DISPLAY The HTC One (E8) features a 5" Full HD IPS display with a pixel density of 441ppi, the same one that's found on the HTC One (M8). It's covered by Gorilla Glass 3 and

accommodates almost permanently visible on-screen navigating buttons. THE HTC ONE (E8) HAS AN IDENTICAL DISPLAY TO THE ONE (M8) Taking a closer look at it under our digital microscope proves

this, as the two panels show an identical RGB pattern and pixel size. Running our display test again provides very similar findings, with the E8 providing marginally better contrast at 50%

brightness, and the M8 being more contrasty at 100%. DISPLAY TEST 50% BRIGHTNESS 100% BRIGHTNESS BLACK, CD/M2 WHITE, CD/M2 CONTRAST RATIO BLACK, CD/M2 WHITE, CD/M2 CONTRAST RATIO HTC ONE

SONY XPERIA Z2 - - - 0.41 488 1195 APPLE IPHONE 5S 0.14 163 1145 0.49 596 1219 The HTC One (E8) has a respectable sunlight contrast ratio as well, resulting in a score that places it in the

upper half of our sunlight legibility charts. SUNLIGHT CONTRAST RATIO * Nokia Lumia 720 2.512 * HTC One (E8) 2.185 * Samsung I9000 Galaxy S 3.155 * Samsung Galaxy K zoom 3.675 * Nokia N9

3.069 * Apple iPhone 4S 2.269 * Samsung Galaxy Note 2.97 * Samsung Omnia W 3.301 * Gionee Elife S5.5 3.386 * HTC One S 2.901 * Oppo Find 7a 2.279 * Alcatel Idol X+ 3.527 * Samsung Galaxy S5

3.549 * HTC One (M8) 2.371 * Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo 3.487 * Alcatel One Touch Hero 2.272 * Samsung I9300 Galaxy S III 3.419 * LG G Flex 2.407 * Motorola Moto G 2.477 * LG Nexus 5 2.228 *

BlackBerry Z30 2.79 * HTC One Max 2.537 * Nokia 808 PureView 4.698 * Huawei Ascend P1 2.655 * Samsung Galaxy Note 3 3.997 * Apple iPhone 5s 3.565 * Nokia Lumia 900 2.562 * Apple iPhone 5c

3.512 * Sony Xperia Z1 2.95 * HTC Desire 600 dual sim 2.262 * Sony Xperia ZR 2.672 * Samsung Galaxy S4 zoom 3.118 * BlackBerry Q10 2.856 * Samsung I9190 Galaxy S4 mini 3.127 * Nokia Lumia

925 3.402 * Sony Xperia ZL 2.352 * Samsung I9505 Galaxy S4 3.352 * Motorola RAZR MAXX 3.42 * Samsung I9100 Galaxy S II 2.832 * Samsung Galaxy Note II 2.307 * HTC One 2.504 * Nokia Asha 311

2.25 * Samsung I8730 Galaxy Express 2.861 * Sony Xperia Z 2.462 * Apple iPhone 5 3.997 * Samsung Galaxy S II Plus 2.801 * Motorola RAZR i 2.366 * Samsung Galaxy S III mini 2.422 * Nokia

Lumia 820 2.193 * Samsung Galaxy Premier 2.958 * Samsung Ativ S 3.129 * HTC Butterfly S 1.867 * Apple iPhone 4 2.016 * Nokia Lumia 630 2.056 * HTC One X 2.158 * Nokia N8 2.144 * Sony Xperia

SL 2.078 * Nokia 515 2.134 * HTC Desire 500 2.129 * Nokia Lumia 920 2.17 * Nokia Lumia 1020 2.103 * Samsung I9295 Galaxy S4 Active 2.022 * Sony Xperia acro S 2.119 * BlackBerry Z10 2.051 *

Nokia Lumia 620 2.142 * Oppo Find 5 2.088 * LG Optimus Vu 1.68 * LG Optimus G 1.753 * LG G3 1.82 * Sony Xperia T 1.894 * Samsung Galaxy Camera 1.938 * HTC One mini 2 1.94 * HTC Butterfly

1.873 * HTC Windows Phone 8X 1.873 * HTC Desire 816 1.783 * Sony Xperia Z2 1.944 * Huawei Ascend P7 1.992 * HTC Desire X 1.878 * LG G2 mini 1.838 * LG G Pro 2 1.922 * HTC Desire 700 dual sim

1.769 * Nokia Lumia 1320 1.941 * Sony Xperia Z1 Compact 1.772 * Sony Ericsson Xperia ray 1.955 * Nokia Lumia 1520 1.813 * Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3 1.913 * Sony Xperia J 1.932 * Sony Xperia U

