HTC One M9 - Video Review

Since the release of the original HTC One, the company seems to have a clear vision on what they want to bring to their customers. The HTC One M9 is the evolution of that same high quality design combined with the newest hardware.

In terms of design, the HTC One M9 is almost identical to the HTC One M8. You get the same solidly crafted smartphone with a premium choice of materials. HTC has taken the design one step further by offering a dual-tone finish that accents our all-metal scratch resistant finish.

The changes in the design are subtle, and meant to improve the overall usability of the handset. The device is easier to handle and less slippery in the hand than its predecessor. HTC has also made the bezels smaller, which results in a more compact handset, though its hard to notice. More apparent, though, is the placement of the power button to the right side of the phone, which makes it more accessible.

HTC has retained a manageable 5 inch S-LCD 3 display with a 1080 x 1920 pixel resolution for their new flagship. This is the same display as its predecessor with the same 441 ppi. While there is a level of disappointment that the company didn't opt for a Quad HD (1440 x 2560) panel like its competitors, the result should not be too noticeable during day to day use.

With the HTC One (M7) the company proudly introduced its first UltraPixel camera, which evolved into a "Duo Camera" setup for the HTC One M8 and has now returned to the front of the HTC One M9 for selfies and video calls. The main camera has now been upgraded to a 20MP one, which should offer much more detail.

HTC has packed their new flagship with a 2840mAh battery, which is slightly larger than the one offered by its predecessor. The larger size, combined with the more power efficient processor and the retention of the 1080p display panel should give the HTC One M9 a better battery life than the HTC One M8.

The HTC One M9 is powered by an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 810, with Adreno 430 graphics and 3GB of RAM. The Snapdragon 810 is a 64-bit chip, with four Cortex-A57 cores operating at speeds of up to 2.1GHz, and four Cortex-53 tuned to 1.5GHz. The handset will be offered with 32GB or 64GB of storage on board, with the optional microSD available to those who need it.

The HTC BoomSound speakers are now accompanied with Dolby Audio Surround. Features like the nanoSIM slot, microSD card slot for expandable storage, and an IR blaster are retained from the previous model. The HTC One M9 is available in three metallic colors – gunmetal grey, gold on silver, and gold on gold. The HTC One M9 is IPX3 certified, which only gives it protection against “light rain.” Interestingly, an optional HTC Active Case will increase its rating to IP68 for added submersion and drop protection.

The Android 5.0 Lollipop powered HTC One M9 comes with HTC Sense 7.0 which offers a more streamlined experience and continues HTC's trend in offering one of the best custom Android experiences. With Sense 7 you get a centralized Themes Store where various themes can be downloaded to the phone, which naturally changes up the visuals of the interface. These downloadable themes will also modify notification tones as well. If you are not satisfied with the available selection, you can even go to the gallery, select a photo, and create a customized theme based on it. The M9 will actually analyze the image and generate a personalized theme, one that complements the color pattern of your desired image.

Another new entrant to the Sense experience is the HTC Sense Home widget, which by default, is placed on the homescreen after the initial setup process. It’s a valuable tool if you're the kind of person that relishes on organization, since the widget intelligently arranges apps according to your usage and location. Broken down to three specific options, home, work, and out, we really like how it reacts to our usage. When at work, apps such as the calendar and mail are presented to us – while Google Maps is logically given when we're “out.” There’s a “Suggestions” folder in there, but unlike the other icons in the widget, it’s not something we can unpin.

Beyond that, you get the family BlinkFeed which is populated with your social network updates. You also get all the various Motion Launch gestures from before, which allow us do things such as turning on the screen by double tapping on it, unlock the phone by doing a swipe up when it’s off, and even launching the camera by picking up the phone, placing it into landscape, and pressing down on the volume key.

Thanks to Android 5.0.2 you get the latest Lollipop features, including the ability to pin apps, the okay Google initialization, and the connectivity options are accessible by a quick swipe on the notification panel, which presents us access to useful things like the flashlight. Sadly, though, Lollipop’s multi-user support has been omitted.

The HTC One M9 will arrive in U.S. markets on April 10th, and will likely cost the usual $200 on-contract. The handset will have to go up against devices like the Apple iPhone 6 and the Nokia Lumia 930, but faces its biggest competition in the form of the Samsung Galaxy S6 and the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge. Are you thinking of picking up an HTC One M9 this year? Leave us a comment below if you are.


source - PhoneArena