HTC One M8 screen not seamless with chassis

T

Thuleman

Supreme [H]ardness
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Despite my bitching about the M8 being too damn tall I went ahead and got myself one yesterday. I just like the feel of the phone much better than the S5 or G2 (which were the other contenders). Love the UI/UX too, but here's the thing;

qpDkv7g.png


This is a stock image with the problem areas circled. Both at the top and the bottom of the phone the screen/glass doesn't seamlessly line up with the chassis/speaker cover. On my phone this is most noticeable on the lower right side where the speaker cover is an easy 1/3 mm above the glass which creates a very noticeable ledge.

The ledge feeling is still there in the three other corners but not as bad as the lower right side. I went back to the store just now and noticed that the "ledge effect" is also present in all display models. It's quite annoying and really sad because I don't think that I can keep this phone.

If you are an M8 owner, how prominent is that ledge on your phone?
 
I never noticed it on my Verizon M8. But I just checked mine out and it's pretty much flush on the top and bottom right, and there's a very slight ledge at the bottom left of mine, definitely not 1/3mm though. It's barely enough to catch my finger nail on.

But I'm actually swapping my M8 out for another one today because my top speaker pops at loud volumes. I can replicate it easily just by calling a phone on speaker phone and turning the volume all the way up. The phone ring tone makes my top speaker pop like crazy. So I'll be sure to check this out on my replacement phone when I pick it up later this evening too.
 
This is a common problem when the manufacturer uses glue to hold the device together. Usually when you have more than one company produce the phone you see these slight discrepancies due to differing standards when letting the glue set.
 
The left side is flush, while the right side is more pronounced. I don't recall this when I first got the phone. I left my phone on top of the car and it fell off around 25 mph. Still working.
 
I went back to another store (figured that they may have received a different batch) and the guy there was really helpful, he brought out 3 new in box M8s and we checked them all, all of them had this issue and for all of them it was actually worse than for the phone I already had, especially on the right side.

I paid the $35 restocking fee and left with an S5 instead.
 
Seems to be typical HTC quality. My HTC had light leakage at the bottom of the screen which was common.
 
this is "normal" for the M7 also. you get used to and don't notice it after a couple days.
 
This has been a problem ever since the M7 and it apparently is continuing.
It seems that some HTC One handsets ship in less than perfect condition.

Problem: There have been reports of build quality problems with gaps between the plastic and metal, strange bulges, mysterious scratches on the body, edges that feel rough to the touch, or lights leaking through seams.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNT1YRcGDL0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qL1lV9-DbcM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RuoK-P_dfc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qs6sj5DFQw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dl1X37IyzdA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwOu5oXpjVQ
 
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Samsung was accused of hiring a firm that attempted to over generalize these build quality failures and turn it viral. While I think they are problems, I don't think right they are a big deal.

At least not until someone shows these phones are degrading really fast.
 
You shouldn't have to make up fairy tales to justify living with a defect. My first Note II had dark blotches that was only visible with a grey background with the room lights off so very specific conditions but I saw it, made no excuses and exchanged it with another without blotches. Defects lower the resale value.
 
Making up fairy tales? Mi7chy?

How about you explain how Foxconn isn't an electronic component manufacturer? How Samsung's fingerprint reader is supposedly more secure? And how Samsung's plastic designs protects the phones from drops more than Apple's or HTC's metal?
 
I didn't have any issues with light bleeding through, but the what I call "ledge" effect was just too prominent for me to deal with. Had it been at the top of the phone I may have lived with it (though I don't think that a $650 piece of equipment should require me to settle), but at the bottom of the phone it was just unacceptable to me since I'd frequently brush over it with my finger(s) during normal handling/operation.

My disappointment was further exacerbated by the fact that the M8 is overall a beautiful phone, although the curved back will inevitably lead to a "centerline" scuff mark unless one uses a cover (which I won't ever do since it totally defeats the purpose of having a slim phone in the first place).

