Now the HTC One M9 is available in the United States and will arrive on all major carriers starting April 10. Buyers are probably weighing their options and trying to decide if this is right for them or whether they should buy an iPhone or a new phone. Galaxy S6 instead. While our detailed HTC One M9 review is coming soon, below are five things buyers should know about HTC’s latest flagship smartphone.
On March 1, HTC took the stage at Mobile World Congress and announced the new HTC One M9. The smartphone was leaked countless times before it was revealed, so there were no surprises when it was introduced. It wasn’t released the same day, but is now available from HTC and will hit the shelves soon.
HTC has confirmed that the new One M9 release date is Mid-March, but that was only for Taiwan and users in the US had to wait a little longer. The phone is currently available for pre-order and will be arriving soon, and you’ll want to know a few key details before you make the jump and buy this impressive all-aluminum smartphone.
Just like last year, the new HTC One M9 looks very similar to its predecessor. In fact, when you look at the front of the HTC One M9, you’ll barely be able to recognize it over the model released in 2014. They’re almost identical, but have a few notable features that we’ll talk about below. And while being the same as the previous model, they didn’t take any risks, so they may not get any reward in the form of buyers liking the phone. Samsung, for example, has made major changes to the Galaxy S6 and it is shaping up to be one of the best devices released in all of 2015 so far.
Nice design
Yes, the HTC One M9 looks almost exactly the same as the One M8 released in 2014, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. It had an award-winning design, a beautiful solid aluminum frame, and felt great in the hand. More the same this year. Whether you like it or not. It has the same design, but is actually slightly smaller, has rounder edges and is actually easier to hold.
HTC knows how to make a beautiful phone, which is probably why they chose to stick with the same design as last year. However, they have introduced a new two-tone color design and the gold plated silver looks stunning. The all aluminum design looks and feels great, it’s very solid but actually looks a bit lighter and cheaper than in years past, but that’s just the qualifier. It’s still all-aluminium, extremely well made and as finely machined as any smartphone available today.
The metal frame appears to have a slightly more matte finish, so it won’t be as fingerprint magnet as the One M8 and hopefully more durable. The HTC One M8 has scratched all sides and edges of the Duo camera for us relatively quickly, so we’re hoping the new One M9 can better stand the test of time.
As we said above, the One M9 is actually a bit smaller and has more rounded edges. It’s easier and more comfortable to hold, has a larger battery and much better internals, and an 8-core processor, but it’s still smaller than last year. So HTC has made some big improvements, even though they weren’t visible to buyers.
All said and done, the HTC One M9 is a great looking phone, feels great in the hand and is a joy to use. It’s up to buyers whether you want a phone that looks the same as the previous model, though.
Yield
While we’ll dig deeper into performance and the built-in Android 5.0.2 Lollipop software in our full review, our first impressions of the performance are overwhelmingly positive. This is HTC Sense, which still covers stock Android, but it’s smooth. Everything is fast, fluid and works great. This is partly due to the powerful octa-core Snapdragon 810 processor with 3GB of RAM, along with improvements made by HTC.
Playing games, launching apps, multitasking and watching movies on Netflix is a delight. The dual front-facing Boomsound speakers actually sound better than last year, even if they’re not that loud. This year they introduced the welcomed Dolby Audio technology.
Initial reports suggested that the Snapdragon 810 processor would not be a good choice for the phone, as the octa-core chipset is overheating. This does not appear to be the case. For those wondering, the phone has a powerful quad-core processor for most tasks, as well as a lower 1.2 GHz quad-core chip for simpler tasks and smaller things like web browsing. That means you have the power when you need it, and a low-power chip that lets you surf the web and search without draining the battery. This brings us to our next topic.
battery life
We’re still busy using the new HTC One M9 as our daily phone, and battery results are mixed so far. Some days are naturally better than others, but our first impressions are extremely positive. Thanks to keeping the same 1080p HD screen and not going for 2k screens like Samsung and LG, having efficient Android 5.0 OS and now a larger 2,840mAh battery (compared to 2,600mAh from last year), the HTC One M9 has a great battery life.
