HTC One M9: My bitter disappoinment

[James E1]

Electronic Image Stabilization?

Not as clean as OIS, I'm afraid, but it's better than having no OIS.

This video shows both OIS and EIS. IMO EIS looks a little better. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMS1CjTNN0s

 

[icwhatudidthere]

IMHO that 1020 OIS REALLY sucks. They compared it to a bunch of other OIS sensors and they all look better than the 1020. Really hard to make any conclusions based on that video alone.

 

[I Can Be Your Hero]

Yeah I too was disappointed with the M9, so I'll be jumping ship to the Galaxy S6 this year.

Seems like HTC have gotten complacent. They kept the design of the M8 pretty much untouched (which is a nice design, but honestly is on the verge of being paid out) and then did a bunch of expected hardware upgrades, and added themeing to Sense.

I find myself asking what exactly did they so for the last year while designing the phone? Software has minor additions, hardware components they just ordered the latest stuff. Seems almost as if they didn't get much time to work on it. And reading/seeing the camera is disappointing (despite it not being final software).

I don't know, I just feel the S6 offers the better package this year. Moved away from their tacky plastic finally and the hardware is on par or surpasses the M9, especially the camera. Kind hard for me to pick up the M9 this year, and this is coming from someone who got the M7, M8 and love HTC phones, thought they had the best two phones off there last two years, but this just feels complacent to me. Which is a shame because I was looking forward to the M9 a whole lot.

Sent from my HTC One M8 using Tapatalk

 

[Jason_A]

You say that like none of the guts of the phone were changed/updated. Pretty sure every single physical part of that phone is new. While the design isn't a whole lot different, it's a pretty big stretch to say it's basically the same phone as the M8.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[I Can Be Your Hero]

You say that like none of the guts of the phone were changed/updated. Pretty sure every single physical part of that phone is new. While the design isn't a whole lot different, it's a pretty big stretch to say it's basically the same phone as the M8.

Posted via the Android Central App

Yeah but they are expected upgrades. Snapdragon 810 isn't anything surprising. That was the latest high-end chip Qualcomm had available. 3gb ram is expected, larger battery is expected. New camera module was expected, but early results show (on early software) a camera that needs a lot of work to keep up with the S6 camera.

So then ignoring the predictable internal hardware upgrades, we got minimal software and hardware design upgrades. Same looking phone with same software just added themes and added yelp to Blinkfeed. Android Central said themselves that it feels more like Sense 6.5 rather than a full Sense 7.

What I'm trying to say is that the jump from the M7 to M8 was significant. Both the hardware and software underwent significant reworking along with expected internal hardware upgrades. To me, the M9 was so much less of an upgrade than what were used to seeing from HTC. It really does seem like the M8-S to me.

Is that a bad thing? Nope. The M8 was a spectacular device last year, but this year Samsung have really brought the heat with an (IMO) very impressive Galaxy S6. Then there's LG's new device and Sony's expected as well. I would have liked to see a more impressive device from HTC.

That's just me. I have no doubt it'll be a great device, but this year it seems Samsung have the better device for me.

Sent from my HTC One M8 using Tapatalk

 

[ibcop]

Yeah but they are expected upgrades. Snapdragon 810 isn't anything surprising. That was the latest high-end chip Qualcomm had available. 3gb ram is expected, larger battery is expected. New camera module was expected, but early results show (on early software) a camera that needs a lot of work to keep up with the S6 camera.

So then ignoring the predictable internal hardware upgrades, we got minimal software and hardware design upgrades. Same looking phone with same software just added themes and added yelp to Blinkfeed. Android Central said themselves that it feels more like Sense 6.5 rather than a full Sense 7.

What I'm trying to say is that the jump from the M7 to M8 was significant. Both the hardware and software underwent significant reworking along with expected internal hardware upgrades. To me, the M9 was so much less of an upgrade than what were used to seeing from HTC. It really does seem like the M8-S to me.

