HTC One M9: My bitter disappoinment

[AdamHunterATC]

I guess I just don't get the need some people have for a new design every year. The M8 was a beautifully-designed phone with some flaws (a bit too tall, too slippery, power button on top instead of side), and the M9 takes that design and fixes the flaws.

The evleaks render could very well be a real device (M10?) that HTC couldn't reliably produce yet. I doubt many people (myself included) in this forum really grasp the amount of work that goes into designing these devices. I think we need to chill. No one demands brand new designs every year with cars or computers. Why do we expect it of smartphone manufacturers?

 

[Alex_NJ]

We don't demand new models of cars because the government don't release new demanding roads which requires more powerful cars to run on them.

We don't demand new computers because similarly the software does not become more and more demanding.

Go on to the M7 section of several forums you will see countless lag issues. Same with iPhone 4S or Samsung S4.

And as for design, we would like to think that if the updated phones are costing so much more than the previous model, we should expect them to look different and justify the extra price.

 

[MrSlippery519]

Long story short if the M9 had an all glass front with everything else remaining the same "some" people would be praising it as amazing.

To be honest while yes the M9 is aesthetically similar to the M8 everything else has been updated with top of the line specs, yes the screen remained the same (though the process, lamination, etc are not the same) why did that need to change? It was one of the best and still is one of the best screens on the market. Processor, ram, camera change (again to be determined once we see final software and reviews) are all good things. A bigger battery and no 2K screen to a lot of people myself included is one of the biggest selling features. Why do I need a 2K screen on a phone, especially if that means even an ounce of processor or battery sacrifice?

The S6 to me is nothing special, no doubt the edge version delivers the "wow" factor but lets wait and see some real word testing as the standard S6 looks like the same turd they have been pushing since the S3....oh and please note my current phone is a S3 lol.

 

[Slick1020]

Long story short if the M9 had an all glass front with everything else remaining the same "some" people would be praising it as amazing.

To be honest while yes the M9 is aesthetically similar to the M8 everything else has been updated with top of the line specs, yes the screen remained the same (though the process, lamination, etc are not the same) why did that need to change? It was one of the best and still is one of the best screens on the market. Processor, ram, camera change (again to be determined once we see final software and reviews) are all good things. A bigger battery and no 2K screen to a lot of people myself included is one of the biggest selling features. Why do I need a 2K screen on a phone, especially if that means even an ounce of processor or battery sacrifice?

The S6 to me is nothing special, no doubt the edge version delivers the "wow" factor but lets wait and see some real word testing as the standard S6 looks like the same turd they have been pushing since the S3....oh and please note my current phone is a S3 lol.

Not a fan of the all glass front phone. They say on the S6 you can see fingerprints on every color phone except for the white ones. I hate seeing fingerprints on my Moto360 and my phone.

If the M9 looks like this in real life it might be worth the cost. However, from what I saw at MWC, it did not look this beautiful. This photo doesn't make the camera look huge, but all the videos I've seen that camera stands out like a hump on a camel.

 

[AdamHunterATC]

We don't demand new models of cars because the government don't release new demanding roads which requires more powerful cars to run on them.

We don't demand new computers because similarly the software does not become more and more demanding.

Go on to the M7 section of several forums you will see countless lag issues. Same with iPhone 4S or Samsung S4.

And as for design, we would like to think that if the updated phones are costing so much more than the previous model, we should expect them to look different and justify the extra price.

I was only talking about the design, not the power & capabilities. The M9 is clearly upgraded in terms of power.

The M9 costs "so much more" than the M8? The M7 was $599 at launch. The M8 was $599 at launch. The M9 is $599 at launch. Am I missing something?

 

[Alex_NJ]

You've missed my point.

The M9 is currently so much more than the M8.

You have to make a significant improvement to justify people spending the extra money for the M9

 

[Ry]

You've missed my point.

The M9 is currently so much more than the M8.

You have to make a significant improvement to justify people spending the extra money for the M9

Brand new retail?

HTC's current price is $499.00 on their site for the unlocked model. The M9 isn't currently "so much more" than the M8.

 

[Slick1020]

Brand new retail?

HTC's current price is $499.00 on their site for the unlocked model. The M9 isn't currently "so much more" than the M8.

I think you are clearly missing his point. He is saying why pay whatever it costs to upgrade from the M8 to the M9 when you already have a phone that looks and runs the same. Despite the phones costing the same, it's basically the same phone.