1.758 * Meizu MX3 1.754 * Acer CloudMobile S500 1.931 * Sony Xperia V 1.792 * Nokia Asha 308 1.911 * LG G2 1.976 * Oppo R819 1.957 * Huawei Ascend Mate 1.845 * Huawei Ascend P6 1.865 * LG

Nexus 4 1.926 * HTC One mini 2.003 * Sony Xperia SP 1.733 * HTC Desire V 1.646 * LG Optimus GJ 1.666 * Oppo Find 7 1.691 * Sony Xperia T2 Ultra 1.74 * HTC One V 1.685 * BlackBerry Q5 1.682 *

LG Optimus 3D Max 1.658 * LG Optimus 4X HD 1.691 * Samsung Galaxy S Duos 1.4 * Sony Xperia Z Ultra 1.578 * Samsung Galaxy Xcover 2 1.632 * Jolla Jolla 1.605 * Samsung Galaxy Ace 3 1.622 *

Nokia Lumia 520 1.161 * Sony Xperia M 1.473 * LG Optimus 3D 1.542 * Motorola Moto E 1.545 * Samsung Galaxy Ace 2 I8160 1.566 * LG Optimus G Pro 1.552 * BlackBerry Curve 9320 1.488 * Nokia

Asha 302 1.537 * Sony Xperia go 1.577 * Samsung Galaxy Core 1.563 * Sony Xperia E1 1.372 * Meizu MX 4-core 1.462 * Oppo N1 1.47 * Samsung I8530 Galaxy Beam 1.315 * Sony Xperia C 1.283 *

Nokia Lumia 610 1.432 * Sony Xperia M2 1.393 * HTC Desire C 1.3 * Sony Xperia miro 1.324 * Samsung I9082 Galaxy Grand 1.321 * Samsung Galaxy Mega 5.8 1.35 * Samsung Galaxy Grand Neo 1.393 *

Nokia Lumia 625 1.371 * Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 1.38 * Gigabyte GSmart G1355 1.361 * Sony Xperia L 1.351 * Nokia X 1.291 * Sony Xperia tipo 1.166 * LG Optimus L7 1.269 * Nokia Asha 501 1.27 *

Nokia Asha 503 1.281 * Nokia XL 1.204 * Samsung Galaxy Fame 1.245 * Nokia Lumia 510 1.268 * Sony Xperia E dual 1.203 * LG Optimus L9 1.227 * Meizu MX 1.221 * Samsung Galaxy Young 1.22 *

Sony Xperia E 1.215 * Samsung Galaxy Pocket 1.18 * Nokia Asha 305 1.178 * Nokia Asha 306 1.175 * Sony Xperia neo L 1.169 * Samsung S6802 Galaxy Ace Duos 1.148 * Samsung Galaxy mini 2 1.114

BATTERY LIFE Has the same 2,600mAh non-removable Lithium Polymer battery as the HTC One (M8). While the M8 was able to post a respectable 71 hour endurance rating, the E8 is able to do even

better. While the E8 doesn't do as well when it comes to 3G talk time, it makes up for it with over 10 hours of web browsing, and over 11 hours of video playback time. Overall, this

results in a 77 hour endurance rating, which means that you can use the HTC One (E8) for over three days and do an hour each of calling, web browsing, and watching videos each day, and still

have some left in the tank. Standby power draw is included in the calculations, though the exact number isn't listed in the scorecard above. You can find more about the HTC One (E8)

battery life in our blog post. Details on the testing procedure can be found here. CONNECTIVITY The HTC One (E8) packs a solid set of connectivity features, with a few omissions compared to

the M8. You still get quad-band GSM, 3G, and LTE support. The local wireless connectivity has Wi-Fi a/b/g/n and DLNA support (both client and server, for images, videos and music) and stereo

Bluetooth 4.0 with the higher-quality aptX codec. There is no Wi-Fi ac support however. The lack of an IR emitter is another glaring omission, too. HTC has conveniently designed a special

options screen, when you connect the One to a PC. The long list of options includes Portable Wi-Fi hotspot, settings, USB and Bluetooth tethering (the phone becomes a modem). NFC

connectivity with Android Beam is present too. We found it to work with no hiccups. There's a microSD card slot too supporting up to 128GB of storage. In addition, the device also comes

with 50GB of free Google Drive storage for two years. Unfortunately, compared to the One (M8), the microUSB port of the One (E8) lacks TV-out functionality and there is no support for USB

host or USB On-the-go. ANDROID KITKAT WITH SENSE 6 UI The HTC One (E8) comes powered with the latest Android 4.4.2 KitKat alongside HTC's Sense 6 overlay. Under Sense 6, the user

interface has been improved and it's also better looking. The built-in apps each have a different accent color which spills out onto the status bar, changing its color to create a

uniform effect - similar to what we've seen with Apple's iOS 7. Sense 6 looks and feels just like on the HTC One (M8) and there are very little changes. Here's a brief rundown

of Sense 6 UI on the HTC One (E8). The lockscreen hasn't really changed much since Sense 5 - there's a clock with weather information and four app shortcuts. Swiping up takes you

to the last app you used, while swiping to the left or to the right will take you to the homescreen or BlinkFeed, respectively. The HTC One (E8) offers Motion Launch features like on the HTC