Is that a bad thing? Nope. The M8 was a spectacular device last year, but this year Samsung have really brought the heat with an (IMO) very impressive Galaxy S6. Then there's LG's new device and Sony's expected as well. I would have liked to see a more impressive device from HTC.

That's just me. I have no doubt it'll be a great device, but this year it seems Samsung have the better device for me.

Sent from my HTC One M8 using Tapatalk

Well said - I really liked the M8 when I had it - I just didn't like the camera. I think I'm going to pick a M9 up off Swappa or somewhere after they release to use along with the S6 Edge.

 

[Slick1020]

You say that like none of the guts of the phone were changed/updated. Pretty sure every single physical part of that phone is new. While the design isn't a whole lot different, it's a pretty big stretch to say it's basically the same phone as the M8.

Posted via the Android Central App

If you put lipstick on a pig, is it still a pig? If you change out the internals of an M8 but call it an M9, is it still an M8?

 

[D13H4RD2L1V3]

Yeah I too was disappointed with the M9, so I'll be jumping ship to the Galaxy S6 this year.

Seems like HTC have gotten complacent. They kept the design of the M8 pretty much untouched (which is a nice design, but honestly is on the verge of being paid out) and then did a bunch of expected hardware upgrades, and added themeing to Sense.

I find myself asking what exactly did they so for the last year while designing the phone? Software has minor additions, hardware components they just ordered the latest stuff. Seems almost as if they didn't get much time to work on it. And reading/seeing the camera is disappointing (despite it not being final software).

I don't know, I just feel the S6 offers the better package this year. Moved away from their tacky plastic finally and the hardware is on par or surpasses the M9, especially the camera. Kind hard for me to pick up the M9 this year, and this is coming from someone who got the M7, M8 and love HTC phones, thought they had the best two phones off there last two years, but this just feels complacent to me. Which is a shame because I was looking forward to the M9 a whole lot.

Sent from my HTC One M8 using Tapatalk

Personally, I'm more interested in the LG G4.

HTC didn't really bring anything that "wowed" me, and the only thing that "wowed" me about the S6 was the design. Everything else seems like a downgrade, minus the SoC and storage tech and display.

I don't want to keep bashing the S6, but I don't understand the logic behind pairing a 1440p display with a 2550mAh battery (mind you, that's a 250mAh drop from the S5) and making it non-removable. I mean, sure. The SoC is 14nm and sips 30% less power, but I'm not so sure that the 30% drop in power-consumption is enough to offset the amount of battery power that 2K screen uses. I'm also a guy who uses an SD card often, so the S6 disappointed me as well as the M9. Let's not forget the embarrassing similarities with a phone that has a fruit on the back of it.

I still think HTC did the smart move of sticking with 1080p and giving it a bigger battery. On a screen-size of 5-5.2", 1440p makes very little difference. On phablets or very large phones like the LG G3 and Galaxy Note 4, it makes sense IMO.

 

[neo905]

Personally, I'm more interested in the LG G4.

HTC didn't really bring anything that "wowed" me, and the only thing that "wowed" me about the S6 was the design. Everything else seems like a downgrade, minus the SoC and storage tech and display.

I don't want to keep bashing the S6, but I don't understand the logic behind pairing a 1440p display with a 2550mAh battery (mind you, that's a 250mAh drop from the S5) and making it non-removable. I mean, sure. The SoC is 14nm and sips 30% less power, but I'm not so sure that the 30% drop in power-consumption is enough to offset the amount of battery power that 2K screen uses. I'm also a guy who uses an SD card often, so the S6 disappointed me as well as the M9. Let's not forget the embarrassing similarities with a phone that has a fruit on the back of it.

I still think HTC did the smart move of sticking with 1080p and giving it a bigger battery. On a screen-size of 5-5.2", 1440p makes very little difference. On phablets or very large phones like the LG G3 and Galaxy Note 4, it makes sense IMO.

We will see if keeping the M9 relatively similar to the M8 and because of it keeping the price down will benefit them. If this ends up being $550- $600 off contract and $100-150 on contract that might appeal to a lot of people looking for a premium product that is $200-300 less than other comparable phone.