People who aren't techies ask me why I have two of the same phones (M7/M8). I have to explain they are not the same phone. Why buy a phone that looks exactly like my M8?

 

[Ry]

We don't demand new models of cars because the government don't release new demanding roads which requires more powerful cars to run on them.

We don't demand new computers because similarly the software does not become more and more demanding.

Go on to the M7 section of several forums you will see countless lag issues. Same with iPhone 4S or Samsung S4.

And as for design, we would like to think that if the updated phones are costing so much more than the previous model, we should expect them to look different and justify the extra price.

I think you are clearly missing his point. He is saying why pay whatever it costs to upgrade from the M8 to the M9 when you already have a phone that looks and runs the same. Despite the phones costing the same, it's basically the same phone.

People who aren't techies ask me why I have two of the same phones (M7/M8). I have to explain they are not the same phone. Why buy a phone that looks exactly like my M8?

What am I missing? The M9 doesn't cost so much more than the M8.

 

[Ry]

We don't demand new models of cars because the government don't release new demanding roads which requires more powerful cars to run on them.

We don't demand new computers because similarly the software does not become more and more demanding.

Go on to the M7 section of several forums you will see countless lag issues. Same with iPhone 4S or Samsung S4.

And as for design, we would like to think that if the updated phones are costing so much more than the previous model, we should expect them to look different and justify the extra price.

Cars analogy doesn't help. Generations of a model usually cover multiple model years. We're seeing that with the One right now where the M7, M8, and M9 are like model years of an automobile generation.

 

[rugratjack]

Hi everyone,

I own a m7 (yes i did say m7), and have to say that since my days of owning a desire, i have been hooked on HTC, and i think (for now at least) i will remain that way too. I have only ever had 1 problem with my m7 and that was the purple camera issue (which htc fixed under its 2yr warranty!), i can honestly say, i love it to bits. My daughter bought an m8 mini (from an iphone 5) and she says she will never go back! I love the upgrades in tge new m9, and personally, i like the look of it, i cant blame htc for sticking with a good design (if it aint broke, dont fix it, right?). Cant wait for my upgrade to tge m9 im almost salivating. Looks are important, but for me, functionality and reliabilty are first and foremost. I hooe everyone who upgrades to the m9 is looking forward to it as much as i am.

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[rugratjack]

This thread is funny.

It's pretty obvious we're at the point where smartphones can't really "wow" us anymore. I mean, how many ways can you make a rectangle slab? We've hit a plateau. To expect some kind of amazing redesign every year is unrealistic at this point.

To reference the iPhone, this is clearly an "S" update for HTC. They aren't targeting M8 owners with this. They are targeting M7 owners coming off of their 2-year contracts, as well as possible new HTC owners.

I totally agree, we are now at a point where we can only go so far with phones, and also agree that they are targetting m7 owners coming off tgeir two year contract (i am one of them, and frankly cant wait).

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[bigrey81]

I think you are clearly missing his point. He is saying why pay whatever it costs to upgrade from the M8 to the M9 when you already have a phone that looks and runs the same. Despite the phones costing the same, it's basically the same phone.

People who aren't techies ask me why I have two of the same phones (M7/M8). I have to explain they are not the same phone. Why buy a phone that looks exactly like my M8?

Isn't that the same as Samsung as a matter of fact could one say Sammy went backwards with no water proofing and sdcard smaller battery.

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[bigrey81]

Not a fan of the all glass front phone. They say on the S6 you can see fingerprints on every color phone except for the white ones. I hate seeing fingerprints on my Moto360 and my phone.

If the M9 looks like this in real life it might be worth the cost. However, from what I saw at MWC, it did not look this beautiful. This photo doesn't make the camera look huge, but all the videos I've seen that camera stands out like a hump on a camel.
View attachment 166541

What does the camera in back of the s6 look like ? The back of a bison.

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[I Can Be Your Hero]

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.

I think the M9 will be an excellent phone, believed that when the leaks came out, believe that when the phone was revealed, but I think that there's a better product that is going to compete with that, so I'm going to purchase that. I have no doubt it'll be better than the M8 in pretty much every way, but it does have big question marks for me.

What killed the M9 for me was reports of minimal software improvements and reports of sub-par camera performance. Now the camera I understand is non-final software so hopefully that could be improved a lot (and I really hope it is seeing as it's going to be released in Taiwan in a few days) but Sense getting minimal upgrades as well is unacceptable to me. Adding Yelp to Blinkfeed and a themeing engine seems kinda lazy to me. Granted I haven't used the phone yet, but Android Central pointed out it felt more like Sense 6.5 rather than a full upgrade to the software.