One (M8). You can unlock the device with a swipe on its screen or a double tap when the latter is off. THE LOCKSCREEN Once you unlock you're greeted by a practically identical

homescreen as before and virtual on screen buttons. Having the buttons on-screen ensures better response time and less chance of operational deterioration but also means you're

effectively giving up part of your screen estate in order to accommodate them there. The background behind the buttons is transparent and they obediently move out the way when you're

watching a video or image so it's not that bad. HOMESCREEN The leftmost homescreen pane of the One (E8) is reserved for HTC BlinkFeed. It aggregates content from your social networks,

as well as from various news sources. You can pick what topics you're interested in and BlinkFeed will automatically pull fresh content for you. You can also search for specific

content. You can also turn BlinkFeed off if you prefer or choose to not have it be the default homescreen. BLINKFEED You get up to five homescreen panes to fill with shortcuts and widgets

(the sixth is reserved for BlinkFeed). You can set any of the panes as default - including the BlinkFeed. ADDING WIDGETS TO THE HOMESCREEN The notification area is business as usual - you

get notifications in the right page and quick toggles in the left. You can access the quick toggles by a tap in the upper right corner or through a two finger swipe down from the status bar.

NOTIFICATION AREA AND QUICK SETTINGS The app drawer is vertically scrolled unlike stock Android or most current Android OSes like TouchWiz, Xperia or Optimus UI. Aside from the usual

alphabetical and chronological order of apps you can also sort them in a way you see fit. The grid of apps can either be a 3 x 4 or the more sensible 4 x 5. APP DRAWER Getting to the

recently-opened apps is done with the dedicated on-screen button. The interface shows a list of thumbnails for each app. You can swipe them away one by one as before or use the new close all

option. You can also get to the task manager from the recent apps screen - it shows you the currently active apps and RAM usage. RECENT APPS Wallpapers, lockscreen style, ringtones,

notification sounds and alarms can be customized via a dedicated menu. This time around, the lockscreen styles cannot be changed. PERSONALIZATION The HTC One (E8) also has a built-in

restricted access Kids mode. It is an app that lets you set up a profile for each of your kids, with a photo and birthdate and pick which apps they can have access to. KIDS MODE Everything

runs buttery smooth on the HTC One (E8). The software is well optimized for the hardware within, Sense 6 looks and feels snappy and is very easy to use despite departing from the basic UI

laws of Android at places (like the app drawer). PERFORMANCE BENCHMARKS The HTC One (E8) comes with a quad-core 2.5GHz Krait 400 CPU and Adreno 330 GPU on a Qualcomm MSM8975AC Snapdragon 801

chipset. Including the 2GB of RAM, this is virtually the same configuration you'll find as on the HTC One (M8), except that the M8 sports the MSM8974AB chipset. GeekBench 3 and AnTuTu

4 are benchmarks, which put to the test the hardware combo inside the smartphone. GeekBench 3 is more CPU-intensive, whereas AnTuTu 4 is a compound benchmark - testing CPU, GPU, memory

performance, etc. The HTC One (E8) was able to pump out some excellent results in both tests. It managed to outdo the handily outclass its metal-clad counterpart in GeekBench, and was second

only to the Oppo Find 7 in AnTuTu. GEEKBENCH 3 ANTUTU 4 Next up we have GFXBench's 2.7 T-Rex and 3.0 Manhattan. In 1080p offscreen mode the GPU is tasked with performing graphical

computations in 1920 x 1080px resolution, while the onscreen mode uses the screen's native resolution, which is also 1080p. Hence, the two onscreen and offscreen numbers are very close.

In both the older T-Rex test and the more advanced Manhattan benchmark, the device posted some very impressive numbers - in fact outdoing or matching many top flagships. GFX 2.7 T-REX

(1080P OFFSCREEN) GFX 2.7 T-REX (ONSCREEN) GFX 3.0 MANHATTAN (1080P OFFSCREEN) GFX 3.0 MANHATTAN (ONSCREEN) When it comes to browsing performance, the E8 again performed well. BrowserMark

2.1 looks after HTML 5 performance, while Mozilla's Kraken 1.1 is JavaScript-centric. The HTC One (E8) again managed to trounce its M8 sibling, falling behind only to the Galaxy S5 and

