HTC One (M8)
The new HTC One (M8) during a launch event in New York. Reuters

The new HTC One (M8) once again gets rave reviews from tech Web sites, boosting once again the value of the beleaguered Taiwanese phone maker.

C/NET, which compared the HTC One to Samsung Galaxy S5 and iPhone 5S, believes the Taiwan-made phone would give the South Korean-made unit a run for its money based on a review of their specs.

However, Slash Gear, in a torture test, found a weakness in the new HTC One - it failed the hammer test.

The Web site initially tried scratching the smartphone using coins and found light and deep scratches on the aluminium back, but the Gorilla Glass screen protected the gadget's front.

When it used a butcher knife, threw a some heavy damaged to the back, but the display still survives, indicating screen protectors aren't necessary if you own an HTC One (M8). The same results were recorded when a pocketknife was used.

But it is another story when the hammer was used because light to medium tapping already destroyed one of the two shooters. Heavier hammer blows destroyed the back.

HTC One (M8) has a 5-inch screen that is known for its bright and sharp images, a 4-ultrapixel camera and is powered by a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor.

It runs on Android 4.4 OS and is available in colours grey, silver and rose gold. The smartphone is available at U.S. carriers AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon.

Find out also how the HTC One (M8) fared in a separate water test.