Smartphone htc one m9 front camera. New HTC One M9 – Review of the updated smartphone from HTC. HTC phone replacement system

02.04.2022

New flagship HTC has retained the traditional design premium smartphones brand, the distinctive features of which are an all-metal body with front-facing BoomSound stereo speakers, but in terms of hardware, the changes are radical: Snapdragon 810, 3 GB of RAM. But will the latest hardware help to surpass the popularity of the flagships of other A-brands? We find out further in the review.

Design and functional elements

The appearance of the new HTC flagship has not changed much since its previous version. Transformations in the design are minimal - the all-metal body of the gadget with a brushed metal texture is now made in two tones and looks clearly more interesting.

Another subtle, but very important improvement concerns the power button - it has moved to the right side and now fits right under the thumb. We received a device for testing in a silver case with a mirrored golden edging. There are also options in gold and gray.

Next to the on/off key there are separate volume control buttons and a retractable slot for microSD memory cards.

On the opposite side of the smartphone there is a closed slot for a nanoSIM card. The bottom end is occupied by a 3.5 mm audio output and a microUSB port, and on the top there is a black plastic insert that hides the IR port.

The easiest way to distinguish One M9 from its predecessor is by the rear panel. Here, the new product is distinguished by the square shape of the 20.1 MP camera lens with a two-color LED flash. The manufacturer’s logo is traditionally placed in the center; the noise-canceling microphone and plastic strips “hiding” the antennas remain in their places.

The front panel of the One M9 is “divided” between a 5-inch display, the side frames of which are slightly narrower than those of the One M8, an “ultra-pixel” camera lens, a slot for sensors and two stereo speaker grilles. Under the top there is also an LED indicator, and under the bottom there is a “conversational” microphone.

Thanks to the ergonomic body shape and impeccable build quality, the One M9 is comfortable and pleasant to hold, including when it comes to one-handed operation.

Display

As for the display of the new product, the One M9 has no changes on this front either - like last year’s model, it uses a 5-inch screen with a resolution of 1080x1920 pixels. The pixel density per inch is 441. You won’t see any pixelation here – the displayed image is clear, the fonts are even.

The matrix is made using Super LCD3 technology and boasts excellent color reproduction and wide viewing angles.

The screen brightness reserve is not bad, at least the maximum is enough for comfortable work with a smartphone in sunny weather. The backlight level can be adjusted either manually or automatically.

The One M9 display is very responsive, recognizing up to ten simultaneous touches and responding to touches with gloves. Thanks to the high-quality oleophobic coating, your finger glides across the surface of the panel easily, and greasy fingerprints are barely noticeable.

To protect the screen from scratches and damage, fourth-generation Gorilla Glass is used, while the display of the One M8 was covered by much less durable Gorilla Glass 3.

Memory

The capacity of the built-in flash drive One M9 is 32 GB. Of these, about 21 GB are available to the user. I would also like to note the support for the USB-OTG specification and microSD memory cards with a maximum capacity of up to 128 GB.

Equipment and performance

In contrast to the design, the hardware of the smartphone has changed quite significantly. One M9 was one of the first on the market to receive the new 64-bit octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 MSM8994 processor with a clock speed of 2 GHz and Adreno 430 graphics.

Paired with 3 GB random access memory this expensive chipset allows the HTC One M9 to score more than 52 thousand points in AnTuTu. In practice, this “iron bundle” plays video in 4K resolution and allows you to play any games from Play Market with maximum graphics settings. With simpler tasks there will be no problems at all, believe me.

I would like to note that just before testing began, the smartphone received an update that solved a pressing problem with the first copies of the One M9 associated with severe overheating of the processor.

Wireless modules and interfaces

The smartphone is equipped with a set of features befitting a flagship wireless technologies: NFC, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac with Wi-Fi Direct technology, Bluetooth 4.1, GLONASS, GPS with positioning support additional funds(A-GPS).

In addition, an infrared port is provided for remote control of household appliances.

Battery

The more powerful hardware of the new model forced the developers to increase its battery capacity to 2840 mAh. It is curious that the dimensions and weight of the One M9 not only did not change in comparison with its predecessor, but on the contrary, they became even smaller - 144.6 x 69.7 x 9.6 mm with a weight of 157 g versus 146.4 x 70.6 x 9.4 mm with 160 g for the One M8.

If you don’t really terrorize your smartphone with heavy games and videos, but use it mainly for calls and web surfing, then its battery charge will last for an average of 7-8 hours. And by activating the energy saving mode provided here, the battery life and, moreover, can be extended to one day.

At the same time on automatic settings screen brightness in Full HD video viewing mode, the gadget will last no more than 5 hours, and Asphalt 8 will drain its battery to 0% in just 3-3.5 hours.

Speakers

As with previous HTC flagships, the One M9's music capabilities are top notch. It has perfectly balanced bass and high frequencies. At maximum volume, the user will not hear a single distortion.

For BoomSound speakers with support for Dolby Audio technology, the settings provide two modes Music" and "In theatre". The smartphone out of the box supports high-resolution audio, that is, sound superior to CD quality, due to which it plays very cool and is superior in terms of audio capabilities most of its competitors in the flagship segment.

When you connect headphones, you can listen to FM radio and have the opportunity to select a suitable profile for them.

The sound in the conversational speaker is clear without extraneous noise. The volume reserve is decent - the interlocutor can be clearly heard even in noisy places.

Cameras

The main photo module of the One M9 is equipped with a 1/2.4" BSI sensor with a resolution of 20.1 megapixels.

The aperture of the 27.8 mm camera lens, covered with sapphire crystal on top, is f/2.2. The autofocus system and dual-color LED flash are also not forgotten. For a 2015 flagship, the only thing missing here is an optical image stabilization system that would compensate for hand shake when taking photographs.

However, even without it, you can take very good pictures with the One M9 camera if you catch the right lighting and use the provided settings correctly.

- Test photos

The Camera application is not overloaded with numerous settings - just everything you need. Available photography modes: RAW camera, Bokeh, Dual shooting, Panorama.

The front camera has an impressive 4-ultra-pixel OmniVision OV4688 sensor with back illumination and f/2.0 aperture. Pixel size - 2.0 micrometers, sensor - 1/3 inch.

The camera is ideal for video chats and allows you to take high-quality selfies. Available features and modes include Auto Selfie, Voice Selfie, Quick Makeup, and Photo Kiosk.

The main camera of the One M9 can shoot 4K video at 30 fps and Full HD videos at 120 fps. The maximum video resolution recorded by the front photo module is 1080p.

- Test video

- test video indoors - https://youtu.be/FH04XlSgwLE

Competitors

The HTC One M9 does not yet have many smartphone competitors; the most obvious of them in terms of technical characteristics are presented below in the table.

