When released in 2013 The HTC One M7 was considered a masterpiece; a year later the One M8 followed suit. When CEO, Peter Chou announced HTC’s latest device, the One M9, just a couple of days ago the world stood by with baited breath – so was the wait worthwhile?
HTC is renowned for the excellent engineering that goes into its flagship devices and this very admirable tradition continues with the One M9. In the looks department it’s a very similar design to the M8, and that too is a good thing.
It’s a ‘spot the difference’ scenario when the One M8 and One M9 are side by side as they look almost identical. With its new dual-tone, unibody finish and wrap-around mirrored edges, at every opportunity the One M9 screams ‘premium!’, louder – and louder.
The screen is identical to its predecessor, a 5.0-inch 1080 x 1980 HD display. HTC has decided not to jump on the bandwagon with a QHD display, instead the comparatively frugal 1080p screen should ensure the 2840 mAh battery satisfies ever-increasing app-itites.
Improved BoomSound speakers with Dolby Audio 3 are located at the top and bottom of the handset, making the One M9’s sound output even crisper than before! One almost under-the-radar change is the relocation of the power button to below the volume rocker, which is definitely a sign that HTC is listening to what customers are saying – no more awkward reaching to the top of the phone to power on and off.
Under the hood things start to get really interesting. HTC has packed the One M9 with the best available hardware including an insanely fast 64-bit based octa-core Snapdragon 810 chip – with four cores cooking at 2GHz and the remaining at 1.5 GHz – plus a pulse-pumping 3GB of RAM.
Finally, proving that space is absolutely no frontier, the One M9 comes with 32GB of on-board storage and a microSD slot for up to 128 GB of extra capacity. HTC’s software selection is spot-on, using Sense 7 running on top of Android 5.0 Lollipop for a truly buttery-smooth experience.
This Taiwan-based company has certainly listened to the critics, bidding farewell to the UltraPixel 4MP sensor, installed on the One M8, and providing the One M9 with a new 20MP sharpshooter, promising rock-solid performance thanks to small software tweaks. If selfies are your thing, you’re going to fall in love with the wide-angle UltraPixel sensor on the front of the One M9, making it picture-perfect for capturing you and as many favourite friends as you like.
Only time will tell how the One M9 will stand up to the ever-increasing ranks of fabulous – some, even formidable – top-end opponents. All I can say is, let battle commence!