Oppo Find 7 in these benchmarks. KRAKEN 1.1 BROWSERMARK 2.1 Basemark OS II is another all-round benchmark. It gives an overall score along with single, multi-core performance, math

performance and more. We focus on the overall and CPU scores. The HTC One (E8) got similar results in both the regular and anti-cheat, with the variation between results not being enough to

indicate behind the scenes overclocking of the processor. Here, the E8 was able to able to again post impressive results, although generally closer to those posted by the M8. The most

noticeable difference is in the multi-core figures, where variations tend to be larger regardless. BASEMARK OS II BASEMARK OS II (SINGLE-CORE) BASEMARK OS II (MULTI-CORE) The HTC One (E8)

has proven to be one of the best performing HTC devices to date, and goes a long way in compensating for its lack of metal. Whether it's subtle optimizations done to the software

package, or improvements thrown in by the more robust Snapdragon 801 variant, the E8 handily outclasses the M8 when it comes to performance. PHONEBOOK VIA THE PEOPLE APP In the People app,

you get the dialer, contacts, groups (including favorite contacts), as well as a call log. You can reorder tabs and remove the ones that you don't need (Groups or Call history).

Selecting a contact displays the basic details: name and photo, numbers, emails and such. That's just the first tab - the other tabs hold further details and means of communication,

including email and a call log. PHONEBOOK The second tab holds the texts, emails and call history between you and the given contact. The next one displays a contact's social networking

updates. TELEPHONY DOES GREAT The dialer on the HTC One (E8) combines your keypad, recent call list and contact list in one application accessible via a single icon. You switch between the

view modes with side-swipes. There's smart dialing and it works as well as expected. Once you start typing on the keyboard, contacts will be filtered by name or by phone number. You can

use a QWERTY keyboard for searching as well. IN-CALL SCREEN The smartphone packs a neat set of call-related tricks such as automatically silencing the ring of an incoming call just by

putting the phone face down or raising the volume if the device senses it's in a pocket. The quality of the single loudspeakers remains in line the excellent-sounding HTC One mini from

last year and compared to the HTC One (M7) and (M8). The sound comes out deep and well-accentuated. It's particularly nice to enjoy videos or games as the sound comes directly at you.

The BoomSound enhancement is constantly on when you are listening to something via the loudspeakers. Loudness, on the other hand, isn't all that impressive. The HTC One (E8) didn't

perform very well when it came to midtones or vocals. The only place where it was able to score a good volume is the high tones. We got an overall Average score when we measured its

loudness with our digital loudness meter. Check out more about our tests and our loudness test in particular. SPEAKERPHONE TEST VOICE, DB PINK NOISE/ MUSIC, DB RINGING PHONE, DB OVERALL

SCORE NOKIA LUMIA 1320 61.7 60.9 66.3 Below Average SAMSUNG GALAXY ACE 3 66.2 62.1 66.6 Below Average LG NEXUS 5 65.0 64.8 65.8 Below Average HTC ONE (M8) 65.8 64.7 75.7 Average SONY XPERIA

Z2 66.7 64.6 75.7 Average HTC ONE (E8) 65.8 65.7 75.7 AVERAGE SAMSUNG GALAXY S5 66.9 66.6 75.7 Good HTC ONE MINI 2 69.3 66.6 75.9 Good OPPO FIND 7 69.8 70.3 75.8 Good NOKIA LUMIA 1520 73.7

67.7 74.7 Good MOTOROLA MOTO G 81.6 75.7 82.7 Excellent The HTC One (E8) is capable of handling all sorts of messages - SMS, MMS, email. There's also Google Hangouts, which can connect

you to Google contacts via either texts or video calls. SMS and MMS messages are displayed in threads - you see a list of all conversations, each one is listed with the contact's photo,

name and the subject of the last message, as well as a part of the actual message. Tapping a conversation brings up the entire message history with that contact. Sense 6 intuitively lists

all of your conversations in a single thread - whether you're texting the same person on a new number and then go back to the old one - it's all chronologically listed in a single

thread. MESSAGING The HTC One comes with two email apps - the traditional Gmail app and the HTC Mail app, which merges all your email accounts into a single interface with a unified inbox.

GMAIL The HTC email app uses a navy blue top bar and merges it with the status bar for a nice design accent. HTC MAIL APP As for typing, the E8s on-screen keyboard offers well-spaced keys,

but the overlay doesn't include any gaps between them. During use we found that this is only a cosmetic feature and poses no discomfort. The 4.5" display diagonal offers enough

space for comfortable typing. Trace keyboard is also available. You drag a finger over the desired keys and the phone predicts what you're trying to type. It works really well but

language support is limited. HTC KEYBOARD HTC ZOE HTC Zoe is a mini social network centered on sharing photos and videos. A landmark feature is the cool Highlights videos, which are created

automatically for each album. HTC Sense 6 features Zoe as a standalone multimedia app, which requires you to sign in with your HTC account the first time you open it. Captured photos and

videos are automatically compiled into a Zoe video highlight reel. HTC ZOE Creating a Zoe is easy. You simply choose from the available images and rearrange them in order you like. Themes

and soundtracks are available in case you want to be extra creative. Once finished editing, you can easily share Zoes. Zoe also allows you to collaborate with friends on the same project.