On average, I get about 2-3 hours of all-important “screen-on time” and the phone has enough charge to last me until the end of the day when I wake up at 7:30 in the morning. day. I got it from 8 to 8 with no issues, but other days of heavy use required a quick top up or two. The HTC One M9 features Qualcomm Quick Charge 2.0 technology, meaning it charges much faster than a typical device when it drops below 10%. 30 minutes on the charger will bring the charge to 50% and will definitely be enough for the rest of the day.
Thanks to the efficient octa-core processor, larger battery and Fast Charge technology in the Snapdragon 810, battery life won’t be an issue as it was with previous HTC smartphones. No, it won’t last as long as the DROID Turbo or Galaxy Note 4 and phones with a huge battery, but it has enough energy for any average owner to get through an entire day or more.
Camera
As for the camera on the HTC One M9, we still need to do more testing, but our first impressions are similar to last year’s. These are the fact that the HTC One M9 is a great device, but the camera is still one of its weakest links. Last year, the One M9 featured a “Dual Camera” system with 4 Ultrapixel cameras and a secondary camera for additional effects and features. Users can do some fancy stuff to add focal points and change the focal point. after that you took the photo It was nice, but not on par with the iPhone or the Galaxy S5.
The new HTC One M9 comes with a single and much better 20.7-megapixel camera on the back, and this 4 Ultrapixel camera is on the front for some great selfies and group photos. However, taking pictures with the rear camera is not as good as we expected. There’s no optical image stabilization like Samsung, Apple or LG offer, and if conditions are good, images will be fine. Low light isn’t nearly as good as we expected, autofocus can be finicky and slow at times, and the overall experience was below average.
The Galaxy S6 seems to have the best camera of any Android smartphone, and Apple’s iPhone 6 also takes great pictures. HTC is in better shape last year, slightly outpacing the HTC One M8, but that doesn’t mean much. However, they do have some neat software tools to help improve photos, change focus, and more. You may want to skip the One M9 if the camera is crucial.
Software and Themes
HTC has a software overlay called HTC Sense UI that covers stock Android. HTC One M9 comes with an all-new HTC Sense 7 interface. It offers some neat new features, a cleaner and simpler look, and even a predictive widget on the home screen that learns from your use. It will then gather popular and frequently used apps and place them directly in an easy-to-find widget on your home screen. It’s nice, but definitely not for everyone. It was constantly changing, so I quickly removed the widget and put the apps I wanted on my home screen.
HTC Sense is still a bloated version of Android that makes the interface feel like an outdated one. And while some love it, others don’t quite like it. I am part of the second group. That said, there is a new HTC Theme engine (and community) that is simply brilliant. In a matter of seconds, you can change the entire look and feel of your device with tons of built-in themes, user-created add-on themes, and even let the theme engine take color from an image you take with that 20 megapixels. Add to camera and UI.
That is, if you capture a color of the sunset, it will take the orange, red, and blues and integrate it into the UI. You can quickly change colors, header colors at the top of each page, font, and much more. It’s actually pretty, powerful, and one of our favorite additions to the new HTC One M9. The same area lets you change icons, ringtones and more if you want. This is the customization we asked for from HTC, and it’s finally here. You can even replace the navigation buttons at the bottom of the screen if you want.
final thoughts
So far, we’ve really enjoyed everything the HTC One M9 has to offer, but buyers need to know that it offers the same. So, if you own an HTC One M8, you probably want to wait for another device next year. Those who own the original HTC One will enjoy the bigger screen, better camera, faster performance and more, but it’s still a device similar to the original HTC One from 2013.
The brand new HTC One M9 has a lot to offer potential buyers, but we can’t help but think that they’ve taken a very secure route with the design, interface and overall package. This is a great phone that will hit almost all US carriers on April 10, so decide if it’s right for you and pre-order it today.
