iPhone 6 PLUS versus HTC ONE (M8) preview

I finally got an iPhone 6 PLUS to go along with my HTC ONE(M8). This isn't meant to be a complete shoot-out. I'm just going to jot down some initial impressions. When I have more time, I may do a full write-up.

This might be an odd comparison since the HTC ONE M8 size is a closer match to the smaller 4.7" iPhone 6. However, because of the screen resolution, I think it is a better comparison to the 6 PLUS. The HTC ONE is straddled between both iPhones in terms of size.

Both are premium machined metal bodied made devices but I have to say the iPhone 6 feels really good in the hand. The HTC One is a bit fat in the middle. However, I'd say the HTC is a better one-handed phone to use.  Prior, I was carrying the iPhone 5 and HTC ONE. Back then, I thought the HTC ONE was huge with it's 5" screen but after a week with the iPhone 6 PLUS, the HTC ONE feels really small. I guess what I am saying is you will get acclimated to the size difference.

The feeling of smallness on the HTC ONE is probably attributed to the UI of Android and HTC Sense. Even though both are 1080p (1920x1080) resolution screens and both have the same physical resolution real estate, the iPhone 6 Plus simply shows more data. The fonts/typeface (even at the smallest settings), the title bars, menu bars are simply way to big on the HTC ONE (M8). Screen real estate is also affected by the Android virtual soft key buttons.

Here are some examples. These are the screenshots of the mail list of my Outlook account in landscape mode.

The same list in portrait mode.

And the contents of the same email newsletter. Note, I had the fullest zoom-out on both emails.

You can say this is the fault of HTC's mail client and their apps. Yes, that is possible. However, even compared to Google's native GMAIL client, the iOS email experience is a little bit better. The gesture selection is very intuitive when it comes to deleting, filing and archiving emails on iOS.

However, not everything is perfect in iOS. There are apps that still need to be optimized for the new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 PLUS. Legacy apps look blown up on the new iDevices. Case in point: Instagram and Facebook. These also suffer from overtly large UI elements. However, due to the volume of iPhone users, I'm pretty certain most apps will be upgraded soon enough. Twitter on iOS 8 looks very good.

Going back to iOS 8 after an absence is pretty good. I really missed the quality apps and I have to say, there are so many good iOS apps.

For example. SSH clients. This is what I use my phones for most of the time. To access remote UNIX/LINUX servers remotely.

Here is Cathode on iOS. A very cool and awesome SSH client.

Now compare it to what I've been using on Android for a while. JuiceSSH.

As you can see the HTC ONE (M8)'s UI is made smaller with status bars and the virtual soft keys.  I simply think screen real estate management can be better handled on Android.

Now what looks more fun to use? Both have SSH-Key authentication and virtual soft keys. If you don't want silly geeky fun of Cathode, there are countless other great iOS SSH client apps. There are also better MySQL Clients, RDP, VNC,etc on iOS.

First party apps are also a joy to use on the new iPhone.

Pages compared to Google Docs.

and

Compared to Google Docs.

Simply, there is still a lot of awkwardness and I can't pinpoint it on the HTC. Maybe it is the careful selection of typography that Apple spends details on.

Again, the use of real estate on web browsing also makes a big impact on user interaction and satisfaction.  I really like the feel and transitions of the full screen on Safari. I missed the tap to top for months and now I have it back with the iPhone 6.

By default, you don't get full screen on Android as the virtual keys take up space. However, there are 3rd party apps and full screen solutions on the Google Play Store (that don't seem to work quite well).

Again, I guess the point I am driving home with this comparison is that despite the fact both have the same screen resolution, the iPhone 6 Plus makes better use of it. As I said, the HTC ONE (M8) simply feels small now.

I really dig the landscape mode. Yes, I know I've been able to do it for years on Android with various launchers but it is really nice to use it on iOS. It makes having the Plus worth it for me over the standard iPhone 6. As most of my work revolves around emails, remote Linux server connectivity, and database work, I prefer the landscape orientation. I use my iPhone for work and now it is even a better tool at it.

There are also some other major differences. The iPhone 6's camera is simply awesome. I'm not going to go into detail here as you can read dozens of online reviews and analysis from such places as DxoMark. Simply, the iPhone 6 has a very good camera.

The HTC ONE M8 camera's IQ wasn't that bad. Not as bad as you would believe from Internet trolls. But the major problem with the HTC ONE isn't the picture quality, it was the physical construction. The iPhone 6 uses a sapphire coated lens whereas the HTC ONE uses some film coating which leads to scratches. Simply, it easily gets scratch and this really bothered me. I wrote about it here : http://fortysomethinggeek.blogspot.com/2014/08/htc-one-m8-little-details-that-piss-me.html

The scratched camera lens on the HTC is a common problem and it really pushed me away from using it for photography for months. For months, I carried my Fuji XF1 because I could not rely on the HTC.

Then there is the other issue with the HTC ONE (and Android in general). The SD card. I bought an  128GB microSD card and it was rendered useless as you can read here: http://fortysomethinggeek.blogspot.com/2014/05/htc-one-m8-android-kit-kat-sd-card.html .

