Introduction
Just as expected, the day before the official start of the MWC 2015 is shaping up to be pretty eventful. Just as scheduled, HTC held it press event in Barcelona and it brought us the company's flagship - the HTC One M9.And before you hit the comment section, no it's not a typo. This time around the M9 comes without brackets and it is now a full-fledged part of the device's name.
The phone looks as good as last year's model, retaining the signature slick luxury feel, which, frankly, only a metal unibody can bring to the table.
We did have a chance to play around with HTC's latest pride and joy and we have a few initial impressions to share. We will surely revisit the phone with a full proper review when the time comes, but for now, here is what we have gathered from our first-hand experience with the One M9.
HTC One M9 design and build quality
The HTC One M9 is definitely a charmer. HTC has retained a lot of the slick style from its predecessor and a single glance at the phone is enough to spot the distinct One touch. While the device does inherit a lot of design queues, there are at least a few very notable changes, which according to HTC make for a very minimal and universally appealing design.While the One (M8) was more rugged and manly, the design goal with the One M9 was to create a unisex handset. This effort is even more apparent when looking at the abundance of new customization features in the new Sense UI 7, but more on that later.
The One M9 will be available in several new paintjobs - there is a Silver model with Rose Gold frame, a Gun Metal Gray one, a completely Gold version and a Pink model with Gold frame.
The dual-tone finishes work very naturally, due to a prominent new design feature of the One M9. The front frame is now surrounded by an edge, tracing its entire outline. It is almost like the front panel is a separate, smaller block, placed on top of the rest of the phone. It is quite an interesting design accent and it really helps getting a good grip when handling the phone.
The One M9 in gun metal color and the dual color pattern
The HTC One M9 is also a little shorter and less wide than its predecessor. It measures 144.6 x 69.7 x 9.61 mm, compared to 146.4 x 70.6 x 9.4 mm on the One M8. It is a tad thicker, but still lies very comfortable in the hand thanks to its curved back. Weight has been reduced as well and is now at 157g instead of 160g.
The One M9 sized up against the One (M8)
A quick glance at the above comparison quickly reveals there have been some control changes in the device. The most noticeable being the power button, which is now moved to a much more convenient location on the right side of the phone, right below the volume buttons.
Speaking of which, that's another significant change. The volume rocker on the One (M8) has been swapped with two separate buttons, both very nicely rounded.
To prevent mistaking the three identically shaped buttons HTC has opted for a slightly different texture on the power button and its little touches like this that really make the phone stand out.
Right and top side of the phone
Another thing still present on the right side of the phone is the SIM card slot. It is very much identical to the one on the M8 with the same ejector pin hole. Going round the rest of the device, we find just a few more elements that disturb the otherwise flush frame.
Left side and bottom
The left side houses only the SD card slot, again much the same as the one on the One M8. The top of the phone is completely bare, with a black plastic strip hiding the IR emitter.
No surprises on the bottom either. Here we find the micro USB port and the 3.5mm jack right next to it.
A lot of attention has been paid to fine detail
The back of the phone is as clean as possible. This is definitely a complementing angle. Not much has changed from the previous generation and frankly, it is for the best. HTC has kept the same placement and design of the plastic strip accents. They stretch all the way to the front panel and not only look good, but are also vital for proper antenna reception. The only real difference is the camera lens, which is now square and significantly bigger. Gone is the dual camera setup we saw in the One (M8), but HTC is saying they've not given up on the concept just yet and might use it in other phones.
HTC has focused a lot on premium materials and an exquisite manufacturing process in the One M9. The overall part-count of the shell has been reduced. The front panel is now a single uniform piece. To achieve a premium look and feel, the phone has undergone a dual anodization process, opposed to its predecessor, which was sand-blasted, like Apple's laptops for example.
The device does feel significantly different to the touch, this might also be due to the special outside coating. HTC boats that their device offers the industry's first dual-finish. Part of this new exterior is an improved scratch-resistant coating, sot the handset should be a lot less scratch-prone than its predecessors.
The HTC One M9 definitely feels good to the touch
HTC's new manufacturing process sounds just as impressive as the end product itself. The manufacturing of a single unit is a 70 step process and takes about 300 minutes per unit. It also, reportedly, involves a lot of manual labor, by "experienced craftsmen".