But it seems the biggest thing HTC was going on about with the M9 was the dual anodised metal. To me, that's not a big deal. I don't care for it and instead of putting those man hours into hand finishing the M9, I would have liked more effort into getting the camera right or adding more software improvements. The phone just feels complacent to me. Like they had to create a new phone and wanted to put minimal money into making one so they just used the same design (which is still imo the best looking phone design) beefed up the hardware and did small software inclusions. For a HTC flagship it feels like it's had the least work put into it. One X -> M7 -> M8 felt like big, sweeping changes in both hardware and software, but it seems the M9 doesn't.

There was a much bigger improvement from the M7 to M8 than the M8 to M9 which disappointed me. I was expecting more. Now that Samsung have a UI that is actually fast and not laggy (supposedly from hands-on at MWC), a better camera etc, I feel it's the better product for me at the moment. Only thing that's questionable about the S6 for me right now is the battery life. No one at MWC could give opinions on that (for obvious reasons) so I'll have to wait for reviews. I don't care that the S6 screen is 1440p, but do love the quality of AMOLED displays now. The Note 4 screen is spectacular and supposedly the S6 screen is just as good.

If HTC sort out the camera by release here in Australia, then I'd really consider picking it up. Otherwise, I'll move to Samsung. If I had the M7 and were upgrading my phones like a general consumer on 2 year contracts, then the M9 would be an absolutely stellar device (particularly as the M7 may not get Sense 7?), but having an M8 I think I might pass.

 

[Alex_NJ]

GSMarena have done a full review of the S6 and it has a worse battery life than the S5

 

[James E1]

GSMarena have done a full review of the S6 and it has a worse battery life than the S5

Just saw that. That's not going to go ever very well. It's only going to get worse with time as fast charge and multiple charging per day will reduce battery life.

 

[James E1]

The S5, M8, S6, and M9 all employ quick charge. Utilizing quick charge does not reduce battery life or the manufacturers would not have employed such a great feature. As a rapid charger owner from Motorola that I utilize with my M8, the phone is rapidly charged to a certain percentage then the phone will slow down the rate at which it charges. It doesn't rapidly charge the phone every time for that in itself would reduce battery life over the long term. Manufactures would not want a sealed battery in a phone to only last one year because people typically keep their phone for two years unless you purchase iphones or you are a techie. It is a myth that utilizing quick charge kills the battery.

Yes quick charge does cause undue stress. Undue stress will shorten battery life. Quick charge should not be used as the main way you charge the battery.

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[Charles Hinkle]

GSMarena have done a full review of the S6 and it has a worse battery life than the S5

Yes, that's disappointing for Samsung fans, but not really a surprise. Wonder how the HTC One M9 is going to fare for battery life. The M8 already beat the S6 on GSM Arena chart so this should be interesting.

 

[bigrey81]

I don't think we are in an age of needing huge batteries anymore. All the changes manufacturers have made have been for the best.

1. Sealed phones/batteries
2. No SD cards
3. Front facing speakers
4. Fingerprint scanner...etc
5. Quick charge
6. Samsung/Apple Pay

I for one am all about having my phone quickly recharged. Other polls for iPhone users I believe say they would rather have a bulky phone with more battery power. Or that poll was for smartphone users in general (can't remember). I love throwing my M8 on the charger for 30 minutes at about 5% power. My charger shoots it up to over 70% in that time frame. Bigger batteries take longer to charge from my experience. I like to be in/out the door. And I like to be able to easily top off the battery in my car.

Like iphone users, I don't think a smaller battery will stop people from buying the S6. They will learn to love it like no removable battery and lack of an SD card. I'm willing to bet the M10 will have a smaller battery size...

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Now that is you,what about those that don't even think about throwing their phones on the charger except for at night? Even if they have a car charger it doesn't even cross their minds to plug it up. That isn't the case for me but I know plenty of people that way and they look at me like dude I don't think about it. So if on casual use the s6 gives them like 6-7 hours. I don't know the battery life for the s6 it's just an example. So that person has a 9-5 which would turn out to be what a 12 hour day? Phone is off charger around 7am they are out the door by 8 phones dies by 2pm or so and they get home around 8pm.

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