HTC One M9 Review Part 2 by Anandtech :(

[bigrey81]

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.

Camera is awesome after being tweaked the s6 has horrible battery life just go to the Samsung forum and read the complaints sense is much much better than touchwiz

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[neo905]

Camera is awesome after being tweaked the s6 has horrible battery life just go to the Samsung forum and read the complaints sense is much much better than touchwiz

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Have to wait and see if the battery life is isolated to a T-Mobile issue for S6. Camera is better after tweak but have you taken video yet? Is that awesome? I still dread using touchwiz over sense. I agree with you there.

 

[neo905]

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.

Let's put it this way. The LG3 was a good camera and I have more faith in LG putting out a great camera than HTC at this point. That said, I could probably get used to buttons on the back but not speakers. That's silly. Plus they better not curve it.

 

[petvas72]

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.

In which categories did they fall behind?
Design and sound were the two areas where HTC had a lead, and they still have it. That doesn't mean that others don't design premium phones, but in the last year many other Android manufacturers have emphasized their efforts in design. Before that HTC was the only Android company with such a focus in design.
Sound is still best on the One.
Software is another area where HTC excelled and guess what? They still do.

So, actually the only thing that's really changed is that others have nice premium phones in the market. This was not the case before, so yes, HTC needs to find more differentiators. I still believe though that HTC has the best design..

 

[ron561]

Camera is awesome after being tweaked the s6 has horrible battery life just go to the Samsung forum and read the complaints sense is much much better than touchwiz

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"after being tweaked". That's the problem. The average user will not know anything of these tweaks. As Petvas pointed out, the out of box experience with the M9 is lacking and this will impact a consumers decision.

I own a S6 and have reported on the Samsung forums that in comparison to my M8, the S6 doesn't even come close with my heavy usage. According to user and critic reviews, the M9 doesn't either. And it seems that in some reviews the S6 has topped the M9 in battery life. On top of that, the S6 has included a fast charger in the box along with wireless charging. So i'm not sure why you brought that point up.

 

[ron561]

*double post*

 

[ron561]

In which categories did they fall behind?
Design and sound were the two areas where HTC had a lead, and they still have it. That doesn't mean that others don't design premium phones, but in the last year many other Android manufacturers have emphasized their efforts in design. Before that HTC was the only Android company with such a focus in design.
Sound is still best on the One.
Software is another area where HTC excelled and guess what? They still do.

So, actually the only thing that's really changed is that others have nice premium phones in the market. This was not the case before, so yes, HTC needs to find more differentiators. I still believe though that HTC has the best design..

Display, battery life, low light camera performance(something HTC previously touted) just to name a few.

It's hard for you to argue that HTC still has a "lead" in design" when just earlier in this topic you mentioned how upset people were that there was no redesign. The general consensus seems to be the M9 has a great design based on last year's standards(you yourself have even said this). We are in 2015 now though and consumers seem to think otherwise.

 

[petvas72]

"after being tweaked". That's the problem. The average user will not know anything of these tweaks. As Petvas pointed out, the out of box experience with the M9 is lacking and this will impact a consumers decision.

I own a S6 and have reported on the Samsung forums that in comparison to my M8, the S6 doesn't even come close with my heavy usage. According to user and critic reviews, the M9 doesn't either. And it seems that in some reviews the S6 has topped the M9 in battery life. On top of that, the S6 has included a fast charger in the box along with wireless charging. So i'm not sure why you brought that point up.

I agree about the camera. Regarding battery I cannot say anything about the S6. I can only compare the M8 with the M9 and the M8 is definitely better, but that doesn't mean that the M9 is bad. Especially in energy saving mode (not the extreme mode) there is no noticeable performance loss but a definite battery life gain. There are definitely ways to deal with the battery life and I guess it will be similar with the S6.

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[petvas72]

Design is for me still the best, but it is an iteration of the last two designs. This is disappointing for some people. For me, as an iPhone user, this is more than ok.
The fact that some people are disappointed by the lack of change, doesn't make the M9 design worse..The device is really beautiful. I prefer the metallic design to the all glas Samsung design.

As far as the camera concerns, I don't really think that HTC had ever a lead in that category. Battery life was also never an area where they had a lead. Display technology was also never the strong area of the One series. Samsung and Apple have the lead here and this has been like that for at least three years. HTC displays though are still very good, just not the best out there.

 

[neo905]

Design is for me still the best, but it is an iteration of the last two designs. This is disappointing for some people. For me, as an iPhone user, this is more than ok.
The fact that some people are disappointed by the lack of change, doesn't make the M9 design worse..The device is really beautiful. I prefer the metallic design to the all glas Samsung design.

As far as the camera concerns, I don't really think that HTC had ever a lead in that category. Battery life was also never an area where they had a lead. Display technology was also never the strong area of the One series. Samsung and Apple have the lead here and this has been like that for at least three years. HTC displays though are still very good, just not the best out there.

Wasn't the HTC M7 the first smartphone with a 1080P display? It also had the highest pixel density at the time.So it was a leader display wise.

 

[Jason_A]

Wasn't the HTC M7 the first smartphone with a 1080P display? It also had the highest pixel density at the time.So it was a leader display wise.