You can send requests and combine your media content into the same Zoe. Keep in mind that the app doesn't work in all regions. SLIDESHOW-HAPPY GALLERY The regular image gallery stacks

photos together in albums, which can be organized by the date they were captured or the source they come from. Location-based sorting is also available. GALLERY As usual, there is an array

of available options at your disposal. You can edit, share, highlight, and delete images. You can also set them as backgrounds, assign them to contacts, add them to a specific album, or

print them. Once you open an album, the first and biggest thumbnail is reserved for slideshows. Once you tap it you can customize if you want an effect added over the photos and what sort of

music you would like to play. SLIDESHOWS The gallery supports viewing your images in their full resolution. You can easily pinch-zoom to 1:1 magnification. LOOKING AT A PHOTO The display on

the HTC One (E8) is more than adequate in both size and quality to allow for enjoyable image consumption. VIDEO PLAYER LACKS SUBTITLE SUPPORT The video player on the HTC One (E8) has a

rather simple interface. There isn't a dedicated app - you just pick a video from the gallery. You get a Play/Pause button and a slider to scrub through the video, a button to capture

images from the video, volume slider, and sharing options. All of these hide automatically after a few seconds. VIDEO PLAYER The HTC One (E8) video player had somewhat spotty video codec

support. It did not play DivX videos, but MKV files on the other hand weren't a problem all the way up to 1080p. WMV videos were trouble-free as well. For the most part, XVID played but

had issues with the sound AAC and AC3 coded sound. Subtitles were also not supported, with no options to enable them nor did they automatically playback if in the same folder as the video

file. GREAT MUSIC PLAYER The HTC Sense 6 music player features a similar layout as the one in the previous version. The flattened interface design however makes the setup look fresh. Your

music library is organized by Artist, Album, Songs, Playlists, Genres, Podcasts or Folders (we don't see this last option very often). The phone will also easily stream songs over DLNA.

The music player can automatically look for and download Album art and artist photos (you can limit it to Wi-Fi connections only), and search for lyrics. MUSIC PLAYER There's no

equalizer on board. You have the option to toggle BoomSound audio on or off when you have the headphones plugged in. Like we mentioned already, you cannot adjust this feature when playing

through the speakers. NOW PLAYING The FM Radio is aboard with RDS support. It automatically saves available stations and has one of the simplest interfaces we've seen. There are play

controls - play, stop, skip and a loudspeaker option. FM RADIO AUDIO QUALITY UP THERE WITH THE BEST The HTC One (E8) put in a stellar performance in our audio quality test. Just like most of

its stablemates we've tested recently it had excellently high volume levels to go with a perfectly clean output. The smartphone produced some of the best scores we've seen in the

test, while remaining louder than just about any non-HTC smartphone out there. The One (E8) is one of the easiest to recommend handsets if you are looking to get a proper audiophile

experience. TEST FREQUENCY RESPONSE NOISE LEVEL DYNAMIC RANGE THD IMD + NOISE STEREO CROSSTALK HTC ONE (E8) +0.02, -0.09 -94.9 93.8 0.0010 0.013 -90.6 HTC ONE (E8) (HEADPHONES) +0.03, -0.08

-94.9 93.8 0.0034 0.031 -75.5 HTC ONE (M8) +0.04, -0.10 -95.4 93.4 0.0012 0.010 -93.2 HTC ONE (M8) (HEADPHONES) +0.04, -0.08 -94.9 93.9 0.0014 0.018 -79.7 OPPO FIND 7 +0.04, -0.10 -93.8 93.1

0.0053 0.177 -94.4 OPPO FIND 7 (HEADPHONES) +0.70, -0.20 -93.7 91.5 0.013 0.446 -52.6 SAMSUNG GALAXY S5 +0.02, -0.08 -96.3 93.3 0.0017 0.0089 -95.2 SAMSUNG GALAXY S5 (HEADPHONES) +0.01,

-0.08 -96.3 93.3 0.0095 0.018 -61.9 LG G3 +0.02, -0.08 -99.4 98.9 0.0016 0.035 -100.0 LG G3 (HEADPHONES ATTACHED) +0.02, -0.09 -93.7 93.3 0.0060 0.032 -78.5 SONY XPERIA Z2 +0.02, -0.08 -88.2

