back to article HTC One M8: Reg man takes spin in Alfa Romeo of smartphone world

If phone companies were car manufacturers, HTC would be Alfa Romeo to Samsung's BMW. Customers look at the HTC One, see how it matches the Galaxy spec for spec, how it's that little bit more interesting and significantly nicer as a physical object... and then buy the Samsung anyway. HTC One M8 The road less travelled? HTC's …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    ...'cause what we really need is something to differentiate us from the rest. How about a site that people can upload photos/videos and share them?

    Genius!! I wonder how many (wo)man years were wasted developing that pointless system that's clearly doomed to failure before anyone's even heard of it.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      That's the whole argument for Android over Windows Phone, manufacturers are free to add differentiating sites and services.

      Sales people like USPs, they want that one feature the other company doesn't have, even if it's a crock of shit.

    2. Dan 55 Silver badge

      Something which would differentiate on Android would be a good old-fashioned sync program which a) works and b) syncs to the PC/Mac without any cloud nonsense in the middle. Shame nobody's got the message yet.

      1. llaryllama

        re: Dan 55

        HTC Sync will sync and backup/restore from a Mac or PC. Works okay.

      2. Larry Ellinson

        MyPhoneExplorer

        Can't speak for Macs but MyPhoneExplorer works pretty well for Windows. Can sync direct via bluetooth, wifi, usb (modem drivers for handset required). Need to install apps from Google Play store as well as the PC. Various Handset makers offer their own sync software too.

        1. Dapprman

          Re: MyPhoneExplorer

          MyPhoneExplorer struggles on Android 4.3 onwards - been using it since 4.2 on a HTC Desire Z. Main issue for me is it duplicating the address book on your phone or not syncing it properly. It's one of the complaints on their forum but one they seem little interested in fixing (having said that it is free).

      3. John Smith 19 Gold badge
        Gimp

        @Dan 55

        "Something which would differentiate on Android would be a good old-fashioned sync program which a) works and b) syncs to the PC/Mac without any cloud nonsense in the middle. Shame nobody's got the message yet."

        That's not a bug.

        It's a feature (for Google to exploit).

      4. thesykes

        " b) syncs to the PC/Mac without any cloud nonsense in the middle"

        You call it nonsense, I call it a very useful feature. 2 phones, 2 tablets, 2 laptops, all with fully synched calendars without having to be anywhere near each other.

        If I had to be in the same room to synch them all, I'd be looking for another solution.

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    It's largely a slightly improved HTC One. Not really enough to prise money out of my wallet, my HTC One isn't quite a year old yet and is going strong.

    Given we hit HD resolution on screens last year they can't even bump that up now. 4k is pointless but I imagine someone will try.

  3. Inertia

    IR

    Absolutely disagree on the remote control aspect - I use the thing constantly on my One. The guide is great and the faves/reminders setup is really good, simple integration.

    Also I can turn off the screen in the estate agent window opposite each evening after work and turn the footy volume up in the pub when the barmaid leaves the music on.

    1. Lionel Baden

      Re: IR

      The amount my wife looses remotes !!!!

      also +1 on this !!

      1. This post has been deleted by its author

      2. BristolBachelor Gold badge
        Joke

        Re: IR

        "The amount my wife looses remotes !!!!"
        So does that mean that she'd just lose the phone instead?

        1. Doogs

          Re: IR

          Always found IR remote control quite handy on my RX3715.

        2. Lionel Baden

          Re: IR

          @bristolbatchelor

          Could ring that :) but yes a flaw spotted !!! ;)

    2. Ian K
      Thumb Down

      Re: IR

      That struck me as a poor bit of reviewing; re. IR it simply says "But really it is something that must have just seemed to be good idea at the time. It isn't."

      So why isn't it a good idea? Doesn't work at all? Limited range of devices covered? Lousy UI? Reviewer just feels daft pointing a phone at the TV?

      Without a few more specifics we're really not being given enough to go on.

    3. goldcd

      Indeed

      My sole use for that remote, has been to hijack TVs.

      You can even setup locations for the different controller setups.. I assume these were supposed to be rooms not hostelries.

    4. Irongut

      Re: IR

      The Galaxy S4 has an IR remote for most tellies too. If you have Chromecast it's very useful because you can change the Chromecast program and the main TV volume on the same device and not have to hunt for the remote.