Parameter	HTC One M9	Samsung Galaxy S6	LG G4	Sony Xperia Z3+	ZTE Nubia Z9
OS	Android 5.0 Lollipop + Sense UI 7.0	Android 5.0.2 Lollipop + TouchWiz UI	Android 5.1 Lollipop + Optimus UX 4.0 UI	Android 5.0 Lollipop	Android 5.0.2 Lollipop
Display	5", Super LCD3, 1920x1080	5.1", Super AMOLED, 1440 x 2560	5.5", IPS LCD, 1440 x 2560	5.2", IPS LCD, 1920x1080	5.2", IPS LCD, 1920x1080
CPU	8 cores, Qualcomm Snapdragon 810, 2 GHz,	Exynos 7420 (4 cores 1.5 GHz Cortex-A53 & 4 cores 2.1 GHz Cortex-A57)	6 cores, Qualcomm MSM8992 Snapdragon 808, 1.8 GHz,	8 cores, Qualcomm MSM8994 Snapdragon 810, 2GHz,	8 cores, Qualcomm MSM8994 Snapdragon 810, 2 GHz,
Graphic arts	Adreno 430	Mali-T760MP8	Adreno 418	Adreno 430	Adreno 430
RAM	3 GB	3 GB	3 GB	3 GB	3 GB
ROM	32 GB+microSD	32/64/128 GB	32 GB+microSD	32 GB+microSD	32 GB
Camera	20.1 MP, 4 MP front.	16 MP, 5 MP front.	16MP, 8 MP front.	20.7 MP, 5.1 MP front.	16MP, 8MP front.
Battery	2840 mAh	2550 mAh	3000 mAh	2930 mAh	2900 mAh
Dimensions	144.6 x 69.7 x 9.6 mm	143.4 x 70.5 x 6.8 mm	148.9x76.1x 6.3-9.8 mm

The Taiwanese company HTC released the flagship model HTC One M9 almost simultaneously with the Chinese company Samsung, a global giant in the production of high-quality phones, which presented another Samsung model Galaxy. It's not easy to compete with a manufacturer to which HTC once lost the palm. Both models went on sale in March 2015 at approximately the same price and with equal technical performance. For HTC, winning this high-tech race is very important; it will determine the future of the company.

HTC One M9 smartphone design

HTC smartphones have always been ahead of their rivals in terms of design beauty. The company brings mobile devices with the Android operating system to perfection in design, using not only metallic shades of the body, unlike rivals LG and Samsung. But according to established HTC traditions, each new version of the device is a direct successor to the previous one.

In terms of design, the M9 model is practically a twin of the M8 model. If you put them side by side for comparison, then at a distance they are practically indistinguishable from each other. Everything changes when you pick them up. The body has become thinner. The smooth, slippery M8 model tries to slip out of your hands, while the M9 has a brutal, rough and hard body that is pleasant to the touch. It lies in the palm confidently and firmly. Models in golden and silver colors are especially attractive. Their owner will feel like the owner of a luxury device.

Another seemingly minor design change can be considered more of a minus than a plus. The power button is now located on the right side below the volume buttons. They are very similar and can be easily confused. Although there is an opinion that this makes the power button easier to reach. It has a special shape to make it easier to feel.

Technical specifications of HTC One M9

Dimensions - 144.6x69.7x9.61 mm;
Weight - 157 grams;
OS - Android 5.0.2 with HTC Sense 7.0 shell;
Processor - 8-core, 64-bit Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 (MSM8994), big.LITTLE GTS architecture (4 cores ARM Cortex-A57 2.0 GHz + 4 cores ARM Cortex-A53 1.5 GHz);
RAM - 3 GB;
Data storage memory - 32 GB, support for microSD/HC/XC cards (128 GB);
Screen - capacitive, Super LCD 3 matrix, 5-inch diagonal, resolution 1920x1080 pixels, pixel density per inch 441 ppi, Corning Gorilla Glass 4;
Interfaces - Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (2.4 GHz + 5 GHz), Bluetooth 4.1 (aptX codec), microUSB (USB 2.0), USB-OTG, DLNA, HDMI MHL 3.0, NFC, IR port, 3.5 mm headphone jack;
Main camera - 20 MP, BSI sensor (Toshiba T4KA7), f/2.2 aperture, EGF 27.8 mm, sapphire coating, autofocus, dual two-color flash, 4K video recording;
Front camera - HTC UltraPixel (4 MP), BSI matrix, f/2.0 aperture, EGF 26.8 mm, 1080p video recording;
Radio - FM tuner with RDS;
Sensors - accelerometer, Hall sensor, compass, gyroscope, light and proximity sensors;
Network - GSM/GPRS/EDGE, HSPA/WCDMA, 4G-LTE (Cat.6);
Battery - non-removable, lithium-ion, 2,840 mAh;
Features: IPX3 splash protection.

HTC One M9 smartphone screen

The M9 model is equipped with a liquid crystal screen with bright, rich colors. The screen is three-dimensional, widescreen. The only pity is that the company cannot refuse the wide black frame bordering it, at the bottom of which is the campaign logo. This does not decorate it and takes up useful space.

The five-inch display with IPS matrix has Full HD resolution (1920x1080 pixels). Nothing special, but it's enough. The colors are rich, the lines are clear, the pictures are drawn in detail. In addition, it saves battery power, which charges surprisingly quickly (50% in about 20-25 minutes).

Sound of HTC One M9

The smartphone has a good loud noise with BoomSound system. The convenient placement of the speakers eliminates the disadvantage of some smartphones, when the sound is muffled due to the fact that the speakers are covered by the palm. This is a great success for the developers. You can listen to music, watch videos, enjoying the clear sound and deep timbre of low notes without using headphones. This qualitative difference between the HTC One M9 and smartphones from other companies allows it to seriously compete with the Samsung Galaxy S6 and even iPhone devices.

HTC One M9 performance

Externally, the M8 and M9 models are very similar, and that’s where the similarities end. The new flagship of the company HTC One M9 is equipped with a powerful modern processor Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 (previously Qualcomm Snapdragon 801), RAM has increased significantly, it is 3 GB (M8 RAM has 2 GB). The combination of an 8-core 64-bit Snapdragon processor with an Adreno 430 graphics chip will especially please gamers.

The process is instantaneous, everything literally flies. Whole aluminium case doesn't heat up. The owner should not be afraid of the device overheating at maximum load and should not turn it off for a long time. When testing the HTC One M9 at its maximum power, its performance exceeded that of its analogues, including the iPhone 6. This is proof of the quality of the phone and the professionalism of its developers.

Internal memory has increased significantly. Its lower threshold is 32 GB (versus the former 16 GB), however, 21 GB of them are available to the user, the rest is allocated for the system and installed software. The internal memory can be expanded, if desired, to the same upper limit of 128 GB using microSD cards. Now the user does not have to buy an additional memory card, although it should be noted that increasing the internal memory will add slightly to the cost of the smartphone.

HTC One M9 smartphone cameras

The main 20 MP camera is located on the back, the resolution is normal, but allows you to take beautiful, clear, bright pictures and even 4K video. For selfie fans, there is a front panel additional camera at 4 MP. Both cameras do their job perfectly and their quality will completely satisfy the most demanding buyer.

Battery and charge HTC One M9

An analysis of the battery performance showed that the developers still have some work to do on it. The battery does not hold a charge well and discharges very quickly when watching videos, so it can create a real problem for the user. On average, during the same time, the user sees less than 40% charge, while Samsung and LG owners have more than 60%. Watching a 40-minute episode of a movie consumes 20% of the battery charge versus 9% on the Samsung Galaxy S6.

HTC One M9 Software

Concerning software, then the developers themselves believe that it requires improvement. The flagship model went on sale with the Android 5.0.2 operating system with an improved shell. For comfortable operation of the device, many themes are installed; you can change fonts, icons, background, and create your own themes. Personalizing your device with stickers and backgrounds for the back panel will make your phone unique and different from others.

There is one very interesting feature - a “smart” screen. With the HTC Home feature, the home screen and lock screen will change depending on the location of the smartphone owner. Home on-screen shortcuts social network, a cookbook, games, and in service - work applications, calendar, notes. On the road, it is suggested to use the Google Maps resource, and icons of music albums are displayed. The more often the user uses this function, the more accurately the device adapts to his interests and needs, freeing the owner from everyday routine care.

