I just came back from a 15 minute play with the One M9, both the silver and gunmetal grey versions. The phone is released today here in Australia. Played with it at a Telstra store in Brisbane, Queensland.
Impressions:
Build feels really solid. Doesn't feel like a cheap device at all. Then again, none of the HTC One's have. The finish is definitely has more grip than the M8. The finish on the gunmetal and silver are different also, which I hadn't read about. Silver felt more 'sticky' to my hands, whereas the gunmetal was smoother but not slippery or anything. Kinda hard to explain until you get hold if them yourself, you'll get what I mean.
The gold trim on the side of the silver model doesn't look too bad. It looks really gaudy in images and videos I've seen, but it's more understated in real life. The gunmetal is the same colour on the back and the side. If I had to choose, I'd probably go with the gunmetal, as the gold was enough to turn me off. Both looked decent though.
The front of the device is actually nicer and a bit cleaner than the M8. The M8 had two plastic inserts where the speakers are but the M9 is one continuous piece of plastic on the top, running down the sides to the bottom. It looks nicer than the M8 when I pulled it out and compared the two. I'd say the finish/grip of the back of the device is what makes the most difference in holding the M8 and M9. The M9 is definitely easier to hold without fear of dropping it.
The software looked extremely similar to what I have been using for the past year. Sense 7 looked and performed the same as Sense 6. Few little things I noticed was that on the gallery app, you can now pinch to collapse the images so you can see more of them, or expand to make the images larger. Kinda like what Apple have on their app and when you press the app drawer button, the background is now a dark blue instead of black. Not sure if that can be changed with themes, but those are some minor things I noticed. Software was fast and smooth. I wouldn't say it's leaps and bounds faster than the M8, but it felt a little bit faster.
I snapped a few pictures inside the store. They turned out alright from what I could tell. Under artificial lighting, the images looked decent. I zoomed in on a photo I took and it looked fine, though photos always look better on the screen of a phone than when you look at it full size on a computer screen, so I'm holding off judgement on that.
Overall impression is that it seemed very similar to the M8. Almost too similar for my tastes. While the build has improved (easier to hold), I can't say the software was new or refreshed or anything. More or less what we had with the M8 bar a few tweaks.
I think going from the M7 to M9, that's a solid upgrade worth the price. Going from the M8 to M9....that's too hard of a call for me. It just didn't feel new enough or different enough for me to purchase it (and the $936 outright price helped with the decision). It's a really nice phone though. I think anyone who buys it will be pleased with it. I think the phone is best for those who don't have an M8, because then the upgrade will feel significant. To be honest, after reading all the doom and gloom reviews - my initial impressions of the phone are quite positive and thought it was better than it would be. Maybe I invested too much weight into reviews who tend to blow out the negatives.
I'm happy to answer any questions people might have. Though note that it was a short play time so battery life and in depth camera impressions are impossible.
Impressions:
Build feels really solid. Doesn't feel like a cheap device at all. Then again, none of the HTC One's have. The finish is definitely has more grip than the M8. The finish on the gunmetal and silver are different also, which I hadn't read about. Silver felt more 'sticky' to my hands, whereas the gunmetal was smoother but not slippery or anything. Kinda hard to explain until you get hold if them yourself, you'll get what I mean.
The gold trim on the side of the silver model doesn't look too bad. It looks really gaudy in images and videos I've seen, but it's more understated in real life. The gunmetal is the same colour on the back and the side. If I had to choose, I'd probably go with the gunmetal, as the gold was enough to turn me off. Both looked decent though.
The front of the device is actually nicer and a bit cleaner than the M8. The M8 had two plastic inserts where the speakers are but the M9 is one continuous piece of plastic on the top, running down the sides to the bottom. It looks nicer than the M8 when I pulled it out and compared the two. I'd say the finish/grip of the back of the device is what makes the most difference in holding the M8 and M9. The M9 is definitely easier to hold without fear of dropping it.
The software looked extremely similar to what I have been using for the past year. Sense 7 looked and performed the same as Sense 6. Few little things I noticed was that on the gallery app, you can now pinch to collapse the images so you can see more of them, or expand to make the images larger. Kinda like what Apple have on their app and when you press the app drawer button, the background is now a dark blue instead of black. Not sure if that can be changed with themes, but those are some minor things I noticed. Software was fast and smooth. I wouldn't say it's leaps and bounds faster than the M8, but it felt a little bit faster.
I snapped a few pictures inside the store. They turned out alright from what I could tell. Under artificial lighting, the images looked decent. I zoomed in on a photo I took and it looked fine, though photos always look better on the screen of a phone than when you look at it full size on a computer screen, so I'm holding off judgement on that.
Overall impression is that it seemed very similar to the M8. Almost too similar for my tastes. While the build has improved (easier to hold), I can't say the software was new or refreshed or anything. More or less what we had with the M8 bar a few tweaks.
I think going from the M7 to M9, that's a solid upgrade worth the price. Going from the M8 to M9....that's too hard of a call for me. It just didn't feel new enough or different enough for me to purchase it (and the $936 outright price helped with the decision). It's a really nice phone though. I think anyone who buys it will be pleased with it. I think the phone is best for those who don't have an M8, because then the upgrade will feel significant. To be honest, after reading all the doom and gloom reviews - my initial impressions of the phone are quite positive and thought it was better than it would be. Maybe I invested too much weight into reviews who tend to blow out the negatives.
I'm happy to answer any questions people might have. Though note that it was a short play time so battery life and in depth camera impressions are impossible.
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cannot wait to receive mine I just wish it came sooner than the 31st here in the UK. I know the stock has arrived in stores already - Adam
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