 For the past few years, the best designed phones have all been made out of aluminum. Whether it's the iPhone 5s, the Lumia 930, or HTC's One, the best designs always come hand in hand with the best materials. But as bad as the reputation of plastic phones is, there are a few that stand up against the very best on the market. They have the same care and attention to detail, and the experience of using them has been just as good. HTC's new one, the E8, tries to be just that. It recreates almost everything about the company's flagship 2014 phone. Except it's cheaper, and it's plastic. The E8 has the specs and the same basic shape of the One M8, but the soul of what makes that phone appealing ends up lost in the translation. The E8 is the exact same size, but its curves aren't as soft or refined, its edges aren't chamfered and don't glint in the light, and its lighter weight makes it feel somehow less substantial. It feels closer to the utilitarian Nexus 5 than it does to HTC's real flagship aluminum phone. The E8 also loses that elusive sense of authenticity that's so hard for these cookie cutter smartphones to have. The Metal M8 reacts to the environment around it, and it feels a lot more natural than the plastic counterpart, which feels alien and inorganic. Really good plastic phones either solve for their design problems, or use them productively. But in making a direct plastic copy of the Metal M8, HTC's neglected to do that. The only thing it's adding is a selection of bold new colors, while taking away the subtle aura of exclusivity that the One M8 maintains. Maybe that's good enough. In fact, for HTC it might be perfect. It can sell a cheaper version of its premium phone without sacrificing any sales of the M8. But for a company staking its future on design, the E8 is a disappointing missed opportunity. It could have proven that premium design is more than premium materials, but instead it's a phone that Samsung might be proud of. The first step in the right direction is to design plastic like it's plastic, and not stitched leather or brushed metal or super shiny chrome. HTC avoids those pitfalls, but in the process it avoids being innovative in almost any significant way. At least, the finest design continues to be the exclusive province of aluminum phones.