Advantages of the HTC One M9 smartphone

Good technical indicators that elevate the flagship model HTC M9 to the category of a top model in the Android based;
Beautiful, unique design, attractive color palette of the case;
Ability to change the interface according to user needs;
Operating system Android 5.0.

Disadvantages of the HTC One M9 smartphone

Weak battery;
The volume and lock buttons are not very convenient.

Price and video review of HTC One M9

The cost of the smartphone is 30,400-55,878 rubles. The average price of HTC One M9 is 37,900 rubles.

We present to your attention a video review of the HTC One M9:

Thus, owners of the HTC M8 smartphone, satisfied with its performance, can switch to a more modern model - HTC M9, and will also not be disappointed. Apart from a rather weak battery, the phone has no other serious shortcomings. At the request of the client, the company guarantees the replacement of HTC M9 if any problems are detected with its operation in the first year of use.

Characteristics

Class: company flagship
Form factor: monoblock
Case materials: aluminum case, plastic frame around the display, glass
Operating system: Android 5.0 Lollipop, HTC Sense 7.0
Network: GSM/EDGE, WCDMA, LTE Cat 6 (nanoSIM)
Platform: Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 (MSM8994)
Processor: Quad-core 1.5 GHz (Cortex-A53) and Quad-core 2 GHz (Cortex-A57)
Graphics: Adreno 430
RAM: 3 GB
Storage memory: 32 GB, microSD memory card slot (128 GB cards supported)
Interfaces: Wi-Fi (a/b/g/n/ac), Bluetooth 4.1 (A2DP, aptX, LE), microUSB connector (USB 2.0) for charging/synchronization, 3.5 mm for headset, HDMI (via microUSB), DLNA , NFC, IR port
Screen: Super LCD3, 5”, capacitive, 1920x1080 pixels (FulldHD), automatic backlight level adjustment, Gorilla Glass 4
Main camera: 20.1 MP, f/2.2, BSI, dual LED flash (works as a flashlight), sapphire crystal
Front camera: 4 MP (UltraPixel technology), wide-angle (without autofocus), f/2.0, video recording in 1080p
Navigation: GPS/Glonass ( A-GPS support)
Sensors: accelerometer, position sensor, light sensor, gyroscope, barometer
Battery: non-removable, Li-Pol, capacity 2840 mAh
Dimensions: 144.6 x 70 x 9.6 mm
Weight: 157 grams

Comparing HTC's next flagship with smartphones from Apple, Samsung, Sony, Huawei, Lenovo, and so on, few people remember how it all began and what position HTC occupies today. Yes, perhaps the understanding that HTC, compared to the brands listed above, is a small but very proud manufacturer will not make you feel differently about the One M9, but this is precisely the secret of some successful and, on the contrary, unsuccessful solutions embedded in the HTC One M9. I will try to tell you about all the features of the smartphone and will start with a short story about the history of the company.

A long time ago, in 1997, HTC appeared - one of the galaxy of Asian ODM manufacturers portable devices. The headquarters were located in Taiwan, so the company is generally considered to be Taiwanese. At that time, HTC was engaged in the production of pocket personal computers (PDAs) for various brands; later the production was expanded and they also began to produce smartphones on Windows based Mobile. The company was a Microsoft development partner mobile devices(Hardware platform development partner) and was not deprived of contracts. HTC's largest customers have long been brands such as Hewlett Packard, Dell, Palm, Fujitsu Siemens and others. Later they became partners largest operators cellular communications, and HTC began producing products for Vodafone, T-mobile, O2, Orange.

Thus, by the beginning of the 2000s, HTC was one of the leaders in the ODM market for devices on the Microsoft platform (then still on the first versions of the PocketPC mobile OS) and therefore decided to produce smartphones under some of its own brand in order to sell them directly. So in 2002 the Qtek brand appeared to promote its products under its own name, albeit a fictitious one, and in 2004 the Dopod brand appeared for sales in Asia. Technically, everything that was produced under the Qtek and Dopod brands were HTC products, and after some time both names were simplified, and HTC continued the production of communicators and smartphones under its own, focusing on this direction and gradually leaving the niche of ODM production.

In this short story, as you noticed, there is no large corporation or additional areas that the company would develop in parallel with the creation of smartphones under the HTC brand. I want to highlight a simple idea - against the backdrop of Apple, Samsung, LG, Lenovo, you can list them for a long time, HTC is a small manufacturer and brand. Of course, there is no need to remember this when we compare the next flagship from Apple or Samsung with the HTC flagship, because we are talking about the same segment. But it's worth remembering if you're looking at the One M9 and wondering, "why is there last year's design and where's all the innovation?" Yes, from time to time HTC pleases with really cool ideas, including the design and body of the One line, the Sense shell and Dot View cases, for example. But it must be taken into account that the company does not have the same resources for “innovation” and constant race in this area that diversified large manufacturers have. And therefore, it is wrong to say that HTC, out of spite or from a lack of new ideas, takes the design of the old One M8 and implements it in the new M9. The reason is more prosaic - in order to remain a company that manages to compete virtually on equal terms with huge corporations, HTC in some respects adheres to a conservative position. And when it comes to a successful solution, which I think you can't argue is the design and overall idea of the One M8 case, the obvious choice is to reuse a proven formula rather than invent something new.

Contents of delivery

The device comes in the usual flat box for the company's new models; the previous HTC One (M8) was exactly the same. Inside, in addition to a smartphone and a couple of paper instructions, there are charging block, wired stereo headset and microUSB cable. The silicone case that came with the M8 is not here.

Design

The HTC One (M8) smartphone differed in design from the One (M7), although in general the models were made in the same style, and the M9 is in many ways a copy of the M8, if you don’t look closely. The body shape, dimensions, outline - all this remains unchanged, and it would be correct to say that from the point of view of its overall appearance, the HTC One M9 resembles the M8. However, there are also differences.

First, in the One M8 the screen with protective glass is located flush with the side edges, that is, neatly built into the aluminum “bath” of the case, while in the M9 the screen with glass is slightly raised above the aluminum base of the case. From the point of view of perception of the device, this change does not play any role; we simply see a different implementation of the placement of several body elements relative to each other. From a practical point of view, there is one drawback - dust may remain in the rim formed as a result of this type of connection of the body halves, and from time to time the rim will have to be blown out.

Secondly, the One M9 has different colors, and for one of them the method of processing the aluminum of the case is different. The dark gray and gold M9 features a smooth transition between the rear plane and the side ribs, just like the M8. The third color is a combination of a silver “back” and the side edges of a golden hue; here the transition between the planes is made more sharply. Some people will find this option more interesting, others, on the contrary, will like the smooth back, like in the M8.

I'm embarrassed to admit, but I liked the gold color of the HTC One M9 the most. It’s a shame, because just a couple of years ago I myself laughed at golden iPhones and this color seemed too pretentious and bright to me. Now, looking at the M9 in gold, I see the cool, bright, rich color of the gold-painted metal, and I just want to pick it up and start using the smartphone.

And I almost forgot, the new M9, like the One M8, perfectly disguises itself as a thermos!

In my opinion, the work that HTC has done to update the body design of the new flagship is quite sufficient. Yes, many will say that HTC is lazy and that the new device should have had a different design, but at the same time, do not forget that there are many people in the world who are ready, having once chosen something they like, to remain faithful this choice. The design of the HTC One M8 was undoubtedly successful, as was the selection of case materials and assembly. The company has taken the quality of performance and perception of mass smartphones (I'm not talking about Vertu and Tag Heuer now) to a new level and in the One M9 it simply adheres to this level.