The HTC One M9 does not offer any enhanced water resistance. HTC explains that despite their best desire, this is extremely hard to achieve on an all metal device, but users will be able to pick up an IP69 water-protective case for the device once it comes out.
The One M9 definitely has a lot to show
Speaking of accessories, the HTC One M9 will be released along with a new and improved second generation Dot View case. HTC promises a new retro-style look as well as a wider color selection. Dot View compatibility will also be improved with new features and what the manufacturer refers to as "through-the-case" notifications. HTC also plans to release a waterproof Active Headset to accompany users one extreme adventures.
HTC has opted to keep the same screen form the One (M8), with slight improvements in manufacturing technology and software color modes. Other than that, it is the same 5.0-inch 1080p panel.
The new metal finish looks as good as it feels
Sound is another department HTC rarely skips on and the One M9 is definitely no exception. The very successful stereo front speaker design in naturally present and HTC's BoomSound now comes with Dolby Audio and is manufactured according to the audio giant's standards.
The HTC One M9 offers top-of-the line hardware, but nothing really makes it stand out. The specs are impressive on paper, but seem to lack any twist to really skyrocket the device ahead of competitors, or its predecessor, for that matter. This is not to say the M9 does not offer impressive performance, but don't take our word for it, follow us to the next section for some benchmark scores.
All things considered the HTC One M9 looks and behaves like a logical, although quite tame successor to the iconic One line. The absence of a bigger or higher-res screen are indeed a bummer, but other than that, almost everything about the phone feels upgraded to 2015 standards. This straightforward incremental approach does show a lot of confidence in existing design and appeal, but does also lead to a significant lack of that all-important "wow factor".
Sense 7
As already mentioned the HTC One M9 comes with Android 5.0 out of the box. We have already gotten a taste of the Lollipop experience on the HTC One (M8) and the improvements were plentiful. HTC builds upon the experience even further by shipping the new flagship with a whole new version of their popular Sense UI.
A lot of improvements with the same premium feeling
The new Sense version 7 has a lot going for it. HTC has incorporated a lot of material design in the new platform, but has kept true to its roots. Using the One M9 still undisputable gives off a distinctive HTC vibe, but now with a lot more freedom and options, hidden under the hood.
There is a lot of emphasis on personalization and customization in the new Sense. HTC's Blinkfeed is now more-powerful and clever than ever and has front role seats on the phone. The clever assistant can now add location-specific and timely content right on your lockscreen. Your news is right there waiting for you once you look at the phone in the morning, and so is your schedule. Throughout the day Blinkfeed tries to be as helpful as possible and can even bring up restaurant suggestion through Yelp just when you need them.
But the lockscreen in far from the only thing that has gotten smarter on the One M9. The launcher can now adapt to your needs and location, dynamically bringing up and rearranging information and shortcuts throughout the day.
Of course, HTC has included a manual editing option for those not particularly keen on their phone rearranging itself. App recommendation are also a new feature, which should help new Android adopters quickly discover just the right set of apps to suit their needs.
Sense 7 is now more customizable than ever. Practically everything in the GUI can be recolored and redesigned to make for a more personal experience. A clever new feature is the ability to edit the contents of the navigation bar. If you fancy having some other feature besides the default menu, back and apps buttons constantly available at the bottom of your display it can be added with a few clicks.
Everything can be freely rearranged as well. This navigation bar customization unlocks a lot of new possibilities, but does sadly have its limitations, most notable that only a total of four shortcuts can be placed on the bar, although there is clearly a space for a fifth one.
The One M9 also features an incredibly powerful theming engine. Themes have a lot more control over the look and feel of the GUI. Almost everything is customizable with various fine-tuning options, all the way down to the background of app shortcuts. But perhaps the coolest new customization feature is the ability to turn every image into a theme almost instantly.
HTC has developed a clever new interface that quickly analyzes the color pallet of a given image and generates an array of themes to match its general style. The function produces surprisingly pleasant results, even with far from idea source photos and anything you don't like can easily by fine-tuned thanks to the powerful styling interface.
Powerful theming engine
Multimedia is now more social than ever on the One M9. HTC Connect has become even better and can now connect to a wide range of compatible smart TVs and external speakers, through a simple three-finger swipe gesture. The platform also offers Qualcomm AllPlay compatibility and lets you really mix things up thanks to multi-user playlists and extensive device support.