    5. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: IR

      Bah, we could do that in the 90s with a calculator. :-b

      (HP48GX)

    6. joejack

      Re: IR

      I use the remote app all the time as well. Only wish it was a learning remote, so I could aim my current speaker remote at it to set the volume controls. Then I wouldn't mind losing the remotes.

  4. Semtex451
    Coat

    The Phone with only One mate

    Shouldn't they have called it the Gr8 M8?

    One m8 just feels a bit melancholy.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: The Phone with only One mate

      Well, they did say it was great for "selfies"...so One m8 seems appropriate.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    HTC == Alfa Romeo - idiosyncratic, often stylish, powerful, but doesn't support you when you really need it.

    Samsung == Ford - mass produced, plasticky, dull but dependable, everyone has one. No-one really likes or dislikes them, no-one really cares. Everyone would choose something else if they had more money or taste.

    Apple == BMW - well built, recognisable, performant, quite stylish, mass-upmarket, but neither as exclusive, nor as powerful, nor as good looking as their owners think.

    All the phones make and receive calls, all the cars will get you up and down the A1.

    1. Tascam Holiday
      Joke

      Apple == BMW - well built, recognisable, performant, quite stylish, mass-upmarket, but neither as

      exclusive, nor as powerful, nor as good looking as their owners think.

      And like BMWs, owned by wankers.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        As the classified advert has it, "For Sale, BMW 1997 3-series indicators, unused".

      2. Peter Storm

        My boss always used to have BMWs and he's a complete wanker, but this time he's got himself a Range Rover. It is a "Sport" though, so he's not really stepping out of character.

      3. The Stolly

        "And like BMWs, owned by wankers."

        I think you'll find that's AUDI now.

    2. Dr. Mouse

      HTC == Alfa Romeo - idiosyncratic, often stylish, powerful, but doesn't support you when you really need it.

      ...

      All the phones make and receive calls, all the cars will get you up and down the A1

      Except the Alpha, which will be stuck at the garage with yet another electrical or electronic problem. However, as you own an Alpha, you expect this, so will be happy to drive your spare old banger until it is fixed.

      1. rhydian

        @Dr. Mouse

        The Greek letter is "Alpha"

        The Italian car company is "Alfa Romeo" , after the ALFA company which it started from back in the 20s/30s.

        1. Dr. Mouse

          Re: @Dr. Mouse

          'The Greek letter is "Alpha"'

          Ooops. Sorry, my mistake.

          Misspelling aside, my point stands.

      2. Nasty Nick

        HTC = ...

        Looks nice but..."Honestly Too Crap" M8.

      3. Dapprman

        Ah the gold old sound of my Busso 3.0v6 engined Alfa 164 used to make me feel happy again after having just splashed out to get yet more electrical gremlins fixed. Never quite had the same sensation when my Desire Z started to play up (after the HTC Gingerbreakyourphonebread update).

      4. joejack

        An apt analogy, given that I've had a very weak signal on THREE different HTC One's, which were on the same network as a friend's GS4 that had full bars. (Why three? There was a cabbage soup incident, and a rocking chair incident).

        Also, I thought the M8 had a 5" screen? It's the original model that has a 4.7" screen as the article reports.

      5. Dr_N

        Electrical or Electronics Problems?

        @Dr Mouse

        All the Fiat/Alfa electronics are Bosch parts these days. You must be getting confused with Renault there.

        Easily done for someone who can't even spell "ALFA".

    3. Belardi

      Where would that put Motorola? LG?

      1. Tommy Pock

        Vauxhall.

        Nissan.

    4. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      > all the cars will get you up and down the A1.

      Never driven a French motor, I see.

  6. Rob Crawford

    Hmm on the Alfa analogy

    Every Alfa owner I have known has loved the cars but ditched them as they spent more time getting fixed.

    Then again having seen other peoples suffering with HTC phones possibly it s a suitable analogy.

    Although my wife and I both had the original HTC Desire and really liked them but between the poor update policy (and sense bugs that where never fixed) and the final insulting android release that didn't leave enough space to install even the most minimal apps it was time to switch.

    1. Hairy Spod

      Re: Hmm on the Alfa analogy

      I've always thought of HTC as more SAAB than Alfa

      1. Steve Davies 3 Silver badge

        Re: Hmm on the Alfa analogy

        More SAAB than Alfa?

        Having owned a HTC Desire and drive a 10yr old Saab 95 I have to take issue with your analogy. The Saab just keeps on going. You can't say that for the Desire. I threw it in the recycling bin a few days after the warranty ran out. It kept going wrong. first the screen than the touch. Even a replacement phone failed to solve it. Then the security update to Android 2.3 arrived and wiped my apps.