Housing materials

The main material of the M9 body is aluminum. The base of the smartphone is made of it; the electronics, display and other elements are placed in it; above and below the screen there are inserts made of plastic to look like aluminum. There is also an insert made of plastic at the top end, where the IR port “window” is located.

The problem of placing antennas in the device was solved in the same way as in the previous smartphone. They are located outside the case in small plastic grooves on the “back” of the device.

As for possible scratches: if they remain, they are practically invisible in everyday use. Over many months of use, my HTC One M8 has hardly lost its original appearance and looks exactly the same as the day I took it out of the box, if you don’t look closely, of course. Due to the use of aluminum, fingerprints and fingerprints are invisible on the body. From a practical point of view, the case in the HTC One M9 is a success: it is not only beautiful and impressive, but also does not force you to buy a case so that the device does not slip out of your hands or accidentally become covered with a network of clearly visible scratches.

Assembly

The use of a unibody case without removable elements (except for trays for a nanoSIM card and memory card) makes the next HTC One good in terms of build quality. There are no loose or creaking parts, no play of individual elements. The downside of this design is not the best maintainability.

Dimensions

New HTC The One M9 is almost identical in size to the company’s previous device, the M8. Accordingly, the difference with the Samsung Galaxy S6 is also small, the latter is thinner, but at the same time slightly wider. Switching to M9 after huge shovels with screen diagonals in the region of 5.5-5.7 inches is a pleasure. However, in terms of dimensions, there is something to criticize HTC for. When most other manufacturers already make smartphones with thin side frames and compact areas at the top and bottom of the screen, HTC continues to use the proprietary “triple frame (TM)” layout, the margins on the left and right are almost 5 millimeters, and on the top and bottom – almost 2 centimeter

I would like to believe that in the next One the company will make every effort to optimize the layout of elements and fit the screen into thinner frames. An excellent design option for the M10, by the way, “surfaced” even before the release of the M9 as expectations for the new flagship.

Now let’s compare the dimensions of different smartphones so that you can roughly understand what the HTC sizes One M9 compared to other devices:

Apple iPhone 6 (4.7”) – 138.1 x 67 x 6.9 mm, 129 grams
HTC One M8(5”) – 146.4 x 70.6 x 9.4 mm, 160 grams
(5”) – 144.6 x 70 x 9.6 mm, 157 grams
Meizu MX4(5.4”) – 144 x 75.2 x 8.9 mm, 147 grams
Samsung Galaxy S6(5.1”) – 143.4 x 70.5 x 6.8 mm, 138 grams
Xiaomi Mi4(5”) – 139.2 x 68.5 x 8.9 mm, 149 grams

The device is quite comfortable to carry in the pockets of outerwear and in trousers or jeans; the smartphone lies comfortably in the hand and does not slip out.

Compared to HTC One M8

Compared to Meizu MX4 Pro

Compared to HTC One M7

Compared to Huawei Honor 6Plus

Controls

In terms of the location of the keys and the general organization of controls, the new HTC One M9 is practically no different from the M8. The smartphone has three on-screen buttons – “Back”, “Home” and “Recent applications”. There are two actions only for the Home key; in addition to the main task of returning to the main screen, you can call it by holding it Google service Now.

When you touch any of the buttons, the device vibrates slightly.

The power key was moved to the right side, right under the volume buttons, and this is very correct. Now you don’t need to reach for the top end to turn on the screen, if the double-tap option doesn’t suit you, the power button is located under the thumb of your right hand, and this is convenient (at least for right-handers).

One of the main control features is Motion Launch technology. Information from all sensors is transmitted to a special coprocessor, and any application receives this information immediately, without polling each sensor. Firstly, this allows you to save a little battery power, and secondly, it allows you to implement new control methods. Thanks to Motion Launch, the M9 has different variants unlock the screen without the power key. Double tapping on the display will take you to the lock screen, swiping from left to right to the BlinkFeed screen, from right to left to the main screen, from top to bottom to voice control, from bottom to top - you will be taken to the screen on which you locked the device (game, application menu, some running program and so on). The device distinguishes all these actions best when you hold it in your hand in a vertical orientation, although if you turn it into landscape mode, they will also work, although not so clearly (everything except the double tap works fine). In addition, any of the unlocking options can be disabled in the screen settings if it bothers you.

Another convenient feature is to turn on the camera from a locked state - just rotate the device to landscape mode and press any volume key.

The volume key is located on the right edge, I can’t say anything special about it – it’s a quite convenient button with a familiar location. Near it is a tray for a microSD memory card. To install or remove a memory card, you need to use a needle or the supplied “clip”.

On the top left edge there is a tray for a nanoSIM SIM card.

At the bottom end of the case there is a microUSB connector and a 3.5 mini-jack for headphones or a headset. In my opinion, the location of the mini-jack at the bottom is the most convenient and correct. If you listen to music on your smartphone and carry it in the pocket of your trousers, jeans or even a jacket, then it is most logical to put it in your pocket with the top end down, so that later, when you take the device out of your pocket, you do not need to grab it for use. And just in this position, the location of the 3.5 mm mini-jack at the bottom end is optimal.

On the front side there are speakers at the top and bottom; at the top there are also light and proximity sensors, a light indicator inscribed in the speaker grille and a 4 MP wide-angle front camera.

Screen

The HTC One M9 has a Super LCD3 display; most of its characteristics are the same as last year's model (M8). Screen diagonal – 5"", resolution – 1920x1080 pixels (FullHD), pixel density – 441 ppi. Screen with maximum viewing angles. No matter what angle you tilt it at, diagonally, edges or ends, the picture is not distorted. There is a good margin of brightness, although a little lower to the eye than in the M8. In the sun the display remains readable.

Color rendition is close to natural, but even calmer than in the M8, and this, in my opinion, will be a controversial point for some users. Personally, I like the color rendition in the new M9; I’m generally a supporter of screens with the most calm colors possible, and the paler it is, let’s say, the better. But, on the other hand, if some manufacturers offer the user the opportunity to choose and manual settings brightness, contrast and color temperature of the display, then HTC does not provide such functionality. And when choosing One M9, you must understand that the screen will be exactly the same as you see it when you first get acquainted with the device, it cannot be reconfigured. Therefore, before buying a smartphone, it would be logical to look at it “live”.

Automatic brightness adjustment works, in general, well, although from time to time you want to raise the brightness from the value that is set automatically.

The smartphone screen supports up to ten simultaneous touches, as well as operation with gloves. If you use the device with wet hands, there will be no problems either; the display responds well to such presses.

Below you can take a look at a comparison of the old and new generation HTC One screens.

Top HTC One M9, bottom HTC One M8

Camera

One of the main differences between the HTC One M9 and last year’s model is completely new module main camera with dual LED flash of different tones and sensor resolution of 20 megapixels. For those who, having opened the review, immediately went to this point, I will write the following: the camera in the HTC One M9 is better than in the M8 and M7 in terms of picture detail (naturally), still very fast, but slightly worse in terms of automatic balance white and working in low light conditions. Yes, the One M9 is inferior in terms of camera to devices such as the Samsung Galaxy S6 or Note 4, but, in general, the module turned out to be quite good, and for HTC smartphones it’s simply excellent. Now let's move on to the story about the camera.

For the main camera, the HTC One M9 uses a Toshiba T4KA7 sensor with back-side illumination (BSI) with a resolution of 20.1 MP. Sensor size – 1/2.4”, pixel size – 1.12 nm, other specifications can be viewed. The characteristics are as follows: f/2.2, 27.8 mm lenses, autofocus, video recording in 4K resolution and sapphire crystal to protect the camera module.

