If you're the kind of person who cares about the kind of smartphone you're using, and you don't own an iPhone, or any of Samsung or LG's high-end offerings, chances are you're using an HTC. Of the 'big four' smartphone manufacturers,HTC is the one that's been praised in recent years for offering near-perfect handsets for Android lovers, resulting in numerous awards but never truly translating to the sales figures the Taiwanese company perhaps deserve within the UK.
Unveiled at Mobile World Congress earlier this month, the HTC One M9 is the company's newest flagship model. It follows on from the wildly lauded HTC One (M8), which was praised for its marriage of form with function but chastised for its average camera. With the firm hoping to gain further ground in the wildly competitive phone marketplace, can the M9 deliver on the M8's promises?
Design and screen
Firstly, the M9 is a good looking phone. Its all-metal unibody design makes it look and feel like a premium device whereas Samsung's Galaxy S5's plastic back was roundly derided for cheapening what was otherwise a great device. The model I tested was a combination of rose gold and silver, while a gold/pink combination and gunmetal grey and amber gold are also available. I wasn't overly taken with the colour combo, but understand it is HTC's means of differtiating the M9 visually from the proliferation of other high-end handsets on the market.
The 5-inch 1080p screen is crisp, and pleasant to watch TV programmes and films on, though a touch dark to my eyes.
Despite weighing 15g less than the iPhone 6 Plus (my regular phone), the M9's polished aluminium body felt heftier in the hand to me. It seemed bulkier and more cumbersome to hold during prolonged phone calls, but I realise this is largely a matter of preference.
The power button has been relocated from the top of the body to the right-hand side, just underneath the volume buttons, which given their identical size and near-identical finish is mildly irritating.
Battery life, reception and power
The Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 processor ran muliple apps without a hitch, and the 2840 mAh battery lasted around a full day even following moderate to heavy use. While this is more than fine for the average user, and better than a lot of other phones at the moment, it's not a huge advancement on the M8 either. I did notice at times that the metal body became warm following extensive use, but not to the extent that it became an issue. I also didn't notice any specific reception problems using it in and around London.
The Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 processor ran muliple apps without a hitch, and the 2840 mAh battery lasted around a full day even following moderate to heavy use. While this is more than fine for the average user, and better than a lot of other phones at the moment, it's not a huge advancement on the M8 either. I did notice at times that the metal body became warm following extensive use, but not to the extent that it became an issue. I also didn't notice any specific reception problems using it in and around London.
The M9 comes with 32GB of internal storage and 3GB of RAM, with the capacity to support an additional 128GB via microSD, a feature not available to M8 owners.
The BoomSound speakers meanwhile, are truly impressive. Partnering with Dolby Audio was a smart move for HTC, insofar as the M9 avoids the 'tinny' label which continues to dog so many smartphones and deliver the richest sound available without complementary speakers. The phone also comes with specially-designed earbud headphones, which fit nicely and sound great.
Software and features
The M9 is the first HTC handset to ship with new user interface Sense 7.0, layered on top of Android 5.0 Lollipop. Sense 7 has been designed to put the user at the heart of using the M9, allowing you to create your own custom themes from your own photos, resulting in new apps, backgrounds and colour schemes. How much you use this feature obviously hinges on how deeply you care about customising your interface, and as an iOS user it's not terribly high on my list of priorities. But no doubt there are many that will enjoy using the widget.
The M9 is the first HTC handset to ship with new user interface Sense 7.0, layered on top of Android 5.0 Lollipop. Sense 7 has been designed to put the user at the heart of using the M9, allowing you to create your own custom themes from your own photos, resulting in new apps, backgrounds and colour schemes. How much you use this feature obviously hinges on how deeply you care about customising your interface, and as an iOS user it's not terribly high on my list of priorities. But no doubt there are many that will enjoy using the widget.
Picture organising feature Cloudex draws all your photos from Facebook, Flickr, Twitter etc and unites them in one easily navigated internal gallery, which is a clever solution to the first world problem of trying and failing to find the exact photo you're after. These features aside, there's not that much to differentiate the M9 from the M8.
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