        Finally, when the warranty expired I tried yo load Cyanogen into it. Result was a totally bricked phone.

        The Saab on the other hand has done 175K miles and never broker down. The only time it has been off the road was when I put it in a ditch after hitting some black ice in 2009. Saab cars a dull and boring. Alfas are broooom brooom go-go machines between their increasingly frequent visits to dealers.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Hmm on the Alfa analogy

      Every Alfa owner I have known has loved the cars but ditched them as they spent more time getting fixed.

      Yup, typical Italian engineering - great to look at, but falls apart rapidly. Reminds me of when my Italian wife asked her Mum what brand of washing machine to buy. "Indesit, they last very well, a couple of years at least" was the answer. So I bought a Bosch, since I expect a washing machine to last a bit longer than a couple of years ...

    3. Shell

      Re: Hmm on the Alfa analogy

      My Alfa Giulietta 170 is running quite nicely, thank you very much.

      As is my iPhone. Which is not a BMW, just a smartphone that suits *my* usecase.

      *cough*

      Enough with the lame analogies!

      1. Kristian Walsh Silver badge

        Alfa reliability:

        Rather than rely on "bloke down the pub" information, let's look at what people who actually own Alfa Romeos experience. These are MOT failure rates for Alfa and its competitors ( Figures from the very useful MOTAngel: http://www.motangel.co.uk/discover-mot-fail-rate/ ). Lower is better.

        Failure rates for 2011-registered cars, C Segment:

        FIAT Bravo: 28.21%

        Skoda Octavia: 21.22%

        VW Golf: 20.2%

        Ford Focus: 19.88%

        Opel Astra: 18.68%

        BMW 1: 18.11%

        Audi A3 : 17.55%

        Honda Civic: 16.48%

        KIA Cee'd: 15.05%

        Mercedes A: 13.85%

        Toyota Auris: 10.5%

        Alfa Romeo Giulietta: 7.89%

        .

        B-segment cars (2011 reg):

        Mini Cooper: 60% (yes, sixty)

        FIAT Punto: 22.22%

        Ford Fiesta: 19.77%

        VW Polo: 17.72%

        Skoda Fabia: 13.08%

        Alfa Romeo Mito: 7.89%

  7. El_Fev

    Come on...

    April the 1St people! LOL well played El Reg!

  8. paul.cahill

    One of the main reasons I have a nexus 7 instead of an iPad is drag and drop file support. What next, video file format conversion? The One was on my list if the iPhone 6 isn't a big un.

  9. Sampler

    Not waterproof?

    Aww, with both Samsung and Sony going waterproof I was hoping HTC would too (and include wireless charging as that seems a no-brainer to go with the waterproofing).

    My OneX is getting close to needing to be updated and the Xperia Z1 work have handed out kind of shows that up, however I'm not sold on Sony's UI and would like to stick with HTC, having used sense since the Windows Mobile days I'm kinda used to it ;)

  10. Charlie Clark Silver badge
    Thumb Up

    SD card? Finally

    That (and for me personally using LCD instead of OLED screens) has been the biggest problem with their phones.

    I also like the trend towards smarter screens - these phone with their huge screens need protecting but in a way that minimises the impact on usability. There's a way to go on this but it's nice to see work is being done: differentiation is possible.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Unhappy

      Re: SD card? Finally

      Unfortunately, now google has managed to break most use cases for the SD card with the WRITE_MEDIA_STORAGE idiocy in kitkat. This article on android police - http://www.androidpolice.com/2014/02/17/external-blues-google-has-brought-big-changes-to-sd-cards-in-kitkat-and-even-samsung-may-be-implementing-them/ - explains well what happened, if you ignore the apologetic last paragraph.

  11. Longrod_von_Hugendong
    Devil

    More like...

    Apple == Jaguar, fast enough, very stylish - but you still know you are more stylish than anything German because its a JAAAG.

    Android == BMC in the 70's, miss-match of companies spouting badge engineered products, you know they were made in a horrible place with cheap plastic. Its going to break down, get hacked and generally make your life a misery. Even the expensive model has the underpinnings of the cheap model.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: More like...

      "Android == BMC in the 70's, miss-match of companies spouting badge engineered products, you know they were made in a horrible place with cheap plastic. Its going to break down, get hacked ..."

      You've not really got the hang of this "analogy" thing, have you?

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