The front camera also has a back-illuminated sensor; it uses a module with a resolution of 4 ultrapixels and proprietary HTC UltraPixel technology, f/2.0, 26.8 mm lenses, video recording in resolutions up to 1080p.

Accordingly, there are no longer “ultrapixels” for the main camera and a tiny resolution, and there are no longer two cameras on the back of the device.

I’ll tell you a little about the operating modes of the main camera.

Automatic shooting mode (Auto). In Auto mode, you can adjust ISO, exposure (EV), white balance and choose from 15 overlay effects. The camera settings also set the aspect ratio of the frame: widescreen (16:9), normal (10:7) or square (1:1), a grid for ease of shooting, saving geotags, self-timer, contrast values, saturation, image sharpness and retouch strength for pictures. All settings can be saved in a separate profile with its own name and turned on if necessary. There can be several profiles.

Frames taken in Auto mode lend themselves to the most changes: you can add various graphic effects, overlay one image on top of another, make collages, or even just draw on top of the photo by hand. In terms of the number of picture settings, the editor built into HTC One M9 is comparable to those available in Google Play paid applications.

bokeh. A new shooting mode with a blurred background effect, however, the logic of its operation is not very different from modes with the ability to change focus. The camera takes several frames in a short time, alternately focusing first on the foreground and then on the background, and then carefully blurs the background. This creates the bokeh effect. To be honest, I didn't see much of a difference when shooting a close-up subject in Bokeh mode versus Auto mode. Perhaps with new firmware the bokeh in such photographs will become more pronounced.

Double Shot. In this mode, the screen is divided into two halves, the slider between them allows you to make one of the halves larger and the other narrower. On one half of the screen there is an image from the front camera, on the other - from the main one. You can take a photo from two cameras at once, or alternately.

Photo kiosk. The mode is for the front camera only, and in it you take a series of four self-portraits, then the photos are stitched together into one frame, square, rectangular or elongated in width. I thought this mode was very cool, it would seem nothing special, but for fooling around and taking a series of photos, especially with a loved one or friends, it’s just perfect.

Manual shooting mode (M). One of the camera features in the One M8 is also implemented in the new M9 - manual shooting mode. In this mode you can change following parameters– white balance, exposure, ISO, shutter speed, focus. White balance is adjustable in the range from 2300K to 7500K, ISO values in the range of 100-1600, shutter speed in the range from 1/8000 to 2 seconds.

The most important thing is the ability to set the shutter speed and manually adjust the focal length. This is not focusing on an object by tapping on the screen, but choosing a fixed distance at which focusing will occur. Thanks to manual mode, you can shoot well in low light, compensating for the lack of light with minimum ISO values and a long shutter speed. Naturally, in this case it is better to shoot from some kind of support, but the very possibility of such shooting significantly expands the limits of the conditions for shooting on the HTC One M9. Where there is no smartphone manual mode will produce either a overexposed and noisy picture or a black spot; on the M9, with the proper skill, you can take a good shot.

Below are examples of photographs taken in manual mode:

The text shooting mode increases image sharpness to the detriment of color reproduction and other parameters; there is also a separate macro mode. I’ll say right away that in terms of macro photography, the new M9 is inferior to last year’s M8 - the minimum focusing distance in the new model has become longer.

The HDR mode seemed to me to work quite well - the photos in it do not look too bright or too contrasty, on the contrary, there is practically no visible excessive interference from electronics.

Below I will give examples of pictures in different modes for three smartphones: HTC One M8, HTC One M9 and Meizu MX4 Pro. The latter is taken as one of the standards for shooting. If you don't take top-end devices like the Apple iPhone 6 Plus or Samsung Galaxy S6/S6 Edge, the MX4 Pro provides very good quality shooting. In addition, it also has a 20 MP module, so the comparison is quite correct.

Shooting during the day

Shooting at night

Shooting indoors

Text

Macro mode and close-up shooting of objects

“Crops” of photos from different modes

I’ll also just give you some photos taken on the HTC One M9 in good sunny weather:

Front-camera. We can say that the main camera of the HTC One M8, with a number of reservations, has moved to the front panel of the HTC One M9. I repeat, in the M9 the front module has a resolution of 4 ultrapixels, f/2.0, 26.8 mm, pixel size – 2 micrometers, sensor size – 1/3”, sensor model – OmniVision OV4688. Despite the lower resolution (4 MP versus 5 MP in One M8) it shoots front-camera M9 is better. The sensor size and increased pixel size do their job - the frames on the M9 are richer, deeper, more detailed.

Video recording. Video in standard mode is recorded in a maximum resolution of 3940x2160 pixels (4k), H.264, recording speed - 30 frames per second (variable), bitrate - 42 Mbps, sound recording is in stereo mode, recording quality - 96 Kbps. During recording, you can manually change the focus point, and there is also tracking autofocus. The camera does not have optical stabilization, so when shooting video, the picture shakes, this is especially noticeable if you were filming on the go or recording a video at the maximum zoom level.

In addition to the standard mode, there is a slow motion mode (resolution 1280x720 pixels) and accelerated mode (1920x1080 pixels).

In my opinion, the camera in the HTC One M9 is a visible progress of the company. Yes, in some moments, when there is a lack of light, the M8 turns out to be better in terms of the overall transmission of the plot, but otherwise I like the camera in the M9 more: there is better detail, higher clarity, the white balance is also well set, and, importantly, the camera is still very fast: shooting occurs instantly.

Comparison of cameras (Roman Belykh)

I asked Roman Belykh to look through all the photos presented in the review and express his opinion regarding the camera in the new HTC One M9. Below are his detailed comments:

I think everyone is well aware of the capabilities of the HTC One M8 camera, so I will comment on frames from it to a minimum. It is worth noting that shots taken with the M8 camera almost always look perfect on the screen of the smartphone itself, which cannot be said about them after viewing them on the monitor. That is, if you are not going to organize a “view” of photographs on a large monitor or TV, then know that the quality of the M8 frames is enough for you “beyond your eyes”.

As always, I'll start with viewing angles. Meizu had the widest angle, followed by HTC One M8. Surprisingly, the M9 showed the narrowest viewing angle. To clarify, to get a wide angle on the M8, you need to switch the camera to 16:9 aspect ratio mode.

Shooting during the day

It’s unlikely that anyone will argue that the highest quality shots can be taken at this time of day: excellent full lighting (not spot), minimum shadows when shooting in cloudy weather.

Naturally, the detail of photos taken on the HTC One M8 leaves much to be desired: blur in the corners, artifacts, and so on. In my opinion, the Meizu camera has the best detail; the picture is cleaner than the picture obtained from the HTC M9 camera. Actually, this will be true for all other filming options.

The white balance is most accurate on Meizu MX4 Pro and HTC One M8. The M9's footage almost always has warm tones. Sometimes the M9 camera gets so confused that it turns blue into cyan - a common white balance mistake.

Exposure, on the other hand, works slightly better on the M9. At least the picture is slightly less contrasty than on the Meizu MX4 Pro. However, the dynamic range is clearly wider on the Meizu: in case of image editing, more information can be extracted from the MX4 Pro's photos.

Total: first place - Meizu, with a minimal margin - HTC One M9, somewhere far behind - HTC One M8.

HDR mode

I used to be surprised by the cool HDR effect on the HTC One M8, now I had to be surprised by the HDR on the M9. Photos with this effect are definitely cooler on the M9 - dark areas are whitened and light areas are darkened. Perhaps more than necessary, but it looks cool. The HDR mode on Meizu is, let's say, gentle, but it also looks good.