90.1 0.0063 0.013 -88.9 SONY XPERIA Z2 (HEADPHONES ATTACHED) +0.08, -0.04 -84.7 87.6 0.120 0.066 -60.2 HTC ONE (E8) FREQUENCY RESPONSE You can learn more about the tested parameters and the

whole testing process here. NO ULTRAPIXELS, NO PROBLEM UPDATE AUGUST 4: WE'VE UPDATED THE BELOW SECTION TO REFLECT OUR LATEST FINDINGS WITH THE HTC ONE (E8) CAMERA. THE NEW SAMPLES ARE

MUCH CLOSER TO WHAT WE SAW ON THE HTC ONE MINI 2. The HTC One (E8) sees a departure from HTC's Ultrapixel sensor technology and comes with a standard 13 MP snapper on the back, sided

by a single LED flash. The sensor has a native 4:3 aspect ratio as opposed to the 16:9 wider aspect of its predecessor - photos come out with a resolution of 4224 x 3136px - more than three

times the pixel count of the HTC One (M8). The aperture sits at f/2.2, which isn't as wide as the one on the HTC One (M8) or even as wide as the f/2.0 of the 5 MP front-facing shooter,

for that matter. Here's how it compares to the HTC One (M8). The M8 is upscaled to 13MP: Unlike other 13MP HTC offerings (like those on the Desire 816 and mini 2) in the aftermath of

the UltraPixel camera days, the sensor found on the One (E8) comes with the company's proprietary ImageChip technology, so you do get Zoe mode, where the phone will capture a 3sec video

along with every photo you make and can later auto create beautiful stories about particular events made out of stills and videos. It also has HDR, Panorama (with a digital horizon level),

geo-tagging and image effects. The more advanced settings are hidden by default, but you can also control ISO, exposure compensation, white balance and a few other image adjustments.

Here's how it compares to the 13MP shooter on the HTC One mini 2: A long press on the screen will enable Auto Exposure and Auto Focus lock. You can set the volume rocker to act as a

zoom lever or a shutter key. CAMERA APP The HTC One (E8) has a 5MP front-facing camera with a BSI sensor and a dedicated selfie mode. From the settings you can enable smile shutter and

adjust the Make-up level, which tries to digitally pretty you up. SELFIE MODE Image quality is very good across the frame, comparable to that of the HTC One mini 2. You get a good balance of

fine detail and noise, and while there's no oil-canvas effect up close, there are certain situations where the resolved detail is not as high. White balance seemed to also be a hint

better than what we saw on the mini 2, but it tends to lean towards blue. The E8 also had sharper edge performance than the mini 2 - while that 13MP sensor tended to compress the edges of

the frame, the E8 was crisp throughout. HTC ONE (E8) CAMERA SAMPLES Face detection on the HTC One (E8) is always on and cannot be turned off in the settings. It works really well and can

recognize a face immediately and even track it well when it moves across the frame. The downside is that when face detection captures a face it will expose for it, which would sometimes ruin

your overall exposure, which is a bummer. This can be fixed by manually locking exposure where you want it to be but then you risk losing focus of your subject. Let's face it, when

you're taking pictures of people you'd want face detection on so we're not taking points away from HTC here. We just wish there was a setting to turn it off at times. HDR is

short for High Dynamic Range and the HDR mode of the HTC One (E8) camera snaps a couple of photos with different exposures and then combines them into a single photo. The HDR mode on the E8

tends to expose for the highlights and then brightens up the shadows in the scene. This in turn produces images with nice and even exposure, and without a nasty overly-contrasted,

exaggerated look. HDR - OFF / ON PHOTO QUALITY COMPARISON Here's the HTC One (E8) in our photo quality comparison tool. It's designed to allow you the ultimate pixel-peeping

experience and the option to challenge the smartphone to any of the many tested shooters we've had. HTC ONE (E8) IN OUR PHOTO COMPARE TOOL 1080P VIDEO RECORDING The HTC One (E8) offers

1080p videos at 60fps, though there's also a 30fps mode for fullHD videos, and 120fps mode at 720p. The front-facing camera can also record 1080p videos. CAMCORDER The 1080p videos

default at 30fps, and carry a bitrate of just under 20 Mbps. Framerate was a constant 30fps throughout the video. Audio bitrate sits high up with 192 Kbps and offers two channels (read

stereo) and has a regular sampling rate of 48 kHz. The quality of the videos is on par with that of the still images. They come out with comparable sharpness, contrast and saturation that we

saw in the still images, and the colors are also accurate. The 60fps mode is very similar, having the same 20 Mbps bitrate and dual channel audio at 192 Kbps. In this mode there's a

slightly wider field of view, however, which means that you'll capture more in the frame, but it won't be as detailed. There's also a yellowish tint to the images. 60fps mode