Benchmarks
The HTC One M9 is powered by a 64-bit octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 chipset. The GPU on board is the Adreno 430 and the setup is complimented by 3GB of RAM. This particular hardware combination puts the One M9 is the ranks of the very select few, currently running on Qualcomm's top of the line silicon. This could very well prove to be a solid recipe for success, but we can only judge that based on real-life performance and benchmarks. Luckily we were able to run a few preliminary tests, which we will show you in a little bit.First up, we have the raw CPU performance test with GeekBench 3, so things should be pretty straight-forward in this department. Naturally, we expected to see the HTC One M9 at the top of this list, along with the LG G Flex 2, due to the identical hardware, but the HTC does seem to perform better.
While testing the LG Flex2, we did notice that under load the phone tends to heat up quite noticeably. We were definitely happy to see that HTC One M9 had no problems in this department and squeezed even more juice of the more than capable Snapdragon 810 putting the debate over the thermal performance of Qualcomm's latest silicone to rest.
GeekBench 3
Higher is better
- HTC One M9 3873
- LG G Flex2 3604
- Samsung Galaxy Note 4 Lollipop 3394
- Meizu MX4 Pro 3386
- Motorola Nexus 6 3285
- Samsung Galaxy S5 3120
- HTC One (M8) Lollipop 2923
AnTuTu 5
Higher is better
- HTC One M9 57422
- Motorola Nexus 6 49803
- Samsung Galaxy Note 4 Lollipop 49273
- Meizu MX4 Pro 48489
- LG G Flex2 47680
- HTC One (M8) Lollipop 45530
- Samsung Galaxy S5 45348
Interestingly enough, the One (M8) when updated to Lollipop scored a higher multi-core score than its successor, but the difference is quite small and again we stress that testing conditions were not ideal and things might turn out a lot differently once we have the device is our office for extensive testing.
Basemark OS 2.0
Higher is better
- LG G Flex2 1726
- HTC One M9 1457
- Samsung Galaxy Note 4 Lollipop 1267
- Motorola Nexus 6 1267
- HTC One (M8) Lollipop 1186
- Samsung Galaxy S5 1160
- Meizu MX4 Pro 863
Basemark OS 2.0 (single-core)
Higher is better
- Samsung Galaxy Note 4 Lollipop 6165
- HTC One M9 5665
- Motorola Nexus 6 5624
- LG G Flex2 5597
- Samsung Galaxy S5 5557
- HTC One (M8) Lollipop 5235
- Meizu MX4 Pro 3118
Basemark OS 2.0 (multi-core)
Higher is better
- HTC One (M8) Lollipop 21140
- Motorola Nexus 6 21026
- HTC One M9 20014
- Samsung Galaxy S5 19237
- LG G Flex2 18856
- Samsung Galaxy Note 4 Lollipop 18386
- Meizu MX4 Pro 12080
GFX 3.0 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)
Higher is better
- HTC One M9 23
- LG G Flex2 22
- Motorola Nexus 6 18.6
- Samsung Galaxy Note 4 Lollipop 18
- Meizu MX4 Pro 13
- HTC One (M8) Lollipop 12
- Samsung Galaxy S5 12
GFX 3.0 Manhattan (onscreen)
Higher is better
- HTC One M9 24
- LG G Flex2 22
- HTC One (M8) Lollipop 13
- Samsung Galaxy S5 12
- Motorola Nexus 6 11.9
- Samsung Galaxy Note 4 Lollipop 11
- Meizu MX4 Pro 7.8
Kraken 1.1
Lower is better
- HTC One M9 4578
- LG G Flex2 4621
- Samsung Galaxy Note 4 Lollipop 5181
- Samsung Galaxy S5 5968
- Motorola Nexus 6 6088
- HTC One (M8) Lollipop 7023
- Meizu MX4 Pro 10193
BrowserMark 2.1
Higher is better
- Samsung Galaxy Note 4 Lollipop 2232
- LG G Flex2 2086
- Samsung Galaxy S5 2066
- HTC One M9 1927
- HTC One (M8) Lollipop 1460
-
Motorola Nexus 6
1447
Camera performance
The HTC One M9 is finally taking imaging seriously. With a brand new 20MP BSI sensor, HTC has opted out of the dual-camera setup and there is no OIS here. The camera uses as a 27.8 mm wide angle lens with an aperture of f/2.2 and a sapphire lens cover. The sensor size is 1/2.3" and the maximum resolution is 5376 x 3752 pixels. Although it isn't officially cited in the specs sheet, the 10:7 aspect native aspect squarely points towards a Toshiba sensor.