Total: first place - HTC One M9 - the best, second - HTC One M8, third - Meizu.

Macro mode

The minimum distance to the object for all devices is approximately the same. Photos come out more beautiful on the HTC One M8. I can say for sure because I myself owned this model and often photographed cockroach insects: excellent sharpness, strong background blur. Another question is the details. Of course, there are more of them in the footage of Meizu and HTC One M9. You can “sprinkle” it so that you can see the number of hairs on the heads of the boogers :) But seriously speaking, I would choose the MX4 Pro camera.

Total: first place - Meizu, second - HTC One M8, third - HTC One M9.

Night mode

If we talk about the overall impression of the picture, the clear leader is the HTC One M8 with its native ultrapixels, which allow you to extract maximum light from the picture. However, you will have to forget about the details of the image.

In pictures from Meizu there is a little less light, but better detail, less “suppressed” noise.

Total. If you want a bright picture and detail is not important to you, then you won't find anything better than the HTC One M8. Therefore, the M8 camera takes first place in this test. The second is Meizu MX4 Pro, and the third is One M9.

Office shooting mode

I called the section that way because offices are usually not very light, but not dark either, that is, lighting that makes you think about the camera software.

I liked the white balance of Meizu and HTC One M8, M9 is again weird, painting everything in warm tones. Detailing is also better on Meizu, despite the fact that all cameras are starting to make a fair amount of noise.

Total: first place - Meizu, second - HTC One M9, third - HTC One M8.

Text shooting mode

If you're suddenly going to shoot text with the M8, you're doing it wrong. In this case, it is necessary to have a camera with the maximum resolution of the module. The M9 and MX4 Pro are suitable for this role.

It’s difficult to say exactly who took better pictures, but subjectively, Meizu MX4 Pro did it a little better: less soap, more details.

Total: first place - Meizu, second (but not far) - HTC M9.

Video shooting

The HTC One M9 model can shoot video in resolutions up to 4K (to be precise, up to Ultra HD 4K) at 30 fps. File resolution – MP4, codec – H.264, bitrate – up to 45 Mbit/s. Stereo sound.

The picture at maximum resolution is of high quality, but everything is “killed” by the lack of optical stabilization. Regular FullHD video is completely uninteresting: extremely poor detail, constantly floating focus, absolutely zero dynamic range.

The situation with night photography is called a pixel bacchanalia. It's better to watch it once than to explain it a hundred times. Pay attention to the angles of the frame.

Conclusion

My opinion is this. This time, the HTC camera has become much better than it was in the M8 model (at least in terms of resolution), but does not even reach the flagship cameras Chinese manufacturers: the software is still being “finished” and “finished”.

Sound

To be honest, I didn't notice much of a difference in sound between the new M9 and the old M8. And we are talking not only about the sound in stereo speakers, but also about the sound in headphones. Everything is just as good, in my opinion.

Several profiles have been added for BoomSound - “music” and “cinema”, the sound is slightly different, and indeed, if you plan to watch a series or movie on your smartphone, it is better to set the “cinema” profile, with it the sound will be larger and richer. I don’t know what else to add here - the device produces great sound through the speakers, and it can easily be used as a compact audio system for a small room. If before, when you went on a business trip, you took with you a small wireless speaker If you want to listen to music in a hotel, for example, you don’t have to do this with the M9; the device provides more than decent sound quality.

Autonomous operation

The smartphone uses a non-removable Li-Pol battery with a capacity of 2840 mAh, which is slightly more than the HTC One M8, but you also need to take into account the new, more powerful platform.

I've been using the HTC One M9 for a week, and my overall impression is that the device's battery life is exactly the same as the One M8. Taking the One M9 off the charger at 9-10 am and using it actively all day, I end up with a completely discharged smartphone in the late afternoon or night, depending on the activity of use. On average, the load is as follows - 40-60 minutes of calls, 10-20 text messages, Gmail, 3-4 hours of listening to music and about 1-2 hours of active use of the mobile Internet (Instagram, Twitter, Facebook messenger, browser).

The smartphone has a regular power saving mode, by turning it on, you can save battery power by lowering the screen brightness level, turning off data transfer and vibration.

And, like the HTC One M8, there is a critical power saving mode. In this mode, the processor operates at a reduced frequency, most sensors and sensors are turned off, no data is transmitted when the screen is turned off, vibration is turned off and the screen brightness level is reduced. Moreover, in this mode, you have access to a limited set of applications, namely phone, mail (so far only configured through a proprietary client), messages, calendar and calculator. You cannot run other programs or add new ones to the list of those allowed to work in this mode.

Thanks to the new platform, the device supports fast charging, so the battery in the HTC One M9 can be charged to 60 percent in 50 minutes. However fast charging supported only with a special adapter, which is not included in the basic package and must be purchased separately.

Platform, memory

The smartphone is built on the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 platform (MSM8994) with support for 64-bit architecture, a quad-core processor with a frequency of 1.5 GHz (Cortex-A53) and a quad-core processor with a frequency of 2 GHz (Cortex-A57), graphics subsystem (GPU) - Adreno 430. The device has 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB of internal memory for storing user data, as well as a slot for a memory card.

HTC One M9 is one of the first devices to go on sale on the latest platform from Qualcomm. In addition to the M9, the LG G Flex 2, Xiaomi Mi Note Pro and possibly the LG G4 and Sony Xperia Z4 are built on this chipset.

There are no performance issues with the device. Everything from the shell and launching programs to games like GTA San Andreas, on maximum settings graphics work quickly and without the slightest delay. Below are the test results of the HTC One M9 in various benchmarks; to be honest, I simply have nothing to add. The smartphone is as fast as possible.

Now about heating. This is one of the problems with the Snapdragon 810 chipset, at least judging by the news online. In the M9, the heating (information taken from the battery) is about 45-46 degrees, if you play San Andreas for about half an hour at maximum graphics settings, running the stress test built into the Antutu benchmark in the background. The body of the smartphone feels very warm. If you look at the heating indicators, there are devices where these values are 5 or even 10 degrees higher, but when you take these smartphones in your hand, you will not feel the same heating of the body as with the M9. The reason is aluminum. Where another plastic device retains some of the heat inside, the M9 takes everything onto the aluminum base of the case, and, in fact, when you hold the smartphone in your hands, you feel the same 45 degrees, which in another device is only partially transferred to the plastic case.

With daily use, the heating is practically not felt. If you turn on Wi-Fi and start updating 30 applications from Google Play, the heating will be noticeable, but, again, how often do you update 20-30 programs on your smartphone at the same time? I think not too often.

Interfaces

The smartphone operates in GSM (850/900/1800/1900), HSDPA (850/900/1900/2100) and LTE FDD bands 1, 3, 5, 7, 8 20, 28 and TDD bands 38, 40, 41. LTE also works in Russia. You can turn wireless interfaces on and off through settings or by adding main screen one of several widgets, as well as using the notification curtain, which has a convenient menu with the ability to display exactly those switches that you need on the main screen.

To synchronize with a PC and transfer data, the included microUSB cable is used. The characteristics of the smartphone indicate the version USB interface 2.0, however, when you connect HTC One M9 to your computer (Windows 7), the system displays a notification that this device may work faster if connected via USB 3.0. Transferring a 1GB file to a smartphone via USB 2.0 takes about 40 seconds.

The smartphone has USB support On-The-Go (USB OTG) – you can connect flash drives and other storage devices, for example, a camera, to the device via an adapter to transfer pictures from it to the device’s memory. The system in HTC One allows you to read and copy information from flash drives formatted in file systems FAT/FAT32.

