HTC One (M8) Goes Gold With Harman Kardon Edition

If having the best sounding phone on the market wasn’t enough already, Harman Kardon took the HTC One (M8) and made it sound even better. Sold as a Sprint exclusive, the stunning black and gold appearance won’t likely sway customers away from their current carrier, but for existing Sprint customers it’s an obvious choice.

HTC’s newest flagship device, the One (M8), is among the best phones currently available today. It’s sleek, well spec’d, and has dual front facing speakers that make it sound just as good as any small device available. The H/K edition tweaks some of the music features further, putting it well above other phones currently available today.

Part of the H/K One (M8) might be the headphones it comes with, the AE-S. With any headphones, however, they’re still most likely hit or miss for most people with fairly generic rubber in-ear tips. The standard HTC One (M8) comes with slightly above average earphones already, but aren’t quite as heavy duty and are missing a play/pause button like the Harman Kardon ones include.

There isn’t anything different about the H/K edition hardware, it’s exactly the same internals as the standard HTC One (M8), but the audio playback is tuned differently. For one, it does sound even sharper and more distinct with Harman Kardon’s Clear-Fi which is supposed restore compression. Again, the standard (M8) version of the phone sounds great as well.

As far as the black and gold color, it’ll most likely provide the biggest draw for consumers. The black metal back will be forever visually smudged compared to the standard silver, but it might just be worth it. Even if you’re not into gold, it’s not offensive partly because it’s used sparingly. It’s a great color scheme and completely changes how the phone looks.

I got to test out the Harman Kardon Onyx Bluetooth speaker as well and it’s impressive. If you’re looking for a capable Bluetooth speaker, then for $99.99 with purchase of the H/k HTC One (M8), this is the one to get. It has a relatively small footprint while still powerful and full sounding. Unless you’re throwing a party, turning the volume past 50% isn’t necessary.

Is this a great phone? Yes. Should you switch to Sprint just for the Harman Kardon edition of the One (M8)? Probably not. The differences are all positive, but relatively speaking they’re just minimal.