Why all of the M9 hate? I don't get it...

[patchs]

After reading that AnandTech review, I'm reluctantly admitting that I may not get the M9. My M7 has held up well, has Android 5.0.2 and is supposed to get Sense 7.
I could save $200 and wait another year and hope HTC gets it right with the M10.
Or I could go to the dark side and get the S6....

 

[smooth4lyfe]

After reading that AnandTech review, I'm reluctantly admitting that I may not get the M9. My M7 has held up well, has Android 5.0.2 and is supposed to get Sense 7.
I could save $200 and wait another year and hope HTC gets it right with the M10.
Or I could go to the dark side and get the S6....

There is also the LG G4, Xperia Z4, or HTC M9 Plus...so many options

 

[racedog]

This sentence explains why there's so much angst over this phone: high expectations.

HTC seemed to figure out what made a great phone when they introduced the original One series phones. Gone were the mediocre build and buggy phones, and instead they brought well built and thoughtfully designed phones hardware and software. And there was good strides for innovation.

Some folks felt that the Ultra pixel camera was a mistake, but I actually thought it was a great idea and would have loved to see them bring out a better version of it. (most people don't need more than 8 megapixels in a phone)

But now, they have thrown innovation to the wayside and brought out a phone that was obviously made by the bean counters, trying to save costs by not spending money on cutting edge research (or in the case of the display, poor and cheap materials).

This was going to be my next phone, but no way I can give them my money now.

I suspect that the problem that HTC has run into is that R&D takes a lot of money, especially in a field as competitive as high end smartphones. With their dwindling sales over the last few years, having the money needed for serious R&D (and add serious marketing to that list) is probably very tough for them. Taking what they had, which had received glowing reviews over the last three years, and just doing minor upgrades probably made sense from a financial viewpoint. The problem is that, as nice as it is, such minors changes in style, while seriously very nice, also becomes somewhat stale. Add into that mix, such minor changes, along with the issues that came along with the 810 processor, has put HTC between a rock and a hard place.

Samsung and Apple have vast financial resources to throw into R&D and marketing and that makes competing against them a really tough proposition -- for anybody. I have used HTC phones since the XDA days, from the Blue Angel through the M8 with an interruption after the Thunderbolt because that was just such a bad phone. Like a lot of people in here I had high hopes from the M9, but I don't have any ties or fanboy attachments to any phone company so its no problem for me to go with another manufacturer this time. But, I do hope that HTC manages to stick around long enough to get their act together and get itself back in the game. I don't know if that will happen or not, I guess only time will give us that answer.

Back the basic question, though, I don't know if HTC has "thrown innovation to the wayside", I suspect there are overriding concerns that guided their decisions in designing the M9 and those decisions appear to be coming home to bite them in the backside at a really crucial time for them.

 

[Douglas_B]

After reading that AnandTech review, I'm reluctantly admitting that I may not get the M9. My M7 has held up well, has Android 5.0.2 and is supposed to get Sense 7.
I could save $200 and wait another year and hope HTC gets it right with the M10.
Or I could go to the dark side and get the S6....

I'm in the same boat. I've waited for a long time to see some movement from windows phone but I'm tired of slow development, lack of vendor update supports, and and unclear vision of the future.

The M9 looked like a strong contender but there reviews haven't been kind so far. The m8 might be a better pickup for my needs personally, but then again I don't really want to burn a contract (or spend $500 outright) for a piece of technology that's now over a year old. I'm actually considering just going with the iphone 6 and re-evaluating the market in another year or two.

 

[jwbekens]

Nope.

I have 3 family members with M7s eligible for upgrade on Sprint. ......... Will have to wait and see if the QC 2 charger comes with the M9.

So maybe HTC, after the mediocre reviews, will give M7 upgrades $100 off and a QC 2.0 charger..... can always hope. Seems very 2011 not to equip the M9 with the QC 2.0 in the box.

 

[Alex_NJ]

The m8 might be a better pickup for my needs personally, but then again I don't really want to burn a contract (or spend $500 outright) for a piece of technology that's now over a year old. I'm actually considering just going with the iphone 6 and re-evaluating the market in another year or two.

Sounds like we're in the same position, the iPhone 6 is pretty cheap right now and you know what you're getting

 

[patchs]

There is also the LG G4, Xperia Z4, or HTC M9 Plus...so many options

One factor I forgot on why I shouldn't keep my M7 is Sprint Spark, it's deployed in my area. I've read so many M9 reviews today, my head is spinning, lol.
I'm 65 % sure I'm going to get the M9, 25 % the S6 and 10%, keep my M7.
I will be reading the S6 reviews closely, that will probably point me in the direction I'm going to go. That said, reviews won't make my decision for me. I might wait and see after the M9 is released, what YOU guys say about it.

 

[Cobravision]

Sounds like we're in the same position, the iPhone 6 is pretty cheap right now and you know what you're getting

I know I'm getting iOS. So no way, no how.

 

[msm0511]

Sounds like we're in the same position, the iPhone 6 is pretty cheap right now and you know what you're getting

I've got the iPhone 6, and I'm thinking about getting the M9 as a second device. I think the battery life will be on par with the iPhone 6. Not great, not bad. And if the camera is the biggest concern, I'll still have my iPhone for photos.