What I really don't get is the decision making process that let the phone I had leave the factory. There was a very prominent flaw on the lower right side of the phone I had, yet it was shipped out anyway. Likewise the other new-in-box M8s the ATT guy pulled out had an even worse ledge, yet they left the factory as well. Ultimately that will cost HTC more to deal with returns and bad press than to just melt those factory-seconds down or send them to some 3rd world country in the first place.

BTW, my S5 isn't perfect either, the backlight on the lower left button is way off-center such that the right side of the button is barely illuminated. To me that's a visual cosmetic issue so I decided to keep it anyway.
 
Pretty sure I'd deal with anything short of a cracked display before trading my M8 for an S5 and getting use to TW again, esp since I can't even root it on Verizon still.

I dunno how you would even feel the ridge right there either in normal usage.. my fingers stay way above that ridge near the nave buttons. But then again, mine are pretty flush so I don't feel it in the first place.
 
There's the Verizon GS5 developer edition so you get the benefits of unlocked boot loader, root, etc. and not have to live with the M8 defect.

On the other hand, the M8 being rootable with HTC WeakSauce attack just shows that its security is weaker and most people who do root do it for subscriptionless WIFI tether which can be achieved with the unrootable GS5 with FoxFi.
 
mi7chy said:
There's the Verizon GS5 developer edition so you get the benefits of unlocked boot loader, root, etc. and not have to live with the M8 defect.

On the other hand, the M8 being rootable with HTC WeakSauce attack just shows that its security is weaker and most people who do root do it for subscriptionless WIFI tether which can be achieved with the unrootable GS5 with FoxFi.
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Getting the Dev edition isn't a solution really since there aren't going to be any people out there with Verizon Dev edition phones, so there aren't going to be any actual devs building ROMs for Verizon's dev edition GS5. I don't think ROMs from other GS5 variants will work on it, or at least work as well. To add to that, it costs $600 since you can't get it on-contract, still only comes with 16GB (~10GB usable) internal storage, and does not receive any official updates.

If you want to argue security, the GS5 has been blown wide open on every other variant other than the Verizon and AT&T ones. So I don't think Samsung has much to do with it. The carriers are forcing them to lock it down. They do the same with every other OEM, it's just fortunate that devs found an exploit for the One M8 (and G2) to gain s-off/root. And I do it for much more than hotspot functionality (remove OEM/carrier bloat, add a lot of other functionality I'm used to like what Wanam Xposed and Sense Tools add, and actually for some additional security like to remotely wipe my phone and SD card with Cerberus).
 
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mine is like this too but I can't even tell after installing a screen protector. Such a minor thing really. My Dad's S5 drives me nut sometimes so I know i made the right decision going with the M8 instead of the S5 for my use. I love the sound from the htc and the UI is excellent.
 
This is just one of those issues where most consumers are not going to make a big deal out of it. I suspect it comes from using a foam padded 2 sided tape / glue. No one would use glue for anything important in just about any other field without reinforcing it with screws / nails or something I never get why people think its a sign of quality in phones.
 
rudy said:
No one would use glue for anything important in just about any other field without reinforcing it with screws / nails or something I never get why people think its a sign of quality in phones.
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Lots of things like aircraft, are made of composite materials don't use screws or nails(!), just glue, and in some cases, tape.
 
Parja said:
1/3 mm? Who the fuck uses measurements like that?!
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The Metric system is used all over the world, and when you have small measurements you use fractions. Not sure what your point is.
 
xIronCrossx said:
The Metric system is used all over the world, and when you have small measurements you use fractions. Not sure what your point is.
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Nobody uses thirds of a unit. That's just silly.

Are you sure it wasn't slightly less, say 2/7 mm?
 
xIronCrossx said:
The Metric system is used all over the world, and when you have small measurements you use fractions. Not sure what your point is.
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It's a decimal system, so the only fraction you use is x/10. Fractions of other number bases don't make sense. So instead of 1/3mm you would use 0.3333... mm, with the number of digits dependent on the accuracy required.
 
