If you really like the HTC One M8 but didn't care for the aluminum casing or the flagship pricing, the HTC One E8 might be your phone. I know, the aluminum unibody design is the main reason some of you pine for the M8, and it is a classy and elegant design. But the One E feels darned good in hand, is less slippery and is a tad lighter. As of this writing, the E8 is only available on Sprint in the US, though it's sold by a variety of overseas carriers. The hardware is nearly identical to the HTC One M8, from the 2.3GHz quad core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor with Adreno 330 graphics to the 2 gigs of RAM and the 1920 x 1080 SLCD 3 display. It has the same front 5 megapixel camera, NFC, GPS with GLONASS, Bluetooth 4.0 and dual band WiFi 802.11n (not ac according to HTC's website).

So what's different? The casing is polycarbonate and available in your choice of Polar White or Misty Gray. Instead of the 4 megapixel equivalent Ultrapixel duo camera you get a traditional 13 megapixel rear camera. The phone has 16 rather than the M8's 32 gigs of internal storage, though they both have a microSD card slot for storage expansion. Lastly, the E8 lacks the IR blaster for AV Remote control and thus there's no HTC TV app. Those concessions save you $100 on the contract and retail price compared to the M8. For those of you on GSM networks like AT&T and T-Mobile, there are GSM unlocked versions of the HTC One E8 sold by importers online, though you won't get 4G LTE.

Despite the different casing material, there's little different here from the HTC One M8. The One E8 has the same pleasingly curved back, microSD and nano SIM card slots (one slot on each side) and the power button up top. Unlike the M8, the power button on the E8 is centered and is metal since it doesn't double as the IR blaster window. From the front, you might be hard pressed to tell the E8 from the M8 since it has the same full HD 5" display and HTC BoomSound speakers flanking top and bottom. We have the gray model in for review, and I really like the soft touch back that's somehow silky yet grippy.

Voice quality has been a mixed bag on Sprint in the Dallas, TX metroplex with sometimes digitized voice, but the HTC One E8 sounded very clear and full for both incoming and outgoing voice. Sprint's network is improving and the E8 is an excellent voice phone. It supports HD Voice (when calling another Sprint HD Voice phone) and Sprint Spark that uses 3 LTE bands to channel bond for faster data speeds (AT&T and Verizon's version is xLTE). The HTC has GSM and 3G HSPA+ for world roaming and it uses a nano SIM.

Sprint shows data network improvements here as well, and even with 1 bar of LTE (in much of the metroplex that's all we got), the HTC One E8 averaged 16Mbps down and 5.6Mpbs up according to Ookla's Speedtest.net app. In one neighborhood with full bars the phone managed an incredible 75Mbps down and 12Mbps up, showing the effects of Sprint Spark.

The front 5 megapixel camera with BSI and a fast f/2.8 lens is better than most selfie cameras on the market. Again, it's identical to the M8's camera and it's a pleasure for video chat with less noise and richer colors.

The rear traditional 13MP camera with BSI, HDR and panorama mode is a selling point in my book. I'm not a great fan of HTC's duo camera and its 4MP equivalent resolution. Yes, it does well in low light settings thanks to the larger sensor sites, but the resolution is too low for anything but small format presentations and cropping results in noisy or watercolor-ish photos. The 13Mp rear camera still has some typical HTC flaws such as blown out highlights in bright sunlight, but overall it captured good detail, rendered pleasing colors and was quick to focus. It's not the best camera on the market; the LG G3, Samsung Galaxy S5 and higher end Nokia Lumia models like the Lumia 930/Lumia Icon and Lumia 1020 do a better job, but the One E8's camera is pretty good. It can record 1080p (but not 4k) video and has a white LED flash rather than the two-tone flash on the M8.

The One E8 runs Android 4.4 KitKat with HTC Sense 6 software, just like the M8. As ever, we really like HTC's light touch that's refreshing compared to Samsung TouchWiz and LG's heavy remaking of Android's UI. The phone has HTC BlinkFeed for news and social networking as the leftmost home screen, and HTC Zoe that creates a short video from shots taken on a given day with music and visual effects.

Again, just like the One M8, the E8 has a 2600 mAh Lithium Ion battery that's sealed inside, and battery life is very good compared to today's flagship smartphones with big screens and fast CPUs. We had no problem making it through the day with heavy use and averaged 1.5 days per charge with moderate use. Should you need extra staying power, there are micro USB battery packs that can top up the battery.