HTC One M9 Pro Reviews

The HTC One M9 is a genuinely desirable smartphone with the best design and build available in Android land, even with Samsung upping the ante. It's good to see the powerful Snapdragon 810 and more memory, however, some key hardware remains the same meaning M8 users are unlikely to be tempted to upgrade – and the old model is now an attractive buy at around £350. The fact the Galaxy S6 costs the same yet has more impressive specs is bad news for HTC.

The LG G4 and One M9 turned out to be two very similar flagships in an evolutionary way, as both don't offer the earth-shaking upgrade from their predecessors that Samsung did with the S6. LG, however, throws in more unique bells and whistles for the G4 to be an inherently worthier upgrade, while HTC kept novelties to a minimum, addressing chiefly the rear camera resolution with a 20 MP piece. With the price equality, and the obvious screen size and design differences, it will be a matter of personal preference whether you'd pick the more compact, more premium-looking M9, or the G4 with a larger, Quad HD screen, and removable battery. If you are a music aficionado, we'd recommend that you go with the One M9, while the G4 is the phone for shutterbugs and media buffs, with its superb picture and video taking and playback abilities.

The iterative HTC One M9 remains a physical jewel and a strong Android smartphone, but fails to take the next step.

If you've ever struggled picking between two great flagships in the past, you'll likely know what we ourselves understand all too well – when you're looking to make the most out of your hard-earned cash, choosing can be difficult. Fortunately, with the Samsung Galaxy S6 and the HTC One M9, things are clear-cut enough for you to simply have to identify what's important to you personally – the answer will then come to you naturally. So, do you value camera performance and battery life above all else? The Galaxy S6, then, is the obvious choice – it steamrolls the One M9's unsatisfying, 20-megapixel shooter, and manages almost an hour longer on our battery life test. It also has the slightly larger display, which is notably superior to its competitor's solution when set to 'Basic' mode. Are you more intrigued by the design work that goes into your gadget? Is sound quality an overly important consideration for you? And are you annoyed by software gimmicks? If you mentally noted a 'yes' whilst going through those three questions, then your choice is simple, and its name is HTC One M9. Indeed, while Samsung has spent a considerable amount of effort trying to classy up the Galaxy S6, the M9's full aluminum body is uncompromisingly beautiful, and comes with none of the oily mess that is the S6's back. What's more, the One M9 is a superior platform for listening to music – whether you go wired or not. Ultimately, point-for-point, the Galaxy S6 is the superior device of the two. But it's not the classier – a subtle, but important difference.

If you've ever struggled picking between two great flagships in the past, you'll likely know what we ourselves understand all too well – when you're looking to make the most out of your hard-earned cash, choosing can be difficult. Fortunately, with the Samsung Galaxy S6 edge and the HTC One M9, things are clear-cut enough for you to simply have to identify what's important to you personally – the answer will come to you by itself. So, do you value camera performance and battery life above all else? The Galaxy S6 edge, then, is the obvious choice – it steamrolls the One M9's unsatisfying, 20-megapixel shooter, and manages almost an hour longer on our battery life test. It also has the slightly larger display, which is notably superior to its competitor's solution when set to 'Basic' mode. Are you more intrigued by the design work that goes into your gadget? Is sound quality an overly important consideration for you? And are you annoyed by software gimmicks? If you mentally noted a 'yes' whilst going through those three questions, then your choice is fairly straightforward, and its name is HTC One M9. Indeed, while Samsung has spent considerably amount of effort trying to classy up the Galaxy S6 edge, and we sure dig the futuristic-looking display, the M9's full aluminum unibody is uncompromisingly beautiful, and comes with none of the oily mess that is the S6 edge's back. What's more, the One M9 is a far superior platform for listening to music – whether you go wired or not. Ultimately, point-for-point, the Galaxy S6 edge is the superior device of the two. But it's not the classier – a subtle, but important difference.

The One M9 smacks of HTC playing to the HTC faithful: a device that’s designed to answer the lingering complaints of current users, and play up to their design tastes. On that level, it does very well. Viewed as part of the smartphone spectrum in 2015 as a whole, however, and the strategy feels myopic. There's none of the goofball appeal of the HTC RE camera, for instance, which while wacky is at least memorable. In short, I’m not entirely sure there’s enough to the HTC One M9 to address what has long been HTC’s biggest issue: clawing enough attention out of the gate from its well-heeled, well-marketed rivals.

The HTC One M9 is a genuinely desirable smartphone with the best design and build available in Android land, even with Samsung upping the ante. It's good to see the powerful Snapdragon 810 and more memory, however, some key hardware remains the same meaning M8 users are unlikely to be tempted to upgrade – and the old model is now an attractive buy at around £350. The fact the Galaxy S6 is the same price with more impressive specs is also not a good thing for HTC.

The One M9 is a pretty great update from the One M7. If you liked HTC's original flagship, and you don't mind a slightly bigger smartphone, then the One M9 is good! I think you'll be happy with it. And if you're a multimedia fiend—watching Netflix, streaming music, or whatever—the BoomSound speakers make everything better. But if you're looking for the best smartphone bar none, the One isn't at the head of the pack. This probably isn't the One for you. HTC played it safe this year instead of pushing things further. Honestly, if you're willing to settle for the M9, you should also look at the M8 while you're at it. It lasts longer, it feels just as fast, and it costs less.

At the end of the day, the HTC One M9 is a great smartphone. With an awesome design, top notch performance, great software and an improved camera, it should suit most users just fine. But at the same time it no longer sits at the top of the flagship smartphone pecking order. HTC’s competitors have doubled down on areas where the One M9 isn’t as strong, making the choice of what high-end smartphone to buy a whole lot less clear than this time last year.

