[One (M8) Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] WizeGuyDezignz:
Guys and gals, let me start off by saying that I am an absolute phone whore. Last year alone, I owned almost every single flagship at one point or another. I've rooted all my phones, have flashed 100's of roms, etc. You can check my posting history, blah, blah. I'm not trying to brag or anything, I just want people to know that I'm not some Android noob.

Anyhow, I am most recently coming from a Nexus 5 and a Note 3 before that. Last year, I owned the HTC One M7 twice. Each time for about a week. The first time is when my gf and I switched from Verizon to T-Mobile. When we didn't get good reception at work, we switched to AT&T and I once again got the M7. We are still on AT&T, but I dumped my M7 after a week on AT&T for the Note 3. Anyhow, here were my issues with the M7 that I see again with the M8:

1. After all the constant "excellent build quality" praise that the M7 and now M8 constantly get, I really just don't see it. Based on materials alone, yes, the M7 and M8 are excellent in materials. In actual build quality, they are both quite poor in my opinion. Both of my M7's from last year had screen fitment issues where they weren't flush with the top and bottom speaker grills. It annoyed the heck out of my OCD self and was one of the few reasons why I returned them both.

My M8 has a very similar issue. On the right side of the phone, the top and bottom speaker grills are raised above the glass. So my finger snags when I'm swiping up or down on the screen. Super annoying and I'm going to exchange it for sure, if I even keep this phone in general.

2. The LED notification light....if you can call it one. Is HTC the only smartphone manufacturer that doesn't understand the importance and desire from consumers to have a bright, legible and multi-colored LED notification light? The one on the M7 and now M8 is pathetic. Might as well not even have one. It is the size of a pinhole, can only show green or amber, and it is next to useless.

To HTC's credit, the one on the M8 does seem to be a bit more visible than it was on the M7, but it could be in my head. And also keep in mind that I knew exactly what I was getting into when I bought the M8, so it's my own fault with this issue. I still wanted to mention it however as it still bothers me.

3. The camera. I will keep this one short as there is constant discussion about it and people have varying opinions. My opinion is that it's lackluster, and I never thought I would say my Nexus 5 camera is better than a premium flagship phone. But it is, and I will leave it at that.

And once again, I knew what I was getting into before I purchased the M8, but I fell for HTC's duo camera marketing thinking it might somehow make 4mp's better than 4mp's. It didn't and I'm disappointed for the most part.

4. Software....I don't know what it is, but Sense 6 feels cold and empty to me. Coming from the Nexus 5, I know this might sound like a bizarre statement, but something feels off and I can't quite pinpoint it. It feels, dare I say, boring. Yes it is fast and smooth, I will give it that. But that's about where it ends for me.

I also can't wrap my head around HTC still not addressing their messaging app oddity. On the M7, when you got a new text message and opened the app, the new message wouldn't immediately appear and it would refresh quickly and then it would show up. I don't know about anyone else, but that is super duper annoying to me. And it's sadly still present on the M8.

Some might say, "use Hangouts or a 3rd party app". And I would say "nope". I hate how Hangouts handles SMS and MMS and I don't like to use 3rd party apps for text messaging. Just personal preference.

5. The physical aspect of the phone itself....it's just too tall. I understand they had to cram amps, a bigger battery, etc into the phone. But almost as tall as the Note 3? Come on. The phone feels good in the hand however, but it's just a little cumbersome. And I still hate the top of phone power button placement even thought they moved it from the left side to right.

With all of that being said, I still really, really like this phone believe it or not. The above average sound from the speakers, good battery life, good reception (compared to my Nexus 5), very nice quality screen, and fluid performance all add up for me.

So now I'm in the dilemma of deciding if the cons outweigh the pros enough to return the phone. Are my gripes unreasonable? Am I alone here? Any advice or thoughts?

Thanks!