Seriously, the idea of a removable SD card is a major selling point of the Android ecosystem and Google now has deemed it not worthy so they have been locking it down. For that reasons, I opted to get the 128GB iPhone 6 Plus. Considering the cost of an UHS-1 128GB micro SDXC card, the new Apple price tiering isn't so bad and actually worth it.

Then there is the issue of Linux compatibility. I could never get the HTC (or ANY Android device since the Galaxy Nexus) to properly mount in Debian based Linux. There were work-arounds and stuff like that but it never worked reliably. MTP Android and Linux is still an issue for me. The iPhones (and iOS devices in general) were always problem free for me. They simple mount on Linux and I can copy files easily to my apps. If I wanted to copy a 8GB MKV to a video player, it wasn't a big deal. This was all great until now. As of this writing, I can only mount iOS 8.0.2 and the iPhone 6 safe volume. This is the volume where you can pull images, PDFs,etc. At this time, I can't mount the other volume where I can drag and drop files for my 3rd party apps. So it isn't quite perfect right now but usually after a new iPhone introduction, the libimobile utilities are quickly updated.

Conclusion.

It is pretty obvious that I am enjoying the iPhone 6 Plus. With the exception of the camera and sdcard issues on the HTC ONE, they're both good phones. I just think Apple did a really good job on this new iteration. I can see how it can capture sales. This is a solid release. When I have more details, I may go into some more comparisons.

HTC ONE M8, Android Kit Kat SD Card issues. Originally 128GB sdxc review

This blog post was originally meant to be a review on a new SanDisk 128GB micro-sdhc card with my new HTC ONE M8. Let me repeat, that is 128GB micro-sdhc! How insane is that with that much storage on a micro-sd? The whole idea was tantalizing. In reality, it didn't turn out the way I hoped for. SD cards are pretty much useless on the new HTC ONE.

The latest version of Android, KitKat 4.4.2 has rendered my nice, 128GB sd card useless. Yep, the smart folks at Google, in their infinite wisdom have closed one of the biggest compelling feature of Android (over iOS) for this user. Why oh why you must ask? Well, I suppose they want to get serious about security and are now implementing a sandbox model where apps only have write access to their germane folders.

In short, this means, I can't even benchmark this sdcard. Most benchmark apps can't write to the root of the sd card which is a big no-no. I can't even copy files from an OTG USB drive using ES File Explorer. Forget about doing something like this pictured below. Everything is borked now. File Explorer/Manager apps are pretty much useless. I can't even copy files around on the Phone itself. The workaround is to root the phone and patch it which I'm not going to do.

There are hundreds if not thousands of articles, posts, blogs about this issue so I won't re-hash it. So why is this a big deal? Well, now I have to tether my phone to my laptop if I want to copy files. Yep, this is the same iTunes-iPhone argument Android users have been making years. I have to use the HTC desktop Sync Manager to copy files over which is really cumbersome and slow. And the Desktop app has no method of moving files around so I'll have to delete and re-upload.

So how about just popping out the sd card and copy files from my laptop? Sure, I can do that if I have a handy paperclip at a moment's notice as pictured below.

In short, I am highly disappointed. An expensive SanDisk Ultra 128GB micro-sd card is pretty much useless to me now. Not exactly useless but highly under-utilized on the HTC ONE M8. I'm thinking about just popping back the 64GB sd card I had before and call it a day. I figure I could use the 128GB card on another device (Dell Venue 8 Pro or one of my cameras) so I can have full enjoyment of it.

The HTC ONE (M8) 2014 model Preliminary overview / review

For as long as I can remember, I have been a dual OS phone user. First with Windows Mobile and iOS. Then with iOS and Android. I've always carried two, three phones on me at all times.

I've owned and carried several Android phones through the years - Moto Droid, Droid Incredible, Galaxy Nexus.  None of those phones kept my interest besides the fact they were partially work issued. Now, in 2014, my latest work issued phone is the HTC ONE (M8). This is HTC's current flagship phone. The company is riding on this phone to be a success. Will it?

I can pretty much pick any phone I want that runs on Verizon - LG 2, Galaxy Note 3, etc but I chose the HTC One. I chose the HTC One for it's incredible build quality and overall compromises on features. Is it the fastest? Does it have the best camera? Does it have the largest screen? The answer to those questions are no.The Samsung Galaxy Nexus left a very bad taste in my mouth (due to Verizon and Google's handling of the updates and poor battery life) that my main concern was battery life and overall usability. Stock Android isn't a big draw to me any more (aka Nexus 5 and stock Android) and HTC Sense 6.0 doesn't offend me much.  And I'm still stuck with Verizon (due to work) so this was my best option.

I'm going to be playing with this phone for a while and report back with my findings. But for now, here is a first review.

Spec wise, you can read about it all over the Internet as this is a fairly recent new flag-ship phone from HTC. Quad-Core SnapDragon 801 processor, 2GB RAM, 32GB Storage, 5" 1080p LCD display, yada-yada. This is my personal review from a dual OS, multi-platform agnostic user.  Since I'm a dual OS handset kind of guy, the Android vs iOS debates are pretty silly.