The Verge M9 "mini" Review "the world’s most beautiful disappointment"

[neo905]

Canadian Pricing was just released and Samsung is pricing S6 at Apple prices. I don't think they can command those prices though. Not from me anyway.

Canadian pricing for the Samsung Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge | MobileSyrup.com

 

[petvas72]

The Verge just posted another article about the M9's camera:
http://www.theverge.com/2015/3/2/8133227/htc-one-m9-camera-sample-images
The software is not final.

The above proviso should be kept at the front of your mind when perusing the following images. HTC tells me that it's pushing out updates to the One M9 on a daily basis and 95 percent of their content is camera-related. The Taiwanese company has heard a chorus of discontent with its latest camera echoing throughout early previews and is working hard to improve the quality of its images. That being said, the HTC One M9 is expected to launch as soon as March 16th in Taiwan, so we're only a couple of weeks away from the release software — what we are looking at here isn't too far off from what the final retail units will be able to produce.

 

[Slick1020]

The Verge just posted another article about the M9's camera:
Here's what the HTC One M9 camera can do | The Verge
The software is not final.

The above proviso should be kept at the front of your mind when perusing the following images. HTC tells me that it's pushing out updates to the One M9 on a daily basis and 95 percent of their content is camera-related. The Taiwanese company has heard a chorus of discontent with its latest camera echoing throughout early previews and is working hard to improve the quality of its images. That being said, the HTC One M9 is expected to launch as soon as March 16th in Taiwan, so we're only a couple of weeks away from the release software — what we are looking at here isn't too far off from what the final retail units will be able to produce.

The camera should take great pictures despite the software. I never hear digital camera makers saying we need to update the software? HTC did not hit a home run here. Why wouldn't you have your personnel working day and night to have the software 100% correct for MWC? You are on the world stage. HTC did not show up prepared for MWC at all. They get an "F" from me for FAIL. The presentation for HTC was not good. Samsung showed up ready to back up their flagships and their software was running just fine. No excuses from Samsung.

 

[Ry]

The only thing HTC did right was put the ultrapixel camera on the front.

 

[jrb363]

tbh i don't expect anyting better for the s6 smooth but yeah the m9 is being bashed everywhere.

Which I don't really understand. Is the camera great? Apparently not. However, compared to the Samsung S6 disaster I mean, come on! Just goes to show that media & advertising revenue do go hand-in-hand. Sad.

 

[Jason_A]

The camera should take great pictures despite the software. I never hear digital camera makers saying we need to update the software? HTC did not hit a home run here. Why wouldn't you have your personnel working day and night to have the software 100% correct for MWC? You are on the world stage. HTC did not show up prepared for MWC at all. They get an "F" from me for FAIL. The presentation for HTC was not good. Samsung showed up ready to back up their flagships and their software was running just fine. No excuses from Samsung.

Actually, the software for image processing DOES make a (sometime huge) difference. Even in DSLRs, the image processing is a huge part of what makes or breaks a camera's performance. It's also why a lot of serious photographers shoot in RAW mode, so they can do all of the image processing "manually" in programs like Photoshop or Lightroom. Then they have control over how much noise reduction and sharpening are applied, the exposure control, white balance, saturation, etc. The processing is often very much "proprietary" software... and why companies like Sony remove it when you unlock the phone. The image quality on an unlocked Xperia is not the same as a stock phone.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[Shepx13]

Which I don't really understand. Is the camera great? Apparently not. However, compared to the Samsung S6 disaster I mean, come on! Just goes to show that media & advertising revenue do go hand-in-hand. Sad.

What "Samsung S6 disaster" are you referring to?

 

[Habiib]

The camera should take great pictures despite the software. I never hear digital camera makers saying we need to update the software? HTC did not hit a home run here. Why wouldn't you have your personnel working day and night to have the software 100% correct for MWC? You are on the world stage. HTC did not show up prepared for MWC at all. They get an "F" from me for FAIL. The presentation for HTC was not good. Samsung showed up ready to back up their flagships and their software was running just fine. No excuses from Samsung.

Software is what controls the hardware (i.e., drivers)? Regardless of how good the aspects of the camera's sensor, optics, processor, etc. may be, if the software isn't written to take full advantage of it, the results will be sub-par and not equivalent to what's expected by looking at the specs alone. HTC has had a history of doing these type of software implementations in the past. With the EVO 3D, their SDK didn't allow full control of both camera modules. With other models, they gimped the maximum bitrate of the video recording, thus leading to lower quality results, even though the hardware was more than capable. Yes, it's a fact that should there be any pre-existing issues or deficiencies with the camera software, an update/fix will make a huge difference with the end result. You can browse XDA and see how some developers were able to improve the results with custom ROMS.