Most people don't own a precise caliper so the best they can do is hold a ruler up against it and guestimate. The smallest unit on a ruler is mm so there's nothing wrong with saying it looks like a 1/3 of a mm.
 
mi7chy said:
Most people don't own a precise caliper so the best they can do is hold a ruler up against it and guestimate. The smallest unit on a ruler is mm so there's nothing wrong with saying it looks like a 1/3 of a mm.
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Then say 0.333mm. He was mixing fractions with decimels, I agree it looked strange :p
 
Same shit except one is simpler.

0.333... mm
1/3 mm

Like...
192.168.1.0 - 192.168.1.255
192.168.1.0 /24
 
Pigster and HeavensCloud,

May I ask you guys what's your background? I studied aerospace engineering and computer science with loads of other advance mathematics for undergrad. I strongly prefer 1/3 over an inaccurate 0.333.

That said, I think I understand where Parja is coming from. A 1/3mm estimation is questionable. Although 1/3mm may be accurate, but how did you arrive to that 1/3mm? Do you actually know it to be 1/3mm or you're just pulling number out of the air? If I had to guess, the gap of the speaker grill on the bottom right corner of my phone is no more than 300µm or 3/10mm. I arrived at this estimation because 100µm is the average width of hair. And I see no more than 2 strands of hair (so technically under 2 strands of hair), but I don't exactly know the width of those two strands of hair; I would say 200 +/- 100µm would be a good estimate. So 1/3mm may very well likely to be true, but how did you arrive to this number?

Is that what you're implying, Parja?
 
They're thinking in terms of US (fractional) and metric (decimal) tools.
 
CHANG3D said:
Pigster and HeavensCloud,

May I ask you guys what's your background? I studied aerospace engineering and computer science with loads of other advance mathematics for undergrad. I strongly prefer 1/3 over an inaccurate 0.333.
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BS in Mechanical Engineering

That said, I think I understand where Parja is coming from. A 1/3mm estimation is questionable. Although 1/3mm may be accurate, but how did you arrive to that 1/3mm? Do you actually know it to be 1/3mm or you're just pulling number out of the air? If I had to guess, the gap of the speaker grill on the bottom right corner of my phone is no more than 300µm or 3/10mm. I arrived at this estimation because 100µm is the average width of hair. And I see no more than 2 strands of hair (so technically under 2 strands of hair), but I don't exactly know the width of those two strands of hair; I would say 200 +/- 100µm would be a good estimate. So 1/3mm may very well likely to be true, but how did you arrive to this number?

Is that what you're implying, Parja?
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Yup, exactly. The 1/3 mm number is obviously extracted from rectum.

Nobody (who has a clue) uses fractional measurements that are non-terminating decimals (3rds, 6ths, 7ths, 9ths, etc.).
 
mi7chy said:
They're thinking in terms of US (fractional) and metric (decimal) tools.
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Err... you lost me at implying that the British imperial system use fractional and metric uses decimal. They both use fractional and decimal (Arabian) numbers...

HeavensCloud said:
I'm a nurse, fractions aren't allowed :D
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Well, hello, nurse! I studied for the MCAT for the fun of it, and I was shocked at how it wants doctors estimate numbers so inaccurately! LOL.

Parja said:
BS in Mechanical Engineering

Yup, exactly. The 1/3 mm number is obviously extracted from <beep>.

Nobody (who has a clue) uses fractional measurements that are non-terminating decimals (3rds, 6ths, 7ths, 9ths, etc.).
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Us annoying math folks... These things peeve us so! LOL.
 
