 550MHz | 320MHz | 4.5 | N | 933MHz | ||
| MSM8974AA | v3 | S801 | 2.3GHz | 450MHz | 320MHz | 5.0 | Y | 800MHz | ||
| MSM8974AB | v3 | S801 | 2.3GHz | 578MHz | 465MHz | 5.0 | Y | 933MHz | ||
| MSM8974AC | v3 | S801 | 2.5GHz | 578MHz | 465MHz | 5.0 | Y | 933MHz | ||
In most parts of the world the M8 will ship with a 2.3GHz Snapdragon 801. In Asia/China however we’ll see the 2.5GHz MSM8974AC v3 SKU instead.
Compared to the outgoing Snapdragon 800, peak CPU performance shouldn’t increase all that much. What we may see however is an improvement in power efficiency thanks to the improved 28nm HPm process.
It’s really the GPU that will see the largest increase in performance. With a maximum speed of 578MHz and paired with faster LPDDR3-1866 memory, we should see up to a 30% increase in GPU bound performance over Snapdragon 800 designs.
- Physics
| Snapdragon 801 vs 800 vs 600 | |||||||
| HTC One (M8) - Snapdragon 801 | Google Nexus 5 - Snapdragon 800 | HTC One (M7) - Snapdragon 600 | 801 vs 800 | 801 vs 600 | |||
| SunSpider 1.0.2 | 772.8 ms | 686.9 ms | 1234.8 ms | -12% | +37% | ||
| Kraken Benchmark 1.1 | 6745.2 ms | 7245.9 ms | 12166.5 ms | +7.4% | +45% | ||
| Google Octane v2 | 4316 | 3726 | 3103 | +16% | +39% | ||
| WebXPRT Overall | 373 | 392 | 244 | -5% | +53% | ||
| AndEBench - Native | 17430 | 17480 | 12381 | -1% | +41% | ||
| 3DMark 1.1 Ultimate | 19631 | 17529 | 10519 | +12% | +87% | ||
| 3DMark 1.1 Ultimate - Physics | 50.5 | 51 | 33.1 | -1% | +53% | ||
| Basemark X 1.1 - HQ | 12194 | 11275 | 4807 | +8.1% | +154% | ||
| GFXBench 3.0 - Manhattan Onscreen | 11.1 fps | 9.3 fps | 5.1 fps | +19% | +118% | ||
| GFXBench 3.0 - Manhattan Offscreen | 10.4 fps | 8.7 fps | 4.4 fps | +20% | +136% | ||
| GFXBench 3.0 - T-Rex HD Onscreen | 29.9 fps | 24.3 fps | 12.6 fps | +23% | +137% | ||
| GFXBench 3.0 - T-Rex HD Offscreen | 27.9 fps | 22.9 fps | 12.6 fps | +22% | +121% | ||
CPU Performance
GPU Performance
NAND Performance
The One is available in either 16GB or 32GB configurations, there are no higher capacity versions offered. There is now a micro SD card slot on the right side of the device, just above the volume rocker.
Despite using a Snapdragon 801 SoC, the internal storage is still an eMMC 4.5 solution.
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tipoo - Wednesday, March 26, 2014 - link
I'm dying at the mustachioed Anand and the punk hat.bj_murphy - Thursday, March 27, 2014 - link
Yeah me too, that was my favourite part of the review, hands down!tzhu07 - Thursday, March 27, 2014 - link
HTC has a real-time 3D model of the M8. Pretty cool.https://skfb.ly/yvMN
skingtech - Tuesday, April 15, 2014 - link
This article helps convince me to go Samsung Galaxy S5 for sure. The M8 has a nice feature set - better built in sound and nicer look but, Samsung has better display, better camera, and comparable if not faster everything else (I don't know about you but, I put a case on my phone - the look of the device should be the LAST thing focus'd on for crying out loud.dylan522p - Wednesday, March 26, 2014 - link
I think those selfies may be the greatest thing ever!KPOM - Wednesday, March 26, 2014 - link
Nice review, as usual. I wonder if 5" is where phone manufacturers finally "stop" in terms of the "standard" phone size. Above that, and a small tablet paired with a 4-5" phone really is a better solution.If I were to get an Android phone, it would be an HTC. They should lobby hard to get a Nexus phone. With Google subsidies that might be what kicks their sales efforts into gear. Otherwise, I see the new HTC One in much the same light as the old HTC One: the best Android phone out there in terms of build quality and style, and one of the best in terms of performance, but a distant also-ran behind Samsung in terms of sales.
fokka - Wednesday, March 26, 2014 - link
i don't think we reached the end of increasing screen sizes yet. the one just hit 5", in a relatively big body though, the s5 jumped to 5,1", also by increasing body size. the z2 is at 5,2" and the only phones seemingly at least trying to offset the big screen with small bezels are the g2 and note3.the next note will be 5,9-6" and the next round of flagships will be in the 5,5" ballpark.
we can only hope for devices like the z1 compact to make top notch hardware available in more pocketable form factors.
Honest Accounting - Wednesday, March 26, 2014 - link
Moto X: optimal form factor and minimal bezels.I think we'll end up with 3 'standard' sizes. 4.7", 5.5", and 6.3"
piroroadkill - Thursday, March 27, 2014 - link
Yeah, Moto X is the right size.2.6mm shorter and 2.6mm narrower than my Motorola DROID RAZR MAXX HD. (Although the Moto X is thicker with a lot less battery!).
I still think if I had to pick any phone available, I'd stick with the one I have. The new DROID MAXX is closest to what I'd want, but it has no microSD slot or HDMI out, which the HD has both of.
Jeffrey Bosboom - Wednesday, March 26, 2014 - link
Can we get some remarks about audio quality? I use my phone for two things: taking pictures of whiteboards and listening to music. Given that my old EVO 3D's camera (and heavy JPEG compression) takes acceptable pictures, I think the ultrapixel camera will suffice. So if it also offers decent audio quality, I'll probably get one.