works just as advertised, however, and will result in videos that are much smoother than the standard 30fps ones, and are surprisingly not that much larger either. As YouTube does not yet

support 60fps uploads, we've added a direct link to both videos below. You can download the 1080p@30fps (0:15s, 38MB) and 1080p@60fps (0:30s, 72MB) samples taken directly from the

device. Finally, the 720p slow motion mode has relatively poor video quality, and seems upscaled from an even lower resolution. We say relatively because we've seen even worse attempts

at slow motion video. The E8s results are far from optimal in this regard, but they still manage a bitrate of 12 Mbps, so it's better than most. VIDEO QUALITY COMPARISON In the video

comparison tool you can face the HTC One off against any of the any camcorders we've tested over the years. HTC ONE (E8) IN OUR VIDEO COMPARE TOOL WEB BROWSER The HTC One (E8) comes

with a Sense-ified version of the stock Android browser and Chrome out of box. The stock browser packs the usual features: Incognito tabs, Find in page and Desktop view. GIF animation can be

enabled from the settings, but there is no Flash support. Besides the usual bookmarks, you can keep a Reading list of pages to read later and a Watch list of videos. Pages are saved

on-device so they can be read offline, but videos are not. The Watch list feature works on sites like YouTube and Vimeo. It detects multiple videos per page (so you can add them all) and

when you're ready, you can check them out without any distractions from the page they were on. STOCK BROWSER • TABS • PAGES AND VIDEOS SAVED FOR LATER CONSUMTION Google Chrome is

becoming the most popular mobile browser and should be fairly familiar. It has some advantages over its vanilla-flavored buddy, including switching between tabs with a wide swipe from either

the left or right of the top bar. Chrome has Incognito tabs, too. Speaking of tabs, it can sync what you have open on other devices (desktop, tablets) with the phone. This feature also

syncs your bookmarks and favorite sites and can remember passwords and login data. GOOGLE CHROME The Reduce data usage option sends web pages to be compressed on Google's web servers

before loading them on the device to save data and speed up slow connections. This doesn't work for SSL-protected pages and Incognito tabs for privacy reasons. OTHER PRE-INSTALLED APPS

The Tasks app is HTCs way of letting you organize your time. It can handle multiple separate lists of tasks and syncs with your Google account. Each task can have a due date and a location

associated with it. Map view lets you easily find nearby tasks, though we would have loved a "Navigate to" button here. HTC TASKS • MULTIPLE LISTS ARE SUPPORTED • PUTTING TASKS ON

THE MAP Google Drive comes preinstalled. It combines all of your documents, spreadsheets, images and more in one easy to use data vault app. You can also access more than a single Google

Drive if you have multiple profiles on your smartphone, which is neat. GOOGLE DRIVE The Alarm clock application can handle multiple alarms, each with its own start and repeat time. The

stopwatch and timer are self-explanatory. There's also a Calculator, Calendar and a Flash app that sets the power of the back-placed LED to three strengths. HTC Backup can do manual or

scheduled backups of your apps, messages (texts and emails), contacts and accounts (mail and social). The data is sent either to Google Drive or Dropbox and you can limit the app to transfer

over Wi-Fi only. ALARMS • CALCULATOR • FLASH APP • HTC BACKUP Google Now integrates with your Google account and can access your daily routine, internet searches, email, etc. and give you

information relevant to your interests and daily needs. It provides traffic information to your work or home, knows the scores of sports teams you follow and gives you the weather forecast

for your location. It's great for at-a-glance info, but can handle voice Google searches as well. It also has a dedicated homescreen/lockscreen widget. GOOGLE NOW HTC's Weather app

can give you weather information for your location and others. It looks great and gives you an animated representation of the weather conditions as well as a multiple-day forecast. Weather

information is sourced from AccuWeather. HTC WEATHER (COURTESY OF ACCUWEATHER) The HTC Guide app is an excellent app for beginners. It contains tips and help, troubleshooting info and a

display of the vital phone stats the support call center might ask you about. The Phone health option offers some self-help tools like running diagnostic on individual components (speakers,

backlight, buttons). The app will also help you manage the storage with a handy option to clean unwanted files and trackers for call minutes, texts and data plan megabytes. HTC GUIDE • VITAL

INFO • MANAGING STORAGE • TRACKING VOICE CALL AND DATA PLAN USAGE Google Maps is the default navigation app, but it's most useful when you use it while you are online. It allows you to

download offline maps of an area and even plan routes without a data connection but you can't search for addresses or POIs without an internet connection. On the positive side, it can

plan driving, public transport, cycling and walking routes. It can also display pretty accurate traffic alerts as well (though it doesn't always take them into account when routing

you). GOOGLE MAPS Another great support tool is Android Device Manager. It's available for all Android devices linked to your Google account. It can help you find your misplaced HTC One