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I think this just proves that people on here just argue for the sake of arguing. No one cares about your degrees or whether the measurement is 100% accurate. 1/3 = 0.3333..... That is going to be close to whatever the actual number is. 1/3 is a number everyone and their grandmother can recognize. This isn't some project where every little piece has to fit and be measured precisely, it's a fucking forum post.
 
xIronCrossx said:
I think this just proves that people on here just argue for the sake of arguing. No one cares about your degrees or whether the measurement is 100% accurate. 1/3 = 0.3333..... That is going to be close to whatever the actual number is. 1/3 is a number everyone and their grandmother can recognize. This isn't some project where every little piece has to fit and be measured precisely, it's a fucking forum post.
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Hey, I was only trying to translate what Parja means by his "Who the <beep> uses measurements like that?!" statement. I may be a rocket scientist, but I'm not that good at math, hence making software now! One of the things I did learn is translating statements from my mathematical genius peers to laymen's term better than most can! Parja probably got incredibly insulted with you guys trying to teach him decimals... Sorry, Parja!
 
To bring the topic back on track AND be mathematically correct:

I added the Spigen GLAS.TR glass screen protector to my phone which is 0.23mm thick, and it is decidedly taller than the speaker grills now, so I would think my screen was/is flush.
 
CHANG3D said:
Pigster and HeavensCloud,

May I ask you guys what's your background?
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I'm a fairly senior engineer at one of the worlds largest precision manufacturing companies. $1B sales and 20K+ employees in 47 facilities worldwide


I studied aerospace engineering and computer science with loads of other advance mathematics for undergrad. I strongly prefer 1/3 over an inaccurate 0.333.
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Umm, you do know that 1/3 and .33333... are exactly the same thing? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/0.999...
 
So I ran into this issue when I got my first replacement phone.

First phone (brand new) had a blown speaker at the top.

Second phone (brand new) had the glass sticking out at the top left about as much as OP describes on his phone.

Third phone (Certified like-new) seems perfect all around so far. I'm having some slight issues with reception/signal though, it seems. I never noticed the other phones doing it, but this thing seems to sporadically switch between different cell bands/speeds more than the other ones. In my office, my other M8s and Note 2 would hold 1-2 bars of LTE most of the time. But this replacement seems to constantly switching between 4G, 3G and even 1x a lot. I've never even seen 1x at my desk with the other phones. I'm thinking of re-flashing the baseband to see if that helps. I'm not sure how hardware would affect reception so moderately, seems like it would be one of those things where you either have reception or you don't, not varying degrees of antenna reception across identical phones.
 
T4rd said:
Third phone (Certified like-new) seems perfect all around so far. I'm having some slight issues with reception/signal though, it seems. I never noticed the other phones doing it, but this thing seems to sporadically switch between different cell bands/speeds more than the other ones. In my office, my other M8s and Note 2 would hold 1-2 bars of LTE most of the time. But this replacement seems to constantly switching between 4G, 3G and even 1x a lot. I've never even seen 1x at my desk with the other phones. I'm thinking of re-flashing the baseband to see if that helps. I'm not sure how hardware would affect reception so moderately, seems like it would be one of those things where you either have reception or you don't, not varying degrees of antenna reception across identical phones.
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You might want to look instead at the actual signal strength, as sometimes the bars may be misleading. You can go to Settings, about, network or you can use an app like this https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.android.telnet
 
pigster said:
You might want to look instead at the actual signal strength, as sometimes the bars may be misleading. You can go to Settings, about, network or you can use an app like this https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.android.telnet
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Yeah, I know about that. I was actually comparing the dBm's of my M8 and wife's GS4 over the weekend and found that her GS4 gets slightly better reception, at least where we were at in that moment. I was in our hotel room, both phones with full 4G/LTE signal; her GS4 would stay around -68 dBm while my M8 would be around -72 dBm. Right here at my desk, I just looked at it and on LTE it fluctuates between -112 and -140 dBm, then often swtiches over to 3G, where it gets around -100 dBm.

Wish I still had my old phones to compare it to now.
 
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