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HTC One M8 vs Nokia Lumia Icon

• Egon Kilin
• September 26th, 2014

The HTC One M8 and Nokia Lumia Icon are among the best devices of 2014 and offer high-end performance and quality build, besides unique cameras and features. Those who are wondering which of the two is best, though, we can straight up let you know that the decision will be yours to make. The HTC One M8 and Nokia Lumia Icon are both excellent examples of Windows running phones working perfectly.

Even though there already are even better devices out there, like the Galaxy Note 4, Note Edge or the Lumia 1020, the HTC One M8 and Lumia Icon remain among the crowd favorites. That’s because both handle Windows very well and offer stunning photos, sturdy builds, outstanding performance and pretty good battery life. Even though they are both high-end phones, you still need to review the pros and cons of each.

The HTC One M8 design has been revered by many, with its solid metal chassis and stylish, yet powerful BoomSound front-facing speakers. The bezels on the HTC One M8 are also pretty thin compared to what you can find on the market at the moment. The One M8 also has a curved back and curved edges so that it fits better in your pocket and feels better in your hands. The Lumia Icon, on the other hand, has a polycarbonate chassis with a metal frame, the same thin bezels, but with a very square build and solid edges which don’t offer as much maneuverability as the design of the HTC One M8. Design-wise, I would rather work with the HTC One M8 than the Lumia Icon since it does fit better in a pocket and the rounded edges offer an easier grip.

The display on the HTC One M8 and Lumia Icon are almost identical. They’re both 5 inch displays with 1080-1920 resolution and 441 ppi pixel density, the only difference being that the HTC One M8 has a Super LCD3 screen whilst the Lumia Icon has an AMOLED screen. The AMOLED screen does offer more vivid colors and increased contrast and brightness compared to the HTC One M8, but you will only notice that difference when holding the smartphones next to each other. Sunlight visibility is about the same on both phones, so there’s no difference there. The Windows 8 tiles do look more vibrant on the Lumia Icon, but if you choose the HTC One M8 with Android on it, the UI looks much better than the Windows 8.1 UI.

As you probably noticed, you have two choices when it comes to OS on the HTC One M8. You can choose between Windows 8.1 and Android KitKat. On the Lumia Icon, on the other hand, you only have Windows 8.1 available. It’s up to you to decide which mobile OS you prefer, but you must know that both phones work really well. The HTC One M8 handles Windows as well as it does Android. The Lumia Icon has been manufactured with Windows OS in mind, so you might find the Lumia more attractive and feature-filled if you want a Windows phone.

The specs on the two phones aren’t that different either. The HTC One M8 runs on a quad core Snapdragon 801 CPU with Adreno 330 GPU, backed by 2 GB RAM and available in 16 or 32 GB storage configurations, expandable via microSD card. The Lumia Icon runs on a slightly older CPU, the quad core Snapdragon 800 with the same Adreno 330 GPU, 2 GB RAM but only available with 32 GB internal storage and doesn’t have a microSD card slot.

The camera is probably the biggest difference between the HTC One M8 and Lumia Icon. The Icon was specifically designed to be a smartphone fit for users who would like to get as close as possible to professional photography without buying a professional camera. The Icon has a 20 MP rear shooter and 1.3 MP selfie camera. The rear camera performs extremely well and has the most feature-filled app on the market, as usual from Lumia devices. The HTC One M8 has a 4 MP dual camera with a depth sensor on the rear and a 5 MP selfie shooter. The HTC One M8 rear camera performs just as well as the camera on the Lumia, although you can notice a lot of differences when it comes to the detail in the shots. The Lumia shoots pictures that are much more detailed and vivid. On the other hand, the front camera on the HTC One M8 is much better than the selfie camera on the Lumia Icon.

That being said, you can clearly see that there are no outstanding (or deal-braking) defects in either phone, and both the HTC One M8 and Lumia Icon offer top-notch specs and features, so the decision is up to you. You should consider the design of the phones, the camera and the OS first, because those are the main differences between the two handsets, and make a decision based on your own personal needs. If you need a phone that will be durable, solid, easy to maneuver and powerful at the same time, the HTC One M8 should be your first choice. On the other hand, if you prefer a bright, vivid screen, high-quality camera and the square design, the Lumia Icon is tailor-made (almost) for you. Which would you choose if you were offered one free?