Bluetooth. Built-in bluetooth module 4.1 with A2DP and LE support.

Wi-Fi (802.11 a/ac/b/g/n). HTC One M9 uses a dual-band Wi-Fi module. You can leave it to work in automatic mode, or you can manually specify the operating frequency band for Wi-Fi - only 5 GHz or only 2.4 GHz. The module works flawlessly. IN additional settings you can set the maximum performance mode (uncheck “Wi-Fi optimization”), and also enable or disable automatic connection to the last saved active network. When the module is operating, the device does not heat up.

Wi-Fi router. The HTC One M9 has the ability to “share” a 2G/3G/4G Internet connection via Wi-Fi. In the wireless networks menu, select the option “ General access To mobile internet" and then "Wi-Fi router". Here, when starting for the first time, you need to select a network name and password (WPA2). You can also set the maximum number of connections to your smartphone (1-8) or separately prohibit or allow each new connection. When the utility is enabled, you can connect to the Internet, “distributed” via Wi-Fi by your smartphone, from any device, be it a laptop, another smartphone or tablet, and so on.

DLNA, HDMI. The smartphone supports DLNA technology: if you have a DLNA-compatible media server and other devices at home, you can use HTC One M9 with them. For example, output sound or video from the device directly to the TV. The M9 also has HDMI support, the connector is combined with microUSB (MHL), and in order to use HDMI, you will need to buy a special cable.

NFC. Like previous flagships, the HTC One M9 has NFC support, but there are still few scenarios for using this module. Specifically, HTC uses this module to quickly connect a smartphone with wireless Bluetooth accessories (speaker, HTC mini+ remote control). And don’t forget that with the help of NFC and the Yandex.Metro program (or analogues) you can check on your smartphone for 55,000 rubles the number of remaining trips on your metro pass! I would like to believe that a version of the Wallet application will appear for the M9 in the near future, this will allow NFC to be used more actively.

Navigation

The M9 has GPS/Glonass support; searching for satellites takes a minimum amount of time, from 5 to 15 seconds. The device comes pre-installed Google programs Maps and Google Navigation. Google Navigation is used as the main navigation program.

For comfortable work with a smartphone, when it is in the car in a mount, there is a special “In the car” mode. When you turn it on, you see large icons on the desktop, and there are also special enlarged versions of the main applications: The address book, music, settings, dialing. If desired, you can add shortcuts to other programs in this menu. In this mode, you can use a special assistant, a utility that performs voice commands like “Call + contact name”, “Play + track name” and some others. It's worth paying attention to this program if you're going to use the HTC One M9 while driving; it really works and recognizes commands quite well if you speak them more or less loudly and clearly.

HTC Dot View Case

A brilliant idea born in the wake of the popularity of pixel themes, cases first appeared for the HTC One M8 model, and it is logical that they are also available for the M9. In appearance, Dot View is an ordinary plastic book-size case, with a silicone lid perforated with blind holes. There are several colors and types of cases available to choose from - with a transparent silicone back (as in the photo) or with an opaque plastic one. In Russia, Dot View will be sold with a transparent “back”, in dark blue, light blue, pink and gray. Estimated cost – 3,000 rubles.

For those who don’t yet know what Dot View is, let me remind you. The highlight of the case is that it not only protects the smartphone body, but also displays various notifications. The notifications themselves are drawn on the screen in pixel font, and we see them through the perforated lid. It looks amazing, and, importantly, from a practical point of view, everything is also convenient. Double tap on the cover of the case and you can see the time and weather. Swipe from top to bottom during a call - hang up, from bottom to top - answer the call. The lid also displays notifications when a timer or alarm is triggered, and icons appear Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp and some other applications if they have new messages, as well as new text messages and missed calls.

In standby mode, a double tap on the lid displays the time and picture, which is selected in the Dot View application. The image can be static or animated. If on the M8 the information from the case was comfortably read only indoors or in the evening, then on the M9 everything is perfectly visible even during the day – the screen brightness was increased especially for this mode.

In general, Dot View is one of the exclusive features of the M9, like the M8. This is such an unexpected wow effect from such a simple idea that it’s hard to believe.

Software, HTC Sense 7.0

The smartphone works under Android control 5.0, the proprietary Sense 7.0 is used as the shell. IN new version“sens” there are a number of important changes, for some of them, such as design themes, which were very successful and implemented incredibly correctly and competently, I would like to hug and thank the developers. For others, such as the “oblique” font in the clock widget, I want to throw a rotten tomato. I'll talk about all the changes in the new Sense 7.0. in a separate article, it will be published on Friday or Monday.

Conclusion

Over the course of a week of using the HTC One M9, I had no complaints about the quality of signal reception. The device picks up the network well, the sound in the conversational speaker is clear, without wheezing or extraneous noise, the volume reserve is small, but still present. The vibration alert is relatively strong and is felt, despite the size and weight of the device, in most situations. The volume of the ringing speakers is above average, while, as in the case of the M8, I cannot say that the speakers are super loud, but this is compensated by the high sound quality.

There is no exact information on the price of HTC One M9 in Russia and the start date of official sales, so I will only talk about preliminary information. There is a high probability that the HTC One M9 will go on sale here at the end of April, the cost will be around 55,000 rubles, plus or minus 2,000-3,000 rubles up or down. That is, in terms of price, the smartphone will be between the Samsung Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge.

Yes, we can confidently say that in terms of the combination of characteristics and price, the HTC One M9 loses to the Samsung Galaxy S6, but let's go back to the beginning of the material. Unlike large corporations, HTC looks, let's say, a little modest compared to them. And the mere fact that from year to year HTC flagships are compared to flagships largest producers, means a lot. I don't want to say that HTC is a small poor company, and there are predatory sharks around, but if you look at it objectively, HTC is firmly holding on to its user in this competitive market, and M9 is another step towards not the mass user, but two categories - people , who like HTC, and people who like high-quality, well-made things, not plastic rattles. With the first category, everything is approximately clear: One M9 is all the best from the previous model with a new camera module and on a new platform, successful solutions have been preserved to the maximum. For the second category, the HTC One M9 received a gold color, incredibly cool and impressive in real life, a 20 MP camera module, so as not to scare people away with “technology” and not try to explain the power of four ultrapixels, as well as another update to Sense, simple, beautiful and an easy-to-use shell that looks organic even on Android 5.0.

Thus, the HTC One M9 smartphone is another step by the company towards a perfectly balanced Android-based smartphone. Yes, one can ironically note that the company has been moving in this direction for a long time, but it is also impossible not to note the progress. It may be slow, but HTC is moving forward. The M9 has a normal camera module, the body itself has become even better and more impressive, while remaining practical, the speakers have also been improved, the new platform was chosen even with a margin, I would say. Among the shortcomings - not the most universal color profile for the screen, maximum realism of the picture without “embellishment” will not appeal to everyone, as well as wide frames, I would like to see from HTC not just filigree work with metal, but also new solutions in the design of the front panel, with thin frames. The camera has never been a strong point of the company's devices, it seems that you just have to come to terms with this, but here, too, the progress compared to other models from HTC is obvious and visible to the eye.

Is it worth exchanging last year's M8 for the new HTC One M9? To be honest, I wouldn't unless you really want a new 20MP camera because the ultrapixel detail is lacking. But if you have any other smartphone from HTC, from the M7 to models from the Desire line, be sure to take a closer look at the HTC One M9 when you choose a new device. Yes, perhaps this is not the most flagship flagship on the Android smartphone market, but the company has created a balanced device in a well-made metal body.

