HTC’s upcoming One replacement codenamed the M8 is expected to be revealed as early as end of this month at MWC. Traditionally HTC devices have been sticking with physical or capacitive buttons while other players have moved on for a button-less design with the use of on-screen buttons. Apparently HTC is said to be switching to on-screen buttons in their upcoming M8 smart phone.
A purported leaked of its upcoming on-screen buttons have surfaced revealing a 3 button layout as shown above. In the current HTC One series, HTC went with a 2 button design (Home & Back) where the additional functions are discreetly hidden with a double tap action. Taking this with a pinch of salt, the new design follows the traditional on-screen 3 button layout that’s similar to the Nexus 5 and the current crop of Sony Xperia smart phones. The home button icon retains the similar design that’s commonly used in past HTC smart phones including the HTC One X.
Having on-screen buttons give the device a cleaner physical look but on the downside, it takes up a portion of the display real estate. As a side note since we are talking about buttons, the HTC Incredible S had an interesting feature where its 4 capacitive button icons rotate when you switch orientation from Portrait to Landscape mode.
Which would you prefer? On-screen buttons or dedicated capacitive buttons? Drop your thoughts in the comments below.
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