HTC One M9 Review Part 2 by Anandtech :(

[audio6996]

The HTC One M9 Review: Part 2

Overall, further testing of the One M9 basically confirms my fears, which were that the One M9 is effectively a sidegrade of the One M8 at best. I really did want to like this phone, as I still find the One M7 to be a great phone to use. I really wanted to see a phone from HTC that was worthy of an upgrade from the One M7, but the One M9 isn’t that phone. In fact, given that the One M8 is at least 200 dollars cheaper than the One M9 on contract, I find it incredibly difficult to recommend the One M9. It will definitely have its fans, but overall there are more negatives than positives. Given the competitive positioning of the One M9, the timing of the Snapdragon 810, and the strength of the Galaxy S6 I’m faced with an intense sense of déjà vu. It almost feels like we’re back where we started 3 years ago with the Sensation and Galaxy S2. I can't think of a better way to describe the situation HTC is in, which is alarming to say the least. The One M9 can't be another Sensation, but it feels like it is.

 

[Adam_ation]

Old news, already been posted in reviews thread literally just below - Adam

 

[neo905]

I wouldn't call something that was released less than 24 hours ago old news. It is definitely bad news though. I really wonder if the video recordings can be improved through software? The still shots I can live with. The EIS on the other hand would give me motion sickness. Even with slight movement it is sensitive. The iPhone 6 has EIS and it behaves like OIS. Anything is possible just that HTC isn't giving me the confidence they will.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[ron561]

HTC really dropped the ball this year.

 

[thatguy97]

It's almost as if the 810 is very much the pentium 4 of smartphones

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[Habiib]

I'll be blunt and honest when I say that I have 0 confidence in HTC being able to resolve some of the negative camera issues on the software side.
Ever since the EVO 3D I've been seeing the same behavior during video recording. Schizophrenic auto focus during video recording has been around for years. It's as if they are using the same algorithms for every device. It will hunt for a focal point when it doesn't need to and in low light it's even worse. The metering mode that it's using for photo capturing is not optimal and they seem to reuse that same approach with every device. Then the fact that they record at lower bit rate than what the device is capable of, drives me insane. Also their post processing implementation......whut dafuq? Their EIS is the weakest I've seen yet. Most of these annoyances of mine seem to have been mentioned in reviews for several years. For whatever reason, they don't seem to be making any changes at all to address them and instead seen to carry them over with each iteration. In my opinion of course.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[petvas72]

I know only one thing. I have been using the M9 since last week and am enjoying it much more than my M8. I don't care about this review.
The screen is at least as good as the M8's.

I love my M9. Does it make it perfect? No. Does it make it a bad device? Certainly not! It's an excellent device, one of the best phones available. Could it be better? Definitely!

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[trsbbs]

Seems the most vocal negative folks don't even have a M9 to see for themselves.

2nd and third hand opinions are useless as we also have read or heard the information before. So save it.

Let's hear from those that actually have or had one.

Posted via an old & tired BlackBerry Z10

 

[Alex_NJ]

I'll be blunt and honest when I say that I have 0 confidence in HTC being able to resolve some of the negative camera issues on the software side.
Ever since the EVO 3D I've been seeing the same behavior during video recording. Schizophrenic auto focus during video recording has been around for years. It's as if they are using the same algorithms for every device. It will hunt for a focal point when it doesn't need to and in low light it's even worse. The metering mode that it's using for photo capturing is not optimal and they seem to reuse that same approach with every device. Then the fact that they record at lower bit rate than what the device is capable of, drives me insane. Also their post processing implementation......whut dafuq? Their EIS is the weakest I've seen yet. Most of these annoyances of mine seem to have been mentioned in reviews for several years. For whatever reason, they don't seem to be making any changes at all to address them and instead seen to carry them over with each iteration. In my opinion of course.

Posted via the Android Central App

Yeah but they moved the power button though.......

 

[Habiib]

Seems the most vocal negative folks don't even have a M9 to see for themselves.