I’ve been using this smartphone for three months now, and I can say for sure - this is a Flagship! A wonderful phone with excellent characteristics and stylish design. With it, you don’t think about the fact that you won’t have enough memory or something won’t work, it’s enough for everything! Of course, many will say that this brand is not as famous as large corporations.. I would say it would be great for those who like the apple design, but from operating system the user prefers Android. Enough philosophy, I’ll tell you about the device itself. The design of this smartphone is practically no different from the M7 and M8 models, which is not bad at all, because its shape is neat and looks expensive. And of course, a huge contribution to the cool design is the aluminum body, which comes in several colors. I don’t really like gold “fancy” colors, but I chose the device in this design. The gold metallic HTC looks amazing! There are also no complaints about the assembly, everything is done very monolithically. As for controlling the smartphone, it has three touch buttons on the screen (back, home, manager), when pressed the phone vibrates slightly, which makes them very informative. The device also has 3 mechanical keys: volume and power; they are pressed very clearly and are located right under your fingers. The phone uses nanoSIM and has a slot for a MicroSD card, so you can expand the memory even more. And now I’ll move on to desserts, there are a lot of them here). For example, the display, 5-inch Super LCD3 with FullHD resolution and maximum viewing angles, is simply magnificent! Natural color rendition, excellent brightness, excellent readability in the sun, working with gloves and multi-touch for 10 touches do not leave you indifferent. The second dessert is the camera.. 20mpx, not every flagship has this! To be fair, it’s not the megapixels that make good pictures, but the general parameters of the camera. The HTC M9 has an excellent camera that many will like, but it is inferior to the flagships from Samsung and Apple. The front camera is also very good, selfies come out great! The third dessert is sound! No... SOUND! It's very good and the stereo sound has a good feel. The headphones also have high-quality sound, and the included headset is not bad. As for the other characteristics, they are also up to par. The smartphone has a large 3000mAh battery, which allows you to easily use it for a couple of days without recharging if you make calls and use the Internet. The technical content of the device is high level, a fast 8-core processor and 3GB of RAM allows you not to think about any restrictions in choosing applications. 32GB of internal memory is more than enough. HTC has a lot of advantages, and to be honest, I want to point out a few disadvantages. Compared to its competitors, the device has fairly wide side screen frames (3-4mm), this is certainly not critical, but it could have been smaller. Also, it is worth noting that due to the powerful processor and metal body, the device gets noticeably warm when working with heavy applications , but it does not cause discomfort. In general, I will say for myself, I have never regretted that I purchased this particular smartphone, it is a pleasure to use!

It is very difficult to compete with Samsung, a giant in the production of high-quality phones. Living in the shadow of such a titan does not benefit HTC, which has lost the reins of leadership and given its place to Samsung, which was just waiting for this. This time, HTC decided to stop losing profits and, along with its competitors, the company released the HTC One M9 phone, which combined several key functions and features.

HTC One M9 - Reviews

In fact, the new model from Samsung Galaxy and the M9 phone from HTC went on sale almost on the same day, they are almost equal in terms of performance and have a similar price. But for the company HTC given The “technology race” is not only an economic issue; victory or defeat will decide the future of the company.

HTC One M9's beautiful design, complemented by multiple colors

HTC has always been ahead of the competition in terms of creating beautiful phones. From year to year, the company released devices on Android, trying to bring its technology to the ideal. HTC management and developers realized that nowadays it is not enough to use metallic colors in the design of phones, as Samsung and LG do.

In general, the M9 model is a direct successor to its predecessor M8 in terms of design.

There are a few differences, but the phones look almost identical. The models differ in how they feel when you hold them: the M8 was completely smooth, it almost slipped out of your hands, while the M9 has a slightly rougher and stiffer shape. Options using golden and silver colors look amazing. The rich color saturation creates an impression of luxury from owning such a phone.

HTC has changed the location of the power button, now it is located on the right under the two volume buttons. In this regard, sometimes there is confusion between the buttons, because... they are identical in structure, shape and color. The buttons are literally adjacent to the body, they are difficult to feel and this is an absolute disadvantage of the model.

Screen and sound One M9

When you look at the spacious widescreen screen of the M9, the impression is spoiled by the huge black lines on the sides. It is completely incomprehensible why HTC does not take this point into account when developing phones, because All, absolutely all models of this company have strange stripes on the screens that distract from the image.

But despite such disadvantages, the M9 phone is the most competitive device, capable of competing with the iPhone and Samsung Galaxy S6. The LCD screen amazes with the rich colors of the image, the smartphone is equipped with a BoomSound sound system. The speakers are positioned correctly, they are not covered by palms, which can spoil the outgoing sound.

Characteristics

Built into the phone powerful processor Snapdragon 810 and 3 GB of RAM. The One M9 won't disappoint in terms of performance and functionality, but high loads can cause the smartphone to heat up quickly. The case does not heat up, which does not interfere with the use of the device long time.

When testing performance, the maximum power ratings of the M9 model are higher than those of its analogues (for example, the LG G Flex 2 phone model). Even the iPhone 6 could not produce similar values, which is an excellent result of the work of HTC specialists.

Individual design

Each owner of HTC One M9 can take advantage of the opportunity to create a unique design for their device. At your disposal are a variety of stickers and backgrounds for the back of your smartphone. Interface elements can also be changed, because... Some people try to make their device as different as possible from others. You can change everything: icons, font, background and graphical active effects on the screen.

The M9 smart phone is able to react to the situation and recommend the use of certain applications. The device knows when you are at work and offers you to use the calendar, notes and reminders. When the user is on the road, the smartphone offers active use of Google Maps, music and games. The device remembers which applications are used and fills its memory with relevant information. This feature is the highlight of the product, because a person loves when part of the work is taken off him, especially everyday work.

Take stunning selfies with a reliable camera

In its practice, HTC tried a lot of different camera variations, after which the choice fell on the option that the M9 is equipped with. 4 megapixels in the front and 20 megapixels in the back – these are the ideal parameters that, according to the company’s engineers, will satisfy any user. Regardless of weather conditions, pictures taken with the M9 camera will be high-quality, bright and clear.

Battery and charge HTC One M9

A completely different impression is created by analyzing the battery charge. The quality of this element in the M9 model is on par with the iPhone 5, which were known for problems with their batteries.

When fully charged, the M9's battery drops from 100% to 80% in the time it takes to commute from home to work on average. Most users see the optimal charge during the day at 60-70%, while the M9 charge value is already less than 40%. Streaming a 40-minute Vikings series consumes 20% of your battery, which is terrible. During the same time, the similar Galaxy S6 model uses only 9%. If HTC wants to compete with Samsung and LG, it needs to work more carefully on the battery of its phones.

HTC phone replacement system

Taking into account the wishes of its customers, the company guarantees a replacement of the M9 model if problems arise during operation during the first year of using the smartphone. It doesn’t matter how the phone is damaged, the company’s specialists, without asking questions, will replace it with new model. Most companies are reluctant to compensate for breakdowns; replacements have to be literally pulled out with your teeth.

Bottom line

It's actually very difficult to determine best smartphone among the huge variety of models that we see on modern market. Almost all devices that support Android have similar performance and price levels. Each model, be it Samsung Galaxy S6 or HTC One M9, has its own advantages in terms of design and design. If you are the owner of the One M8 model and are completely satisfied with it, then the M9 will not disappoint. Apart from a rather weak battery, the phone has virtually no drawbacks.

pros

According to technical indicators it is top phone on Android.
Beautiful color scheme in design.
Android system 5.0 Lolipop which works great.
Variety of options and interface settings.
Unique external design.