HTC One (M8) for Windows
The Windows-powered HTC One (M8) features the same hardware and battery as its Android counterpart. The two operating systems are completely different, though and we hoped Microsoft’s OS will be able to match or beat the very good battery rating we achieved with the Android One (M8) flavor.
First we tested the phone’s 3G talk endurance. The original HTC One (M8) lived up to its promised talk time of 20 hours, but it did even better running on Windows Phone. HTC One (M8) for Windows is capable of lasting 28 hours and 30 minutes of 3G talks on a single charge – one of the best scores we’ve encountered to date.
Next we hooked up the HTC One (M8) for Windows on our dedicated web browsing script, which mimics heavy web browser usage. The One (M8) running on Windows Phone 8.1 packed enough power to last more than half a day browsing the internet – that’s more than 3 hours better than its Android sibling and among the top 10 devices in our score chart.
Quite often we were disappointed by Windows Phone’s performance while playing movies. That’s not the case with the HTC One (M8) for Windows – the smartphone lasted 11 hours while left playing a looped video before its battery level dropped to the critical 10%. It’s not the best around but it’s not a bad score either.
Our final endurance rating takes in consideration the stand-by performance, and the HTC One (M8) for Windows ended up as a solid performer, managing 79h. The HTC One (M8) final score turned out even better when running on Windows Phone than Android. 79h is the power autonomy you will get if you do an hour of calling, browsing or video-watching a day. Heavier users will naturally get less power autonomy – you can add your own usage pattern and compare the HTC One (M8) for Windows to any of the devices we’ve tested you can do so on our Battery Life page.
Unfortunately we found out the HTC One (M8) running on Windows can’t live more than two days on a single charge if you leave the location services turned on. It could be an issue with just our unlocked Verizon unit and we can’t confirm how widespread it is.
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