Actually, it was the HTC Droid DNA a couple months earlier. Similarly, I believe the Rezound was the first 720p phone. So in some regards they were "pioneers" with screen tech. The S3 AMOLED screen wasn't particularly well regarded. The S4 was better, but it wasn't really until the S5 that they got the hyper saturation under control and you could actually see the thing outdoors. The S5/N4 was where people started using universally positive descriptions of Samsung's displays. Not that it really matters, but for at least a year before, HTC probably received more praise for the display than Samsung. Apple has always had high quality panels, although despite the "retina" name, they've been behind on pixel density.

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[Jason_A]

Design is for me still the best, but it is an iteration of the last two designs. This is disappointing for some people. For me, as an iPhone user, this is more than ok.
The fact that some people are disappointed by the lack of change, doesn't make the M9 design worse..The device is really beautiful. I prefer the metallic design to the all glas Samsung design.

As far as the camera concerns, I don't really think that HTC had ever a lead in that category. Battery life was also never an area where they had a lead. Display technology was also never the strong area of the One series. Samsung and Apple have the lead here and this has been like that for at least three years. HTC displays though are still very good, just not the best out there.

I'll agree with you on the design... I stopped in at Best Buy yesterday and played with the S6/Edge. They are definitely improvements on Samsung's old plastic designs. However, I definitely wasn't as impressed as so many of the reviewers have been. I'll give them credit for a major improvement, but to me it still felt "cheap" somehow? I know that's a totally subjective thing, but it still feels hollow and fragile. I know it's Gorilla Glass on the front and back, but somehow the GG feels really thin and wimpy - like it's still just really thin plastic instead of "solid" glass (the feel you get with the display on an HTC or iPhone). I always felt the same way about Sony's phones - I never agreed that they "felt" that premium, despite using "premium" materials. I've definitely held plastic phones that still felt premium, so I'm not even knocking the choice of materials themselves. I haven't held an M9 yet, so I can't make a direct comparison, but if the M7 and M8 are any indication, they feel considerably more solid and premium in the hand.

 

[msm0511]

I haven't seen the S6/Edge in person yet, but it almost looks like the glass has a mirrored finish in the reviews I've seen. Kind of tacky. Less noticeable on the US variants because they don't come in the green or blue though. I'll have to wait to pass final judgement until I see them in person, but I prefer the M9 over the S6/Edge design-wise.

 

[linebusy]

Compromise. It's always going to come down to some compromise.
Having not had an HTC phone since my Thunderbolt, I ultimately don't care much how close the 9 is to the 8 or 7. If I went HTC, it'd be a new experience from my RMHD of 3 years anyway.

The metal body, feel, speakers and sense are positives. The camera with tweaks makes it no longer a weakness.

The G6 now has an industrial feel as well (as I've read), along with a boast-worthy camera and screen and wireless charging.

Heat and battery life are concerning on the M9. Perhaps the efficiencies of the Exynos processor really do exist (not just hype) and that's why they're getting better performance.

Tough call. In my compromise, I think I'd rather have wireless charging than front-facing speakers, along with OIS on the camera.

 

[scooter7]

After a little less than a week with the M9, I can honestly say it runs cooler than my M7 did. The battery life could be better, but it is much better after a several days then it was when I first got it last week. Not to mention the reports on battery life are not great for S6 either. I think battery life can definitively be improved with a firmware update.

Sent from my HTC One (M9) using Tapatalk

 

[drone3]

Does anyone know if the screen colours can be calibrated?

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[freddyttt]

The bottom line is HTC blew it with the M9.... they needed to come out swinging and go directly after samsung. right after the s6 and note 4... they did not introduce a M9+ and came out with basicly the same phone as the m8. they must have known sammy was coming out with a whole new design. if not. shame on them. bottom line is they will sell less m9's then m8's. and thats a shame.

 

[TBoltJ]

Compromise. It's always going to come down to some compromise.
Having not had an HTC phone since my Thunderbolt, I ultimately don't care much how close the 9 is to the 8 or 7. If I went HTC, it'd be a new experience from my RMHD of 3 years anyway.

The metal body, feel, speakers and sense are positives. The camera with tweaks makes it no longer a weakness.

The G6 now has an industrial feel as well (as I've read), along with a boast-worthy camera and screen and wireless charging.

Heat and battery life are concerning on the M9. Perhaps the efficiencies of the Exynos processor really do exist (not just hype) and that's why they're getting better performance.

Tough call. In my compromise, I think I'd rather have wireless charging than front-facing speakers, along with OIS on the camera.

I have the M7 and Thunderbolt and the M7 is what the Thunderbolt was meant to be. Buy a used M7, make sure the camera doesnt take purple pictures, and save yourself a lot of cash if you go the HTC route.

 

[neo905]

I have the M7 and Thunderbolt and the M7 is what the Thunderbolt was meant to be. Buy a used M7, make sure the camera doesnt take purple pictures, and save yourself a lot of cash if you go the HTC route.

That's an awful idea. I have the M7 but as much as I love it I would never recommend a used one in 2015. Get a new or gently used M8. Way better phone and less money than M9 if going that route.

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[msm0511]

That's an awful idea. I have the M7 but as much as I love it I would never recommend a used one in 2015. Get a new or gently used M8. Way better phone and less money than M9 if going that route.

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I was thinking the exact same thing.