One year, that’s the typical cycle a company needs in order to make the necessary adjustments in making a new phone better than the previous one. As we take a look at the bigger picture, we certainly can agree that the HTC One M9, as a whole, has been tweaked and refined to correct the issues that were left outstanding with the M8. Visually, there are subtle changes to the design of the M9, but at the end of the day, it commands respect for continuing to be one of the best designed phones out there – more so when it embodies the qualities we want in a high-end product. Naturally, most of the hardware has been upgraded with the M9, including the camera, which was one of the M8’s biggest opportunities. As we’ve seen so plainly, it corrects the issue of capturing detail, thanks in part to the new 20-megapixel snapper, but it’s still by and large trailing the overall performance of other phones in the market right now – namely the iPhone 6, Note 4, and Lumia 930. It’s just frustrating that it can’t handle low light. Evolutionary is clearly the path taken by the M9, which is evident in how the HTC Sense 7.0 experience adds a new degree of personalization on top of an existing interface that’s modern looking in design already. Throw in the fact that it’s still relatively straightforward and simple, we can’t complain about the software experience – especially when other customized Android experiences overcomplicate things.

Looking at the big picture, one thing is certain: both the HTC One M9 and Apple iPhone 6 Plus are two devices built with exceptional care to their looks and style, and both deliver in that aspect. Where the two differ is first and foremost in platform: iOS offers simplicity, but little customization options, while Android 5.0 Lollipop with HTC Sense offers all the customization in the world, but its app ecosystem does not get as many hot new titles (especially games). Screen size is also very different: 5 inches on the M9 versus 5.5” on the iPhone 6 Plus. Under the hood, the Snapdragon 810 and Apple A8 are different, but performance is smooth on both devices. The bigger difference is in cameras: the iPhone 6 Plus manages to shoot consistently better images in various conditions, while the One M9’s camera does well in plentiful light, but struggles in low light. The selfie game of the M9, however, is top notch, while iPhone selfies look decidedly low-res. Battery life also seems to be a bit better on the iPhone 6 Plus, while the One M9 has stellar BoomSound front speakers. All in all, the iPhone 6 Plus does tend to have a slight advantage in many aspects, but it also comes with a $100 price premium. If you are ready to spend a bit more, though, the iPhone 6 Plus seems like the better choice overall.

The verdict? We're tempted to say the Nexus 6 had an easy time, but the reality is that so long as aesthetics guide consumers' purchasing decisions, HTC's One line will continue resonating well with buyers. In such a scenario, Google's device strikes us as the more logical pick for the power user crowd, especially the phablet-loving part of it, but not necessarily the masses' favorite. But does that make the HTC One M9 just a pretty face? Not at all – it's a full-fledged, flagship smartphone that is worthy of heading the company's portfolio. As importantly, unlike other 'design pieces' on the market, the One M9 actually communicates sturdiness and reliability and does not at all feel like a glass cannon. In conclusion, if you're having second thoughts about the size or looks of the Nexus 6, the One M9 will strike you as the better deal, regardless of its relative weaknesses.

Now, the ultimate question that remains unanswered is whether or not it’s a logical decision to upgrade to the M9 if you currently own the M8. A tough question indeed, it purely comes down to whether or not you can tolerate the M9’s displeasing performances. At the end of the day, however, we can attest that there’s more good than bad going for the M9 over its predecessor. Like we plainly stated time after time, the M9 is an evolutionary phone for HTC – it’s not a dramatic leap, but it bears enough favorable qualities to make it the superior phone. That said, should you with to hold on to the M8 for another year, and wait for the next generation of flagships, you sure aren't going to miss that much.

Despite being the newer and better-spec'd phone, the HTC One M9 is not necessarily running circles around the Motorola Moto X 2014. Yes, it's more powerful and future-proof, but the Moto X still holds its ground. To sum things up, the HTC One M9 will woo customers with its sleek build and powerful hardware; meanwhile, the Moto X doesn't shine hardware-wise, but it still has what it takes to be an attractive and affordable alternative to a number of newer phones, the HTC One M9 included.

The HTC One M9 is a beautifully crafted handset, next to which Samsung's Galaxy S5 looks quite average, not to mention the aesthetic appeal of Sense 7 over the TouchWiz interface. On paper the HTC beast has every reason to feel superior, too, with a much faster chipset, stereo speakers, and higher camera resolutions. In reality, however, the situation is more nuanced. While the One M9 undoubtedly feels more premium in the hand, it is slippery, with unimpressive screen-to-body ratio, and has neither the waterproof certification of the S5, nor its swappable battery compartment. Diving further into the details, about the only significant, tangible advantages of the One M9 over the S5 are the better front-facing camera, the audio/call quality, and of course, the newer, red hot chipset. If you are a design connoisseur and want to stay on the bleeding edge of tech, by any means pick the new HTC flagship. If you can live with a more orthodox-looking chassis, but largely similar abilities, save yourself some of the One M9 price, and get last year's Samsung finest.

Apple has nothing to prove, especially to HTC. Already, the iPhone 6 is a highly coveted and sought out smartphone that’s always in demand by consumers all around – and there’s no surprise that it’s a big seller too! HTC knew what it had to do in order to keep pace and stay relevant against the iPhone 6, but even though it’s able to impress in some areas, namely its software experience, design, and call quality performance, the overall package doesn’t quite have the necessary firework to give demanding consumers the kind of spark to draw them in.