Naturally, the phone is capable of 4K video recording, as well as playback.
The front-facing shooter is a very impressive HTC 4MP UltraPixel module. It is very similar to the main camera of the One (M8), but it doesn't have auto focus. It also comes with a BSI sensor, an aperture of f/2.0, a 26.8mm wide-angle lens and is capable of 1080p video recording.
We haven't heard, this is apparently an isolated decision and the interesting setup could possibly return in future models.
The HTC One M9 uses a new 20MP camera sensor
The new 20MP camera produces nice-looking photos but they are hardly the best thing since sliced bread. The dynamic range is nothing spectacular. Low light, high ISO performance is appalling. Of course, we are dealing with a pre-release model here and camera performance is bound to be improved in the next software revisions.
Some shots from the HTC One M9
The camera lens does not offer Optical image stabilization, which according to HTC is mostly due to lack of physical space inside the device, as well as what they refer to as various manufacturing hazards, meaning it's hard to mass produce up to high standards. Truth be told though, it is probably the cost that played a crucial role on the matter and hindered HTC form resurrecting the original One (M7)'s OIS shooting experience.
Sample camera shots from the HTC One M9
The phone can take RAW photos out of the box, but you can only edit them on a computer. Speaking of editing, users now have a choice of brand new and improved effects. HTC did a lot of work in this department and replaced the old visual enhancements, which were kind of cheesy. New effects now include Shapes, Prismatic, Elements and Bokeh.
Sample camera shots from the HTC One M9
Below you can find a few similar shots taken with the iPhone 6 for a quick visual comparison. We will surely put the HTC through our standart chart photo test in the full review to come.
Sample camera shots from the iPhone 6 for comparison
HTC Zoe, HTC's own video-creating and video sharing platform, will also be getting a brand new version pretty soon. It will be built around a brand new engine and will deliver various quality improvements. The new app version will be rolling out soon for both Android and iOS, so future One M9 owners have that to look forward to.
Videos from the One M9's 20MP camera look a lot more spectacular than the still images. Colors are vivid and accurate with no noticeable noise. Fast moving objects are also handled with breeze. We've captured a couple of short demo videos for a first impression of the quality. One is in 1080p and the other in 3840 x 2160 pixels, where the HTC really shines.
HTC Grip hands-on
We put on the HTC Grip smart band even though we're not the mid-level and pro athletes that HTC targets with this device. We're pretty impressed that the company managed to keep this project a secret in the day and age of all-encompassing leaks, though we're not exactly floored by the actual device itself.
HTC Grip
The Grip will come in three sizes - small, medium and large. There's a small metal extender that can be used if your wrist proves a bit too large, but not large enough for the next size. We don't think it will be needed on the largest version as that one had plenty of spare room on our wrists.
Putting on the HTC Grip • the metal extender
We found the plastic that the band is made of to be rather firm, though we'd to wear it a lot longer to decide if that will be a problem.
The smart band features an 1.8" PM-OLED black and white display with 32 x 160px resolution. In standby mode it shows the time and date and you can access some extra information like the weather. The band can also set alarms and control the music player when connected to a smartphone.
HTC Grip in standby mode
The HTC Grip is intended to work with the Under Armour app (HTC's partner in this venture), but things are still in the early stages so details are sparse.
The smart band is intended to be fully functional on its own. It has a built-in GPS receiver and will last for 5 hours with it active. The battery life increases to around 2 and half days with GPS off.
Connecting to GPS satellites
When the GPS is on, the Grip can track your run in terms of distance or time. The third option shows the distance ran and the speed in miles per minute.
Distance • time • distance and speed
With the GPS off, the HTC Grip continues to be useful by working as a step counter.
Step counter
The HTC Grip is planned to launch at $199, though the exact timeframe is unknown.
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