(E8) by ringing it and if it's not at the house, by finding it on the map. If it's stolen, you also have the option to lock the device and delete all data (so make sure you have

HTC Backup set up to work automatically so you don't lose your data). You have to enable the remote locking initially via the preinstalled Google Settings app on your smartphone. And

finally, Google's Play store hardly needs any description. It the biggest catalog of apps and also features movies, TV, music and even devices but those services are dependent on your

country. Opening the store brings you highlighted apps based on recommendations and your usage. There are categories, ranked apps and more. FINAL WORDS The HTC One series has at least one

feature it can hang its hat on - premium design. This became absolutely critical with the M8, as the scorching hot flagship was outclassed by its competitors in many other areas -

performance and camera being the most obvious. There goes the One (E8) - one that has to make do with its seemingly biggest advantage taken away, the aluminum unibody and its slick finish

and chamfered edges replaced by polycarbonate. Now, isn't that a recipe for disaster? Especially for a company that's been struggling to regain lost market share, you'd think

that moving away from your strongest suit would be a mistake. The HTC One (E8), however, has proven to be anything but. While the M8 is still quite a stunner whose only real rival in terms

of design is the Sony Xperia Z2, it has proven to have several weaknesses that have since been taken advantage of by the competition. With the M8, HTC chose to stick to its 4MP UltraPixel

guns second generation running, despite the lackluster performance. The Qualcomm MSM8974AB Snapdragon 801 chip that the M8 came with has also since been outperformed by competing flagships.

The HTC One (E8) solves both of those problems, and solves them handily. HTC ONE (E8) KEY TEST FINDINGS: * Build quality is solid and functional, although understandably inferior to a metal

unibody * The 5-inch 1080p display of the E8 shows the same great contrast and sunlight legibility as the M8's * Battery life is excellent, with better standby and browsing times, but

lower 3G calling than the M8 * The benchmarks are among the best we've seen from an HTC device, handily outperforming the M8 * The still camera performs well and is similar to the ones

found on the HTC One mini 2 and the Desire 816 * Video quality is good, too. It has a 1080p@60fps mode, but doesn't go as high as 2160p * Audio quality is excellent * The speakers have

average loudness * Sub-par video decoder support, and the video player does not support subtitles We said in the beginning of this review that polycarbonate smartphones depend highly on

execution, and the snug fit of the E8s plastic back panel is an example of a well-executed design aesthetic. Of course, some of the premium feel is gone but HTC has the freedom to target a

different price segment. Now, the E8 won't go for as little as half the price of an M8 - far from it. But with a superior battery life, slick Sense 6 interface, and vastly improved

camera and processing speed, it has all the makings of a sleeper hit for a company that desperately needs one. On paper, the M8 is still the creme-de-la-creme of what HTC or any manufacturer

for that matter, can offer from a design standpoint. Its premium build is arguably the top of the food chain when it comes to Android flagships, and it really is a marvel to behold - and

hold. The M8 does have an inferior camera and performance though, and you will be paying a premium for all that sweet metal. HTC ONE (M8) The M8s predecessor, the One M7, is also an

interesting offering when compared to the E8. It has the premium looks and build on top of being more compact. Due to its 4.7-inch display (that's also 1080p and thus has a higher pixel

density than the M8/E8), the M7 is able to shave almost 10mm off the height of the E8, which results in much better handling and single-handed usability. The M7 is over a year old, however,

and although it's been updated to Sense 6, it has a much slower processor and lower battery life. HTC ONE Google/LGs Nexus 5 is another worthy competitor to the E8. It's priced

even more competitively, and also sports a 1080p display with Gorilla Glass 3. It comes in more compact and lighter than the HTC as well, and runs vanilla Android with all the latest updates

directly from Google. Its 8MP shooter won't impress as much however, and neither will the lower performance, battery life, and lack of expandable storage or FM radio. LG NEXUS 5

Motorola, now under Lenovo's wing, offered its compelling Moto X smartphone during the company's brief stint under Google. It offers an eye-catching design aesthetic and is more

compact and lighter than the E8. It only has a dual-core performance, a 720p screen, and again lacks expandable storage, but you're looking at the usual updates from Google relatively

quickly. MOTOROLA MOTO X The HTC One (E8) is a bit of a surprise move. A less sophisticated but more capable alternative of the incumbent flagship. And that's considering the M8 has

already had a mini and a dual-SIM version. HTC limited the cost-cutting to the exterior and the E8 is set to offer a killer package with very few glaring drawbacks. Fewer than the actual

flagship, at the very least. If excellent battery life, superb performance, and a robust software suite at a competitive price aren't enough to make you notice the HTC One (E8),

it's hard to see what will. Provided HTC's idea of a discount isn't a shock to everyone. Again.