Reader Ratings And Advice: Flagship Smartphones

By The Readers of Tom's Hardware, Lucian Armasu
published

After reviewing several of the hottest smartphones on the market, we became curious to find out what our readers thought about them. How do these devices fit into daily life? And what are their long-term pros and cons?

HTC One M8

Most of the 146 readers who gave us feedback on the HTC One M8 gave it a score of 4 or 5, which resulted in an average of 4.5. The device seems to perform excellently in some areas, like design, but not as well in others, like camera resolution.

>> See the In-Depth HTC One (M8) Review

The first thing most people notice about the M8 — and the reason some of our readers bought it — is its beautiful design and solid metal build. This makes the M8 stand out from other mobile phones.

Most of the M8 owners seem to be happy with the phone's battery life, which they say is much better than that of its predecessor, the M7. However, others said they thought it could have been better. Almost everyone seems to be happy with the M8's specs, performance, display and software, and users believe the device has a fair price. The support for 128GB microSD cards is a nice bonus as well.

The 4-MP UltraPixel camera can take good shots in the dark, and even does fine in good lighting conditions, but its low resolution is a weakness most M8 owners can't ignore, and they agree it's the biggest negative of the HTC One M8.

Another highly recognizable feature of the HTC One series devices is the BoomSound speakers, which no other mobile device can beat right now. Although most readers said they love the quality of the speakers, not everyone likes how big they are and how they make the phone larger than necessary for its screen size.

Finally, some of our readers thought the design was a step backward from the HTC One M7 and that the M8 could have used more than 16GB of internal storage.

If you're an HTC One M8 owner and you haven't given us your feedback yet, the form is still available. Below, you can see some of our readers' most representative comments for this device.

Top Ten Comments:

Comment: "It has the best speakers I've ever heard from a smartphone, amazing battery, amazing specs, flawless performance and a beautiful design."

Comment: "Up there with the best phones, with a very good look and finish (aluminium) and the Sense interface is very intuitive. Everything is good, except for the camera. The ULTRA Pixel thing doesn't quite do as good as the others."

Comment: "Like the design and the way it feels and looks compared to other phones.Like the performance and dependability. Don't like power button location, it could be on the side."

Comment: "It feels like a quality product, sounds great and performs really well but the camera is a huge disappointment and the screen resolution is so 2013"

Comment: "Love and hate the speakers - they produce great sound when watching video, but add to the bulk of the phone (too tall) and lead to vibration in the earpiece when volume is set loud enough in phone mode."

Comment: "+ HTC Sense+ build quality+ size+ specs- - - camera, worst camera ever- battery- design not as nice as the m7"

Comment: "There has been significant effort put into making sure this device performs well under all use conditions. The modifications to the default Android UI have been well thought out and makes things easy when speed is needed.The phone doesn't come loaded with unnecessary software from the factory. Everything is responsive and I have never, ever had the device crash or become unresponsive. The dot case is well thought and a useful addition to the phone, doesn't feel gimmicky and I use the feature often.The battery life is 3 times better than the M7, and has a nice weight.The HTC is the best choice if you appreciate attention to detail and craftsmanship.All up, I'm exceptionally happy with this device and would (and have) recommend it to anyone who wants a well built, business class phone."

Comment: "Great craftsmanship - beautiful phone.External SD card is a big win.Screen is normally crisp and bright but washes out in sunlight.Sound is noticably better than other phones due to stereo separation and power.WiFi and cell antennas are average or below what I expect.Camera is good in dark, but not as good as others I have seen at concerts - and 4MP is too little regardless of HTC's spin. I do use the 3D effects etc, but many photos don't allow such editing (due to my shooting them in the wrong mode). Also panorama should be a top-level choice, not a setting.Thin is great for your pocket, but this screen is too thin, my fingers make screen selections as I grasp the sides (screen is slightly raised above the sides).Volume button is too thin, too easy to press accidentally.Android is too twitchy for my personal tastes - too easy to move or delete icons, select text when scrolling.Android apps permissions are not as intuitive or useful as those in iOS.Swipedown settings are great - easier to access than iOS.I set an unlock pattern so I have to swipe the lock and then enter the unlock pattern to unlock - should be one action (swipe the lock in a pattern or something)."