2nd and third hand opinions are useless as we also have read or heard the information before. So save it.

Let's hear from those that actually have or had one.

Posted via an old & tired BlackBerry Z10

.....or they have an agenda to begin with. However I was going to write the M9 off after reading the reviews about the battery life, but after seeing input from the owners regarding the battery life in daily usage, I see it isn't as bad as I initially thought.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[neo905]

I know only one thing. I have been using the M9 since last week and am enjoying it much more than my M8. I don't care about this review.
The screen is at least as good as the M8's.

I love my M9. Does it make it perfect? No. Does it make it a bad device? Certainly not! It's an excellent device, one of the best phones available. Could it be better? Definitely!

Posted via the Android Central App

Have you shot video yet though? What do you think of it?

 

[Habiib]

Yeah but they moved the power button though.......

Coming from my HTC One Max, I'll feel right at home with that button arrangement on the M9. Speaking of which, battery life (and the power flip case) is the only thing I'll miss out on when I upgrade. Everything else about the M9 puts my One Max to shame I think. Just need to fine tune the camera software to make it a great camera (in my opinion).

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[petvas72]

I do not share the negative opinions of the reviewers, but I can understand their disappointment of getting an evolutionary upgrade, compared to the M8. Where does this disappointment come from though? Who set their expectations so high? For so many years almost every manufacturer has iterated but there have never been so many negative comments..
The three main points that reviewers are mentioning are battery life, design and the camera. Let's have a look at all three:
Battery life: Yes, the M8 has better battery life, but I think there is room for improvement here, especially with Lolipop 5.1 Having said that, battery life should be enough to get almost anyone through the day. Every night we would charge our devices anyway...I would do that for my iPhone 6 Plus anyway, despite the fact that it could easily last for 1,5 days. (because I want to be able to get through the whole day and not just half a day..)
Performance: The M9 is really fast, faster than the M8. I don't care about benchmarks. Benchmarks do not tell the truth! The truth is that the M9 will not slow down, no matter what you throw at it, and that is what counts. Anandtech is just benchmarking devices. I wonder if they get to use them at all..
Camera: Everybody has been waiting for a great camera and HTC unfortunately didn't deliver on the software front. The XDA thread clearly proves that. The M9 and with the right settings (found at the XDA thread) can take beautiful pictures, on par with the iPhone (or close to it).

Anandtech also complains about the display. I had the M8 and I prefer this one much better. Having said that, of course it would be great if HTC used an even better display technology, or an even more accurate display. Many other publications disagree with Anandtech about the display. For example, The Verge gave it a 10 out of 10..(which is also too much). The truth is, the display should be a joy to use and in real life you won't have any issues with it. I hope though that next year the display will be the best of its kind. ( I don't care about the resolution).
Design: Yes, it's an evolution, but we seem to forget that this was the best design of 2014. Now it's even better and it remains the best or one of the best. Reviewers seem to be drinking the Samsung S6 cool aid and forget that Samsung always produced devices that were ugly or/and of mediocre quality..

HTC just needs to work more in the out of the box experience, especially regarding the camera. They must also work on their marketing strategy, in order to change expectations and perception...
The M9, as found by many other reviewers, but mainly from many that actually use the device as their daily driver, is one of the best devices of 2015. Is it the best? This year the competition is harder, so it's difficult to say. Everyone should know for themselves if the M9 is what they are looking for.
For me the M9 is the best phone because of the following reasons:

• It feels really great in the hand. The device makes me want to use it all the time, something I cannot even say for the iPhone 6 which I stopped using since I got the M9.
• It has amazing BoomSound speakers. Much better than the M8. I am not an audiophile but I can hear the difference to the M8 immediately.
• It's a very fast device, on par with the other flagships. Comparing it to the iPhone 6 Plus I cannot see a difference. Mostly apps will load faster on my M9..
• Sense & Blinkfeed: I just love it, especially Blinkfeed and the new theming engine. I know I can have them other One devices too, but I judge the whole package..

 

[petvas72]

Have you shot video yet though? What do you think of it?