 

[UJ95x]

Well after the reviews yesterday, it seems like it's actually worse than the M8 in almost every aspect. The only improvement I can see is the home button moving to the right side of the phone.

Screen is worse, battery is worse, camera is worse...

Sent from my Galaxy S4 running SlimLP 5.0.2

 

[BBSeattle]

huh? Absolutely making no sense in your response. No one was talking about living up to expectations, etc.
Just a simple matter of too many people worrying about whether someone likes what they like.
As someone said earlier, it's validation....people need validation about the choices they make. Rather than being comfortable with their choices they rely on others to "validate" what they choose......a bit scary if you ask me. It's a lot like religion and politics.......believe what I believe or else, yet we are talking about as I said before, inanimate tools.

Its human nature to get disappointed in something they are looking forward to buying. It can be anything, not just a phone. I know you prefer some brands over others, and I'm sure it would hit you some kind of way if you found out a brand you trusted has failed to live up to its standards

 

[BBSeattle]

And at some point wouldn't your opinion, etc. have some say in whether you purchased the car...?
Opinions on the net deserve some attention but as we've seen many people "hate" an item only because it's not what they own.
Hell, if strangers opinions were the only basis behind a decision no one would own anything.

No but if a bunch of negative reviews came out about a car I was considering buying, I would certainly look into them and think twice about buying it.

 

[Powarun]

I can say at first I was disappointed, then I was upset, then I thought **** it, I'll just go with something else, then thought about it and came to this conclusion: The M9 was trying to fix something that wasn't really broken and was set to improve it without breaking it. The biggest factor why I am "edging up" from the M8 to the M9 is the Uh Oh program.

 

[drone3]

+1 , I'm in the exact same position

Posted via Android Central App

 

[Habiib]

Anyway, here is your new avatar... enjoy


http://cdn.onextrapixel.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/01SteveJobs.jpg

You son of a b****

 

[I Can Be Your Hero]

With the reviews coming out the M9 does feel like a step back, or at least not enough of a step forward this time round. The M8 improved upon the M7 in a lot of things such as battery, camera performance, screen, speakers and it looks like the M9 improves on very little and in certain aspects, is actually worse than last years flagship. To me, that's quite disappointing. Especially since the HTC One M7 was such a breath of fresh air in the android space. In a sea of plastic, laggy phones, the One stood out as a truly high quality, great performing mobile. Can't help but think HTC have become complacent now. They were banging on about their dual tone finish on the M9, and that it takes twice as long to produce than the regular M8, but how does that really improve the device and would consumers really appreciate it? Seems like HTC have lost their focus, or they're trying to gimmick their way into sales.

I can't help but think HTC may be focusing on other products such as the Re camera, Vive and their smart band? Maybe the One flagship was an afterthought. Because I just don't see enough effort put in this year in the software or hardware and find it hard to believe that this is the best device HTC could come up with after a year of R&D.

Sent from my HTC One M8 using Tapatalk

 

[TimmE]

That dual tone finish will sell way more phones than you think. The general non tech forum public doesn't nit pick over the small details like a forum of enthusiasts. Walk around the phone section in Best Buy and listen to the conversations. Most of them are not going to be about processors and benchmarks. It's going to be about how the phone looks physically, how the screen looks and the camera.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[msm0511]

I'm interested to see how the display looks in person. Lots of sites say it's nice, but a little cooler than the M8. Many times I read reviews, but never see what the reviewer is talking about in normal day to day use

 

[I Can Be Your Hero]

That dual tone finish will sell way more phones than you think. The general non tech forum public doesn't nit pick over the small details like a forum of enthusiasts. Walk around the phone section in Best Buy and listen to the conversations. Most of them are not going to be about processors and benchmarks. It's going to be about how the phone looks physically, how the screen looks and the camera.

Posted via the Android Central App

Yeah possibly. I have no doubt that's exactly what HTC is after - the general consumers being impressed by it and picking up the phone. To me, it's a completely irrelevant feature.

The other point you make about the camera - it seems that's one area where HTC continue to struggle in. Samsung and LG have stepped up a lot on camera quality, but it seems HTC aren't there yet. Which is another reason why I won't be picking up the M9. Again, to the average consumer, they might see '20mp camera' and think that it's better than any camera with a smaller resolution. While that's grossly incorrect, it might work out for HTC.

But from what I've read and seen, I can't put money down on the M9. Especially when I think there's another phone which is better in almost all respects.

Sent from my HTC One M8 using Tapatalk

 

[markymark]

And at some point wouldn't your opinion, etc. have some say in whether you purchased the car...?
Opinions on the net deserve some attention but as we've seen many people "hate" an item only because it's not what they own.
Hell, if strangers opinions were the only basis behind a decision no one would own anything.

You are confusing "opinions" and "reviews". If somebody's opinion is the car is ugly and my opinion is the car is good looking, then obviously my opinion matters more to me. But if somebody who is experienced at car reviews like Car & Driver or Road & Track or Edmunds are consistently reporting a certain serious problem with the car, like a malfunctioning transmission or faulty steering or braking, then I will take notice of that and certainly take it into consideration when buying the car. And I would certainly look at that aspect very carefully when doing a test drive.. In the same vein, if several credible phone reviews are saying the M9 has bad battery life or the camera sucks or the phone gets hot, I would certainly take that into consideration when deciding whether or not to buy the phone.