Comment: "there are only two things I absolutely can’t stand: the Camera and the tiny 16GB storage. I know I can just slap in a micro SD card but you need to root the phone if you want write access."

Comment: "- Overall performance,- starting with the feel - the build, the way it feels in your hand, and the design simple, subtle and oh so elegant;- the question of performance doesn't even come up - no lags, no FC, fluid even when you disable animation/ transition- sound is pretty much a settled issue ...- the display can't get any better ... - the camera? well, not as excited about the camera, but, in low light, it does the job - If I wanted photos that looked like they were taken with a camera, I'd use my camera."

The Readers of Tom's Hardware
40 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Janithdalw
    In my opinion best phones are,

    The best Hardware => iPhone 6 Plus

    The best Phablet => Note 4

    The overall the best phone => Note 4

    Better value for money => OnePlus One

    I don't know why Tom'shardware added the G3 into the list. It has a poor battery life and the display also not so good despite the 2K resolution. I would rather replace it with the Z3.
    Reply
  • Vorador2
    I'd say:

    If you have deep pockets and want a phone that provides a great (if constricted) experience, get the iPhone 6

    If you want a design that can turn heads and feel rock solid at the same time, get the One M8. Or better, wait for the upcoming refresh.

    If you can get an invite, get the OnePlus One. It's hard to get ahold of an unit, but it's probably the best device in relation to cost, and best device all around. If you can't, get the Moto G.

    And if you want the best big phone/phablet of the market, get the Note 4.
    Reply
  • Tomtompiper
    If you want a good phone around the size of an iPhone 6 go with the Sony Z3 Compact, it beats the iPhone hands down. I like big screens so my choice was the Note 4, and I'm very happy with my decision. The S pen is fantastic and the video quality is outstanding. If I was being ultra critical I would ask that the plastic inserts in the metal frame were better colour coordinated. http://www.gsmarena.com/compare.php3?idPhone1=6538&idPhone2=6378
    Reply
  • AndrewJacksonZA
    Tom's, where is the Sony Xperia Z3 (and the smaller Z3 Compact?) I feel that you're missing out on what I feel is the best phone, with the best camera and, in my opinion, the least amount of customization to Android and what customization there is, is extremely intuitive useful.

    Or is this a primarily a US-based line-up, where you'll have to list the Xperia Z3v, the Verison version, which I don't think is on par with the international Z3?

    @Tomtompiper: I miss my stylus from the P990i days... :-)

    Thank you.
    Andrew
    South Africa
    Reply
  • Matous Mojzis
    Where is Sony Z3 or Z3 Compact ?
    Reply
  • wtfxxxgp
    I think that you should have done a very brief survey for all respondents to first complete before commenting on the handsets. That could have provided better context for the results. Not sure if this was done or not to be honest, but if not, then it would surely add value. Just as an example, 2 users have completely opposite opinions about battery life - yet the one uses the phone more for work-related activities, sees the occasional small video and chats - no gaming or movies or tinkering with apps and does not have LTE connectivity so doesn't use it. The other person that hates the battery is a heavy gamer when they're bored, or watches a full episode or 2 of a series on the daily commute and tinkers a lot with new apps etc. Suddenly very obvious why one person says that the battery life is great compared to the other one that thinks it sucks.
    Reply
  • firefoxx04
    Weird. My S5 has no lag even with "restrict cpu performance" enabled to increase battery life.

    The bloatware isnt even active.. its just installed and hangs out.
    Reply
  • randomstar
    I am a bit biased towards windows phones, and would love to see at least one of the top models here. I have not found anything that I feel compares well against my older 928 Nokia on the new iPhone.
    Reply
  • beetlejuicegr
    Where is the Nexus line?
    Reply
  • Lkaos
    Funny people saying an iPhone has the best sound when the phone's speakers are MONO and not STEREO....

    Reply