Not yet, I will try that when I have time later this week and post my impressions.

 

[DizWhiz]

This is disappointing. I know people will love their M9, even more vocal when defending a purchase, but most trusted tech sources are panning the same items as Anandtech: Terrible camera processing, Snapdragon 810 is a thermal monster which causes aggressive throttling (so what's the point?), worse screen color/calibration, and worse battery life than my M8. The only positive things I've read is that Sense 7 is the best launcher available and it's still pretty to look at.

They needed something to chop into the Galaxy market but this is not going to be the one.

 

[ron561]

I do not share the negative opinions of the reviewers, but I can understand their disappointment of getting an evolutionary upgrade, compared to the M8. Where does this disappointment come from though? Who set their expectations so high? For so many years almost every manufacturer has iterated but there have never been so many negative comments..
[/LIST]

Based on the reviews and user feedback, it's clear that the M9 just isn't as good of a phone as many people were hoping. I'm willing to bet that if the phone kept the same design, but had a camera and software that was closer in quality to the S6, better battery, etc, this phone would have been another winner for HTC.

Where does the disappointment come from? Probably from the fact that for the past two years, HTC has produced arguably the top smartphone on the market period with both the HTC M7 and M8. Now with the M9, it seems that this phone may not live up to the type of quality we expect from HTC.

 

[petvas72]

Based on the reviews and user feedback, it's clear that the M9 just isn't as good of a phone as many people were hoping. I'm willing to bet that if the phone kept the same design, but had a camera and software that was closer in quality to the S6, better battery, etc, this phone would have been another winner for HTC.

Where does the disappointment come from? Probably from the fact that for the past two years, HTC has produced arguably the top smartphone on the market period with both the HTC M7 and M8. Now with the M9, it seems that this phone may not live up to the type of quality we expect from HTC.

The M9 is a great phone. The problem is that others have also started producing great looking and designed phones, so the HTC advantage is gone. That doesn't mean that the M9 isn't one of the best devices of the year.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[ron561]

The M9 is a great phone. The problem is that others have also started producing great looking and designed phones, so the HTC advantage is gone. That doesn't mean that the M9 isn't one of the best devices of the year.

Posted via the Android Central App

But HTC has also fallen behind in certain categories it previously lead competitors in. That is the big problem here. As I said, I fully believe that if HTC had improved upon the battery, camera/software, etc, the M9 would still be the best phone on the market despite the S6's redesign.

The M9 is still a good device, but again, it just isn't up to the standards HTC has set for themselves in the past with their One series.

 

[neo905]

But HTC has also fallen behind in certain categories it previously lead competitors in. That is the big problem here. As I said, I fully believe that if HTC had improved upon the battery, camera/software, etc, the M9 would still be the best phone on the market despite the S6's redesign.

The M9 is still a good device, but again, it just isn't up to the standards HTC has set for themselves in the past with their One series.

The reality nobody really cares about 64bit phones other than nerds. HTC should have just went with the 805 chip. Then they never would have had the heat issues, benchmarking issues and battery issues. All that would have been left are camera software issues that would have been able to be smoothed over with software and the negativity would be cut 80%. Instead we are left with more questions than answers. I heard LG4 is bypassing the 810 for 808 for this exact reason plus they are using a better sensor than the S6. You can't stand still in the smartphone industry.

 

[lovenokia]

The reality nobody really cares about 64bit phones other than nerds. HTC should have just went with the 805 chip. Then they never would have had the heat issues, benchmarking issues and battery issues. All that would have been left are camera software issues that would have been able to be smoothed over with software and the negativity would be cut 80%. Instead we are left with more questions than answers. I heard LG4 is bypassing the 810 for 808 for this exact reason plus they are using a better sensor than the S6. You can't stand still in the smartphone industry.

We dont know what image sensor LG is using, just that the aperture will be 1.8, slightly more open than 1.9 on the s6. With smartphone image sensors that difference is negligible, but it will help gather more light. The biggest difference will come from the image processing.