 

[D13H4RD2L1V3]

We will see if keeping the M9 relatively similar to the M8 and because of it keeping the price down will benefit them. If this ends up being $550- $600 off contract and $100-150 on contract that might appeal to a lot of people looking for a premium product that is $200-300 less than other comparable phone.

It's $599 on a contest page.

 

[neo905]

It's $599 on a contest page.

So that equates to what on contract? $100-150 instead of $250-500 for a Sammy or iPhone.

 

[anon(871934)]

According to S4GRU and their review of the FCC materials for both the S6 and the m9, their opinion is that the RF performance of the S6 is mediocre at best and the RF performance of the m9 slightly exceeds that of the m8 which in all cases is superior to the S6. Their theory is that when Samsung moved from cheap plastic to better build quality, they didn't do much to improve the RF performance that was impacted by more metal in the phone.

It seems like some people here are focused on how much each of these phones changed from their previous version rather than what is the quality of the end product. Personally, I could care less if a phone just had an incremental change if the phone started out great to begin with.

 

[aallison1882]

How does keeping the M9 similar to the M8 keep the price down?

 

[Habiib]

How does keeping the M9 similar to the M8 keep the price down?

Less resources (man hours and cost) need to develop a new design and manufacturing process from the ground up for the frame and outer shell. It's cheaper to just modify existing processes.

Less resources needed to source new hardware components, to include reengineering the internal hardware architecture, integrating those components, etc. For example, using the existing UltraPixel camera for the Front facing camera instead of using a completely new module. Also, using the same display panel (assuming) versus sourcing a new unit is most likely a cheaper alternative.

I don't know if it was intentional, but it seems that HTC went with a modular design with the M8 and M9. They were able to upgrade most of the hardware without having to make drastic changes to the design. I think the biggest cost they had to incur was the new camera sensor.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[markymark]

Yeah I too was disappointed with the M9, so I'll be jumping ship to the Galaxy S6 this year.

Seems like HTC have gotten complacent. They kept the design of the M8 pretty much untouched (which is a nice design, but honestly is on the verge of being paid out) and then did a bunch of expected hardware upgrades, and added themeing to Sense.

I find myself asking what exactly did they so for the last year while designing the phone? Software has minor additions, hardware components they just ordered the latest stuff. Seems almost as if they didn't get much time to work on it. And reading/seeing the camera is disappointing (despite it not being final software).

I don't know, I just feel the S6 offers the better package this year. Moved away from their tacky plastic finally and the hardware is on par or surpasses the M9, especially the camera. Kind hard for me to pick up the M9 this year, and this is coming from someone who got the M7, M8 and love HTC phones, thought they had the best two phones off there last two years, but this just feels complacent to me. Which is a shame because I was looking forward to the M9 a whole lot.

Sent from my HTC One M8 using Tapatalk

Wow...this is surprising since you were one of the biggest defenders of HTC pre-release when news leaked out that the M9 would be a slightly modified version of the M8. And I was very critical of HTC. Now you are ready to jump ship to the S6, I am moving the other way towards accepting that even though the M9 looks almost identical to the M8, it is still one of the best if not the best android phone out there. I think the evleaks renders spoiled a lot of us for what the final product ended up being.

But I hear you, I have never ever considered buying a Samsung phone in the past but I am taking a look at the S6, espeically the Edge version. Very nice looking phone. The 1440 screen and small battery is a concern though. Plus I just like the buld quality of HTC phones. For now I will hang on to my Moto RMHD from 2012, it is still chugging along fine. But push come to shove if I had to get a replacement now I would probably go with the M9. Of course we will have to wait and see both in person, that could change things.

 

[aallison1882]

Less resources (man hours and cost) need to develop a new design and manufacturing process from the ground up for the frame and outer shell. It's cheaper to just modify existing processes.

Less resources needed to source new hardware components, to include reengineering the internal hardware architecture, integrating those components, etc. For example, using the existing UltraPixel camera for the Front facing camera instead of using a completely new module. Also, using the same display panel (assuming) versus sourcing a new unit is most likely a cheaper alternative.