Also, throwing more resources at a problem isn't going to get it resolved any faster or efficiently when it comes to software engineering. Now if you take into account that this sensor is brand new, I don't see why any of this is a surpise, especially since HTC has taken a new route and forego its in-house ImageSense chip. It's much more to this than you're trying to imply. Your assertions aren't making much sense.

 

[tunguitvn]

Well, I will choose S6 or in the bad case, IP6, than this M9.
Sad...

 

[Brenda Schnee]

bad thing,more of the same:'( now wait to m10

 

[ibcop]

bad thing,more of the same:'( now wait to m10

But will it be more of the same with the M10?

j/k

 

[OceanView]

But will it be more of the same with the M10?

j/k

Or will HTC still be around next year?

 

[Aquila]

Ladies and gentlemen, please keep discussion productive and on topic. Personal attacks, insults, taking threads off topic and other disruptive posting behaviors are not acceptable. If you do not like a post, please behave like an adult and move on, or if you feel it violates the forum rules, please report it. At no point should members be calling each other out in posts. Thanks.

 

[jrb363]

What "Samsung S6 disaster" are you referring to?

Removing MicroSD support and closing off the battery compartment. If you say that Samsung is genius for doing this then you're both a moron and hypocrite. Everyone here talked about "options, options, OPTIONS!!!!!!!" with Android for years. How is REMOVING FEATURES considered advancement? (Pro tip: IT'S NOT)

 

[Shepx13]

Re: The Verge M9 "mini" Review "the world’s most beautiful disappointment"

Removing MicroSD support and closing off the battery compartment. If you say that Samsung is genius for doing this then you're both a moron and hypocrite. Everyone here talked about "options, options, OPTIONS!!!!!!!" with Android for years. How is REMOVING FEATURES considered advancement? (Pro tip: IT'S NOT)

I hate the fact that they got rid of the SD card and removable battery. And while I can deal with the lack of sd card because of the larger sizes they are offering, my wife needs to have the swappable batteries. She goes through two batteries on an average day running her business (Galaxy S4). Now she's almost out of options unless she wants a gigantic phone (Note).

All that said, you're fooling yourself if you think this is going to make much of a difference in how many people buy the S6. It's not a disaster. We (users of those features) are a minority of users, and we're pretty much out of options. Sure, you can get the M9 if you want a lousy camera, but it's lacking the swappable battery. You can get the Note if you can live with a phone that size. That's pretty much it for the major players.

Samsung is catering to their majority audience, and this phone will outsell the S5.

 

[Aquila]

Closing off the battery compartment allows for five things:

1. Better physical engineering options
2. More options with battery shape
3. More physical space can be taken up by battery, rather than room for the battery
4. More options for the physical location of the battery (under the screen for example)
5. More onus on the OEM to use quality batteries - because they're replacing devices, not batteries if these things fail.

If the trade off to having to charge each night instead of hot swapping is worth it or not is up to the individual. My gut says that most people are charging every night either way. When it comes to batteries, we really need the focus to shift to batteries that last for many, many days or weeks - not measured in hours where some users are scrambling for chargers. Sealing off this compartment is a step (not a big step, but a necessary one) into allowing for that transformation.

MicroSD support is one I'm personally thankful is not included, but I do understand that some people enjoy using that functionality. To me MicroSD will always represent a security and stability concern that doesn't exist otherwise, as well as a needless opportunity cost - every OEM that includes it is adding custom code to do so, carving out physical space and materials within the device, spending hardware and software engineering time, buying the parts, testing, etc. Even if that is only a few extra cents per device, 10 million devices in and that's some money that could have gone towards features in the device software or other benefits to more users. Again, obviously some people want THIS feature, not others. That's fine; I'm not one of them and most users are also not those users. It is smart for OEM's to play to the market(s), not to the forums.

I will be sad if we get to a place where those options exist on no devices. I live in the US where these things aren't necessary for most users. In some markets, these options are both very necessary and should remain viable until they are not needed. As long as these decisions are analytically market driven, there is no conflict IMO.

 

[petvas72]

It's interesting to see how (almost) everyone is going the direction Apple has always had..

Having said that, I still prefer the M9 and if the camera is good, I will get it..

 

[Slick1020]

It's interesting to see how (almost) everyone is going the direction Apple has always had..

Having said that, I still prefer the M9 and if the camera is good, I will get it..

A friend who is an Apple lover admitted after receiving his iphone 6 that a bigger screen is better. I'm sorry, but we have had phones with large screens for years. He is over 6 feet tall and carrying around a phone meant for the hands of a woman. If people that love Apple products is just figuring that out in 2014 that a larger screen phone would have negated their purchase of an ipad or ipad mini, all hope is lost for this world. Brand loyalty to an insane level is sickening.