I don't know if it was intentional, but it seems that HTC went with a modular design with the M8 and M9. They were able to upgrade most of the hardware without having to make drastic changes to the design. I think the biggest cost they had to incur was the new camera sensor.

Posted via the Android Central App

I am going to have to respectfully disagree with you on this.

I do agree that they may have needed less resources for the actual tweaking of the external design. The internal design, material design and physical production are a different story though.

Once they decided on the external design, they would then need to figure out how to architect all the internal components into a new size shell using a host of new hardware. I would venture to say that the motherboards for the Snapdragon 801 in the M8 and Snapdragon 810 in the M9 are different in size and connection mounting points. The battery is different and would need configured into the new shell. Even though they kept the Ultrapixel camera (which seems to be the only legacy hardware), you can't just turn it around and call it a day. The boomsound speakers are newly engineered components and again I would assume of slightly different size. The display panel is different as pointed out by the smaller bezels, different size shell and made of the new Gorilla Glass 4 as opposed to Gorilla Glass 3.

The HTC designer has also stated that the production time to produce one shell has doubled to 300 production minutes from the previous two versions. That in itself means double the cost of production for just the shell, not including cost difference in the new material. All of the manufacturing would need retooled for the new design.

All that being said, the fact that the design, architecture and production are different and most of the hardware is new, I would bet that the actual cost to develop and produce the M9 is not much different that the cost they incurred for the M8.

 

[Habiib]

I am going to have to respectfully disagree with you on this.

I do agree that they may have needed less resources for the actual tweaking of the external design. The internal design, material design and physical production are a different story though.

Once they decided on the external design, they would then need to figure out how to architect all the internal components into a new size shell using a host of new hardware. I would venture to say that the motherboards for the Snapdragon 801 in the M8 and Snapdragon 810 in the M9 are different in size and connection mounting points. The battery is different and would need configured into the new shell. Even though they kept the Ultrapixel camera (which seems to be the only legacy hardware), you can't just turn it around and call it a day. The boomsound speakers are newly engineered components and again I would assume of slightly different size. The display panel is different as pointed out by the smaller bezels, different size shell and made of the new Gorilla Glass 4 as opposed to Gorilla Glass 3.

The HTC designer has also stated that the production time to produce one shell has doubled to 300 production minutes from the previous two versions. That in itself means double the cost of production for just the shell, not including cost difference in the new material. All of the manufacturing would need retooled for the new design.

All that being said, the fact that the design, architecture and production are different and most of the hardware is new, I would bet that the actual cost to develop and produce the M9 is not much different that the cost they incurred for the M8.

With the UltraPixel FF example, the costs were saved via re-use (as you stated). Although the BoomSound speakers are modified, it's less costly than reengineering from the ground up. As for the internal hardware components, HTC was still able to save cost by not having to redesign the layout of the hardware stack. They've used the same pyramid architecture for some time where they mount the battery closest to the display and then the mainboard and other components on top. As for the display, usage of the same display panel type (i.e., SLCD 3)was probably cheaper than using more current tech. I'm also assuming acthat the price and demand of 1080p panel used may have decreased since the time of the M8 development and would have driven the costs down further. However once Anandtech does a breakdown I'll probably get a more accurate assumption.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[ABOSWORTH007]

I own a Galaxy S5 currently and I'm almost certain that I'll be getting the M9. I see a lot of people talking down on the M9 and I can understand why. The S6 is not an option for me. I want to try the M9 and the fact that it has a smaller battery and no Micro SD slot is a deal breaker. I think the M8 is awesome and I almost got one a few months ago so the M9 is good for me. Hopefully they get the camera software optimized before release.

 

[hadwilmon]

To those that jump to Samsung: Enjoy that TouchWiz! I won't. But I will be looking at battery life tests before I upgrade.

 

[Inders99]

To those that jump to Samsung: Enjoy that TouchWiz! I won't. But I will be looking at battery life tests before I upgrade.

Hey look, my speakers grew a phone! Waddya gonna do as HTC goes out of business later this year?